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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14904 | 31-17-142 | (none) | (none) | Beads. Various types. Collected from the same level. Not in catalog. | |
| 15368 | 31-17-72 | (none) | (none) | Beads. Very small white shell rings. Found on the arm. | |
| 14973 | 31-17-71 | (none) | (none) | Beads. Very small white shell rings. Found with the body in early grave below kilns. | |
| 14471 | 31-17-102 | (none) | (none) | Beads. 12 various. Not in catalog. | |
| 14483 | 31-17-95 | (none) | (none) | Beads. Eleven various. Including one of black obsidian (?) shape thus: [drawing] Not in Catalog Vol. IV. [drawing] | |
 | 15357 | (none) | 1930,1213.150 | (none) | Beads: One steatite flattened oval; one ring-bead of green-blue jade(?) and a quantity of minute while shell rings found with a head in the mixed burial L. [drawing 1:1] |
| 15606 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Beads: dark steatite, falttened lentoid with engraved pattern (much worn). [drawing 1:1] |
| 15381 | (none) | 1930,1213.19 | (none) | Beads: Very small ring of white shell found on the arm of a body (one of a large group) which had no other burial furniture. |
| 15378 | (none) | 1930,1213.83, 1930,1213.84, 1930,1213.85 | (none) | Beads: very small rings of black stone & white shell worn at the wrist in many parallel strings, probably sewn on cloth. |
| 15332 | 31-16-551 | (none) | (none) | Bitumen object. Perhaps a staff-head(?) [drawing 1:1] | |
| 15515 | 31-16-555 | (none) | (none) | Bitumen. A large lump bearing on one side the imprint of coarse reed matting. | |
| 14484 | (none) | 1930,1213.532 | (none) | Bone pin with decorated head (point broken). [drawing 1:1] |
| 13733 | 31-17-85 | (none) | (none) | Bone roundel. With engraved cross on one side. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 15520 | (none) | 1930,1213.533 | (none) | Bone stylus ? With arrow-like head, flattened. [drawing 1:2] |
| 14431 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Brick. Kiln-baked. Triangular, with 2 straight sides at right-angles & a curved side: a shaped brick for rounding off a corner. One face is straight side flat, the other slightly concave. |
| 14968 | 31-16-474 | (none) | (none) | Celt. Polished. Coarse black stone. [drawing 1:1] |
| 15386 | (none) | 1930,1213.198 | (none) | Clay cup. TO painted ware. Type CCCXLV. 23 [drawing] | |
| 14938A | 31-16-709 | (none) | (none) | Clay tool. ? a potter's smoother. A. flat & shaped. Thus: [drawing 1:1] B. a second similar but smaller | |
| 14938B | (none) | 1930,1213.297 | (none) | Clay tool. ? a potter's smoother. A. flat & shaped. Thus: [drawing 1:1] B. a second similar but smaller |
| 14985 | 31-16-588 | (none) | (none) | Clay axe (imprefect). [drawing 1:1] | |
| 14448 | (none) | 1930,1213.369 | (none) | Clay bead. Fragment. Tubular, with ridges round the end. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 14930 | (none) | 1930,1213.349 | (none) | Clay bottle(?) Miniature. Phallic. In the rim are 4 holes drilled through to the side of the neck. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 14419 | 31-16-121 | (none) | (none) | Clay bottle. Drab clay. Type CCCXIII. JN.67 new. Not in catalog. | |
| 13742 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay bottle. Light drab clay. With no opening other than 2 very small holes drilled through at the base of the neck on one side. [drawing] |
| 14411 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay bottle. Light red clay. Type CCCXI. Not in catalog. |
| 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.