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)
1464 (none) (none) (none) Small clay model, apparently of a dog crouching on top of a box: perhaps used as a pendant charm.
1465 (none) (none) (none) Fragment from rim of large clay pot with incised decoartions: four rows of oblique strokes above, and branch decoration below.
1466 (none) (none) (none) Wheel. Red-drab clay. Split in two, one side missing.
1467 (none) (none) (none) Wheel. Drab clay.
1468 (none) (none) (none) Wheel. Red clay, chipped.
1469 (none) (none) (none) Wheel. Light clay, broken.
1471 (none) (none) (none) Bowl of mortar. Greenish-brown veined stone.
1472 (none) 1924,0920.144 (none) Strainer. In form of cup, perforated with holes c. 5mm in diameter, drab clay.
1474 (none) (none) (none) Strainer. Shallow bowl, perforated. Drab clay.
1475 (none) (none) (none) Strainer. Small bowl, perforated. Drab clay.
1479 (none) 1924,0920.134 (none) Miniature jar. Light clay, handmade. [drawing 1:1]
1480 (none) 1924,0920.133 (none) Miniature jar. Red clay, handmade. With cord pattern around shoudler. [drawing 1:1]
1483 (none) 1924,0920.132 (none) Miniature pot. Drab clay; handmade. With suspension handles and incised line decoration part of surface and one handle broken away. [drawing 1:1]
1484 (none) 1924,0920.139 (none) Miniature pot. Drab clay; handmade. [drawing 1:1]
1488 (none) 1924,0920.143 (none) Clay vase. Red clay, drab surface; handmade. (small). With small jug handles (1 broken off?). Not p. [drawing 1:1]
1491 (none) 1924,0920.142 (none) Miniature bowl. Red clay; wheelmade(?) chipped at rim. Like U.1485, U.1486.
1492 (none) (none) (none) Miniature pot. Drab clay, with remains of green glaze. Wheelmade. Type 662 =P.99 [drawing 1:1]
1493 (none) 1924,0920.384 (none) Miniature bowl. Light drab clay; wheelmade; chipped at rim.
1494 (none) (none) (none) Miniature bowl. Red drab clay; wheelmade; rim broken. [drawing 1:1]
1495 (none) (none) (none) Cup. Red clay; wheelmade; rim chipped. [drawing 1:1]
1496 (none) (none) (none) Saucer. Drab clay; handmade. Rough. ?Larsa [drawing 1:1]
1498 (none) (none) (none) Miniature bowl. Yellow clay; handmade. [drawing 1:1]
1499 (none) (none) (none) Wheel. Rad clay, with foliated edges; pierced through center. Like U.1290.
1500 (none) (none) (none) Fragment. Rim of jar; yellow clay; wheelmade; with head of bird in relief below rim; thereare four holes through rim, and part of 2 others large below. [drawing 2:5]
1501 (none) (none) (none) Box lid. Fragment. Drab clay. With boss handle and snake in relief. [drawing 2:5]

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