Gypsum is a mineral that has been formed as sedimentary layers for millions of years due to the evaporation of salt lakes and shallow and shallow seas.
Evidence suggests that some of the gypsum remains in the Anatolian Plateau and Syria date back to 9,000 years ago. It has also been proven that the Sumerian, Assyrian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations, which ruled over nearby lands and certainly interacted with each other, also used them as building materials.
The most famous and important use of gypsum in that period was the making of ornaments and sculptures made of Alsterrone, which is a kind of semi-transparent gypsum stone and its name is probably derived from the name of the Egyptian city of Alabstron.
In ancient civilizations, a type of plaster was used, which we now call alabaster. Large statues of winged cows belonging to the Assyrian civilization, now housed in the London City Museum, are made of the same stone. The Greeks also minted coins with the word. They also made small dishes and teapots out of plaster.
The human use of gypsum as a gypsum coating and for whitewashing the walls of tombs dates back to more than five thousand years ago in Egypt. Water was used to cover bricks and stones.
The Egyptians also used plaster 1500 years ago to cover the interior surfaces of the walls of the three pyramids. Inside the Egyptian pyramids, on the smooth, white plaster surfaces, there are magnificent murals depicting Egyptian soldiers, chariots, gods, animals, and birds. The Egyptians also had gypsum mortar 600 years ago.
The Greeks also gave the name to gypsum, which is made up of two words with the meanings of earth and cooking. They used a special form of glass-shaped gypsum for windows and dedicated it to the temples of the moon goddess. The glass that was used in this traditional way was called selenite or moonstone by the Greeks.
The Ramis also knew about gypsum stones and what applications they could have in their careers. Evidence of this is the human body sculptures made in Western Europe with gypsum mortar and are still available today.
Today, good alabaster can be found in the middle of England, especially in Neatengham, in the form of sculptures of various shapes engraved by masters of the 14th and 15th centuries. Later, these gypsum handicrafts became famous and were mass-produced throughout Europe. We can see these alabasters in public museums. Alabaster is also used in some tombs, church designs and other historic buildings.
When the roofs and walls of houses were built with reeds and twigs, people needed a filler lining to fill the gap between them. In most parts of Western Europe, houses were built in this way. This was done first with mud and clay. Then they found a kind of lime mortar that created hard and white surfaces. Later, with the advent of gypsum, this was done using gypsum mortar. The building preferred gypsum mortar to lime mortar due to its high drying speed and lack of cracks. Today, lime mortar is used in small quantities.
However, the most common use of gypsum for interior surfaces of the building, but from the 16th century onwards, gypsum works developed their skills and gained valuable capabilities in the field of decoration and artistic works with gypsum. They were able to create beautiful patterns on the plaster surfaces, walls and ceilings, all kinds of flowers, tree branches, fruits and even musical instruments. Some of the best examples of these designs have been made by Staco plaster in Georgian homes in the Republic of Ireland. Plaster designs on the ceiling are not very old, although in some old houses there are still prominent plaster strips around the ceiling or designs around the central ceiling light, but these works do not have a very long life. Today, some companies are still active in creating traditional and old designs on gypsum surfaces. This activity is performed by skilled craftsmen on the roofs of the houses of important people or churches.
History of gypsum in Iran
In Iran, gypsum has a close relationship with the construction industry and has been one of the traditional building materials of Iran since pre-Islamic times (2500 years ago). The plaster on the arch of the canals in some of the Persepolis buildings from the Achaemenid period has been remembered. Gypsum mortar during the Sassanid period has been widely used in building skeletons and also for display.
One of the artistic phenomena in the unique architecture of Iran is the art of plastering, which has been obtained in archeological excavations, examples and signs of the prevalence of this art in the Sassanid era. In general, the effects of plastering can be seen in different periods of Iran. For example, in the Seljuk period, the Saveh Grand Mosque and the Alawian Mosque in Hamedan, in the Ilkhanid period to the tomb of Bayazid Bastami in Bastam, in the Timurid period to the tomb of Sheikh Ahmad Jami in Torbat-e Jam, in the Safavid period to the Qapo High Palace in Isfahan, in the Zandieh period to The pergola mansion in Shiraz and in the Qajar period, Golestan Palace in Tehran can be mentioned.
Gypsum is one of the materials that is of special importance in the construction industry and due to its characteristics, it has been used in the construction of housing since ancient times. Gypsum has played an important role in many old buildings, especially in Sofia, most of which are located in Isfahan, and very beautiful plastering has survived from that period. Due to its properties, gypsum is required from the first step in creating a building that is implementing land boundaries and so-called pouring paint around the ground. The building also uses plaster.
