Art of Mosaics in Ancient Life

Ali Abu Dashish

By Ali Abu Dashish and Ahmed Yasser

CAIRO, Jan. 26 (SEE)- Dr. Iman Shahawi Director of Archaeological Affairs of the Mosaic Center at the Ministry of Antiquities, announced that Mosaic is the art of decorating floors and walls by covering them with panels using different sizes and all materials are decorative and mythical. Mosaic is a non-Arabic word means miniatures.

Mosaic paintings are the direct alternative to wall art. However, the wall imaging has been used for its purposes and it is developing along with the mosaics.

The mosaic art went through various stages and techniques. It was found in Mesopotamia in the city of Warka, where stone walls were found and covered with pottery cones. It also appeared on the walls of Ashtar Gate.

In Pharaonic art, small tiles appeared in the southern wall of Zuser pyramid, in addition to some pieces with small squares of glass and vases.

While in the Greek era it appeared in the 5th century BC in "Olinthos" in a painting with a mythical view as appeared in the capital of Macedonia.

As for the materials used in the achievement of floors, mosaic floors were implemented in many materials such as; gravel used in the Greek era, the colors were confined to white, black and a little red with yellowish structures.

Limestone was used in the mosaic paintings of the Greco-Roman era due to existence of large quarries.

The marble was also used in its colors such as; blue, gray, and pink marble, but in small quantities where it was imported from abroad, also used granite and green chis stone.

Gemstones were also used to carry out important mosaic paintings and some parts of the important mosaic paintings such as; the eyes. In addition to the windows which was famous in Egypt only.

In addition, glass was used in the implementation of murals and domes as well as floors as in the floors of bird villa in Kom Dakka. Also used were gilded glass cubes and flint and Terracotta cubes .

As for the techniques used in the preparation of floors

Statumn: A strong layer with large, strong solid stones mixed with rough mortar.

Redes: Crushed stones and gravel mixed with lime to form a compressed mortar layer.

Nucleus: A mixture of terracotta powder and lime mortar.

Lepidating Leer: Soft thin cubes are installed out.

Surface: A cube, smooth and smooth because it is the outer surface of the floor.

As for the techniques of preparing the surfaces of mosaic panels:

There is a cube mosaic: a small piece of stone next to each other with equal edges called Cubes, in decorative or geometric shape.

The mosaic of cubes nanoparticles: the same way the previous but the size of the cube here is very small too compete oil paintings in accuracy and the most important paintings carried out by the dog's plate of the excavations of the Modern Library of Alexandria.

The gravel mosaic: the implementation of the ground with gravel collected from the bottom of the river and its beaches, limited colors, appeared in the capital city of Macedonia.

Mosaic slides: the implementation of the floor with panels of different stones such as marble and, carried out by the floors of engineering and picture.

The mosaic of the mortar: in the implementation of the ground by a mortar of breaking pottery and lime and executed by geometric decorations or put stones by random.

Mosaic murals: it was carried out of cubicles on the walls, using stones and glass also, appeared more on the walls of Pompey and Herculaneum houses.

The central plate was executed accurately and separated from the floor was placed in a later period. The most important of these panels is the tiger plate of the bird villa at Kom Dakka.

The most important pieces found in Egypt and the world: