History of brick

Learn more about the history of bricks

In the history of brick, the origin of the word Ajur (which is called Zaw in Afghanistan), which is also called Ajur and Agur in Persian, is unknown. In Akkadian, it is written as agurru, in Aramaic as اغور, in Arabic as عجر, and in ancient Armenian as اغور.

History of handmade bricks

History of manual brick (pressed brick) for seven thousand years, it has been formed by the hands of artists of the working class and it has been the strengthening and beautifying of palaces, places of worship, schools, mosques and buildings, but today this thousands-year-old craft is breathing its last breath in the urban development of Tehran from hand-made brick kilns. There are no traces left around Shush Square, Old Ray Road and Hashem Abad, but in Mahmoud Abad, there are still 30 miles of brick chimneys from hand-made brick kilns, some of which are up to 300 meters long, and they have been turned off forever since 1356.

At the beginning of the Iran-Iraq war, Iraqi planes targeted these chimneys several times instead of the Tehran refinery. Before these furnaces were electrified, high brick bars did ventilation and chimney work.

Tehran has both a traditional and a very modern identity with its old buildings and historical monuments; Shams-ul-Amara and Dar al-Funun, Palace of Museums, historical mosques, brick buildings of Hassan Abad area, Sardar Bagh National, Communications and Post Museum, Saderat Bank building, Sassanid/Achaemenid style brick buildings, Museum of Ancient Iran and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Records and Documents Building, old schools, Gonbad Chaharsouk and the big bazaar, bazaars, caravanserais, and the building of many houses and shops in the old parts of Tehran; They owe their beauty and identity to these bricks.

Bricks made of clay have been used for at least 5,000 years. Apparently, for the first time, it was used to build cities in Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley in Pakistan.

Originally, to make bricks, people mixed clay and straw by kicking them. Then, the prepared mixture was poured into rectangular molds and baked in the sun. A brick baked in the sun could not support itself without straw. Eventually, the people of Babylon, Assyria, and ancient Egypt discovered that melting clay only produced bricks that were stronger and more weather resistant.

The history of brick and its appearance in Iranian works

The history and making of bricks goes back to the ancient years and according to the available documents, the origin and use of bricks was before history and thousands of years before that. In ancient times, on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and after their flooding, a large amount of mud was deposited on the surface of the earth. These sediments, which had a special adhesion, and after the mud water evaporated due to the sun’s radiation, cracks were formed, and the dry layer was formed into irregular cubes, which were used as mortar for layered mud walls in those days.

It is noteworthy that the ovens of the campers who were engaged in herding by the rivers became hard due to the influence of fire, which in fact caused the appearance of the cooking method and as a result of bricks. In the following years, at the same time, in the construction of the Tower of Babel, brick making and baking were invented by the Babylonians, and for this reason, the name of brick, which is a Babylonian word, is known by the same name in most languages.

After this stage, the baking of bricks was developed by the Chaldeans, and with the appearance of bricks, there was a change in the construction of buildings that were made of clay and mud until that time. As a result of this, solid and brick buildings were started. The primary bricks are made without molds and like pillows.

Learn more about the types of bricks.

The art of brickmaking in the Seljuk period in the history of bricks

In the valuable period of Seljuk architecture, brick was used as the main material for all buildings such as caravanserais, water reservoirs, royal buildings, public buildings, mosques, tomb towers, tomb shafts, long shafts of mosques and other things, which caused their basic skeletonization and also for facade construction. Also, from bricks in the form of vertical (covering apart from the skeleton) or the connection and combination with the ossification of a great building of good taste and creativity in the art of brickwork.

So that in the scattered and abundant works of the country in this period, we witness very wonderful artistic creations in the art of brickwork. To the extent that there are more than 30 types of brickwork in the two Kharqan Towers of Qazvin, along with very beautiful vaults and prominent Kufi brick lines, and in Isfahan Jame Mosque, there are nearly 375 arches of various types, most of which are from the Seljuk period.

In this valuable period of architecture, the most beautiful motifs were created in the form of brick flower folds, brick knots, brick kufi lines on the back of the long pillars of mosques such as the pillar of the Damghan Mosque with a height of 26 meters, the pillar of the multifaceted minaret of the Nain Mosque with a height of about 30 meters and the pillar of the Sarban minaret with a height of 48 meters. The height and height of the incomparable pillar of the Ali Mosque, which used to be the pillar of the Sanjariyah Mosque, was about 52 meters high.

The art of brickmaking during the Ilkhanid period in the history of bricks

In this period, brick arch coverings underwent a wide evolution of technique and execution to the point where we witness the emergence of a very impressive and well-shaped Soltanieh dome with a diameter of about 25.40 cm and a height of 50 meters from the ground in a very exceptional implementation of a chest.

The construction of this dome has had a direct effect on many domes of European churches, especially the dome of the Santa Maria Del Fore church in Florence, which was built about a hundred years after the Soltanieh dome. Also, in this period, the art of brickwork enters a very interesting stage of the corner constructions of the domes of the houses in a special form of hammered, moqransed, with the role of various types of sleeping and upright culverts and brick crossbars or the combination of bricks and tiles that adorn these kinds of wonderful performances.

Among the many brick works of this period, it is possible to mention the pedaks of the Varamin Mosque and the Great Mosque of Yazd, as well as the use of brick muqransehs in the altar of the student row in the Grand Mosque of Isfahan.

At this time, we witness the emergence of a type of small Mehri bricks, the size of a cloak and two heights, about 5×5 and 5×10 centimeters, with the name of Jalal Allah and knot motifs engraved on them, which in between the rows of bricks give exceptional shape and decoration in brickwork such as plinths. The connecting corridor of Omar Mosque to the student’s side in Jame Mosque of Isfahan, as well as some special brick anthologies with cloaks and two sizes of Mehri in the Gholam Rothamisi of the upper floors in the Soltanieh Dome.

One of the masterpieces of the art of brickwork of the Ilkhanid period is the incomparable building of Janban Minar, which when one of the two very delicate and narrow minarets is moved, the other minaret moves. The whole building will move step by step from the roof area to the ground level.

Brickmaking art of the Timurid period in the history of bricks

Timurid era is the era of movement and rise of all kinds of arts, especially architecture.

At this time, the coverings of the brick dome reach a complete transformation. The path of continuous two-shell dome constructions to discrete two-shell dome constructions and special implementations against the reaction of compressive-tensile-torsional and especially thrust forces and generally anti-seismic by poppy constructions between the two covers of domes.

At this time, all kinds of brick vaults, such as Turkin, Glou Darham, Shamseh Posh, and many others, are advancing their evolutionary path to the desired limit, and all kinds of brick anthologies in them are actually a greatness of the art of brickwork by Iran’s famous architects Qawamuddin Pedre and Ghiasuddin. The son of Shirazi and many other artist’s foundations, the most beautiful and most representative types of brick knot motifs, brick Kufi lines, brick masonary and maqali lines and the most beautiful types of very diverse brick anthologies in the elements and details of works on the same level as the art of tiling, which is a combination of bricks and tiles in It is a type of suspended line.

In Khorasan, we can mention the very beautiful brick works of the Qain Mosque and the Akhanjan Tomb Tower in the outskirts of Mashhad’s Tus, or masterpieces of the art of brickwork and many others.

The art of brickmaking in the Safavid period in the history of bricks

In this period of brick in many buildings, especially the highly advanced caravanserais of the time, in the form of inner-city and outer-city in one and two floors with very comprehensive designs and with very basic skeleton constructions and in some cases fascinating facade constructions with motifs of all kinds of dormant and straight anthologies- Klokbandan-Hesiri-Janaghi-Deer’s poison-Gol Garbdan-Gol Ener Gol and many others have made the world deeply aware of him.

Very beautiful and attractive brick arch coverings in the form of a dome arch, a sweat arch, a dome arch, a coat-mounted arch, foot-to-foot arches, four-part arches, four-pollinated arches, four-turkey arches, geometric solar arches, arch and toiseh arch, and Kajaveh arch, taveh arch and many others by using All kinds of brick patterns and beautiful anthologies, greatness of art is manifested in brickwork of this period.

The emergence of various types of decorative and decorative brick bearing arches and their use in many buildings in Iran. In buildings with elements such as: Susan, Nim-Susan, Hafti, Sinh-baz, Pabarik, Lakhki, Taranji, Samboseh and the use of beautiful patterns of brick flowers among the mentioned elements, especially in the markets, wonderful works from the architectural history of dear Iran have been presented to the art friends of the world.

Among the many brick works of this period, we can mention the very huge and wide bridges with brick philosophy, such as the thirty-three bridges and the Allah Vardi Khan bridge, with all the problems of pressure and hydraulics of the vast Zayandeh River behind the foundations of each span of the bridge. The building of very principled bathrooms with male and female sections and a greenhouse with the use of very productive and heart-warming materials and placing them on delicate and completely load-bearing stone columns. The foundation of the columns is based on a wide base of welded bricks and lime mortar. Also, the bathroom walls, under the walls, the sealing of the copper pot located on the hearth in the hot water tank area and many issues related to heat in the bathrooms such as the bathroom of Ganj Ali Khan of Kerman and the unique gem such as the bathroom of Mr. Khosrow of Isfahan. Na Bekhardan fell to the ground.

During the Safavid period, the construction of brick reservoirs with beautiful motifs for various climates, especially windy for hot and dry desert areas, along with artistic creations, has been of great interest.

The art of brickwork in the Afsharia and Zandiye periods in the history of bricks

During the Afsharia period, Iran was involved in the necessary military conflicts of its time. Therefore, Abadani was not very prosperous. But at this time, we are witnessing the emergence of many guide rails with a kind of brickwork and the use of brick anthologies in them on the side of the roads in the whole country.

Abadani prospered during the Zand era. Especially during the reign of Khan Zand, Vakil al-Raya, small and generally noteworthy buildings were built in various forms. Among the interesting brick works of this period, we can mention the Nave of the Vakil Mosque with vault coverings that are obtained by using the foot-to-foot arches on the stone columns with screw carvings and the column heads with the Afshan Jaqeh carving pattern. The vault coverings together with the work and the dome arch on the stone screw columns have given an interesting grandeur to this mosque’s nave.

In this period, the Vakil market was built with very attractive brick coverings of various flower patterns and some interesting applications with skylights and symmetrical ventilation. One of the most interesting brick works in Vakil’s collection is the Karimkhani citadel with the use of bricks and brick motifs in the inner parts and especially in the outer area along with the lip-shaped congresses around the four dimensions of the building, which had the protection aspect of the building.

Also, there are four huge conical towers with very interesting and varied brick patterns in half grape cluster designs. This brick phenomenon has created a special beauty in the four towers of the citadel and has given it a special grandeur and glory.

Pars Museum is one of the works of the Zand period, a type of brickwork with a very uniform and beautiful banding, where the flat banding is 3 mm ahead of the brick pieces. This amazing performance has given a remarkable effect to the brickwork and strapping, which is an exception in all the brick works of Iran, in the place of the Farangi mansion, the early tomb of Khan Zand, Pars Museum.

The presence of a water tank using a diagonal cover around Dartiz along with a very beautiful brick gable collection in the Karimkhani citadel collection attracts the attention of every viewer. In general, in this period, beautiful brick motifs in special and diverse forms have become the beauty of Iran’s buildings, especially the Fars region.

The art of brickwork in the Qajar period in the history of bricks

During the Qajar period, the art of axe-making flourished, and the brick builders showed their original tastes, and in the external and internal facades of residential buildings, beautiful brick bouquets were created, especially in the door construction of residential houses.

In this period, the building of bazaars with all kinds of formalized brick vaults, brick work, and brick work with a bald head along with the use of all kinds of brick anthology motifs in the text of their elements has been used to the fullest, and special beauties have been created from them. We can refer to many markets of this period, such as Kerman bazaar and four large souqs with beautiful brick structures, Arak market with very wonderful and impressive bald structures and many others.

Very valuable timchehs of brick works in the material of new use and very diverse and wide moqrans with open springs such as Hajib al-Dawlah timcheh in Tehran market and Haj Hossein Bakshi timcheh in Kashan with very beautiful and impressive and valuable train moqrans on a wide scale and tens of thousands Big and huge has been created.

In the Qajar period, the vault covering of water tanks with diverse and creative and evolved brick motifs in the path of the “stairway” as well as very interesting brick motifs in the broad and long door construction along with the foundation construction, the arch construction and the back of the arch. Sparing in water reservoirs has given a special beauty to the views of neighborhoods and cities.

Among these works, we can mention the Yazd Shesh Badgir Reservoir, with a very interesting implementation of ventilation of the reservoir surface and special brick motifs on the dome of the reservoir and the vaulted stairs of the reservoir, with a very nice brick pattern of Haj Ali Mr. Kerman, and finally, the beautiful reservoir of Seyyed Ismail. Tehran was mentioned with its history from the Seljuk period and reconstruction from the Safavid period and general repairs and extensive reconstruction during the Qajareh era with sleeping motifs and rows of flowers in the vault and the body of the stairs of the water storage and many others. In the Qajar era, the use of lip-shaped brick blocks with elements such as open chest, folded hefti and narrow symmetrical legs with tranjis up to the samosas and the sun-reflecting solar sun in tens of foot-to-foot arched niches that are placed on fine stone pillars .

Also, archways and niches in the spas have been created by using the patterns of brick culverts and maqal culverts in the dressing room of the bathrooms with a Mongol water fountain and other wonderful brickwork decorations, among which you can see Vakil Kerman bath, tea house , the current lawyer, and some others mentioned. In the Qajar era, interesting brick motifs were used in the facades of caravanserais outside the city, whose skeletons were made from a combination of clay and brick on a significant scale next to the highways.