Pit F
| Context Title: | Pit F |
| Context Name (Publication): | Flood Pit; Pit F |
| Context Name (Excavation): | PFT; Pit F |
| Context Description: | Pit F stands apart from the Royal Cemetery pits dug in the preceding year, despite its letter 'F' falling inside the sequence of those pits. The sequence of pit letters was assigned after most had been dug, probably in season 8 as confusion arose over pits I and J. Pit F was originally called PFT to distinguish it from pits in the Royal Cemetery area. The suffix T probably stood for Temenos to show that Pit F was dug in the area inside the early temenos wall. The abbreviation became confusing and Legrain reports PF as 'Flood Pit' and PFT as 'Shaft in town area,' but the two designations are actually identical. The term 'Flood Pit' was often used to refer to Pit F because of the deep layers of silt found near its deepest extent. As much as 3 meters thickness of fine water-lain soil was encountered here, evidence of a great flood. In his books and talks for the general public, Woolley often made the equation of this flood with the biblical flood, but in his academic discussions he never did. Instead, here he referred to the frequent flooding of the Euphrates and how this particular flood must have been large and may have spawned Sumerian legends. Pit F was extremely large and extremely deep. Woolley's intent was to reach the earliest occupation of the site. He chose an already low-lying zone neighboring the excavation area EH and laid out a trench 15x25 meters, though in the southern half he only dug 10 meters width, making the final pit L shaped. He truncated the horizontal extent further as he dug down to avoid collapse and he eventually reached a depth of some 19 meters from the surface of the mound. The top of the pit had already been denuded to the Early Dynastic levels and thus late material was typically not found here. From the surface, Woolley found eight levels of early building remains going deeper and deeper. Beneath this he found pottery kilns and a deep layer of over-fired pottery fragments indicating manufacture. Near the bottom of this stratum he began finding Uruk period graves (that he called Jemdat Nasr period graves). He labeled these not with numbers, but with letters in the sequence PFG/A through PFG/XX. Below this he encountered the flood layer with Ubaid period graves cut into it. Beneath the flood layer he found evidence of Ubaid habitation near sea level and what he believed to be indications of the early marshlands in which Ur had originally been a very low mound. |
Files
| Object | U Number | Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number) | Museum Number (BM Registration Number) | Museum Number (UPM B-number) | Description (Catalog Card) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14945D | 31-16-712 | (none) | (none) | Clay ring. Three, found one inside the other [A-C]. (Also another, D, from about the same level it was found nested with 2 others, both incomplete.) Not in catalog. | |
 | 15590 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay ring. Probably the foot of a vase, never used as such: Dark greenish-grey ware. TO type. [drawing] |
| 14496 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay ring of uncertain use. Not in catalog. [drawing] |
| 14941A | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay reel. (A) Roughly made of dark drab clay: Use uncertain. (B) A second similar. [drawing] |
| 14941B | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay reel. (A) Roughly made of dark drab clay: Use uncertain. (B) A second similar. [drawing] |
| 14997A | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pots. Small "cornets" A. Drab Clay [Drawing] B. red clay, no rim, base broken ? recalling the stone 'cornets' of Susa Not in cat. vol IV |
| 14997B | 31-16-255 | (none) | (none) | Clay pots. Small "cornets" A. Dark Clay [Drawing] B. red clay, no rim, base broken ? recalling the stone 'cornets' of Susa Not in cat. vol IV | |
| 15624 | (none) | 1930,1213.184 | (none) | Clay pot. Spouted (in fragments) TO painted ware, purplish paint, fugitive, on pale buff. Type CCCXCVI. 45. [drawing] | |
| 15544 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Small rough handmade of red clay. Round the neck a collar of dark brown paint. Type CCCLXXII. 31. [drawing] |
| 14441 | 31-16-141 | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Red clay. Type ? RC50.A. Not in Catalog. Vol. IV. [drawing] | |
| 14442 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Whitish drab clay. Broken but nearly complete. Type TO LXXXV but with no base ring. Not in cat. Vol. IV |
| 15377 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. TO painted ware. Spouted & handled. Type CCCLXII |
| 15562 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. TO painted ware. Red clay with black or chocolate brown design. Type CCCLXXX. 34. [drawing] |
| 15618 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. TO painted ware. Plain black rim. Type CCCXCV. 55. |
| 15503 | 31-17-298 | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. TO painted ware. Dull brownish black on drab. 38. [drawing] | |
| 15513 | 31-17-367 | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. TO painted ware. Black on light drab. In fragments (too broken to type accurately). Type ? [one type crossed out] 360. 32. | |
| 15525 | (none) | 1930,1213.192 | (none) | Clay pot. TO painted ware. Black on green. Miniature: roughly made by hand and carelessly painted. Type CCCLXXIII. 30. [drawing 2:5] | |
| 15555 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. TO painted ware. Black on drab. Type CCCLXXIX. 33. [drawing] |
| 15626 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Spouted. TO painted ware. Black design on light drab. aU.43. |
| 15602 | 31-17-297 | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Spouted. Red clay with dark reddish purple paint, in fragments. & full of salt (see Field Notes: too broken to type). aU43. [drawing] | |
| 14444 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Spouted. Drab clay. Type CCCXVIII. Not in cat. Vol IV |
| 14427 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Spouted. Drab clay (broken & repaired) Type TO LXXX (a rathered full-bellied variant). Not in cat. Vol. IV. |
| 14492 | (none) | 1930,1213.277 | (none) | Clay pot. Spouted. Of light red clay. [drawing] Type JN145. Not in cat. vol. IV. | |
| 14956 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Situla shape. Light red clay. Rough. Type CCCXXIII. =JN69. Not in catalog. |
| 14429 | 31-17-368 | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Reddish drab clay. On the shoulders 3 small lugs pierced horizontally (2broken). Type CCCXV. |
| Media | Media Title | Title | Label | Author | Omeka Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods | Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods | 1955 | Woolley, L. | (none) |
| UPM Field Photo numbers | UPM Field Photo numbers | (none) | (none) | (none) |
- 2 Media
Sibling Locations
AH Site | AH - City Wall | CLW - DP - Dublalmah | LL - EH Site | EH - Ehursag | HT - EM Site | EM - Enunmah | TTB | ES - ESB - FH - Giparu | KP - Great Nanna Courtyard | PD - Harbor Temple - House 34/1 - House 34/2 - House Site - Kassite Fort - KPS Site | KPS - LT - LW - Mausoleum Site | BC - Neo-Babylonian Housing | NH - NNCF - NTB - P/103 - Palace of Bel-Shalti-Nannar | AD - Royal Cemetery | PG - SM - Temenos Wall | TW - TTC - XNCF - Ziggurat Terrace | ZT
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Context
Ur > Pit F
References
Woolley, L. . (1955) Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.