TSES 2305 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Lime Plaster, Tses, Ziggurat

• School: Carleton University
• Department: Technology, Society, Environment Studies
• Course: TSES 2305
• Professor: Gordon Deinstadt

Document Summary

They were famous for their ziggurat: it was built by the sumerians on a big hill; totally artificial, they were made entirely of mud brick. They made the structure out of clay sand and straw to hold the mud brick together. Not strong against impact but allowed it to stay together; although very good at withstanding compression: the steps were big stacks approx. Much higher then the mustafa which had steps only 1m high: the lowest level needs to be able to retain moisture from the river close by being so close to he ground. When mud brick gets wet it denigrates. Lime plaster coating was used to prevent the moisture from seeping in; may not have been used on ziggurats but it is beneficial for protecting mud brick and is still used today (standard coating for mud brick construction) Lime plaster is just lime that has been heated to the point it becomes a paste.