ABSTRACTSChemical analyses (mainly by XRF) have been made of a series of glazed pottery vessels and sherds excavated from Kish and Nineveh in Iraq, manufactured betweenc.600b.c.anda.d.600 (also a small Islamic group from Hira). The results strongly suggest, contrary to general assumption, that lead glazing was not practised in this area at this time; that the local glazing tradition persisted unchanged for 1200 years; and that the production at different periods, or at different places, can be characterized by statistically significant variations in the glaze composition.