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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14500 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Stone bowl. Basic diorite (?) Dark grey. Type IX (RC19a) JN12. | |
 | 14505 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Seal impression. Large Im-gig eagle, grasping animal(s) |
| 14506 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Seal impression. Only legs of animals. |
| 14550 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Seal impression. Ibex (agrimi) |
| 14568 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Seal impression. Subject, not clear. |
| 14613 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Seal impression. Bull? (naturalistic attitude) & branch. |
| 14615 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Seal impression. Geometrical pattern? |
| 14901 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Fragments. From a clay pot. Chocolate paint on a light buff ground: only a very small proportion of the pot is perserved. Not in catalog. |
| 14902 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Fragments. From the shoulder of a large pot painted with design in 3 colors Jemdt Nasr type. (only a part of the shoulder preserved, rim and lower half of body missing.) |
| 14903 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Potsherds. Various decorated examples collected from level -9m these fairly represent the contents of the stratum in colored pottery. Not in catalog. |
| 14904 | 31-17-142 | (none) | (none) | Beads. Various types. Collected from the same level. Not in catalog. | |
| 14905 | 31-16-765 | (none) | (none) | Bead. Clay. Imitation of one cut from the core of a shell, with spiral band. Not in catalog. | |
| 14907 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Flint hoe (?) [drawing 1:1] |
| 14908 | 31-17-11 | (none) | (none) | Fragments. Of a small bowl of blue glazed frit. Shape uncertain. | |
| 14909 | 31-17-317 | (none) | (none) | Clay pot. Plain red, burnished. Spouted pot, with a second (sham) spout: the real spout and the rim missing: raised bands on shoulder and down upper part of sides: found all cracked and removed in paper. | |
| 14910 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Potsherds. Various. Collected from level -9m to -9.2m and reperesenting the painted pottery of that level. |
| 14911 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay bowl. Flat and oval. Not in catalog. [drawing] |
| 14912 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Flint hoe (?) [drawing 1:1] |
| 14913 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Potsherds. Bare and a few other fragments and vase of burnished black ware. (Card received from Mallowan, 1976) |
| 14919 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Potsherds. Various. Representing the decorated pottery from this stratum. |
| 14920B | 31-16-519 | (none) | (none) | Flints. Set in bitumen. Which fixed the flint either to wood or to bone. [drawing 1:1] |
| 14921A | (none) | (none) | (none) | Two rings of clay [A and B]. One green, one drab. Use uncertain. Found together cf. U.14496. Not in catalog. |
| 14922 | 31-17-270 | (none) | (none) | Copper spatula (?) Slender metal rod with flattened disk head. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 14924 | 31-17-267 | (none) | (none) | Copper fish hook (?) 1 barb. No sign of hafting. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 14925 | 31-16-481 | (none) | (none) | Stone handle. Perhaps for a drill? [Drawing 1:1] Vol IV: PL. 28 (p.31.16.481) PFT E7-910h-950 |
| 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.