Omeka Title: PA-CU-B07-F002-068b-1924.jpg     
Omeka ID: 4429     
Transcription: [Page 3]Sin balatsuiqbi, a governor of Ur, at the time of Ashurbanipal about BC 702. On a shelf there is a line up of 8 clay cones with a long inscription of Warad-Sin a son of the king of Susa, who ruled the place and repaired it, and had his clay cones laid at regular intervals between layers of mud bricks, a jolly good idea to identify a building and perpetrate the name of the builder. I am surprised that you did not think of it while building an extension of the museum. Next come the broken statue of a decent old Semite. It is only a mangled trunk, with no head and only one arm. But on that arm instead of a statue he had his name inscribed [?Da-da ilum?] [c/o] of Sin. He keeps his hands clasped as becomes a good servant. he may have lived about BC 2000. Another remarkable piece, is the copper pole shoe, of a door found in position on the door socket. Both pieces are inscribed to the name of the same king Ur Engur builder of the Ziggurat. Stone reliefs with sculptures, one [?illegible?][Page 4]With all sort of figures and emblems, one colossal mace head- and all sort of inscribed bricks, and cones, not to forget, beads, terra cotta figurines, and vases from a respectable beginning of the season. For the last three weeks I never stopped copying. I begin to get used to the country - many visitors. Dr. Chiera has been here three weeks and always the same sweet visitor you know already for years in the museum. He seems at least to enjoy the place. We had one or two Sundays off to Nasriah the next city (?) across the Euphrates, and to an Arab picnic, in a palm garden on the bank of the river. We had to get across Willow's hedge to reach the water and sea Arabs [?feluga?], sailing up stream at a good pace. At a distance could be heard the creaking noise of the [?nooria?], or the plaintive Arab melody, with beating of the drums- we had only 12 courses. Well, the worst is still to come, and I will be glad to see old Philadelphia again. C.L.W. is clamoring for an answer and for cash. My best regards to you all. Your devoted L. LegrainP.S. I received a very indignant letter and three pamphlets from Dr. H R Hall of the Br. M I will acknowledge in time     
Media Title: Ur Notebook Scan -- 1924 - Box: 7 Folder: 2 - Page: 068b     
Page Number: 068b     
Project: CU     
Date: 1924     
Author: Leon Legrain     
Penn Archival Box Number: 7     
Penn Archival Folder Number: 2     
Crowdsource Tags: handwritten, Legrain     

People: Ur Notebook Scan -- 1924 - Box: 7 Folder: 2 - Page: 068b | Ur Notebook Scan -- 1924 - Box: 7 Folde Export: JSON - XML - CSV

People Full Name Biography
Leon Legrain Father Legrain was born in France, ordained as a priest there in 1904, and studied at the Catholic University of Lille and at the Collegium Appolinare in Rome. Assyriology professor at the Catholic Institute in Paris until WWI, he was then an interpreter in the war. He became curator of the Babylonian Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum in 1920 and retired in 1952. A specialist in cuneiform, he was the epigraphist at Ur during the 1924-25 and 1925-26 field seasons. He published widely on texts and engraved seals, both in his time before the Penn Museum and after. He published seals and sealings from Ur (Ur Excavations volume 10), some of the tablets (Ur Excavations Texts volume 3) and was slated to publish a volume on the figurines from the site. His research and even an unpublished catalogue for this volume are in archives at the Penn Museum and now available on this website. Even after his two years at the site of Ur, Legrain played an integral role in the excavations. Not only did he research, publish, and display artifacts in the Penn Museum, but he was also the Museum's representative in the division of objects from Ur conducted almost every year in London. Legrain's letters about this process are very interesting, often in a more personal tone than Woolley's. In fact, many of his colleagues declared that Legrain was particularly entertaining and jovial, if cynical. His photographs at Ur are some of the only images we have of daily life, with many pictures of local Iraqis.
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