Royal tombs of Ur
Coordinates: 30 ° 57 '43.2 " N , 46 ° 6' 16.8" E
The royal tombs of Ur , sometimes also the royal cemetery of Ur , are an early dynastic burial ground found in Tell el-Muqejjir , in which the kings of the 1st dynasty of Ur were buried. The graves there were excavated from 1926 to 1934 by Charles Leonard Woolley , where he found particularly richly decorated burials. To this day, they are among the most important finds from Mesopotamia and are in the Iraq Museum , British Museum and Louvre .
The cemetery was opened in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC. Laid out by the first dynasty of Ur, southeast of the later temple precinct. Later cemeteries from the Akkadian period and from the 3rd Dynasty of Ur were in its immediate vicinity. To the south of the royal graves there were simpler burials of residents of Urs, to the east and west the cemetery was bordered by slopes.
Although most of the graves were robbed in ancient times, the burial customs in Ur are the subject of extensive research based on the remains that have been preserved. It is particularly noticeable that the royal burials are obviously allegiance burials. The best known grave is PG 800 of Princess Puabi , in which her famous headdress was found. In a shaft in front of the grave were the skeletons of five soldiers, 23 servants and a complete carriage with a team. The most famous finds from the royal tombs also include the standard of Ur and the helmet of the Meskalamdug .
overview
The most important and most extensively published graves are listed below.
| Finding number | occupied with | Status | Extent of following |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 | unknown | robbed, probably once very richly endowed | |
| 261 | Gigchulugal (?) | Robbed, simple shaft grave, weapons finds, name appears on a seal | |
| 263 | unknown | Burial in a clay coffin, numerous jewelry gifts | |
| 337 | unknown | robbed | |
| 779 | unknown | intact, location of the Ur standard | |
| 789 | unknown, consort of the Puabi | robbed | 63 |
| 800 | Puabi | intact | 28 |
| 1050 | unknown | Shaft grave | |
| 1054 | Meskalamdug | intact, location of the gold helmet | |
| 1237 | unknown | Shaft grave; so-called Great Death pit | 74 |
| 1618 | unknown | ||
| 1631 | unknown | ||
| 1648 | unknown |
Standard of Ur
Billy goat with tree
Golden cup from the tomb of the Puabi
literature
- Hans Jörg Nissen : On the dating of the royal cemetery of Ur. With special consideration of the stratigraphy of the private graves (= contributions to the prehistoric and early historical archeology of the Mediterranean cultural area. Vol. 3). Rudolf Habelt, Bonn 1966 (at the same time: Heidelberg, university, dissertation).
-
Ur Excavations.
- Volume 2: C. Leonard Woolley : The Royal Cemetery. A Report on the predynastic and Sargonid Graves excavated between 1926 and 1931. British Museum Press, London 1934.
- Volume 4: Leonard Woolley: The early Periods. A Report on the Sites and Objects prior in Date to the Third Dynasty of Ur discovered in the Course of the Excavations. Johnson Fund of the American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia PA 1955.
- Richard L. Zettler, Lee Horne (Eds.): Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur. University of Pennsylvania - Museum of Archeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia PA 1998, ISBN 0-924-17155-3 .