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) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 13727 | (none) | 1930,1213.546 | (none) | Bead. Dark grey pebble. Lentoid flattened on 1 side like a stamp seal, but plain underneath. [drawing] |
| 13728A | (none) | 1930,1213.551 | (none) | Clay sling bolts. Normal pointed type. |
| 13728B | (none) | 1930,1213.551 | (none) | Clay sling bolts. Normal pointed type. |
| 13729B | (none) | 1930,1213.378 | (none) | Clay sling bolts. Ball type. | |
| 13731 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Amulet. Black stone. In form of a dog. [drawing 1:1] |
| 13732 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Stone Vase. White limestone. [drawing 1:1] |
| 13735 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Stone bowl. Grey (basic diorite?) Straight-sided. RC150. [drawing] |
| 13736 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay jar. Type CCCII. Pl. 101. Not in catalog. |
| 13737 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Stone celt. Dark grey pebble. Polished. [drawing 1:1] |
| 13740 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Stone lamp(?) Grey stone (basic diorite?) A shallow bowl with trough spout. [drawing] |
| 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] |
| 13745 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Beads. Small white shell rings. Strung in 2 loops kept together by a little rectangular black steatite spacer. Probably a bracelet. Found on the floor of the room, in order. |
| 13747 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Stone bowl. Grey stone (basic diorite?) Broken & 1/3 missing. One hole is pierced through the middle of the bottom and two close together near the rim: cf. 13746. [drawing] |
| 13748 | (none) | 1930,1213.232 | (none) | Pounder. Dark grey stone. Polished. Section at base. Not in catalog. [drawing 1:1] |
| 13749 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Roundel. ? spindle whorl. Dark grey steatite. Top slightly convex. [drawing 1:1] |
| 13750 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Stone spindle whorl. Basic diorite(?) Usual plano-convex type. Not in catalog. [drawing] |
| 13752 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Fragments of pottery. Black ware with diagonal and horizontal lines of burnishing. (Card Received from Mallowan, 1976.) |
| 13753 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Stone bowl. White limestone. In antiquity broken in half and mended with 3 rivets (rivet-holes very large) The base not clearly defined. JN14 new. [drawing] |
| 13758 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Clay vase. Fragment. In greenish drab ware. Type CCCVII. (RC234) 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 |
| 13762 | (none) | 1930,1213.577 | (none) | Clay vase. miniature Type ? [drawing] not in cat. 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. |
| 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
Share
Context
Ur > Pit F
References
Woolley, L. . (1955) Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.