Queens' tombs at Nimrud
Structural techniques
### Structural techniques

The Northwest Palace and the four tombs were made in part with [mud\-brick](/wiki/Mudbrick "Mudbrick"), a brickmaking technique popular in [Mesopotamian architecture](/wiki/Architecture_of_Mesopotamia "Architecture of Mesopotamia"). The most common Near East building material, mud\-brick is made of earth, straw, and water, which is blended into a mixture, shaped, and dried in the sun for up to two weeks. This same mixture is used while wet as a bonding agent between the bricks.

Vaulting was a very common architectural technique in ancient Mesopotamia used to build a strong roof over a room, and vaults were used to build all four queens’ tombs in the Northwest Palace. It is commonly believed that vaulting originated in ancient Greece and Rome, but the Egyptians and Mesopotamians were using mud\-brick vaults before Europe. The vaults used in the queens’ tombs were likely designed to protect the sarcophagus from water and structural damage.


Where did vaulting originate?