ABSTRACT
The first dwellings of the inhabitants of Sumer and Akkad were tents or huts of reeds. As is the practice in those regions to-day, reeds were planted in a circle or in two parallel rows, and the stems, bent together, united to form a series of arches. Some scenes on cylinders furnish precious testimony to this. The land possessing no stone, the structures were finished off by a coat of adobe—clayey earth mixed with straw. It was soon noticed that in the summer heat the clay acquired solidity in the sun, and the idea was conceived of making it into cubes and letting them dry. These were sundried bricks. By placing them one upon the other before they were quite dry an admirable bonding was secured without mortar. The principle of the brick wall had been discovered. With sun-dried bricks square houses of small size were built and the roof was made of reeds covered with adobe resting on a frame of palm rafters. The invention of baked brick seems due to chance. In the hearth the brick became harder and more solid than when merely dried in the sun. It was set to bake by this rudimentary process, and later on men learnt to prepare bricks in a closed kiln.
