In 1925 a British-American expedition was organized to excavate the Sumerian city of Ur , in southern present-day Iraq. Located near the Euphrates River, Ur had flourished between 3,000 and 2,000 years BC . It was one of the city-states of Sumer, in ancient Mesopotamia.
Although its buildings had disappeared under the desert, the name of Ur had been preserved because it was mentioned in the Bible as the birthplace of Abraham. However, it was not until the early 20th century that archaeologists could be certain that Ur was located in Iraq. This was possible thanks to the discovery of some inscribed clay tablets, found in a place known in the region as Tell al-Muqayyar. When the tablets were deciphered, they were noted to mention a king named Ur-Nammu, whom we know to have become the king of Ur in about 2112 BC . So when they began to excavate al-Muqayyar, archaeologists already knew the name of the ancient city. Despite this, they could not imagine the treasures they would find in it.
The leader of the expedition was a British man named Sir Leonard Woolley , one of the most outstanding archaeologists of the time. The excavation of Ur lasted 12 years and was the high point of his career. Working tirelessly with a team of up to 400 local workers, Woolley and his team were soon unearthing plants from houses and temples, salvaging many everyday objects from the sand and dust. They discovered that the streets of Ur were narrow. Some followed a predetermined plan, but others simply twisted around clusters of small houses. The buildings were made of adobe bricks and built around a central patio. The floors were covered with cane mats. The furniture was mostly low tables, stools and chairs.
The royal cemetery in Ur
The most spectacular discoveries took place in the royal cemetery. It contained more than 1,800 graves, most of them ordinary people. However, 17 of these tombs were larger than the others and more solidly constructed of stone or brick. They also contained much wealth in the form of precious objects made of gold and silver, often set with gems. Only two of these 17 tombs had escaped looting by robbers, but inscriptions and names of kings were found, convincing Woolley that they were the tombs of the rulers of Ur.
The archaeologists took great care when excavating. One of his techniques included pouring paraffin on delicate objects to prevent them from falling apart when picked up. Soon wonderful objects began to appear, some more than 4,500 years old. Among them were statues, necklaces, beads and female headdresses decorated with the finest gold sheets in the shape of willow and beech leaves. A hammered iron helmet, once worn by a king named Meskalamdu, also appeared. . It has small holes around the edge for fasteners to attach a cloth lining, remnants of which were found inside.
However, perhaps the most fascinating of all the finds is a small wooden box known as the *Banner of Ur . It is inlaid with shell and lapis lazuli, and may have been the sounding board of a lyre. What makes it fascinating are the inlaid images on its long sides and the light they shed on Sumerian life. One of the panels contains a royal party and the other a war scene. The two narrow panels also have elaborate decoration. One of them features a ram being sacrificed to the gods.
Trade networks in Ur
In addition to the information they provide about the funerary rituals of Ur and the skills of its craftsmen, the finds show the patterns of their trade and the people with whom they traded. Lapis lazuli, for example, is known to have come from Afghanistan, which may also have been the source of the tin. This metal was especially appreciated because, when mixed with copper, it produces bronze. The shells came from the Persian Gulf. Carnelian, a red stone, was brought from what is now Iran, while wood came from the Amanus Mountains in northwestern Syria down the Euphrates River.
If Woolley got much information from the artifacts and tombs of Ur, he got even more from a collection of more than 200 texts preserved on clay tablets. They contained lists of animals and materials, such as fish, sheep, goats, and trees, as well as the names of different people and their profession. We are told that the inhabitants of Ur had highly specialized occupations, including carpenter, blacksmith, gardener, cook, and brickmaker. The tablets also describe aspects of the law. If a man wanted to divorce his wife, for example, he only had to pay a certain amount of money. He also had the right to sell his children into slavery if he wished.
The golden age of Ur lasted about 100 years , during the reigns of Ur-Nammu and his successors. This king was responsible for rebuilding the city's great temple, a stepped pyramid or ziggurat. Although only its base is preserved, excavations have shown that it was a solid structure made of bricks. It rose up to 21 meters high on three floors, all connected by external stairs. At the top was a small sanctuary where sacred rituals took place. This ziggurat, like others in the region, was built to resemble a sacred mountain, a place where humans could stay closer to the gods. The patron of Ur was Nanna, the god of the Moon .
The end of Ur occurred around 2000 BC The Elamites invaded it from the west and destroyed the city. Over the centuries, its ruins were decaying until they were completely covered by sand. However, his destiny was, 4,000 years later, to bring his treasures to light.
The great pit of death
During his excavations, Woolley found evidence that the inhabitants of Ur practiced a nefarious and certainly cruel burial ritual. From the skeletons found in the tombs, it was clear that when a king or queen died her servants were expected to die with them and accompany them in the afterlife. Apparently, at a royal funeral, servants followed the lifeless body of their sovereign into the tomb.
Then, having placed themselves according to their importance, they drank poison and lay down to await death. It is not clear if they did so voluntarily or if they were executed.
The clearest evidence that this practice was carried out was found in the largest of the tombs at Ur, which contained 74 skeletons, mostly women. Called the Great Pit of Death , the tomb measured 2.3 square meters. Woolley was able to verify that the victims had dressed for their end. Gold ribbons were found among the bones, along with gold and lapis lazuli beads, as well as gold leaf headdresses. There were also harps, decorated with gold and silver, and two ram statues, carved from wood and then covered in shell, gold, and lapis lazuli.