Neo-Babylonian Housing | NH

General

Context Title:	Neo-Babylonian Housing \| NH
Context Name (Publication):	Neo-Babylonian Houses
Context Name (Excavation):	NH
Context Description:	The excavation area abbreviation NH refers to the better-preserved Neo-Babyloninan Housing immediately southwest of area AH (though at one point Legrain mistakenly listed it as North Harbour). Woolley excavated in area NH for a short time in season 9 and again for an even shorter time ("a few days at the end of the season" according to field reports) in season 12. He did not dig below the level of Neo-Babylonian housing as his goal was to expose the layout of a portion of the Neo-Babylonian town. Across much of the site, the Neo-Babylonian domestic remains were badly preserved and even here there were only the stubs of walls and some evidence of later, Persian, occupation. The houses used no baked brick and they were close to the surface, thus they had often disappeared almost completely. Nonetheless, Woolley recovered outlines of two streets and seven houses along with a number of late artifacts, including two pots filled with tablets dating from the reign of Nabopolassar up to that of Alexander the Great. Neo-Babylonian houses were much more spacious in ground plan than Old Babylonian and were typically built with a saw-toothed outer plan that Woolley had difficulty explaining. The streets were much more linear than earlier layouts and this implies developments in centralized town planning. Woolley attributed this entire domestic quarter, which he believed had been built on ground cleared of all other remains, to the time of Nebuchadnezzar. Despite the fact that there were many artifacts recovered here and there were many graves excavated, there are only four field notecards extant and only cursory publication. When reporting graves, Woolley listed only house number, not room. Even the house numbers were assigned late, as evidenced by publication in UE9, which discusses House A and B while its map numbers 1-7. Houses 6 and 7 were certainly dug in 1931 when Woolley intended to extend area AH, but he changed his mind and only later went back to uncover the outlines of a few more houses south of these in the final season, including House 1, dug in 1934.

Files

General

UE 9 NH Neobabylonian.pdf - Download

excavation_area_NH.jpg - Download

Objects: Neo-Babylonian Housing | NH Export: JSON - XML - CSV

U Number	Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number)	Museum Number (BM Registration Number)	Museum Number (UPM B-number)	Description (Catalog Card)
17448	(none)	1931,1010.79	(none)	Clay impression. Unbaked. Of bull running, tail up, head down. Outline of body done as a dot border. Style similar to that of bulls on the Ishtar Gate. Fine workmanship. Figure of bull is complete, but the plaque on which it is impressed is a fragment, one side of which is missing.
17447	(none)	1931,1010.309	(none)	Donkey shoe (?). Copper. With 3 rivets. [drawing 1:1]
17441	(none)	(none)	(none)	Beads. Carnelian with white bands (a lentoid). Quartz. Agate.
17440	(none)	(none)	(none)	Kohl pot? Ivory? Fragment.
17437B	31-43-209	(none)	(none)	[A-B] Bangles. Copper. A pair. Penannular. Thick metal. Ends thus: [reference to drawing] Philadelphia (see over) [Back of card reads: Sent to Phil. 1 silver bracelet, 1 copper bracelet, tied together but not a pair.] [drawing]
17437A	31-43-208	(none)	(none)	[A-B] Bangles. Copper. A pair. Penannular. Thick metal. Ends thus: [reference to drawing] Philadelphia (see over) [Back of card reads: Sent to Phil. 1 silver bracelet, 1 copper bracelet, tied together but not a pair.] [drawing]
17435B	(none)	(none)	(none)	[A-B] Bangles. Copper. A pair. Ends. Penannular. One sent to Philadelphia. [drawing]
17435A	31-43-514	(none)	(none)	[A-B] Bangles. Copper. A pair. Ends. Penannular. One sent to Philadelphia. [drawing]
17434B	(none)	(none)	(none)	[A-B] Bangles. Copper. A pair. Ends - [reference to drawing]. [drawing]
17434A	(none)	(none)	(none)	[A-B] Bangles. Copper. A pair. Ends - [reference to drawing]. [drawing]
17427	(none)	1931,1010.322	(none)	Pan. Iron. With long handle. Broken but complete. Circular pan. Hooked end.
17426	(none)	(none)	(none)	Terracotta mould. Fragment. For back of a head and hair.
17425	(none)	(none)	(none)	Fibula. Copper. [Type] 2. [drawing]
17424	(none)	(none)	(none)	Whetstone. Sandstone (?). Grey. 4 sided. Type see field note.
17423	(none)	(none)	(none)	Fibula. Copper. Stem of pin missing. 2 [number or typology?] [drawing 1:1]
17422	31-43-564	(none)	(none)	Kohl? Pin. Iron. Stem circular in section. Tip missing. [drawing]
17421B	(none)	(none)	(none)	2 signet rings. Silver. [A] One with circular bezel. [B] One with oval bezel.
17421A	31-43-212	(none)	(none)	2 signet rings. Silver. [A] One with circular bezel. [B] One with oval bezel.
17420	(none)	(none)	(none)	Beads. Silver balls and rings. 1 carnelian barrel. 1 agate barrel. 2 facetted amethysts.
17419C	(none)	(none)	(none)	[A-C] 3 finger rings. [A], [B] copper. [C] silver. [A] has a circular bezel. [B] has an oval bezel. [C] has a single whitish stone in a silver setting.
17419B	(none)	(none)	(none)	3 finger rings [A-C]. A, B copper. C. silver. A. has a circular bezel. B. has an oval bezel. C. has a single whitish stone in a silver setting.
17419A	(none)	(none)	(none)	[A-C] 3 finger rings. A, B copper. C. silver. A. has a circular bezel. B. has an oval bezel. C. has a single whitish stone in a silver setting.
17418	31-43-168	(none)	(none)	Beads. Glass. Balls. White with blue globules set in to the bead thus giving a white surface with blue spots usually six in all.
17417	(none)	(none)	(none)	Beads. 1 amethyst facetted. 1 marble lentoid. 1 carnelian double conoid. 1 steatite lentoid. 1 frit lentoid. 2 glass paste flattened tubular beads, lozenge shaped in section.
17416	(none)	(none)	(none)	Beads. Silver balls. [additional notes on back of card, possibly to do with workers]

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Media: Neo-Babylonian Housing | NH Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Media	Media Title	Title	Label	Author	Omeka Label
	Ur Excavations IX; The Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods	Ur Excavations IX; The Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods	1962	Woolley, L. and Mallowan, Max	(none)