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.     

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

Object U Number Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number) Museum Number (BM Registration Number) Museum Number (UPM B-number) Description (Catalog Card)
17238AE (none) 1953,0411.47 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AF (none) 1953,0411.45 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AG (none) 1953,0411.25 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AH (none) 1953,0411.32 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AI (none) (none) (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AJ (none) 1953,0411.4 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AK (none) (none) (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AL (none) 1953,0411.2 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AM (none) 1953,0411.16 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AN (none) 1953,0411.52 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AO (none) 1953,0411.42 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AP (none) 1953,0411.11 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AQ (none) 1953,0411.27 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AR (none) 1953,0411.5 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AS (none) 1953,0411.10 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AT (none) 1953,0411.19 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AU (none) 1953,0411.49 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AV (none) 1953,0411.36 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AW (none) (none) (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AX (none) (none) (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AY (none) 1953,0411.3 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238AZ (none) 1953,0411.28 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238B (none) 1953,0411.20 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238BA 52-30-41 1953,0411.53 (none) U number not assigned in field
17238BB 52-30-41 (none) (none) U number not assigned in field

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)
  • 1 Media

Child Locations

Graves - Unit 2 - Unit 4