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)
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)
10138 (none) (none) (none) Diorite Block Fragment cf. U.10614 HC 4
10149A (none) (none) (none) [A-B] Bricks (2). Inscription on side. Kurigalzu dedication to Ningal. New. (- f. U. 3202.) HC..6
10638 (none) (none) (none) Brick Having on the left (vertically) [or bottom (horizontally)] the single sign GIBIL Graffito? HC 306
11202 (none) (none) (none) Calcite Block. Shaped like a brick.
11662 (none) (none) (none) Brick. Sinidinnam RIU=120 111-6, completing 1.5 ibid. cf. whole inscription U.13108. HC 111
12570 (none) (none) (none) Cone. (Warad-Sin or Rim-Sin). Fragment. Part of 14 lines. Partly identical with R1U 130. (Perhaps identical inscription? But RIU 130, 10 is different in one sign; and present inscription is from first or incomplete column of stem (and corresponding part of R1U 130 is from a second column (of head?). HC 116
12571 (none) 1948,0423.89 (none) Brick. Sin-iddinam complete (30 lines) R1U 119. HC 115
12773 (none) 1928,1010.714 (none) Brick. Plano-convex.
12779A (none) 1928,1010.786 (none) [A-C] Bricks. 3. Plano-convex, burnt, measuring L. 0215 Width 010 ht. 008 [D-E] Also 2 measuring [reference to dimensions] and having rounded corners. L. 023 Width 0125 ht. 0075
12779B (none) 1928,1010.785 (none) [A-C] Bricks. 3. Plano-convex, burnt, measuring L. 0215 Width 010 ht. 008 [D-E] Also 2 measuring [reference to dimensions] and having rounded corners. L. 023 Width 0125 ht. 0075
12779C (none) 1928,1010.808 (none) [A-C] Bricks. 3. Plano-convex, burnt, measuring L. 0215 Width 010 ht. 008 [D-E] Also 2 measuring [reference to dimensions] and having rounded corners. L. 023 Width 0125 ht. 0075
12981 (none) 1935,0113.379 (none) Model clay brick?
14431 (none) (none) (none) Brick. Kiln-baked. Triangular, with 2 straight sides at right-angles & a curved side: a shaped brick for rounding off a corner. One face is straight side flat, the other slightly concave.
14451B (none) (none) (none) [B-C] Brick. Jus. (gypsum burnt & slaked) rectangular, flat on top, made in a wooden mould set on a piece of matting, the impression of which remains on the underside of the brick. Though different in size it is identical in technique & fabric with those at Muraijib (14452-3)
14452 (none) (none) (none) Brick. Made of Jus mixed with gravel rectangular & flat on top.
14453 (none) 1930,1213.307 (none) Brick. Made of Jus mixed with gravel. Rectangular & flat on top.
15066A (none) (none) (none) Group (A) Brick =RIU 119 + 12570 (HC. 1928/9 - 115) lines 1-15 slightly completing lines 14 & 15 (B) Also another fragment of same (not preserved). (C) Another small frgment (not preserved) (D) Another fragment slightly completing 12570 line 17-19 & 24. HC.13 [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card]
15066B (none) (none) (none) Group (A) Brick =RIU 119 + 12570 (HC. 1928/9 - 115) lines 1-15 slightly completing lines 14 & 15 (B) Also another fragment of same (not preserved). (C) Another small frgment (not preserved) (D) Another fragment slightly completing 12570 line 17-19 & 24. HC.13 [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card]
15066C (none) (none) (none) Group (A) Brick =RIU 119 + 12570 (HC. 1928/9 - 115) lines 1-15 slightly completing lines 14 & 15 (B) Also another fragment of same (not preserved). (C) Another small frgment (not preserved) (D) Another fragment slightly completing 12570 line 17-19 & 24. HC.13 [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card]
15066D (none) (none) (none) Group (A) Brick =RIU 119 + 12570 (HC. 1928/9 - 115) lines 1-15 slightly completing lines 14 & 15 (B) Also another fragment of same (not preserved). (C) Another small frgment (not preserved) (D) Another fragment slightly completing 12570 line 17-19 & 24. HC.13 [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card]
15656 (none) (none) (none) Brick. Little legible & unidentified.
15657 (none) (none) (none) Brick. 13 or more circular holes on the edge.
16052 (none) (none) (none) Shaped brick. Moulded for building round buttresses of BC Bur-Sin. See SAKI 196(b) [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card]

Related Terms

Cones - Door/Gate Sockets - Drain Pipes