Raman identification of cuneiform tablet pigments: emphasis and colour technology in ancient Mesopotamian mid-third millennium
Cuneiform tablets tell the life and culture of Sumerian people in a sort of black and white tale because of the binary engraving technique. A leading question arises: did Mesopotamian people apply some kind of colour to decorate their tablets or to put emphasis on selected words? Some administrative...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2017-03-01
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| Series: | Heliyon |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844016319181 |
| _version_ | 1818197885345333248 |
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| author | Daniele Chiriu Pier Carlo Ricci Carlo Maria Carbonaro Davide Nadali Andrea Polcaro Paul Collins |
| author_facet | Daniele Chiriu Pier Carlo Ricci Carlo Maria Carbonaro Davide Nadali Andrea Polcaro Paul Collins |
| author_sort | Daniele Chiriu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cuneiform tablets tell the life and culture of Sumerian people in a sort of black and white tale because of the binary engraving technique. A leading question arises: did Mesopotamian people apply some kind of colour to decorate their tablets or to put emphasis on selected words? Some administrative and literary Sumerian cuneiform tablets of mid-third Millennium B.C. from the site of Kish (central Mesopotamia, modern Iraq) were dug up in twentieth-century and stored at the Ashmolean Museum of the Oxford University. Non-destructive micro-Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique to detect the presence of residual pigments eventually applied to the engraving signs. Yellow, orange, red and white pigments have been detected and a possible identification has been proposed in this work. In particular yellow pigments are identified as Crocoite (PbCrO4), Lead stannate (Pb2SnO4); red pigments − hematite (Fe2O3) and cuprite (Cu2O); White pigments − Lead carbonate (PbCO3), calcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2), titanium dioxide (TiO2), gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O); orange pigment a composition of red and yellow compounds. These results suggest that Sumerian people invented a new editorial style, to overcome the binary logic of engraving process and catch the reader’s eye by decorating cuneiform tablets. Finally, the coloured rendering of the tablet in their original view is proposed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T01:57:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d737b7b6bfce425689e07dc2fb3c6c38 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2405-8440 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T01:57:05Z |
| publishDate | 2017-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heliyon |
| spelling | doaj.art-d737b7b6bfce425689e07dc2fb3c6c382022-12-22T00:42:19ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402017-03-013310.1016/j.heliyon.2017.e00272Raman identification of cuneiform tablet pigments: emphasis and colour technology in ancient Mesopotamian mid-third millenniumDaniele Chiriu0Pier Carlo Ricci1Carlo Maria Carbonaro2Davide Nadali3Andrea Polcaro4Paul Collins5Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Cagliari s.p. n 8 Km 0.700, 09042 Monserrato, Cagliari, ItalyDipartimento di Fisica, Università di Cagliari s.p. n 8 Km 0.700, 09042 Monserrato, Cagliari, ItalyDipartimento di Fisica, Università di Cagliari s.p. n 8 Km 0.700, 09042 Monserrato, Cagliari, ItalyDipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità, Sapienza Università di Roma, Via dei Volsci 122 Roma, ItalyDipartimento di Lettere − Lingue, Letterature e Civilta' Antiche E Moderne, Università di Perugia, Via Armonica, 3 Perugia, ItalyAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford, Beaumont Street, Oxford OX1 2PH, UKCuneiform tablets tell the life and culture of Sumerian people in a sort of black and white tale because of the binary engraving technique. A leading question arises: did Mesopotamian people apply some kind of colour to decorate their tablets or to put emphasis on selected words? Some administrative and literary Sumerian cuneiform tablets of mid-third Millennium B.C. from the site of Kish (central Mesopotamia, modern Iraq) were dug up in twentieth-century and stored at the Ashmolean Museum of the Oxford University. Non-destructive micro-Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique to detect the presence of residual pigments eventually applied to the engraving signs. Yellow, orange, red and white pigments have been detected and a possible identification has been proposed in this work. In particular yellow pigments are identified as Crocoite (PbCrO4), Lead stannate (Pb2SnO4); red pigments − hematite (Fe2O3) and cuprite (Cu2O); White pigments − Lead carbonate (PbCO3), calcium phosphate (Ca3(PO4)2), titanium dioxide (TiO2), gypsum (CaSO4.2H2O); orange pigment a composition of red and yellow compounds. These results suggest that Sumerian people invented a new editorial style, to overcome the binary logic of engraving process and catch the reader’s eye by decorating cuneiform tablets. Finally, the coloured rendering of the tablet in their original view is proposed.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844016319181Analytical chemistryPhysical chemistryArchaeology |
| spellingShingle | Daniele Chiriu Pier Carlo Ricci Carlo Maria Carbonaro Davide Nadali Andrea Polcaro Paul Collins Raman identification of cuneiform tablet pigments: emphasis and colour technology in ancient Mesopotamian mid-third millennium Heliyon Analytical chemistry Physical chemistry Archaeology |
| title | Raman identification of cuneiform tablet pigments: emphasis and colour technology in ancient Mesopotamian mid-third millennium |
| title_full | Raman identification of cuneiform tablet pigments: emphasis and colour technology in ancient Mesopotamian mid-third millennium |
| title_fullStr | Raman identification of cuneiform tablet pigments: emphasis and colour technology in ancient Mesopotamian mid-third millennium |
| title_full_unstemmed | Raman identification of cuneiform tablet pigments: emphasis and colour technology in ancient Mesopotamian mid-third millennium |
| title_short | Raman identification of cuneiform tablet pigments: emphasis and colour technology in ancient Mesopotamian mid-third millennium |
| title_sort | raman identification of cuneiform tablet pigments emphasis and colour technology in ancient mesopotamian mid third millennium |
| topic | Analytical chemistry Physical chemistry Archaeology |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844016319181 |
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