Royal Cemetery/Royal Tombs • c. 2,500 BCE • 16 "Royal" tombs • Approx. The 1920s marked a golden age in high-profile archaeological discoveries. Treasures From the Royal Tombs of Ur. Source: BigStockPhoto, Department of Ancient Near Eastern Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2008. In line with good archaeological practice, he continued systematically studying the different strata at the site in order to establish a definitive time line. After the war, he directed a dig in Egypt at Tell el Armana, site of the pharaoh Akhenaten’s capital city. It was a sign that someone, perhaps thieves, had entered the tomb centuries before. Sir Leonard Woolley 's excavations in Mesopotamia in 1927–28 uncovered the artifact in the corner of a chamber, lying close to the shoulder of a man who may have held it on a pole. This structure was a stepped pyramid, erected during the third dynasty of Ur, around 2000 B.C. The man must have died first and been buried in the lower chamber. (Image: Photographed by Michel wal/British Museum) He found the Royal Tomb of Ur. Finally, in 1926, Woolley believed he and his staff were ready. Ur Excavations, vol. At first only human remains and a few grave goods were unearthed, certainly not the riches they had been anticipating. It was there, in 1922, that he received the commission to direct the excavation at Ur. Ur had been an important city in ancient Sumer until the Euphrates river changed its course after a flood, leaving the city miles from water. The Royal Tombs of Ur In the 1920s, the Royal Cemetery of Ur excavations became one of the great technical achievements of Middle Eastern archaeology and now represents one of the most spectacular discoveries in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). Ur being one of the first cities in western civilisation located in modern day Iraq. As well as being highly decorated with precious lapis lazuli, shell, and red limestone, the box depicts men carrying goods or leading animals towards clearly important seated figures, who are taking part in a feast accompanied by servants and musicians.  The other side of the standard depicts men in chariots trampling over prostrate bodies and soldiers leading prisoners towards another important figure. These were women wearing ornaments of gold and precious stones. Standard of Ur and other objects from the Royal Graves. There could be no doubt that the Sumerians practiced human sacrifice: Twenty-five sacrificed bodies were found in the tomb of Queen Puabi and 75 in the tomb of her husband. Newspapers were quick to take up the story of Smith’s work, fueling public interest in the Mesopotamian era. In his reports, Woolley recounts how he went immediately to see the region’s tribal chief, Munshid ibn Hubaiyib, to ask for his word that none of the workers would touch the site in Woolley’s absence. Stairs into the tombs. [Online]Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/urrg/hd_urrg.htm, Iraq's Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur's Royal Cemetery, 2016. Her elaborate headdress was made of 20 gold leaves, lapis lazuli and carnelian beads, as well as a large golden comb. The royal tombs of Ur revealed Mesopotamia's golden splendor. Extravagant jewelry of gold, lapis lazuli, and carnelian, cups of gold and silver, bowls of alabaster, and extraordinary objects of art and culture were among the Mesopotamian treasures uncovered in the late 1920s by renowned British archaeologist C. Leonard Woolley in a joint expedition by the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum. This photograph gives some idea of the depth in which some of the tombs were buried. 2. Paleo rock art from around the world ranges in style, method, and age, and includes cave paintings, petroglyphs, pictographs, polished and engraved stones such as effigies, stone sculptures, and portable ceremonial objects. Royal Game of Ur Rules How to Play Royal Game of Ur Objective. Leonard Woolley holding the noted excavated Sumerian Queen's Lyre, 1922 ( Public Domain ). Some, like the remains of Mayan cities hidden beneath a thick canopy of rainforest in Mesoamerica, are found with the help... Elasmotherium, also known as the Giant Rhinoceros or the Giant Siberian Unicorn, is an extinct species of rhino that lived in the Eurasian area in the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene eras. During the digging season of 1926–27, Woolley and Mallowan had uncovered hundreds of tombs from the city’s necropolis. The excavation could begin. 107-111); 1237 (ibid. He learnt a great deal about how people lived and what they believed by studying the burials. This stunning catalogue includes color photographs of more than 230 objects, excavated in the 1930s by renowned British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley, from the third-millennium-B.C. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. In addition to her treasures and servants, Puabi was interred with her makeup, including a silver box that contained kohl, a black pigment used as eyeliner. By the end of the dig Woolley had enough evidence to describe in some detail the macabre funeral rites of the kings and queens of ancient Ur. Next to it, a gold sack contained a set of musical instruments also made of gold. [Online]Available at: https://www.penn.museum/sites/iraq/?page_id=26, State Board of Antiquities & Heritage, Iraq, 2016. Beginning with Howard Carter’s landmark 1922 discovery of the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamun, the decade would end with another stunning find: Leonard Woolley’s discovery of intact Mesopotamian royal tombs dating back more than 4,000 years in the ancient city of Ur, located 140 miles southeast of Babylon in modern-day Iraq. Also in the tomb were the remains of a wooden carriage decorated with gold, precious stones, and mother-of-pearl, and sculpted heads of lions and bulls. Hence, Wo… Dating to 2600-2300 B.C., this hammered gold helmet is beleived to have been made for King Meskalamdug of Ur. It translates as: 1) tomb royal 2) ur : Royal Tombs of Ur. For centuries, the royal tombs of Ur in modern-day Iraq, known in the Bible as the home of the patriarch Abraham, lay concealed. Alongside Puabi lay the bodies of two of her servants. His discoveries had profound repercussions for the way that ancient Mesopotamia was, and is, regarded. The Epic of Gilgamesh is thought to have been written around 2100 B.C., predating the Hebrew Scriptures. By the time the hunt for the tombs began, Woolley had been joined by the young archaeologist Max Mallowan, whose future wife—the bestselling author Agatha Christie—met him on the dig in Ur. Beside them were the remains of a musician who held a stunning lyre. In addition to the 16 royal tombs, Woolley excavated about 600 minor graves, which enabled scholars to date the tombs to as early as 2600– 2300 B.C. Built around 2000 B.C., when Ur was the capital of a Mesopotamian empire, the ziggurat housed a shrine to the moon god Nanna on its summit. 2. In the city of Ur, where the first settlements in the marshes of southern Mesopotamia were built with reeds without any type of nails or woods, Ningal was born to Ninhursag and Enki. Spectacular things were happening in Mesopotamia in the period we call the Early Bronze Age, particularly in the southern part of it, commonly called Babylonia. At Ancient Origins we believe that one of... Read More. With the notable exception of the Egyptian tomb of Tutankhamen, no other archaeological discovery gives us a … This stunning catalogue includes color photographs of more than 230 objects, excavated in the 1930s by renowned British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley, from the third-millennium-B.C. Clues and mysteries. Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur. These tombs are said to be royal, because inside the tombs were treasured things from ancient past including; from kings, palaces and the tombs also have burials of kings and the servants of their palaces. It depicts scenes of peace on one side (above) and war on the other. The sound box of the instrument was incrusted with carnelian, lapis lazuli, and mother-of-pearl. 2,000 total burials • Ubaid-Neo-Sumerian periods This is the currently selected item. The Royal Tombs of Ur. Learn the fascinating story of the excavation and preservation of these magnificent artifacts. Smith had been deciphering a series of clay tablets from the Library of Ashurbanipal in Nineveh, a text today known as the Epic of Gilgamesh, regarded as the world’s oldest known literary work. Leonard Woolley, the explorer of the Royal Tombs. It has come to be known as the Standard of Ur. [Online]Available at: https://www.world-archaeology.com/great-discoveries/royal-tombs-of-ur.htm, Zettler, R. L., 2014. Leonard Woolley began his excavations of the Royal Cemetery of Ur in 1922. Challenging Theories. Leonard Woolley began his excavations of the Royal Cemetery of Ur in 1922. Detail from Standard of Ur found in a royal tomb of Ur. Woolley, however, decided to halt the excavation in this trench, as he was aware that neither he nor his men were experienced enough to excavate burials. In the following year, Woolley concluded his initial survey of the site, and began to dig a trench near the ruins of the ziggurat. Cuneiform inscriptions found on some artifacts established that they had unearthed the tomb of one Meskalamdug, who was certainly a rich noble, some believe even a king. Museum Hours: The OI Museum is closed … Royal Tombs of Ur: Ancient Treasures From Modern Iraq is a timely, traveling sample of artifacts discovered in the 1920s and '30s at the Sumerian site of ancient Ur… Dating back to the approximately 2,600-2,000 B.C. As a result of Woolley’s excavation, a cemetery of nearly 2,000 graves was gradually unearthed. One of the best known ‘royal’ tombs, for example, is that of a queen by the name of Puabi, which has been designated as PG 800. [Online]Available at: http://www.iraqmuseum.org/news/entry/iraqs-ancient-past-rediscovering-urs-royal-cemetery/, Sumerian Shakespeare, 2016. The Filippeios Krini (Philip’s Fountain) is a 2,300-year-old fountain that was commissioned by King Philip II of Macedonia. What's your favourite Fairy Tales (and their possible origins), Dinner Invitations for Famous People from the Past, about Ningal: The Mesopotamian Goddess Awakening Female Mysticism, about Enheduanna: High Priestess of the Moon and the First Known Author, about Hidden Women of History: Ennigaldi-Nanna, Curator of the World’s First Museum, about First Kingdoms: The Forgotten Mesopotamian Kingdom of Ebla, about The Mighty Deeds of King Shulgi of Ur, Master of Mesopotamian Monarchs, about Lost African City Found and Recreated With Laser Technology. © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, © 2015- In the course of these visits, she got to know Woolley. This book is excellent and probably of a great deal more interest due to the situation in Iraq. Sumerian city of Ur. The artifacts from the Royal Tombs of Ur give us a complete picture of ancient Sumerian art and civilization. (All Mesopotamia) Woolley was of the opinion that all the individuals in the ‘Great Death Pit’ were the retainers of an important personage whose tomb chamber had been destroyed sometime in the past. The seal made no mention of her husband, which led some to believe she could have been a queen in her own right. In the early second millennium BC, the city-states of Mesopotamia thrived in the so-called “Ur III period.” Assuming political frameworks previously abandoned in times of chaos, the rulers of the... By Karim Sadr / The Conversation There are lost cities all over the world. Hidden among some bronze weapons was a magnificent gold dagger with a lapis lazuli handle. The Royal Cemetery. Unable to use the area for building, the people of Ur started to bury their dead there. Ur had already been identified some years earlier, thanks to basic excavations carried out in 1853 by the British diplomat J. E. Taylor. Archaeologists have linked this ziggurat to the ruler Ur-Nammu, who built many ziggurats at other Mesopotamian sites. The pact seems to have held fast during that dig. One of the most spectacular discoveries in ancient Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), the royal tombs at Ur opened the world’s eyes to the full glory of ancie… In the 1920's Sir Leonard Woolley unearthed the remains of 6 men and 68 women, all of the victims of human sacrifice. (British Museum) ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ), Queen Puabi's Cylinder Seal ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ). One of the most spectacular and widely publicized archaeological discoveries in Mesopotamia was the cemetery at Ur, excavated in the late 1920s, a monumental site, significant for what it revealed about this ancient culture. When (Ur (Royal Tombs)) • Early Dynastic III, c. 2500-2350 BC • Inhabited from 5th-1st mill. Archaeologists believe spears and axes, not daggers, were Sumerian soldiers' primary weapons. Learn how this "land between two rivers" became the birthplace of the world's first cities, advancements in math and science, and the earliest evidence of literacy and a legal system. Many theorize that these people poisoned themselves before burial, but some bodies bear evidence of trauma. The archaeologists’ discoveries revealed much about royal Sumerian burial rituals. Amongst the grave goods found on her were an elaborate headdress of gold leaves, gold ribbons, strands of lapis lazuli and carnelian beads, a pair of large, crescent-shaped earrings, and rings on her fingers. Having trained at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford as assistant to Arthur Evans—who had made his name excavating the Cretan city of Knossos—one of Woolley’s first major digs was in 1912 at the ancient Hittite site of Carchemish, located in Turkey along the Syrian border. Close to temple buildings at the center of the city of Ur, sat a rubbish dump built up over centuries. Digging in the so-called Death Pit area of the tomb, the archaeologists discovered five bodies, adorned with grave goods, lying together on rush matting. Did Egyptian Mummification Descend from a More Ancient and, Perhaps, Reversible Preservation Technique? Persian art, an introduction. Before any attempt to unearth the tombs could be made, Woolley needed to be sure their contents would be safe, both from theft and inexperience. In the three seasons that followed, not one of the sites was entered without authorization from Woolley, and none of the magnificent finds were taken. [Online]Available at: https://oi.uchicago.edu/museum-exhibits/special-exhibits/treasures-royal-tombs-ur-1. The discovery of the tombs dominated headlines on both sides of the Atlantic, not only for the quantity and craftsmanship of the objects found but also for the light they shed on the grisly nature of Sumerian burial practices. 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