Context Title: Diqdiqqeh | DQ     
Context Name (Publication): Diqdiqqeh     
Context Name (Excavation): Digdiggah; DQ     
Context Name (Excavation): Railway site     
Context Description: Essentially a suburb of the ancient city, this area is located about 2 km to the northeast of the ziggurat of Ur. The precise extents of Diqdiqqeh were never defined, but Woolley referred to it as the low ground between the main railway line and the branch that went to Nasiriyeh. The train lines no longer run in the same place they did in Woolley's day, but Corona images allow us to recreate their paths. This makes the general boundaries west, south, and east somewhat known but how far it stretched north is not completely clear. From the first season workers walking across this area picked up surface finds and brought them to Woolley. At that time the location did not have a fixed name in Woolley's mind and thus first season references sometimes say 'near the railway' or 'near Munshid's water engine.' In the second season Woolley decided to investigate more systematically, but after two days of excavation he decided there was not enough remaining architecture to reward further work. Instead, he continued to allow the workers to gather finds over the next ten seasons, and many later catalog cards state "brought in: Diqdiqqeh" The finds from Diqdiqqeh indicate that the ancient suburb played a role in manufacturing and perhaps in commerce. Canals seem to have met in the area and boats may have unloaded goods here. Many figurines, tools, moulds and other crafting items are among the finds, suggesting that Diqdiqqeh may have been an industrial area away from the main habitation. The so-called Treasury of Sin-Iddinam was also excavated in this general area in season 5. In the Antiquaries Journal of January 1925, Woolley described Diqdiqqeh as follows: “A mile and a half NE. of the ziggurat, between the main railway line and the Nasiriyah branch, there is a patch of low-lying ground, occasionally cultivated, which the natives call Diqdiqqeh... a happy hunting-ground for treasure-seekers, and I took advantage of this fact to collect from the natives the scattered antiquities which they might bring to light.”     
Season Number: 01: 1922-1923      

Objects: Diqdiqqeh | DQ 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)
1613 (none) 1924,0920.78 (none) Figurine. Drab clay; moulded. Figure with skirt to knees, legs in profile, carrying axe (?) over right shoulder; head missing.
1235 (none) 1924,0920.76 (none) Terracotta relief of mother and child similar to preceding number.
1756 (none) 1924,0920.75 (none) Relief. Moulded clay. Grotesque male figure, full face: Bes-like head, right arm raised, left to breast, body nude, large genital organs, bowl legs. Feet together.
1331 (none) 1924,0920.74 (none) Figurine. Light drab clay. Moulded. Nude figure, bearded, head and body facing, legs in profile. The god Ea(?) holding jar from which flow two streams.
1232 (none) 1924,0920.73 (none) Terracotta relief showing 2 figures, male (right) and female (left) standing facing, each with hand upon the shoulder of the other. [drawing]
1302 (none) 1924,0920.72 (none) Upper portion of relief with figure similar to U.1301.
1612 (none) 1924,0920.71 (none) Figurine. Fragment, bust only. Greenish clay; moulded. Bearded head with high horned headdress.
1393 (none) 1924,0920.70 (none) Drab clay relief. Moulded figures. 2 figures seated side by side (on modeled seat) clothed, but one shoulder of each bare, extending each an arm towards the other. Crescent moon (?) above.
1757 (none) 1924,0920.69 (none) Relief. Light red clay. Moulded. Female figure seated figure right: intact from same mould as U.1375.
1755 (none) 1924,0920.68 (none) Figure. Moulded. Reddish clay. On a chair or throne, (broken) upright female (?) figure, full face. Hands on breasts, body apparently draped: on head, a mural (?) crown: heavy curls over shoulders.
1759 (none) 1924,0920.67 (none) Figurine. Light red clay. Moulded. Nude female figure seated, full face, wears full-bottomed wig and bead-collar: with both hands holds infant to left breast. Roughly modeled in relief: two legs behind enable relief to stand up.
1308 (none) 1924,0920.66 (none) Clay relief showing a pair of seated figures, male (left) and female (right) embracing each other with one arm. The man holds in his other hand a kid or lamb and the woman a hanging bag.
1347 (none) 1924,0920.65 (none) Figurine. Drab clay: moulded, broken away at knees. Female figure, nude, with headdress, necklace (3 or 4-fold) and belt.
1742 (none) 1924,0920.64 (none) Terracotta relief. Green clay. Female figure, full face, standing with hands raised to breast. Triple feather crown, bead (?) girdle. By the side of the figure traces of rope-pattern, possibly edge of a veil (or shrine) behind the goddess.
1722 (none) 1924,0920.63 (none) Figurine. Drab clay; moulded. Female figure, clothed, with high headdress and flounced skirt.
1236 (none) 1924,0920.62 (none) Terracotta relief, complete, of naked goddess with hands resting under the breasts and apparently some kind of wrap round the shoulders. Drab clay. [drawing]
1374 (none) 1924,0920.61 (none) Figurine. Red clay: moulded. Female figure wearing animal's skin over head and shoulders, and belt; holding circular object in both hands.
1552 (none) 1924,0920.60 (none) Figurine. Green clay: moulded. Bearded figure in long robe, with low headdress and collar.
1371 (none) 1924,0920.59 (none) Figurine. Drab clay. Moulded. Female figure, nude, with necklace.
1720 (none) 1924,0920.57 (none) Cylinder seal. Black stone. Unfinished and broken; with single figure of erect lion. Found with figurine U.1712.
1555 (none) 1924,0920.51 (none) Amulet. Hematite. Recumbant cat; pierced for suspension, with holes for inlay eyes. [drawing 1:1]
1284 (none) 1924,0920.50 (none) Stone Janus-head. Red stone. Beardless, flat-featured face, (pierced vertically for suspension) [drawing 1:1]
1408 (none) 1924,0920.49 (none) Mask. Black stone. Small grotesque head; pierced for suspension.
1288 (none) 1924,0920.399 (none) Clay rosette. Fragment of drab clay. Like U.1286.
1597 (none) 1924,0920.391 (none) Fragment of cone, mostly illegible, duplicate of preceding.

Media: Diqdiqqeh | DQ Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Media Media Title Title Label Author Omeka Label
Ur Excavations VII; The Old Babylonian Period Ur Excavations VII; The Old Babylonian Period 1976 Woolley, L. and M. Mallowan (none)
  • 1 Media