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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 15579 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay cup. TO painted ware (fragments) Paint & fugitive red paint on cream buff. Type CCCXLV. 23. [drawing] |
| 15578 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Painted: fragments. With reddish-brown paint on light red clay. Shape & design doubtful (fragments collected). |
| 15577 | (none) | 1930,1213.190 | (none) | Clay cup. TO painted ware (in fragments) Black on greenish drab. Type CCCXLV. 23. [drawing] | |
| 15576 | 31-17-285 | (none) | (none) | Clay platter. TO painted ware. Plain black border on greenish drab clay. Type CCCLXV. 3a. | |
| 15575 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay platter. TO painted ware. Plain black border on green clay. Type CCCLXVI. 4. |
| 15574 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay cup. TO painted ware (in fragments) Black on greenish drab. Type CCCXLV. 23. [drawing] |
| 15573 | (none) | 1930,1213.00 | (none) | Clay bowl. TO painted ware ( in fragments) Black on cream. Type CCCLXXVI. 21. [drawing] | |
| 15572 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay bowl. Light drab clay. Handmade, very rough. Type CCCXCI |
| 15571 | 31-17-301 | (none) | (none) | Clay cup. TO painted ware (in fragments) Black on cream. Broken. Type CCCXLV. 23. [drawing] | |
| 15570 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay cup. (fragments) Black on cream. Broken. Type CCCXLV. 23. [drawing] |
| 15569 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay cup. TO painted ware (in fragments) Deep brown-black paint on light drab. Type CCCLXV. 23. [drawing] |
| 15568 | 31-17-309 | (none) | (none) | Clay cup. TO painted ware (in fragments) black on greenish drab. Type CCCLXV. 25. [drawing] | |
| 15567 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay cup. TO painted ware (n fragments) Chocolate-brown on drab. Type CCCXLV. 25. [drawing] |
| 15566 | (none) | 1930,1213.337 | (none) | Clay figurine. Fragment. In drab clay. Nude female with hands on flanks. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 15565 | (none) | 1930,1213.193 | (none) | Clay bowl. Fragments. TO painted ware. Black on greenish drab. Type CCCLXV. 3a. [drawing] | |
| 15564 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay bowl. Fragments. TO painted ware. Black on drab. Type CCCLXXVL. aU.21. [drawing] |
| 15563 | 31-17-314 | (none) | (none) | Clay cup. Plain light drab ware. (thin walled) intact. Type. CCCXLV. | |
| 15562 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. TO painted ware. Red clay with black or chocolate brown design. Type CCCLXXX. 34. [drawing] |
| 15561 | (none) | 1930,1213.219 | (none) | Clay cup. To painted ware. Black on cream. Type CCCXLV. 23. [drawing] | |
| 15560 | (none) | 1930,1213.220 | (none) | Clay cup. TO painted ware. Black bands on light red clay. Fragments only not making a complete vessel: all base missing. Type CCCXLV 25. | |
| 15559 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay cup. Plain. creamy drab ware. Type CCCLXV. |
| 15558 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay bowl. TO painted ware. Plain black border on greenish drab clay. Type CCCLXXVII. 8. |
| 15557 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay bowl. TO painted ware. Chocolate brown on pink. Type CCCLXV. 3a. [drawing] |
| 15556 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Plain: light drab ware. Spout missing: the whole much crushed and broken. Type CCCXXXVII. |
| 15555 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. TO painted ware. Black on drab. Type CCCLXXIX. 33. [drawing] |
| Media | Media Title | Title | Label | Author | Omeka Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UPM Field Photo numbers | UPM Field Photo numbers | (none) | (none) | (none) |
| Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods | Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods | 1955 | Woolley, L. | (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.