The Reconstruction of the Glazed Brick Facades from Ashur in the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin (GlAssur)

• Applicants: Dr. Anja Fügert; Dr. Helen Gries
• Subject Area: Egyptology and Ancient Near Eastern Studies
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 408800085

The scientific examination of the richly faceted glazed brick decoration from Ashur is the main goal of the project. In addition to the analysis of subject-matter and iconography the project will focus on questions of dating and contexts as well as manufacture and building organization and the reconstruction of the glazed brick façades. Furthermore the development of the glazing techniques in Assyria from 9th to 7th cent. BC is investigated. The large corpus of objects consists of more than 3000 glazed bricks and glazed brick fragments kept in the Vorderasiatisches Museum in Berlin. Most of these hitherto unpublished objects were found in the temple of the god Ashur – the principal sanctuary of Assyria. They date from 8th and 7th cent. BC. Further fragments date from the early 9th cent. BC and are among the oldest known glazed bricks of Mesopotamia. The glazed bricks were unearthed in Ashur during the excavations under the direction of the architect Walter Andrae and carried out between 1903 and 1914 under the auspices of the German Oriental Society. 18 glazed brick façades were found in situ in the Ashur-Temple. After documenting these in sketches, they were carefully dismantled by the excavators. For around 90 years, the sketches were considered lost and the only archaeological records were the excavator’s descriptions. The rediscovery of the sketches in 2010 and the fact – confirmed during a first survey of the material – that nearly all bricks of the façades are present in Berlin has made it possible to scientifically study the glazed bricks for the first time. This fact was furthermore confirmed during the renovation works of the Pergamon Museum, when all bricks from Ashur underwent conservation treatment. The south-eastern façade of the temple was easily visible to a large audience from the forecourt of the temple and especially richly decorated with glazed depictions. Most of the panoramas facing the forecourt narrate the military campaigns of the Assyrian army in great detail or depict scenes of the royal court. Other fragments prove that also gods and religious scenes were shown on the temple walls. Since until now mainly palace decoration was the focus of research we expect to learn a substantial amount more regarding the decoration of neo-Assyrian sacral architecture. Noticeable are the similarities of the broad thematic range of glazed depictions to the Assyrian palace reliefs. The high number of fitting marks and stamped impressions will give new insights in the planning and the execution of the big-scale construction works. Scientific analyses will provide information on the composition of the glazes and will thus complement the investigation of the development of the glazing techniques.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants