Description (Catalog Card): Flat seal. Greenish grey steatite. Circular. Upper side convex and decorated with 4 circles, and 3 parallel incisions. Under side a man with a bowl resting against back of neck over shoulders balanced by each arm-suspended from it are 3 water skins, and to one side of the man a stool(?). Pair of stars. [drawing] obv. for rev. see photo.2     
Find Context (Catalog Card): From Upper rubbish Kassite (?) level over Pump House A.H     
Material (Catalog Card): Steatite3     
U Number: 16747     
Object Type: Seals, Stamps, and Sealings >> Stamp Seals      
Museum: University of Pennsylvania Museum      
Season Number: 09: 1930-1931      
Description (Modern): Seal, round, flat, man carrying jars, stars. Dilmun type?     
Material: Inorganic Remains >> Stones and Minerals >> Stone >> Metamorphic >> Greenstone >> Steatite      
Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number): 31-43-75     
[1] circles and parallel lines
[2] Woolley's description
[3] Material as described by Woolley

Locations: 16747 | 31-43-75 Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Location Context Title Context Description Description (Modern)
AH Site | AH In the southeast portion of the mound of Ur, Woolley excavated a large horizontal extent of domestic space roughly 115 x 85m. near the surface he found scattered Neo-Babylonian and Kassite remains and intrusive graves of the late periods but he did not publish these in detail nor are there any extant notes covering them. Instead, Woolley's main goal was to uncover the best preserved floorplans of houses. These he found several meters down, houses of the Isin-Larsa/Old Babylonian period. Because the Old Babylonian period was typically that associated with the potential time of Abraham, Woolley used the abbreviation AH (Abraham's Housing) to refer to this excavation area. In the course of excavation of the Isin-Larsa/Old Babylonian levels Woolley numbered 27 'houses,' or excavation units. He renumbered the houses for publication based on the overall plan, preserved walls, and doors onto streets. In this way he showed there were 52 individual houses within his 27 excavation areas. However, houses were frequently altered throughout period, as families would knock out walls or block up doors, and thus true house numbers are difficult to establish. Woolley mentions phases of rebuilding, but states that he sought the best preserved floor plan and published the excavation of a particular house based on that plan alone. In some cases he noted deeper remains that may have gone back to the Ur III period. These levels he partially uncovered as he excavated graves beneath the Larsa period floors. A great deal of baked brick was in use for walls of the Isin-Larsa/Old Babylonian period. Some houses used it in the lowest portion of a wall, but others used it for entire walls up to 3 meters in height. Town planning was not evident, as streets tended to wander in narrow and winding paths. Corners where streets met were often rounded, leading Woolley to surmise that this was to prevent problems with laden donkeys catching their wares on corners. Many houses had a domestic chapel within, often with family burials beneath the floor. Communal chapels were also noted, at least four being identified in the area. Finally, Woolley believed that some buildings were specifically used for commercial activities (shops), though this is difficult to prove. (none)
  • 1 Location

Media: 16747 | 31-43-75 Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Media Media Title Title Label Author Omeka Label
Provisional Field Photo Album Provisional Field Photo Album (none) (none) (none)
Woolley's Catalog Cards Woolley's Catalog Cards Card -- BM ID:194 Box:66 Page:176 Card -- BM ID:194 Box:66 Page:176 (none)
Ur Excavations X; Seal Cylinders Ur Excavations X; Seal Cylinders 1951 Legrain, Leon, and Woolley, Leonard (none)
Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods 1955 Woolley, L. (none)
Ur Excavations VIII; The Kassite Period and the period of the Assyrian Kings Ur Excavations VIII; The Kassite Period and the period of the Assyrian Kings 1965 Woolley, Leonard (none)
  • 5 Media