Ziwiye Glazed Terracotta Jar

The items recovered at Ziwiye are interesting for a number of reasons, not least because it was at this time that the technological process for producing glazed ceramics seems to have reached its apogee. Glaze is simply a thin layer of glass that covers terracotta works of art, a process originally devised some four thousands years earlier in the ancient Near East. However, it would be many thousand of years later until the art of glassmaking was finally perfected on a large scale-- a process believed to have occurred in the lands of northern Mesopotamia around 1600 B.C.

This stunning, colourful vessel is a vibrant example of the new glazing technique. The entire exterior surfaced has been coated in vibrant blue, orange, and white hues, all colour fields being defined by thick black outlines. Both the upper shoulder of the vessel as well as the lower half of the tapering body have been adorned with a series of angular petals.