A Sumerian Palace and the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia

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106 A SUMERIAN PALACE AND "A" CEMETERY, KISH had no part. The position of such burials, therefore, proves beyond a doubt that mound "A" was left derelict for a very considerable time. At least five hundred years would be required for the weathering-down of the walls to one metre in height. Much stress is laid on this last point, for denudation in Mesopotamia, despite the winter rains and summer heat, is a much slower process than might be supposed. To the north of palace "A" we have partially excavated a building whose site is marked "P" on the map. The pottery recovered from this building seems of even earlier date than that found in the palace. This therefore may be a building of the early part of the second dynasty of Kish, whereas the "A" palace appears to belong to the latter end of the dynasty. BRICKS AND BRICKWORK OF THE PALACE This chapter deals with the various types and sizes of bricks found in the palace "A" at Kish, the method of laying them, and other technical matters connected therewith. To simplify matters, the types of bricks will be dealt with first in the chronological order assigned to them by their positions in the palace. SUN-DRIED BRICKS All the bricks found in the Sumerian palace at "A" are of the well-known plano-convex type, being rectangular in shape with a flat base and curved upper surface, which is very pronounced so that the middle is considerably higher than the edges of the bricks. Where the sizes of these have been mentioned in this book, the expression "3.50 to 5 cm thick" means that the brick is 3.50 cm thick at its edges and 5 cm thick in the highest part. All the sun-dried bricks found in the palace were made of the alluvial earth that covers the greater part of Mesopotamia. It is light gray in color, and is not so fat and unctuous in texture as the alluvial soil found in Egypt. For this reason, the bricks used at Kish were not of so good a quality as those used by the ancient Egyptians. The difference is due entirely to the material, not to the skill of the brickmaker. For some reason, river-clay was not used for brick-making at Kish, though it was utilized in large quantities for the filling of foundations. Such clay is excellent for brick-making, but it requires an admixture of sand to prevent cracking and distortion during the process of drying. Sand is very hard to obtain in an alluvial country, as I have found to my cost. It is probably owing to this difficulty that the softer alluvial earth was used instead. Another difference between Egyptian and Sumerian brickwork is that the Sumerian used no tibn ("chopped straw") with the earth to strengthen it, as was the common practice in Egypt from the earliest times. The fact that the Sumerians at Kish knew of the value of chopped straw or reeds for binding purposes is proved by their actually using it on occasion in the building of the palace; but it was mixed with the mud mortar around the bricks, not in the bricks themselves. This occurs in the temporary blocking up of the corridor between the outer and inner wards on the north of the palace—a piece of work which was obviously hastily done.
THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," KISH 107 The bricks are all made in an open frame mould, such as is in use at the present day both in Mesopotamia and in Egypt. The depth of the mould averages 3.50 cm, and that it was made of wood is shown by the markings left in many cases on the sides of the bricks. The mould seems to have been laid on the ground, and the clay then placed in it. The surplus material was then patted into a rounded mass instead of being struck off with the edge of the palm of the hand. The ground upon which the bricks were moulded does not seem to have been especially selected, for pieces of pottery and other rubbish were in many cases left sticking in the base of the brick, or have left their imprint. Mud mortar alone was used for the purpose of cementing sun-dried bricks together, and it was nearly always of a better quality than the mud composing the bricks themselves. The bricks are invariably laid with their convex surface upward, except in those cases where they were laid on their edges. The mortar seems to have been applied with the hands, not with any special kind of tool, for it is always very compact with no crevices or fissures." The use of mortar of the same substance as that of which the bricks were made caused the wall to become practically one solid mass of mud with the pres- sure from above. It has accordingly proved difficult to extract bricks from the wall for measurement. A section through such a wall clearly shows light gray courses of bricks set in a matrix of mortar of either the same color or, if a more tenacious clay was used, a light chocolate. In the majority of instances bricks were laid flat with courses arranged in alternate headers and stretchers. In parts of the same wall, however, it is possible to find considerable sections where all headers were used or all stretchers. Indeed, there does not appear to have been any fixed rule, either for the arrangement of the bricks in the faces of a wall or the filling inside. A fairly common method of laying bricks seen elsewhere in Kish, but not actually in the palace, was to set them upon their longer edges, either bolt upright or at an angle; and, laid thus, they give the appearance of a chevron design. But the practice of laying the bricks obliquely all in one direction was not uncommon in the palace, and an example is illustrated in Plate XXXII, Fig. 2. It should be clearly understood that the builders of the palace never laid bricks on their edges for the sake of ornamentation. Every wall of the palace was heavily plastered with mud, and then plastered again with a white stucco. The stucco used for whitening walls was exactly the same as the juss that is used at the present day in Mesopotamia, which is made by burning gypsum. The latter is found in great quantities at Iskanderieh, south of Baghdad, and also close to Samarra, where it can be picked up on the surface of the ground, and is also quarried. A number of pieces of the rock, some over a metre long, from which the stucco was made, were found just beneath the surface of the ground outside the outer wall of the palace in a position which suggested that they had fallen from the building itself. There is evidence from other parts of Kish that this schistose rock, besides being burnt for plaster, was used for the lintels of narrow doorways and as door-sills.
Page 2: LIBRARY >A. \^ Class\\ 4^
Page 10 and 11: PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AME
Page 12 and 13: 68 CONTENTS Lipped Flat-based Potte
Page 14 and 15: LIST OF PLATES XXL Plan of Palace "
Page 17 and 18: PREFACE This volume contains the fi
Page 19 and 20: A SUMERIAN PALACE AND THE ''A" CEME
Page 21 and 22: INTRODUCTION 77 Only three burials
Page 23 and 24: TOPOGRAPHY OF KISH AND HARSAGKALAMM
Page 29 and 30: THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," K
Page 49: — THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A
Page 73 and 74: THE "A" CEMETERY, KISH (Continued)
Page 83 and 84: POTTERY This chapter deals with the
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TOOLS AND WEAPONS A considerable nu
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THE "A" CEMETERY, KISH (Continued)
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PERSONAL ORNAMENTS MEDALLIONS Plate
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STONE VESSELS Plates XXXVIII, No. 1
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NOTES 215 " A very similar dish to
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. AN
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ANT
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 24
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A Sumerian Palace and the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia

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