furniture

   Archaeological finds of the remains of ancient Mesopotamian furniture are relatively few, mainly because most furniture items were made of wood, reeds, and other highly perishable materials. Most of the evidence for such items comes from Assyrian artifacts of the first millennium B.c.It consists of some surviving pieces, many taken as booty from foreign cities sacked by Assyrian armies, along with depictions of furniture in art and written texts.

   As is still true today, the kind and quality of one's furniture depended to a great degree on one's financial means. Poorer homes featured a minimal amount of furniture. common items included stools and chairs made of palm wood, the cheapest, softest variety of wood in the region, and/or woven reeds. A poor home might feature one or two low wooden tables on which people had their meals or stacked personal belongings. since no modern-style closets existed, other belongings were stored in reed baskets or in bins made of sun-dried clay, palm wood, or reeds. People of average means or less slept on reed mats or cheap mattresses, composed of cloth stuffed with palm fibers, on the floor.

   in contrast, the well-to-do had beds not unlike modern ones - with wooden frames, mattresses stuffed with wool or goat's hair, linen sheets, and woolen blankets. The better households could also afford wooden chairs with leather upholstery, sometimes padded with felt. Excavators have found evidence of seventeen kinds of hardwood, most of which were imported from syria, Palestine, and elsewhere. Many chairs were painted in bright colors. The most expensive chairs of all, used by royalty, were inlaid with copper, bronze, silver, or gold, some with bronze panels featuring carved figures of griffins and other mythical creatures as well as elaborately carved wooden or ivory finials decorating the arms. Some Assyrian art shows wealthy people lounging on sofas upholstered and decorated similarly to the chairs. Like the poor, the rich ate their meals on tables; however, the tables in better households were made of imported woods and were decorated with various metals. Linen tablecloths and napkins were used as well as cups, bowls, plates, and trays made of wood, pottery, or metals. Many well-to-do Mesopotamians stored their clothes and other belongings in handsomely carved wooden chests.

   See also: crafts and craftspeople; food and drink; houses