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In the 1920's, the Royal Cemetery of Ur
excavations became on of the great technical
achievements of Middle Eastern archaeology and now
represents one of the most spectacular discoveries in
ancient Mesopotamia. Deep within the site lay the tombs of
the mid-3rd millennium B.C. kings and queens of the city of
Ur, famed in the Bible as the home of Biblical patriarch,
Abraham. The tombs date to the period known as Early
Dynastic IIIA (2600-2500 B.C.), a high point in the history
of Sumerian culture.
The renowned excavator of the cemetery was British archaeologist
C.Leonard (later
Sir Leonard) Woolley. In all, Woolley
uncovered some 1800 burials. He classified 16 as royal based on their
distinctive form, their wealth, and the fact that they contained the
burials of household servants, male and female, along with clearly high-ranking
personages.
The tomb of a royal woman name Pu-abi was intact and its contents
typical of the wealth found throughout the cemetery. Like the other
royal tombs, it consisted of a chamber set at the bottom of a deep pit
accessed by a ramp. (Woolley dramatically dubbed these "death pits"
because of the human "victims" they contained.) The vaulted chamber,
made of limestone rubble, lay at the northeast side of the pit. It measured
about 9 feet by 14 feet, with the ceiling 5 feet above the floor. Pu-abi's
body--identified by an inscribed cylinder seal found at her breast--lay
on a wooden bier in the chamber. She wore an eloborate headdress
consisting of gold leaves, gold ribbons, strands of lapis lazuli and
carnelian beads and a tall comb, along with chokers, necklaces, and
large lunate-shaped earrings. Her upper body was covered by strands
of beads made of precious metals and semiprecious stones that stretched
from her shoulders to her belt. Ten rings decorated her fingers. A diadem
or fillet made up of thousands of small lapis lazuli beads with gold
pendants depicting plants and animals was apparently on a table near
her head. Two attendants were in the chamber with Pu-abi, one crouched
near her head, the other at her feet. Various metal, stone and pottery
vessels lay around the walls of the chamber.
In the burial pit above her, five men, each of whom wore
a dagger, stood on the ramp near the entrance to the pit
itself. A wooden sled, drawn by a pair of oxen, stood in the
middle of the pit. Four men, probably grooms, were with the
oxen. One wore an inscribed cylinder seal that identified
him as Lugal-sha-pa-da. A fifth man lay nearby. A wooden
chest or wardrobe, which Woolley probably correctly assumed
held textiles, stood between the sled and the tomb chamber.
Three figures crouched near the wardrobe, around which were
gold, silver, copper, stone and pottery vessels; silver
heads of lionesses from a piece of furniture; gold drinking
tubes, saw and chisels; and, an inlaid gaming board. As
Sumerian literary compositions suggest, some of the
artifacts may have been included because the royal personage
would have needed them for his or her palace in the
Underworld, but other might have been included as gifts to
various Underworld deities. At the opposite end of the pit
were twelve female attendants, all wearing a less elaborate
version of Pu-abi's headdress. One, according to Woolley,
was found with her fingers in place on the strings of a
large harp or lyre.
While Pu-abi's tomb was intact, most of the other
royal tombs were not. Some of the tomb chambers had been
destroyed by the intensive digging of later graves in the
proximity of the royal tombs, leaving only the pits. Others
had been looted by grave robbers in antiquity.
Much surrounding the Royal Cemetery remains puzzling,
not least of which is the extraordinary burial of retainers
with the royal figures. Nevertheless, the artifacts from the
tombs not only provide us with a glimpse of Sumerian society
and material culture of the time, but they include some of
the most spectacular examples of Sumerian composite art in a
range of precious and semiprecious materials as well.
As provided by Iraq's first Antiquities Law, established in 1922,
the artifacts were divided between the excavators and the host country.
They are currently housed in the British Museum, the University of Pennsylvania
Museum, and the Iraq Museum (Baghdad). "Treasures from the Royal Tombs
of Ur" will feature the unique artifacts from Pu-abi's tomb, which constitute
the core of the Museum's holdings from the excavations. It will include
her personal jewelry, as well as finds from the tomb chamber and burial
pits. Additionally, the exhibit will include some of the more striking
and important artifacts from other tombs such as a large wooden
lyre with a gold and lapis lazuli bull's head; a silver-covered,
boat-shaped lyre with a statuette of a rampant stag; and the world-renowned
"Ram-in-the-Thicket,"
a statuette of a goat standing and nibbling the leaves of a tree or
bush.
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