瓦 Roof Tiles (II)

choi

(II)
(1) Roof (architecture). Encyclopaedia Britannica, undated
https://www.britannica.com/technology/roofing-tile

Quote: "The earliest roofs constructed by man were probably thatched roofs that were made of straw, leaves, branches, or reeds; they were usually set at a slope, or pitch, so that rainfall could drain off them. Conical thatched roofs are a good example of this type and are still widely used in the rural areas of Africa and elsewhere. * * *

"Two main types of roofs are flat roofs and sloping ones. The flat roof has historically been widely used in the Middle East, the American Southwest [by Native Americans], and anywhere else where the climate is arid and the drainage of water off the roof is thus of secondary importance. Flat roofs came into widespread use in Europe and the Americas in the 19th century, when new waterproof roofing materials and the use of structural steel and concrete made them more practical. Flat roofs soon became the most commonly used type to cover warehouses, office buildings, and other commercial buildings, as well as many residential structures.

"Sloping roofs come in many different varieties. The simplest is the lean-to, or shed, which has only one slope. A roof with two slopes that form an 'A' or triangle is called a gable, or pitched, roof. * * *

(2) roof tiles
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roof_tiles
(section 2 History: Tiled roofs first replaced thatched roofs in ancient Mesopotamia)

section 1 Shapes (profiles):

• "Flat tiles – the simplest type, which are laid in regular overlapping rows. An example of this is the clay-made 'beaver-tail' tile (German Biberschwanz
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biberschwanz
), common in Southern Germany.

beaver
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver
(Beaver has "hand-like front feet, webbed back feet and flat, scaly tails. * * * Beavers are awkward on land but can move quickly when frightened. They can carry objects while walking on their hind legs. The beaver's distinctive tail consists of a conical, muscular, hairy base; and a flat, scaly end that makes up two-thirds of the appendage. The tail has multiple functions; it provides support for the animal when it is upright (such as when chewing down a tree), acts as a rudder when it is swimming and stores fat. It also has a countercurrent blood vessel system which allows the animal to lose heat in warm temperatures and retain heat in cold temperatures")

View an illustration in this Wiki whose caption reads: "The fore foot, hind foot, and tail of a beaver
• Imbrex and tegula
• Pantiles – with an S-shaped profile, allowing adjacent tiles to interlock. These result in a ridged pattern
• Monk and nun tiles, also called mission or barrel tiles

(a) Monk and Nun. Google Arts & Culture, undated
https://artsandculture.google.co ... un/g1269n7bk6?hl=en
("The top linking tiles are the monk tiles and the lower layer are the nun tiles. Mortar is often used under the monk tile to firmly attach it to the nun tile as well as providing an extra seal against entry of rain, but it is sometimes omitted. The origin of the name is unknown")
(b) Search pantile, and you will instantly recognize it.
(c) imbrex and tegula
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imbrex_and_tegula
(i) Both imbrex (as a borrowed English word, accent is in the first syllable according to merriam-webster.com, which also says that its English plural is imbrices, ie, Latin, not English, grammatical rule) and tegula (accent on the first syllable; English plural tegulae (ae pronounced same as that of algae); the English noun tile is its descendant) are Latin.
(ii) Wiktionary states that English and Latin noun imbrex is derived from Latin noun masculine imber rain.
(iii) In this Wiki page, the top figure is confusing: Does it show that two tegulae were used -- one atop the other  -- to cover the same square of roof?  There is no attribution for the top figure.

It took me to locate the source to conclude : No, one, not two, tegula covered the square. Here is the source:

William Smith (ed[itor]), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. John Murray, London, 1875.
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Th ... ry/smigra/home.html
(A) In terms of copyright, the book is in public domain.
(B) There is only one "tegula" in this Web page. Click it and you will reach the new page in (C).
(C) James Yates, Tegula. on pp 1098-1099 of the book
https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Th ... ts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Tegula.html

Quote:

"Tiles were originally made perfectly flat * * * They were afterwards formed with a raised border on each side, as is shown in the annexed woodcut (B) [sic; I think it should be Figure 1(A)] representing the section of four of the tiles remaining at Pompeii. * * * the lower edge of any tile might overlap the upper edge * * * It was evidently necessary to cover the lines of junction between the rows of flat tiles, and this was done by the use of semicylindrical tiles called imbrices. The above woodcut (A) [sic; I think it should be Figure 1(A)] shows the section of three imbrices found at Pompeii, and indicates their position relatively to the flat tiles. This is also shown in the next woodcut [Figure 2]. * ** * The rows of joint-tiles divided the roof into an equal number of channels [referring to the top of a row of tegulae in between two rows of imbrices], down which the water descended into the gutter (canalis) to be discharged through openings made in the lions'-heads [three of which were shown in the foreground of Figure 2], the position and appearance of which are shown in the woodcuts. The rows of flat tiles terminated in a variously ornamented front, which rose immediately above the cornice, and of which four specimens are shown in the first woodcut. The first and fourth patterns [in Figure 1(B)] are drawn from tiles found at Pompeii, and the two internal [also in Figure 1(B)] from tiles preserved in the British Museum and brought thither from Athens. The lions'-heads upon the third and fourth [in Figure 1(B)] are perforated. [Antefixa.] The frontons, which were ranged along the cornice at the termination of the rows of joint-tiles, were either painted or sculptured so as to represent leaves, aplustria [Aplustre], or masks. The first woodcut (C) shows three examples of such frontons, which belong to the Elgin collection in the British Museum. They are drawn on a much larger scale than the other objects in the same woodcut.

• cornice (n; "History and Etymology for cornice")
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cornice
("see COLUMN ILLUSTRATION")
For antefixa, see English dictionary:
* antefix (n; from Latin noun antefixum, whose plural is antefixa)
• antefix
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antefix
is what is displayed in Figure 1(C) and 2.