Glazed tile and glazed pottery
Azulejo vidriado y cerámica esmaltada
- Date
- c. 2650 BCE · confidence high
- Place
- Saqqara (Step Pyramid of Djoser), Egypt; later Mesopotamia
- Credited to
- Craftsmen of the Egyptian 3rd Dynasty
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
Blue faience tiles from the underground chambers of the Step Pyramid of Djoser (c. 2650 BCE) are the earliest glazed ceramic wall covering of a building. Alkaline and later lead glazing over clay develops in Mesopotamia in the 2nd millennium.
What it led to
- Permanently coloured architectural cladding culminating in the Ishtar Gate (Babylon) and Islamic tilework
- Waterproof, decorated ceramics, both hygienic and luxurious
- Flux chemistry (lead, soda) shared with glass
Built on
Made possible
- Tin-glazed earthenwarec. 800
- Ishtar Gate (glazed brick)
- Islamic glazed tile
- Lead-glazed pottery