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)
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]
1503 (none) (none) (none) Plumb bob. Drab clay. With hole at end, and one at side. [drawing]
1504 (none) (none) B15729 Stone weight(?) grey-black stone. Flattened on underside. Incised marks (possibly Aramaic letters) Type I. P. [drawing].
1507 (none) (none) B15731 Stone weight. Mottled black stone. Like U.1506 (more elongated). Type II. P. [Philadelphia]
1510 (none) (none) (none) Seal. Black stone. Conical; deity(?) and crescent on pole.
1511 (none) (none) (none) Earring. Broken. Thin gold: boat shaped. [drawing]
1513 (none) (none) (none) Wheel. Drab clay; plain edge. Like U.1294.
1516 (none) (none) (none) Clay cone. Ur-Nammu, commemorating his construction of the canal of Ur.
1517 (none) (none) B15613 Clay cone of Ur-Nammu. Inscription duplicate of U.1515. P.
1519 (none) (none) (none) Small account tablet tablet. Apparently undated, but of 3rd Dynasty of Ur.
1522 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Dark stone. Half. With trace of an archaic inscription.
1523 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Black steatite. One side much damaged. Device is in 2 registers. Introduction scene above and crude design of swans below. Inscription: ahat-i-li-lugal-usum-(gal)-la PA. For design and inscription compare U.1268 and U.1267.
1524 (none) (none) B15702 Bedstead (or chair) Drab clay. 2 legs and back missing. Decorated with 6(?) panels in relief, like the quarterings of a shield. P.
1525 (none) (none) (none) Wheel. Red clay, plain edge. Like U.1513.
1526 (none) (none) (none) Figurine. Greenish clay: moulded. 2 seated figures, female, clothed, of very unequal size; weathered.
1527 (none) (none) B15689 Clay Figurine. Fragment of, head and shoulders only, drab clay: moulded. Bearded figure in high horned headdress. P.
1528 (none) (none) B15654 Figurine. Fragment, waist upwards only. Red clay, yellow surface: moulded. Figure in horned headdress. P.
1529 (none) (none) B15679 Figurine. Drab clay: moulded. Female figure with necklace, partly clothed, with flat headdress. Legs broken. P.
1531 (none) (none) B15655 Figurine. Fragment., below waist upwards only: drab clay: moulded. Female figure, same type as U.1530. P.
1532 31-16-880 (none) (none) Figurine. Fragment. Waist upwards only. Yellow clay: moulded. Female figure, with necklace, weathered. P. 31-16.880
1533 (none) (none) (none) Figurine. Reddish clay, drab surface: moulded. Female figure, nude, with left arm raised. Broken away from knees downwards.
1535 (none) (none) B15692 Clay Head. Red drab clay: modeled, wearing low cap, the eyes separately attached. P.
1537 (none) (none) B15667 Figurine. Drab clay: moulded. Female figure holding circular object like U.1374. P.

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