ABSTRACT

The history of ceramic floors can be traced back to the ancient Egyptians, who, as early as the twelfth century BC, covered their brick floors with stucco, on which designs were painted. Ceramic turquoise blue tiles were produced in Egypt in the fourth millennium BC and decorated with lines scratched in the clay before glazing. Coloured and glazed relief tiles were made by the Assyrians and Babylonians in Mesopotamia between the thirteenth and fifth centuries BC, and in the fifth century BC in Persia, to decorate the palaces of the Achemid Kings.