On the chemistry of the ancient Assyrians / [R.C. Thompson].

  • Reginald Campbell Thompson
Date:
1925
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: On the chemistry of the ancient Assyrians / [R.C. Thompson]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    49/338 page 41
    This fir corresponds fairly closely to that riven by Blancourt(44) 200 lbs of T a r s o ;Or of fine sand 130 lbs of Alkali It will b© observed that in the Assyrian receipts the proportion of alkali is far greater than that prescribed in modern glass-making,probably because of the greater im¬ purity of the Assyrian product. with this discussion of the materials of the first frit comes the problem, What was it called? As will b© seen, the heading of the receipt in the Assyrian text indicates that the making of u k n u i b b u is given in detail. Are we to supply these words in the break which represents the lost name of the first frit in 1, 20,or a;* it to be some¬ thing else? U k n u has long been identified with lapis lazuli (see MA s, v„) and was compared by Jensen (see BrockBimann-Lex. s . v. ) with the Syriac q u n a 2 a , cyaneus, But not only is u k n u the actual stone.,but it Is also the blue a lour as has been accepted for some time (e. g„ ,Koldewey, E3>.-avc at B abyl. ,43,ff) i, e, the pigment ultramarine obtained by grinding thB stone (sou S>e-t„ 32) 0 Later still its meaning of blue frit was recognized by Si dney Smith (jRAS ,1923, 39)o It was specially used for the beards of statues(RWB 38) s a z i (< n i ]i k n i z a q n u (IV R*9,19-20) f? mit niederhar.gendem % ©surf ar ben em Barte* c In these glass-texts it will be noticed that u k n u in various shades is given as the chief compound in the groups which form the actual Assyrian names of the differ— ent g^*03„ Obviously, first of all, i-t will stand for the
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