25http://www165.123.244.137/location/25/Royal Cemetery | PGAreaUrContext TitleRoyal Cemetery | PGContext Name (Publication)Royal Cemetery; Great CemeteryContext Name (Excavation)PG; Private GravesContext DescriptionThe excavation area abbreviation PG grew to refer to a large region, at least 60x80 meters, in the southeastern portion of the Neo-Babylonian temenos but below the level of that wall. The area is most often referred to as the Royal Cemetery. The abbreviation PG, however, was initially used to designate individual graves: PG1422, for example, refers to Private Grave number 1422. The first PG numbers were assigned in season 5 when a series of trial trenches (see TTD, TTE, TTF, and TTG) were excavated in the area. These trenches were expanded to uncover more and more graves over the next few seasons. The last number assigned in the PG sequence was around 1850 but numbers were often reassigned for publication and even in the field some numbers were combined as they were recognized to come from one large grave rather than two separate ones. Others were deemed too fragmentary to publish; furthermore, several hundred additional graves were found in Pit X, an expansion of the PG area dug in 1934. The total number of graves excavated in the Royal Cemetery is thus extremely difficult to determine.
Woolley reports that there may once have been as many as three times the total number of graves he recorded, as he found many plundered and almost completely destroyed. Despite being called the Royal Cemetery, there were only 16 graves that Woolley actually dubbed 'royal.' He believed that these formed the core of the burial ground and that many others wanted to be buried nearby.
The cemetery lay outside the original temenos, the core of the city, and was apparently a dumping ground through much of its history. Stratigraphic layers of sealings (see SIS) help to date the main period of the Royal Cemetery to the Early Dynastic III, though there are also graves of the Akkadian and perhaps some of the early Ur III period here. Well beneath the main PG area are also graves of the ED I and Uruk periods, but these were mainly uncovered in pits dug within or adjacent to area PG (see PJ, Pit W, Pit X, Pit Y and Pit Z).
Most burials in area PG were simple inhumations with few artifacts, but the ones Woolley called royal were much more elaborate. Apart from having rich artifacts, they also showed evidence of human sacrifice -- many bodies were found in 'death pits' outside the main 'royal' burial. The people found in these death pits may have been attendants who went into the afterlife with their king or queen, yet no other indication of this practice is found elsewhere in Mesopotamia. Nor do we know who these 'kings and queens' were. The dating of the graves makes it difficult to associate them with a known dynasty at Ur and there were very few names found with any of the bodies. Only the burial of Puabi, the Queen, can be directly identified by her cylinder seal and she does not appear on any king list. References to Mesannepada and his wife Ninbanda, a king and queen of the first dynasty of Ur, were found but not in specific graves. Instead, they were found in material above the main graves and would imply that the royal tombs pre-date the first dynasty.
Woolley spent a great deal of time and energy excavating the Royal Cemetery and the majority of his field notes concern it. Recording of contexts here, then, is better than anywhere else at Ur. Nonetheless, not all of the graves were mapped and photographs were often difficult to obtain.950http://www165.123.244.137/location/950/PG/1422GravePrivate Graves 1401-1500Context TitlePG/1422Context Name (Publication)PG 1422DescriptionUE 2: The positive depth of this grave, 9.50 m. below the present surface, is deceptive in that rubbish containing light-coloured bricks apparently of Third Dynasty type were here found at a depth of six metres, and the bottom of the shaft (which could be traced only below this level) was probably only about 3.50 m. below the contemporary ground-surface.
The bottom of the pit was lined with plano-convex mud bricks which had been concealed by a further lining of mats; so far as could be made out, the weave of the matting was unusual and produced a rectangular panel pattern. At the bottom of the pit, but not quite filling it, was a wooden coffin measuring I.90 m. by 0.80 m. and 0.65 m. deep. The coffin lid was gabled, made of two planks of which one, 0.28 m. wide, was remarkably well preserved-that is, the impression and colour of it left in the soil was remarkably clear, v. PI. 78a; the sides were strengthened with five external stays, 0.06 m. by 0.03 m. thick, one at each corner and the others at intervals of 0.40 m. In
the coffin the body lay with its head to the north-west on its right side in the usual slightly flexed attitude; the skull was completely crushed by fallen earth; the body was that of a man.Ur Excavations, vol. 2 p.185Nissen DateNS1297http://www165.123.244.137/location/1297/Burial 1BodyPG/789Context TitleBurial 1Context Name (Publication)Burial 11305http://www165.123.244.137/location/1305/Burial 10BodyPG/789Context TitleBurial 10Context Name (Publication)Burial 101306http://www165.123.244.137/location/1306/Burial 11BodyPG/789Context TitleBurial 11Context Name (Publication)Burial 111307http://www165.123.244.137/location/1307/Burial 12BodyPG/789Context TitleBurial 12Context Name (Publication)Burial 121308http://www165.123.244.137/location/1308/Burial 13BodyPG/789Context TitleBurial 13Context Name (Publication)Burial 131309http://www165.123.244.137/location/1309/Burial 14BodyPG/789Context TitleBurial 14Context Name (Publication)Burial 141310http://www165.123.244.137/location/1310/Burial 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1928-1929Season Number08: 1929-1930Season Number10: 1931-1932Season Number11: 1932-1933Context TitlePrivate Graves Area | PGAContext Name (Excavation)PGAContext Name (Publication)Royal CemeteryContext DescriptionIn season 6, Woolley expanded his trial trenches in area PG opening up a much larger space in the Royal Cemetery proper. The northeastern extents in TTG had been revealing fewer and fewer graves, so he expected many more to the southeast; indeed, he found an increasing density here. He no longer considered this to be trial exploration, but a true excavation area, and thus began to call the space the Private Graves Area, abbreviated PGA. He also began mapping individual graves, establishing at least 4 mapping points from which he took angular measures to pinpoint locations. Unfortunately he never showed where these stakes were placed on any map so we can no longer utilize the recorded angles.
Cards from this season that bear the abbreviation PGA all concern textual material. Grave goods or other finds were recorded under their individual PG numbers rather than the general PGA abbreviation. It appears that the only material collected in the area but not associated with graves directly were inscribed objects and thus these were the only ones to garner the PGA designation.40http://www165.123.244.137/location/40/TTAAreaRoyal Cemetery | PGSeason Number01: 1922-1923Context TitleTTAContext Name (Excavation)Trial Trench AContext Name (Publication)Royal Cemetery AreaContext DescriptionTTA is shorthand for Trial Trench A, one of two exploratory trenches excavated in Woolley's first season at Ur in 1922. This one was about 4 meters wide by about 40 meters long as revealed by an aerial photograph taken at the end of the 1922 season. The trench encountered a few scattered finds of jewelry and materials that led Woolley to suspect they were from a graveyard, but he felt his team of local diggers was not yet ready to excavate such sensitive contexts. Thus, he decided to concentrate on TTB for the first few seasons, according to his various publications. One of the primary reasons for concentrating on TTB initially, however, may have been that Woolley discovered no architecture in TTA but had struck the enunmah building in TTB.
Woolley returned to TTA in season 5, when he expanded with new trial trenches and eventually opened up the entire area of the Royal Cemetery. No individual graves are reported in TTA and any that might have been encountered did not receive PG numbers. Those in the following trial trenches expanding TTA (TTE, TTF, TTG) did receive these numbers and gave their abbreviation (PG) to the entire Royal Cemetery area.43http://www165.123.244.137/location/43/TTDAreaRoyal Cemetery | PGSeason Number05: 1926-1927Context TitleTTDContext Name (Excavation)Trial Trench DContext Name (Publication)Royal Cemetery AreaContext DescriptionTTD is shorthand for Trial Trench D, one of two initial trenches dug in season 5 to extend TTA from season 1. Woolley dug TTD and TTE to search for graves in what he believed was a potentially vast cemetery. Neither of these trenches were ever mapped and no aerial photos show them, as by the time of the 1930 RAF photograph the trial trenches had been so extended that most of the Royal Cemetery area had already been exposed. Luckily, Woolley's field records allow us to reconstruct the direction and extents of the trench. He states that it ran from the head (northeast end) of TTA and extended southeastward to the east corner of the Neo-Babylonian temenos wall, making it about 65 meters in length. Though he does not tell us its width it is likely that it was about 4 meters, the same as the measurable trial trenches A, B, and C.
TTD did not reveal much, but it was only excavated to a depth of around 2 meters. As Woolley reports in the Antiquaries Journal volume 7 page 1: "The trench to the temenos angle produced no sign of buildings, but for the greater part of its length a floor of beaten mud, lying about 1.75 m. below the present surface, at which level we stopped short." It had just missed the south corner of the Mausoleum of the Ur III kings, and when area PG was expanded beneath the level of TTD in season 8, many graves were recorded here.44http://www165.123.244.137/location/44/TTEAreaRoyal Cemetery | PGSeason Number05: 1926-1927Context TitleTTEContext Name (Excavation)Trial trench EContext Name (Publication)Royal Cemetery AreaContext DescriptionTTE is shorthand for Trial Trench E, one of two initial trenches dug in season 5 to extend TTA from season 1. Woolley dug TTE and TTD at right angles to each other in order to search for graves in what he believed was a potentially vast cemetery. These trenches were never mapped and no aerial photos show them, as by the time of the 1930 photograph the trial trenches had been so extended that most of the Royal Cemetery area was exposed. Fortunately, Woolley's field records allow us to reconstruct its direction and extents. He states that TTE extended southwest to the south gate of the Neo-Babylonian temenos wall. This would make it about 85 meters in length, and though he does not tell us its width it is likely that it was around 4 meters, the same as the measurable trial trenches A, B, and C.
Although Woolley reports that he dug "two long trenches running diagonally across the site from the head of the old trench" only TTD can actually have begun at the northern end of TTA. TTE extends at a right angle to TTD, but it does so 8 meters from the northeast corner of TTA. In order to place TTE accurately, other information has been used from field notes and publications. These show that TTE struck PG580 but did not completely reveal it. In fact, Woolley began to dig part of PG580 from the side of the trial trench because he had cut through it without recognizing its full importance. He had to leave this particular grave at the end of the season and return to it in season 6. TTE also hit the stone roofing of PG777 but left it intact. PG580 and PG777 were mapped and show the direction and general placement of TTE.
TTE almost immediately began revealing graves, some of them relatively rich in gold jewelry. It is probably for this reason that Woolley did not continue TTD to any great depth but chose instead to focus on TTE. In fact, he later began extending TTE into new trenches along the same line (TTF and TTG). He assigned numbers to each grave as it was uncovered, preceded by the abbreviation PG (Private Grave). The initial sequence, PG1-PG226 were all located within TTE. The sequence then began to share with TTF and eventually with TTG. Unfortunately, none of the first 579 graves were ever mapped within the length of their trial trenches.1657http://www165.123.244.137/location/1657/PG/95GravePrivate Graves 1-100Context TitlePG/95Context Name (Publication)PG/951660http://www165.123.244.137/location/1660/PG/108GravePrivate Graves 101-200Context TitlePG/108Context Name (Publication)PG/108Nissen DateFD1763http://www165.123.244.137/location/1763/PG/208GravePrivate Graves 201-300Context TitlePG/208Context Name (Publication)Personal Grave 208Nissen DateFD1025http://www165.123.244.137/location/1025/PG/250GravePrivate Graves 201-300Context TitlePG/250Context Name (Publication)PG 250Nissen DateFD-FA45http://www165.123.244.137/location/45/TTFAreaRoyal Cemetery | PGSeason Number05: 1926-1927Context TitleTTFContext Name (Excavation)Trial Trench FContext Name (Publication)Royal Cemetery AreaContext DescriptionTTF is shorthand for Trial Trench F, the first extension of TTE. Like the other trenches in the royal cemetery it was never mapped and does not appear on an aerial photograph. The trench was dug on the same lines as TTE, essentially extending its width, and the only report that shows its southern line is a mention of the location of PG513 within it. This grave rested upon the ruined northwest wall of PG777, which means that TTF must have met TTE at PG777, since the roof of that grave was revealed in TTE. TTF therefore extended the width of TTE to the northwest.
The calculated location of TTF crosses over at least the southern end of TTA. This trench had been dug four years prior and had not been overly deep. It would likely have been mostly collapsed by this point, accounting for the somewhat different line of it and the season 5 trenches TTE, TTF, and TTG. While TTE was almost certainly around 4 meters in width as had been previous trial trenches, TTF and TTG may have been wider in order to find more graves. The only indication is the 1930 aerial photograph that shows an extent in the northwest portion of the cemetery that may go as far as 17 meters from the northwest edge of TTE. It is by no means certain, but a trench width of 6-7 meters (twice that of TTE) is suggested for each of TTF and TTG.
The first grave to be given a PG number in TTF was PG227. From this point, the sequence of grave numbers is shared between the two trenches, eventually to be supplemented with TTG.1772http://www165.123.244.137/location/1772/PG/453GraveTTFContext TitlePG/453Context Name (Publication)Personal Grave 4531797http://www165.123.244.137/location/1797/PG/563GraveTTFContext TitlePG/563Context Name (Publication)Personal Grave 563Nissen DateSA46http://www165.123.244.137/location/46/TTGAreaRoyal Cemetery | PGSeason Number05: 1926-1927Context TitleTTGContext Name (Excavation)Trial Trench GContext Name (Publication)Royal Cemetery AreaContext DescriptionTTG is shorthand for Trial Trench G, the second extension of TTE, actually extending TTF and obliterating TTA. Like the other trenches in the Royal Cemetery it was never mapped and does not appear on an aerial photograph. The trench was dug on the same lines as TTF, essentially extending its width to the northwest. The first grave to be numbered in this trench was PG355, but the sequence from this point up to PG580 is shared among the three trenches. This trial trench and TTF may have been about 5 meters wide, somewhat wider than other trial trenches as Woolley continued to expand, though there is no proof of this other than a slight indication on the 1930 aerial photograph. Excavation while the three trenches were open would have resembled a wide stair case, with TTE being the lowest in the southeast, TTF somewhat higher to the northwest, and TTG higher still. By the end of the season, all three trenches had reached at least 5 meters depth, though TTE had reached 9 meters.
The northwest portion of the cemetery did not produce as many graves as the southeast and Woolley extended excavations in the following season over a large area southeast of TTE, beginning with PG580. He also began to map individual graves in the overall area at this point.