Bricks
This category includes rectangular building materials used for walls or floors.
Mud bricks were the primary building blocks at Ur. Most were sun-dried but some were intentionally baked to make them more stable. Baked bricks were typically used in building foundations and as facing to important public buildings, but they were also used extensively in some house walls, especially in the Isin-Larsa/Old Babylonian period. Those used in public buildings were often stamped with a building dedication and the name of the king, and the bricks that were collected from the field are almost exclusively of this type. A few bricks have other impressions in them, such as dog paw prints or inscribed lines imitating gaming boards.
Bricks were rectangular, square, or plano-convex and their sizes sometimes varied with time period, though direct temporal indicators are not clear simply from brick measurements. For Brick Stamps see Stamps/Sealings under Economic/Administrative.
Objects: Bricks Export: JSON - XML - CSV
Object | U Number | Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number) | Museum Number (BM Registration Number) | Museum Number (UPM B-number) | Description (Catalog Card) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | 2566G | (none) | (none) | (none) | Baked brick of ISHME-DAGAN. Fragment. Ishme-Dagan, who takes care of Nippur, who exalts the head of Ur, the .... of Eridu, the lord of Uruk, the powerful king, (king of Isin, king of Sumer and Akkad, the beloved husband of the goddess Ninni Only lines 1 to 7 are preserved. c. BC 2110. |
2779 | (none) | (none) | B16498 | Baked brick with drawing diagram or game (Cp. U.2728) Two finger deep holes about 4cm. [drawing 1:2] | |
![]() | 2569B | (none) | (none) | (none) | Baked Brick. Stamp of "En-an-na-tum, the beloved pries of Nannar, High priest of Nannar, in Ur, son of Ishme-Dagan, King of Sumer and Akkad" (6 lines). Ishme-Dagan, king of Isin about BC 2100 |
2570 | (none) | (none) | B16496, B16496 | Baked brick. Broken. Drawing resembles cuneiform sign for wall tomb [drawing 1:2] | |
![]() | 6195 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Baked brick. Incised line in 3 sides representing the entrances to the shrine on the site of which it was found? Fragment of horns on top of brick and remains of nude female figure represented as standing in doorway? Block(G) [drawing 1:2] |
2569A | (none) | (none) | B16542 | Baked brick. Stamp for En-an-na-tum, the beloved priest of Nannar, high-priest of Nannar, in Ur, son of Ishme Dagan, king of Sumer, and Akkad. (6 lines) Ishme-Dagan, king of Isin about BC 2100. H.C. Brick (28) x 18 1/2 x 8 from cruciform building. Brick 28 x 28 x 8 cm. Stamp 76 x 45mm. H.C. | |
![]() | 2569C | (none) | (none) | (none) | Baked Brick. Stamp of "En-an-na-tum, the beloved pries of Nannar, High priest of Nannar, in Ur, son of Ishme-Dagan, King of Sumer and Akkad" (6 lines). Ishme-Dagan, king of Isin about BC 2100 |
![]() | 3131 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Baked clay brick fragment. With drawing. [drawing] |
![]() | 10638 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick Having on the left (vertically) [or bottom (horizontally)] the single sign GIBIL Graffito? HC 306 |
![]() | 7821 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick Nabonidus = U2863 but half breadth. |
![]() | 7823 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick not identified about 26 lines. |
![]() | 7824 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick Sinbalatsuiqbi = U3161 (but l. 2 apparently has za-nam-til-la-su) |
![]() | 7796 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick Siniddinam inscription, and marked [drawing of two crescents] = U3115, the only other example? |
![]() | 7822 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick with game board? |
![]() | 3316 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick - Time of Sin-balatsu-iqbi. With counting board of 6 by 10 squares. In text: neo-Babylonian period (6) in Cat.[drawing] |
![]() | 2879 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick of (NurAdad) Broken (only lower part) Restoration of the shrine of Enki the beloved ki-ku-azag, and its kiskannu. H.C. |
![]() | 3130B | (none) | 1924,0920.252 | (none) | Brick of Adad-apal-idinnam. 11 lines inscriptoin. Restores E-gish-shir.gal. |
2891 | (none) | (none) | B16465, B16465 | Brick of Bur Sin/ Building temple of En-ki the Apsu. (SAKI p.196. Brick C) H.C. | |
![]() | 3130A | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick of dAddad-apal-idinnam, 11 lines inscription. Restores E-gish-shir-gal. H.C. |
2880B | (none) | (none) | B16535B | Brick of Dungi. "Dun-gi, mighty hero, king of Ur, king of Sumer and Akkad, E-har-sag, his beloved house, has built." H.C. | |
2880C | (none) | (none) | B16536 | Brick of Dungi. "Dun-gi, mighty hero, king of Ur, king of Sumer and Akkad, E-har-sag, his beloved house, has built." H.C. | |
2880A | (none) | (none) | B16535 | Brick of Dungi. Dun-gi, mighty hero, king of Ur, king of Sumer and Akkad, E-har-sag, his beloved house, has built. H.C. | |
2817 | (none) | (none) | B16544, B16544 | Brick of En-an-na-tum-ma. Fragment. Same inscription as U.2569 except line 3 which is omitted. H.C. | |
![]() | 6327 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick of En-an-na-tum-ma. Son of Ishme-Dagan. Fragment. Same inscription as U.2817. |
2882A | (none) | (none) | B16476 | Brick of Kudur-Mabug. To Nannar, his king. Kudur-ma0bu-uk-adda of the Martu land, son of Si-im-li-shi-il-ba-ak, when Nannar had exauced [sic?] his prayers, he built the Ga-nun-mah of nannar, for his life and that of his son Warad-Sin, king of Larsa. H.C. text: E-nun-mah (8) |