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How long does it take to burn down an ancient Near Eastern city? The study of experimentally heated mud-bricks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Mathilde C.L. Forget  and
Ruth Shahack-Gross
Mathilde C.L. Forget
Affiliation:
Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel Current address: Fives Machining, 46400 Saint Laurent Les Tours, France
Ruth Shahack-Gross*
Affiliation:
Kimmel Center for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel Current address: Department of Maritime Civilizations, The Leon Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Avenue, Haifa 3498838, Israel
*
*Author for correspondence (Email: [email protected])
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Abstract

Many famous archaeological sites have been subjected to destructive fires, whether hostile or accidental, including Near Eastern cities constructed largely of mud-brick. But how long did it take to burn down a city? The mud-bricks themselves provide a valuable record. By heating experimental bricks of different sizes, shapes and compositions to high temperatures, the minimum duration of an ancient conflagration can be calculated. The resulting equations were applied to bricks from the destruction of Tel Megiddo at the end of the Iron Age I, and indicate that the burning lasted a minimum of two to three hours: a much shorter period than expected.

Keywords

Near EastBronze AgeIron Agefireconflagrationmud-brickcombustion
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 90 , Issue 353 , October 2016 , pp. 1213 - 1225
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd, 2016 

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