Squeeze of a foundation inscription of Darius I at PersepolisMade by Ernst Herzfeld during his excav
Squeeze of a foundation inscription of Darius I at PersepolisMade by Ernst Herzfeld during his excavations at Persepolis ca. 1923–34A squeeze is essentially a molded negative impression of a carved surface. Early western travelers to the ruins in Egypt, Greece, and the Middle East often brought along draftsmen to make drawings of ancient monuments and sculptures. But in the 18th-century, the practice of recording the reliefs and inscriptions from ancient monuments by molding wet paper “squeezes” heralded a new age of scientific documentation. These inscriptions from monuments preserve information about their construction, and the squeezes aided Western scholars in deciphering and reconstructing the texts. In addition, the texts made possible the instruction and training of new generations of philologists, just as casts of sculptures were employed to teach students of art and history. Interestingly, these impressions also became (unintentionally) receptacles for pigments that were and stripped off in the squeeze-making process. This is among fifty-seven squeezes made by Ernst Herzfeld at Persepolis.From The Ernst Herzfeld Papers, Freer Gallery of Art and the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, FSA A.6 06.C061 (via the Cooper Hewitt Collection at the Smithsonian) -- source link
#squeeze#archaeology#persepolis#cuneiform#ancient iran#ernst herzfeld#methods#paper