Context Title: PJ     
Context Name (Excavation): PJ     
Context Name (Excavation): Jemdet Nasr Cemetery     
Context Description: The excavation area abbreviation PJ originally referred solely to Pit J, later renamed Pit Y. The abbreviation then came to represent the expansion of the Royal Cemetery to the south from Pit Y, called Pit X. Pit Y uncovered many graves earlier than the Royal Cemetery that Woolley believed to come from the Jemdet Nasr period. This gave rise to the southern extension being conceived of as a Jemdet Nasr cemetery for which Woolley began assigning PJ numbers. From the beginning of Pit X, Woolley assigned PJG numbers rather than PG numbers. He quickly recognized that these upper graves were actually a continuation of the Royal Cemetery Akkadian burials and when he began to see the burials of the main Royal Cemetery period, he switched to PJB numbers. Below these he assigned JNG numbers to graves, continuing the sequence from Pit W excavated in the preceding year. Then he renumbered early graves in Pits Y and Z (dug 4 years prior) to follow the Pit X JNG sequence. There are very few references to the original Pit J. In fact, all catalog cards that utilize the PJ abbreviation come from the final season of excavation and all refer to Pit X. Any artifacts that have only the PJ designation and no further refinement of grave number come from the general area of Pit X and were not associated with a specific grave. These often have further notes such as 'upper levels' or other indication that they are from the dumping grounds near the surface of Pit X.     
Season Number: 08: 1929-1930      
Season Number: 11: 1932-1933      
Season Number: 12: 1933-1934      

Objects: PJ Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Object U Number Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number) Museum Number (BM Registration Number) Museum Number (UPM B-number) Description (Catalog Card)
18785 (none) (none) (none) Clay foundation cone. Base missing: inscription on stem in 10 columns; most of lower part preserved.
18786 (none) (none) (none) Clay foundation cone, lower part of. Inscribed on stem only, 12 columns.
18787 35-1-111 (none) (none) Lion head. Terracotta. modeled in the round. Good style. [drawing 1:1]
18788 (none) (none) (none) Animal's head. Terracotta. modeled in the round, partly with snow-man technique. [drawing 1:1]
18789 (none) (none) (none) Terracotta relief, fragment. Head, shoulders and left arm of a bearded mail figure advancing right. High relief and coarse modelling.
18790 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Dark steatite. Three standing figures and a crescent on a pole: two columns of inscription, much erased.
18791 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Dark steatite. Two men fighting a lion. Poor work.
18792 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Steatite. A standing god and two worshippers, with 2 columns of inscription badly worn and purposely defaced. Photo impossible.
18793 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet. One corner chipped.
18794 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet.
18795 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet. (Intact)
18796 (none) (none) (none) Clay label. Triangular inscribed on both faces and with seal impression on the edges.
18797 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet. One corner chipped.
18798 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet. One side only inscribed.
18799 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet. With one line only of inscription.
18800 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet. Most of top broken away.
18802 (none) (none) (none) Cylinder seal. Dark brown steatite. Two men fighting a winged dragon: behind them an emblem on a pole, and a snake.
18805 (none) (none) (none) Clay bowl, fragment of. Of very highly burnished ware, black face inside and out, brown body. [drawing] 269
18808A (none) (none) (none) Clay foundation cones, fragments of three, similar: only the stem inscribed. (A) Lower part, half of, with remains of 10 columns of text.; (B) Top part of stem with 13 columns of text partly preserved.; (C) One side only from base upwards. Part of 6 columns of text preserved.
18810 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet. Complete.
18811 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet. Damaged but nearly complete.
18812 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet. Top slightly chipped.
18813 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet. Corner chipped. Inscribed on one side only.
18814 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet.
18815 (none) (none) (none) Clay tablet.

Media: PJ Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Media Media Title Title Label Author Omeka Label
Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods 1955 Woolley, L. (none)
  • 1 Media

Child Locations

Pit X - Pit Y