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)
18725AB (none) (none) (none) [A-AD] Weights. A mixed lot of small stone weights. 30 in all.
18725AA (none) (none) (none) [A-AD] Weights. A mixed lot of small stone weights. 30 in all.
18725A (none) (none) (none) [A-AD] Weights. A mixed lot of small stone weights. 30 in all.
18708 (none) (none) (none) Clay model stool with wickerwork seat.
18707 (none) (none) (none) Clay model stool with wickerwork seat.
18706 (none) (none) (none) Terracotta relief. Fragment of: guardian demon facing front and holding a staff: one of the pair: only the upper part of the one figure preserved.
18705 (none) (none) (none) Terracotta figurine. Hand modelled. Grotesque nude male (?) figure with beak like nose and heavy necklace: no breasts, so presumeably male, but round the waist a belt below which that may be the top of a shirt but may be the top of thje pudenda triangle of a female figure. Arms and body below waist missing.
18704 (none) (none) (none) Terracotta figurine. Nude female, full face, with hands clasped below breasts. A poor flaccid impression broken away at the knees.
18703 (none) 1933,1013.182 (none) Terracotta figurine. Nude female, full face, with flat crown, large earrings (?), heavy necklace and a strongly marked triangle for pudenda: hands clasped below breast. Feet missing.
18702 33-35-27 (none) (none) Terracotta figure. Hand modelled. Grotesque and female with sharply pointed nose, enormous locks of hair and heavy necklaces. Arms and all body below waist missing and breasts (snowman technique) broken off.
18701 33-35-26 (none) (none) Terracotta relief. Beaded man walking right: wears loose drapery and carries a flail (?) over his right shoulder: behind him a seated monkey.
18700 (none) (none) (none) Terracotta relief. Standing goddess, full face, on each side of her a very small figure holding a tall cross.
18698 (none) (none) (none) Beads. Carnelian: chisel shaped pendant, tubes and cylinders.
18696 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Black steatite presentation scene: a seated god and 2 standing figures: arrow and crescent poor condition.
18693B (none) (none) (none) Amulets. Shell. In the shape of a human hand.[CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card] (A) The open hand. (B) Clenched hand.
18693A (none) (none) (none) Amulets. Shell. In the shape of a human hand. [CARD MISSING Typed Transcription from British Museum Card] (A) The open hand. (B) Clenched hand.
18691 (none) 1933,1013.75 (none) Cylinder seal. Black steatite. Introduction scene with seated goddess and 1 standing figure and a tree: star and crescent above and 2 standing figures: there has been an inscription which is all weathered away.
18622 (none) (none) (none) Terracotta figurine of female figure, eyes represented by large rounds, a thin, long nose. Line of ornament above the breast which is bare. Broken off at breast.
18621 (none) (none) (none) Terracotta relief. Two birds facing each other in a panel with some [referencing drawing] shaped object between the necks. [drawing]
18620 33-35-58 (none) (none) Terracotta relief. Of a lion, passing to the right with mouth open, tail over back.
18619 (none) 1933,1013.187 (none) Terracotta releif of bearded male figure, with headdress falling down on each side, holding two objects over his chest, feet broken off.
18618 (none) (none) (none) Terracotta relief. Of naked female figure, hands clasped below the breast, hair done in outstanding curl on each side of the head. Broken below the knees.
18617 (none) (none) (none) Terracotta relief. Full length male figure wearing a round hat, a long bead and hands clasped over the chest. He has a long gown reaching to the ankles. Poor condition.
18616B 33-35-25 (none) (none) [A-B] Terracotta relief. Of full face female figure, wearing a high headdress with long curled ornaments on each side falling onto the shoulders, a double bead necklace to which the hands are raised. Broken about the waist. Two examples.
18616A (none) (none) (none) [A-B] Terracotta relief. Of full face female figure, wearing a high headdress with long curled ornaments on each side falling onto the shoulders, a double bead necklace to which the hands are raised. Broken about the waist. Two examples.

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