Pit X

Context Title: Pit X1     
Context Name (Excavation): Pit X     
Context Name (Publication): Pit X     
Context Description: Pit X was excavated as a large southern extension of the Royal Cemetery area, likely originally conceived as an extension of Pit Y (Pit J) at the southwest corner. Its main purpose was to uncover the earliest burials in the area, the so-called Jemdat Nasr cemetery first encountered in pits Y and Z. Pit X measured approximately 30x15 meters, though it may originally have been laid out to be 35x20. Woolley reports it as a rectangle covering 1000 square meters, but even the largest indication on the plan map and satellite images is at most 700 square meters and not truly rectangular. Nevertheless, it is a very large space that reached sea level some 20 meters below the surface of the mound. In the Antiquaries Journal for 1934 Woolley reports a total of 13,160 cubic meters of dirt having been removed from this pit. Some minor building remains of the Neo-Babylonian and Kassite periods were found near the surface but most of the area was apparently used as a dumping ground in the Late Bronze Age and later. Woolley knew that the Royal Cemetery area extended to the south of his main area PG but believed he would find few graves of the Akkadian and EDIII period. He discovered more than he expected, but none were overly rich in finds. These graves did not receive PG numbers since the UE2 Royal Cemetery volume had already been published. Instead, they received PJ numbers. The series PJG applied to graves in Pit X Woolley felt to be Akkadian or later and PJB applied to those of the EDIII period. The break between these two sequences came at around 10 meters above sea level. In all, Pit X added some 250 to the more than 1000 burials of these periods that Woolley had already uncovered in area PG. Beneath the graves of the Royal Cemetery (starting at around 6 meters above sea level) Woolley reached the earlier graves of what he called the Jemdat Nasr cemetery. Graves at this depth were given JNG numbers. In fact, JNG eventually applied to all of the early graves discovered in pits W, X, Y, and Z. Some of those excavated in Y and Z had received PG numbers but they were renumbered for publication in the JNG sequence. Most of these graves actually date to the Early Dynastic I period. The area near the base of the pit was smaller than that at the top. Only around 400 square meters was exposed near sea level, yet more than 200 early graves were discovered. Although Ubaid period pottery fragments were found, only two Ubaid burials were discovered here. The large area excavation stopped at 2 meters above sea level, but a test pit at the bottom reached down to sea level itself.     
[1] Imported from BM list of contexts.

Objects: Pit X 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)
19018A (none) (none) (none) Group: (A) Copper bowl, Type III; (B)[B and F] Pair of small gold lunate earrings; (C) Copper bracelet; (D) Beads: carnelian tubes, square tubes, barrels and rectangular; gold balls; lapis date-shaped; large chalcedony flattened oval; (E) Fragment of gold ribbon from head.
19019 (none) (none) (none) Copper dagger-blade. Type 3.
19020 (none) (none) (none) Copper object, thus: [drawing 1:1]
19021 (none) (none) (none) Beads: flattened oval agate, lapis tubes and double concoid, crystal balls, carnelian date-shaped and carnelian ball with bleached concentric circles.
19023 (none) (none) (none) Stone bowl. White limestone. Oblong, with a short handle at one end and fin-like ledges on each side; broken and a fragment missing. Type RC.102
19024 (none) (none) (none) Stone bowl. White limestone. Broken. Broken and rivetted in antiquity. Type 41.
19025 (none) (none) (none) Copper bowl. Type 3.
19027 (none) (none) (none) Beads: lapis double conoids and ovals; 1 large lapis date-shaped; carnelian rings.
19028 (none) (none) (none) Beads: small paste lentoids.
19029 (none) (none) (none) Copper chisel. Type 2a.
19030 (none) (none) (none) Beads: carnelian tubes and date-shaped; 1 lapis double conid; small carnelian rings; paste balls and some silver.
19031 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Shell, partly decayed. Two hunters fighting animals.
19032 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Shell; partly decayed. Two hunters fighting animals.
19033 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Dark greenish grey steatite. Seated god, winged shrine and kneeling worshipper.
19034 (none) 1935,0112.49 (none) Cylinder seal. Dark grey steatie. Two hunters fighting animals.
19035 (none) (none) (none) Beads: small lapis barrels, balls, and double conoids; carnelian rings, barrels and tubes, two of the latter with white bleached patterns of concentric circles.
19036 (none) (none) (none) Copper goblet. Cracked and with a small piece missing. Type RC.119.
19037 (none) (none) (none) Statuette. White calcite. Of a woman, standing with hands clasped on her breast, wearing the kaukanes. The figure is carved in the round but the back is almost flat and the back of the head, which is missing, seems to have been added in plaster: it is carved from a slab of stone the back of which is the back of the statute. The eyes are inlaid with shell and lapis lazuli, and a strip of lapis lazuli forms the fillet across the forehead and down each side of the face: the eyebrows were in black paste (which came away in powder with the dirt) and there was black paint on the hair and in the grooves of the kaukanes: none of this could be preserved. The left side is stained green by the corrosion of the axe which lay against it. The stone is decayed in places and has run in blisters which interfere with the modelling of the face (right side) , right arm and hair. Some of the lapis inlay had been lost in antiquity. The figure is made in two pieces morticed together.
19038 (none) (none) (none) Conch shell. Cut open as a lamp, at the top of the opening is engraved a bird's head with inlaid lapis eye.
19039 (none) (none) (none) Beads: carnelian cylinders and one double conoid, ball and rings; paste tube and balls, silver balls, etc.
19040 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Shell. About 1/3 of the surface perished. Hero fighting animalsl; fine bold style.
19042 (none) (none) (none) Stone saucer. White calcite. Type _.
19043 (none) (none) (none) Stone bowl. Grey limestone. Type 19a. roughly made.
19044 (none) (none) (none) Beads: carnelian date-shaped (4) and very small tubes and rings of paste and lapis(?)
19046 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Shell. Two gazelles.

Media: Pit X Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Media Media Title Title Label Author Omeka Label
Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods 1955 Woolley, L. (none)
  • 1 Media

Sibling Locations

Pit Y

Child Locations

Jemdat Nasr Graves - PJB - PJG

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Context

Ur > Royal Cemetery | PG > PJ > Pit X

References

Woolley, L. . (1955) Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.