How to Observe in Archaeology Part 13

Saites, XXVI-x.x.x Dynasties, 664-342 B.C.

Pottery clumsy, mostly rough: some thin, smooth red. Greek influence; silver coins from 500 onward. Iron tools beginning. Glaze pale greyish and olive: some fine blue at 350. No gla.s.s. Bronze figures common. Ushabtis with back pier and beard; fine 650 to poor at 350.

Ptolemies, 332-30 B.C.

Pottery clumsy and small. Many Rhodian jars with Greek stamped handles. Glazes, dark violet and yellow-green. Gla.s.s revived for inlay figures in shrines: minute mosaic begins. Glazed beads scarce, no scarabs. Large copper coins, silver tetradrachms, base in later time, and concave on reverse.

Romans, 30 B.C.-A.D. 641. The earlier half, to A.D. 300.

Large brown amphorae, peg bottoms; ribbed after 180, wide ribbing at first, then narrower. Gla.s.s blown; fine white and cut facets in 1st cent.; hollow brims 2nd-4th; stems and pressed feet, 3rd-4th. Gla.s.s mosaic 1st cent.; coa.r.s.er wall mosaic 2nd cent. Glaze coa.r.s.e blue, on thick clumsy bowls and jugs. Red brick buildings as well as mud brick, coins: billon tetradrachms in 1st cent., almost copper in 2nd, small copper dumps in 3rd, leaden tokens from A.D. 180 to 260. Some large copper in 1st and 2nd, thinner than the Ptolemaic. Potsherds used for writing receipts and letters. Abundance of moulded terra- cottas, and small lamps.

Roman, Second Period, A.D. 300-641.

The Constantinian Age brings in new styles. Much salmon-coloured hard pottery, mainly platters and flat dishes. Brown amphorae soft and smaller, with narrow ribbing. No glaze. Much very thin gla.s.s. Coins: little thin flat copper, as in rest of Empire, ending about 450. No Egyptian coinage, except a very few rough lumps from Justinian to Heraclius, I+B on back. Letters written on potsherds and flakes of limestone.

Red brick the material for all large buildings. Limestone capitals of debased leaf.a.ge. Rudely cut relief patterns in wood. Coa.r.s.ely carved and turned bone or ivory. Pottery in Byzantine Age with white facing and rudely painted figures. Textiles, with embroidery in colours, and especially purple discs with thread designs of the earlier Arab period. A characteristic of late Roman and Arab mounds is the organic smell.

Muhammadan Period. Seventh to fifteenth centuries.

Characterized by great amounts of glazed pottery. Smaller antiquities found in cemeteries or on ruined sites, the earliest transitional, and related to Coptic examples of the same kinds. Pottery: lamps at first continue Christian forms and are unglazed; afterwards long spouted lamps of dark green glaze. Fragments of vessels, &c., from the rubbish heaps of old Cairo are glazed; a typical faience has a soft sandy body of light colour with painted designs in blue or blue and brown with transparent glaze. Those of the Mamluk period, and probably some of earlier date, show a general resemblance to Western Asiatic contemporary wares, due to importation of potters from Syria, Asia Minor, and Persia (between twelfth and fifteenth centuries).

Other varieties have decoration in metallic l.u.s.tre on an opaque white tin glaze; others again have monochrome glazes imitating imported Chinese wares. Inscriptions very rare. Gla.s.s: if found, is in fragments; rich coloured enamel designs are seldom earlier than the thirteenth century. Textiles: chiefly found in small pieces; the colours rich; ornament consisting of geometrical designs and Cufic inscriptions. Any silk, or printed patterns, should be secured.

No information about papyri is given here, for the reason that any site containing them should not be touched except by a trained excavator.

[ILl.u.s.tRATION XIII: EGYPTIAN POTTERY TYPES]

CHAPTER VIII

MESOPOTAMIA

[See the diagrams of flint implements, Ill.u.s.tration II; pottery and brick-forms, Ill.u.s.tration XIV; cuneiform signs, and other scripts Ill.u.s.tration XV].

Mesopotamian antiquities are nearly always found in Tells, or artificial mounds, which are the sites of ancient towns or temples.

The surrounding plain for a distance of several hundred yards out, whether steppe-desert or untilled land, will usually be found to be productive of antiquities, either a few inches or few feet deep or, in the case of the dessert, actually lying upon the surface. These are usually the result of rainstorms was.h.i.+ng out antiquities from the tell itself. Each tell or ganglion of connected tells usually has a number of small subsidiary tells round about it, the sites of small isolated buildings or villages connected with the central settlement.

Originally the settlements were built upon natural rises of the ground which stood up as islands in the fen-country.

Visitors should give the local names of tells in Arabic characters, when possible, so that mistakes in transliteration into English may be avoided. Antiquities bought in the neighbourhood of a tell should be noted as coming from that neighbourhood. Depredations by Arabs (or by others!) should be noted, and reported to the nearest Political Officer or Inspector of Antiquities. The barbarous practice of forcibly dislodging inscribed bricks from walls, as trophies and 'souvenirs', which has unhappily been common during the war, should never be imitated and always discountenanced as much as possible.

Other good spots for antiquities than tells are rare. In the mountainous and stony country of the North we may meet with rock- sculptures, as at Bavian, and these should always be recorded by a traveller, even if he is not certain that they have not been remarked before: something new may turn up at any time. Antiquities acquired in the neighbourhood of such monuments should be noted, and their precise place of origin ascertained, if possible, as in this way the site of some ancient settlement adjoining the monument may be identified. The open ruin-fields, or _Khurbas_, characteristic of Palestine are not usual, except in the case of Parthian or Sa.s.sanian palace ruins such as Ctesiphon, Hatra, or Ukheidhir, which were often abandoned almost as soon as they were built, so that no later population could pile up rubbish-heaps or graves above them.

In order to aid the visitor to get some idea of the age of a tell or other site from the antiquities found on its surface and its neighbourhood, and so to be able to give some idea of what is likely to be found in it, the following hints have been drawn up.

In the first place, most of the surface remains, are, as elsewhere, pottery sherds. These should tell us their date by their appearance.

It must be said, however, that our experience on the subject of the development of Mesopotamian pottery is limited. Owing to the attention of a.s.syriologists having been so long focussed on the study of the cuneiform records, to the neglect of general archaeology, we have nothing like the knowledge of these things that we have in Egypt or in Greece. Such minutiae of information as our common knowledge of ceramic development in Egypt or in Greece gives us with regard to these countries, enabling us to date sites with great accuracy, are not vet available for Mesopotamia. And if for this reason all possible information as to the objects found on archaeological sites is desirable, it is also impossible yet to give the visitor any absolute guide to the distinctive appearance of pottery at every period. The main periods are known. The 'prehistoric', the Sumerian, the late Babylonian, and the Parthian styles are easily distinguishable. If a visitor is able to tell us that such-and-such a mound is prehistoric or is Parthian, or that settlements of both periods existed on it, this is what we want. One of the most general of criteria with regard to pottery is whether it is glazed or not. If glazed, it is, generally speaking, late. Other things besides pottery are of course found, and the presence or the absence of metal, and the occurrence of stone implements, are important. But it must be remembered that stone was used long into the 'Bronze' Age, and contemporaneously with copper. There is no sudden break between the two periods. Fragments of sh.e.l.l and mother-of-pearl, often with incised designs, are very characteristic of the earliest period.

Coins are of late date; a tell with coins on it is certain to contain buildings as late as the fourth or third century B.C. (though it may also contain far older buildings as well). One of the most useful criteria of age is: Bricks. The form of the brick is a very good guide to date. The Babylonians used both kiln-baked and crude bricks.

The oldest type, whether baked or crude, is plano-convex in form, and uninscribed. The mortar is bitumen. Later on rectangular bricks, often square, made in moulds, were introduced. These usually bore the name of the royal builder. Later on bricks became generally oblong and much like our own. In the sixth century the square shape was revived. Both shapes were in use at the Nebuchadnezzar period. Glazed bricks were then common. Under the Persians mortar took the place of bitumen. Under the Parthians and Sa.s.sanians, bricks were yellow, oblong, small, and very hard. Details will be found below, The names of various excavated sites are given in brackets as the 'cla.s.sical'

sources of information on certain points, and as the places from which type-antiquities have come to our Museums. Ancient names are in capitals; museums in italics.

I. PREHISTORIC (?) AGE: Chalcolithic (aeneolithic) period, before 3500 B.C.

Until quite recently no traces of the Stone Age had been discovered in Babylonia other than a few possible palaeoliths lying on the surface of the desert: all traces of a Neolithic Age were supposed to have been buried beneath the alluvium of the valley. In a.s.syria, however, neolithic traces in the shape of obsidian flakes had been discovered by the late Prof. L. W. King in the course of his excavation of the mound of Kuyunjik (NINEVEH), besides fragments of painted pottery resembling those from the earliest deposits in Asia Minor and those found by the American geologist Pumpelly in his diggings in the _kurgans_ of Turkestan, (to which he a.s.signed an extremely remote date B.C.). In Persia, and about the head of the Persian Gulf, somewhat similar pottery was discovered by de Morgan and the other French excavators at Susa, Tepe Musyan, Bandar Bus.h.i.+r, and other places: here again the dates were put at a very remote period. With the exception of a few flint saw-blades from Warka [1], Fara, Zurghul, and Babylon [2], no similar remains had been found in Babylonia until, in 1918, Capt. R. Campbell Thompson, exploring on behalf of the British Museum, discovered flint and obsidian flakes and painted pottery lying on the surface of the desert at Tell Abu Shahrein (ERIDU), and also at Tell Muqayyar (UR). The continued excavations carried out by Mr. H. R. Hall for the Museum in 1919 have produced more of the same evidence from both places, besides a new 'prehistoric' site at Tell el-Ma'abed or Tell el-'Obeid near Ur. It seems that these antiquities date from the very end of the neolithic, or rather to the succeeding 'chalcolithic', age; whether they are really prehistoric, as regards Babylonian history, must until more evidence from stratified deposits is found remain undecided. They prove the occupation of the head of the Persian Gulf at the beginning of history by a people whose primitive art was closely akin to that of early Elam, and distinct from that of the Sumerians.

[1] Found by Loftus in 1854: their early date was not recognized at the time.

[2] Koldewey, _Excavations at Babylon, E.T._, p. 261, fig. 182.

Koldewey curiously speaks of the saw-blades as 'palaeolithic.' They are, of course, nothing of the sort.

Characteristics: flint, chert, obsidian, green and red jasper, and quartz-crystal flakes, arrowheads, cores, and saw-blades. Chert and limestone rough hoe-blades (easily mistaken for palaeolithic implements; they are, however, much flatter); polished serpentine or jasper celts; lentoid (lentil-shaped), amygdaloid (almond-shaped), and discoid beads of cornelian, crystal, obsidian, &c., unpolished; nails of translucent quartz and obsidian (obviously imitations of metal types); hard grey pottery sickles, pottery cones of various sizes, and pottery objects like gigantic nails bent up at the ends; pottery painted with designs in black, usually geometrical (see ill.u.s.tration XIV, Fig. 1), but sometimes showing plant-forms or even animals. This ware is often very fine, so much so as to look as if wheelmade. The shapes are chiefly bowls (often closely resembling early Egyptian stone bowl types), pots with suspension-handles or lugs, and spouted 'kettles'. All these objects are at Shahrein and el-'Obeid found lying on the desert surface at the distance of 50 or 100 yards from the tell; they are supposed to have been washed out of the lower strata of the latter by rains. Objects of this kind should be recorded from any site, and the neighbourhood of a desert tell should always be searched for them.

[ILl.u.s.tRATION XIV MESOPOTAMIAN POTTERY, SEALS, ETC].

[ILl.u.s.tRATION XV: CUNEIFORM AND OTHER SCRIPTS].

II. EARLY BRONZE (Copper) AGE: First Sumerian (pre-Sargonic) Period; c. 3500-3000 B.C. Earliest Sumerian civilization.

Typical sites. Older strata at Telloh (LAGASH); Fara (SHURUPPAK); Tell 'Obeid (ancient name as yet unknown); Shahrein (ERIDU).

Characteristics. Writing. First appearance of script, already conventionalized from pictographs. Cut on stone and incised on clay tablets and bricks of characteristic early style. Brick buildings, with crenellated walls (until the discovery of Tell 'Obeid supposed to date only from the later Sumerian period) of typical plano-convex bricks, baked or crude, usually with thumb-mark down length of convex side (Shahrein), or with two thumb-holes (for carrying the brick when wet?), or vent-holes ('Obeid); at first uninscribed, later with long inscriptions; measuring 10 x 6 x 2-2 1/4 ins. (Shahrein), and 8 x 6 x 2-2 1/4 ins. ('Obeid); poorly shaped and baked (see XIV, Fig. 3). Bitumen used for mortar; laid very thick. Hard white stucco on internal faces of crude brick house walls, often decorated with red, white, and black painted horizontal stripes (Shahrein.) Pottery. Wheel and hand-made; drab, fine or coa.r.s.e paste, unpainted and usually undecorated. Typical shapes: (see XIV, Figs. 2 abc) mostly handleless vases, and cups, and spouted 'kettles' (again often resembling early Egyptian types).

Metals: Copper. Extensive use: large copper figures of animals, heads cast, bodies of copper plates fastened by nails over a core of clay with a mixture of bitumen and straw; the figures have eyes, tongues, and teeth of red and white stone and nacre (Tell 'Obeid); goat's head with inlaid eyes of nacre (Fara). Otherwise ordinary treatment of eye shows a number of wrinkle lines round it, and it is always disproportionately large (bull's heads, Tell 'Obeid and Telloh). Small fragments of copper or bronze on the surface of a tell should never be neglected, as there may be enough in any fragment to give an idea of possible archaic remains within the tell.

Silver. Rare. Fine engraved vase of Entemena (Telloh, _Louvre_).

Gold. Not uncommon. Copper nails with gold-plated heads (Shahrein).

Stone. Portrait figures in round (Bismaya, Telloh, &c.), usually representing men, with face and head shaven; very prominent large curved nose; usually squatting with arms crossed, sometimes standing; only garment a kilt apparently made of locks of natural wool. Usually inscribed in archaic characters on back of shoulders. Material: a grey or a white limestone most usual; tufa and dolerite also used.

Reliefs: large stelae (Stele of the Vultures; Telloh, _Louvre_, fragment in _B. M._), completely inscribed; small relief plaques, inscribed (Telloh, _Louvre_). Flint carved and engraved cylinder- seals, of limestone, black basalt, jasper, diorite, &c. Vases, bowls, and cups (usually fragmentary), of white and pink limestone and breccia. Maceheads of breccia, granite, &c., of same type as the early Egyptian (Shahrein).

Sh.e.l.l. Very largely used for decoration; small plaques of nacre often engraved with scenes of men wors.h.i.+pping, &c. (Telloh); tessellated pillars with nacre plaques ('Obeid). Seal-cylinders of sh.e.l.l.

Wood. Rarely survives; small beams plated with copper ('Obeid).

Burials. Pottery coffins with lids, mat burials; bodies contracted; funerary furniture, copper, stone or pottery drinking cups held near mouth: copper weapons, fish-hooks, net weights; beads of agate, lapis, sh.e.l.l (unpolished); colour-dishes, (Fara). (The idea that the Babylonians ever burnt their dead is now discredited; the supposed 'fire-necropoles' at Zurghul, &c., are not substantiated.)

The burials are hard to distinguish from similar contracted interments of later date, except that the furniture is more abundant in early times and mat graves are unusual in later days Mounds of this age may be known by the occurrence on the surface of sc.r.a.ps of oxydized copper, nails, &c.; sh.e.l.l-fragments; undecorated light drab sherds; and the typical small plano-convex bricks.

III. MIDDLE BRONZE AGE.

1. Early Semitic or Akkadian (Sargonid) period; c. 3000-2500 B.C.

Characteristics. Less crude style of art: development of writing (see XIV, Fig. 1); first inscribed clay tablets of usual style; beginnings of cuneiform, developed from the archaic semi-pictographic character.

Bricks still plano-convex; stamped inscriptions begin. Stone maceheads of same type as earlier. Large and well-cut cylinder-seals of fine limestone, lapis, diorite, granite, and sh.e.l.l are characteristic of the period: they are generally of an easily recognizable form (reel-shaped) with sides showing a marked concavity (see XIV, Fig. 5). The great development of art is shown by the stele of Naram-Sin (_Louvre_) found at Susa. Not many mounds of this period have been dug.

2. Later Sumerian (Gudea) and early Semitic Babylonian (Hammurabi) periods; c. 2500-1800 B.C.

Characteristics. Typical 'Gudea' style of sculpture, in round and relief (Telloh, _Louvre_); materials hard diorite, dolerite and basalt as well as limestone: characteristic treatment of eye with heavily marked brows: elaborate tiaras and head-dresses of female figures, &c. Very high development. Regular use of cuneiform on clay tablets and cones (see XV, Figs. 13-15); non-cuneiform character (in a developed form) still used in brick stamps (XV, Fig. 10) and on stone monuments. Bricks (XIV, Fig. 4) now rectangular and well made, either square (14 ins., usually, by 2 1/2 ins. thick) or oblong (11 1/2 x 8 x 2 1/2 ins., or 10 x 5 x 2 1/2 ins.) with stamps or incised inscriptions of Ur-Engur, Dungi, Bur-Sin, Gudea and other kings (XV, Fig. 10), from Ur, Shahrein, Telloh, Niffer, &c. Bricks of Bur-Sin from Shahrein often have inscription-stamps also on the smaller sides (thickness). Great buildings of crude and baked brick (Telloh, Ur); temple-towers (ziggurats) of crude brick faced with burnt brick (Ur, Shahrein, Niffer). Town ruins of Hammurabi's age (Babylon): crude brick: plans always confused and haphazard. Bitumen still used for mortar. Burials, contracted, often in double pots (mouth to mouth), sealed with bitumen. With the bodies are found large numbers of agate and cornelian beads, unpolished.