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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 13755 | 31-16-451 | (none) | (none) | Stone Bowl. White limestone (restored from fragments). Jnu. Type X (RC20a) [drawing] |
| 13756 | 31-16-434 | (none) | (none) | Stone bowl. White limestone (restored from fragments). JN19. Type XV ? RC22b [drawing] | |
| 13757 | 31-16-435 | (none) | (none) | Stone bowl. White limestone (restored from fragments, but imperfect). JN19. Type XV ? RC22b. [drawing] | |
| 13758 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay vase. Fragment. In greenish drab ware. Type CCCVII. (RC234) Not in catalog. [drawing] |
| 13759 | 31-16-90 | (none) | (none) | Clay vase. Type CCC. =JN41 new. Not in catalog. | |
| 13760A | 31-16-76 | (none) | (none) | Clay vase. Type CCCIV. =RC89. =JN77. Not in catalog. [drawing] | |
| 13761 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay vase of drab clay. With two spouts side by side. Type CCCV. [drawing] Not in catalog vol IV |
| 13763 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Bead. Carnelian, with white bleached pattern. [drawing] |
| 13844 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Tablet. Round Archaic accounts. HC.401 Stratum B. |
| 13853 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Seal impression. Human figure, not clear. Stratum D. |
| 14112 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Seal impression. Naturalistic pig. Stratum E. |
| 14407 | 31-17-86 | (none) | (none) | Figurine (amulet?) of a bull, white stone. Carved in the round: the eyes originally inlaid and in one is preserved the ring of white shell. Pierced behind the shoulder for suspension. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 14411 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay bottle. Light red clay. Type CCCXI. Not in catalog. |
| 14412 | 31-16-219 | (none) | (none) | Paint. The lower part of a plain clay cup containing plum-colored paint in powder form. Not in catalog. | |
| 14413 | 31-16-235 | (none) | (none) | Clay goblets. Type CCCXII. (TO.VII) [Tel Obaid typology] Not in Catalog. | |
| 14414 | 31-16-757 | (none) | (none) | Clay mace head. Fragment. Drab clay burnt black in the inside: the shape was the normal globular or oviform with vertical flutings: the surface treated with plum-red paint. [drawing] diam 006, ht 008 Vol IV PFT C6 Level -700 | |
| 14415 | 31-17-249 | (none) | (none) | Copper tool. (a narrow chisel or engraving-tool) round stem flattened to narrow chisel blade. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 14416 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Red clay, spouted. Type TO LXXX. Not in cat. vol. IV |
| 14417 | 31-16-206 | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Pinkish drab clay, spouted. Type TO LXXX. Not in cat. Vol. IV | |
| 14418 | 31-17-299 | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Pink clay with greenish drab surface. Between shoulder & neck a horizontal band of red paint from which hang streamers - vertical red strokes in sets of three. Most of the rim missing & a large hole in one side. Type? Cf. Type CLXI. [drawing] | |
| 14419 | 31-16-121 | (none) | (none) | Clay bottle. Drab clay. Type CCCXIII. JN.67 new. Not in catalog. | |
| 14420 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Stone bowl. Veined limestone. ? RC41. JN.9 |
| 14421 | 31-17-338 | (none) | (none) | Clay vase. Miniature. Type 2M63. Not in catalog. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 14422 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Fragments from a small pot of white frit originally covered with blue glaze. The shoulder decorated with impressed chevron. (restoration) It appears, so far as the decay of the frit allows of judgement, to have been moulded over a core which was afterward removed. [drawing 1:1] |
| 14423 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Fragment of a female figurine in green clay with black paint markings. Back view [reference to drawing] [drawing 1:1] |
| 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.