﻿438 
  ANNUAL 
  EEPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1929 
  

  

  already 
  put 
  forward 
  that 
  the 
  Jemdet 
  Nasr 
  ware 
  is 
  northern 
  and 
  

   Akkadian, 
  not 
  Sumerian, 
  and 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  north 
  its 
  manufacture 
  

   continued 
  until 
  the 
  native 
  Akkadian 
  culture 
  had 
  been 
  swamped 
  

   by 
  the 
  Sumerian, 
  i. 
  e., 
  until 
  the 
  rise 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  dynasty 
  of 
  Erech 
  

   if 
  not 
  untU 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  dynasty 
  of 
  Ur. 
  At 
  any 
  rate 
  it 
  must 
  

   mean 
  that 
  the 
  Jemdet 
  Nasr 
  culture, 
  though 
  earlier, 
  is 
  not 
  much 
  

   earlier 
  that 
  that 
  of 
  our 
  first 
  series 
  of 
  graves. 
  

  

  FIRST 
  SHAFT: 
  DEATH 
  PIT 
  WITH 
  40 
  BODIES 
  

  

  Last 
  year 
  we 
  recovered 
  the 
  ground 
  plan 
  of 
  a 
  king's 
  grave; 
  this 
  

   year 
  we 
  have 
  traced 
  the 
  sections 
  of 
  such 
  graves 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  hardly 
  less 
  

   illummating. 
  The 
  first 
  clue 
  was 
  given 
  by 
  the 
  discovery, 
  not 
  very 
  

   deep 
  down, 
  of 
  a 
  layer 
  of 
  reeds 
  extending 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  mud 
  brick 
  walls 
  

   of 
  what 
  seemed 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  small 
  room. 
  The 
  reeds 
  were 
  removed 
  and 
  

   under 
  them, 
  crushed 
  to 
  fragments 
  by 
  the 
  weight 
  of 
  the 
  soil, 
  were 
  

   innumerable 
  clay 
  pots, 
  animal 
  bones, 
  and 
  several 
  human 
  skeletons, 
  

   all 
  lying 
  on 
  a 
  floor 
  of 
  beaten 
  clay. 
  It 
  was 
  easy 
  to 
  recognize 
  that 
  these 
  

   things 
  had 
  been 
  buried 
  from 
  the 
  outset, 
  were 
  in 
  fact 
  an 
  underground 
  

   votive 
  deposit, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  building 
  which 
  contained 
  them 
  was 
  a 
  

   subterranean 
  building; 
  closer 
  examination 
  showed 
  behind 
  the 
  walls 
  an 
  

   earth 
  face 
  cut 
  at 
  a 
  gentle 
  slope, 
  so 
  that 
  the 
  building 
  lay 
  in 
  a 
  vertical 
  

   shaft. 
  The 
  theory 
  arose 
  that 
  at 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  that 
  shaft 
  there 
  

   would 
  be 
  a 
  royal 
  tomb 
  and 
  that 
  when 
  the 
  king 
  had 
  been 
  buried 
  and 
  

   his 
  retainers 
  duly 
  slaughtered 
  around 
  him 
  and 
  the 
  earth 
  thrown 
  

   back 
  above 
  their 
  bodies 
  then 
  at 
  intervals 
  votive 
  offerings 
  would 
  be 
  

   laid 
  in 
  with 
  the 
  earth 
  and 
  at 
  a 
  certain 
  stage 
  the 
  filling 
  in 
  of 
  the 
  shaft 
  

   would 
  be 
  stopped 
  and 
  a 
  chamber 
  or 
  chambers 
  would 
  be 
  constructed 
  in 
  

   it 
  to 
  receive 
  the 
  last 
  offerings; 
  then 
  more 
  earth 
  would 
  be 
  poured 
  in 
  

   and 
  perhaps 
  a 
  superstructure 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  a 
  funerary 
  chapel 
  would 
  

   complete 
  the 
  whole. 
  So 
  much 
  for 
  the 
  theory; 
  in 
  fact 
  we 
  have 
  dug 
  

   down 
  some 
  20 
  feet 
  below 
  the 
  layer 
  of 
  pots, 
  finding 
  every 
  now 
  and 
  then 
  

   a 
  fresh 
  group 
  of 
  offerings 
  or 
  a 
  subsidiary 
  burial, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  bottom 
  

   we 
  have 
  found 
  not 
  indeed 
  the 
  tomb 
  chamber 
  of 
  the 
  king, 
  which 
  

   must 
  lie 
  under 
  the 
  mass 
  of 
  soil 
  not 
  yet 
  excavated, 
  but 
  the 
  "death 
  

   pit" 
  inseparable 
  from 
  it; 
  in 
  this 
  open 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  shaft 
  measuring 
  

   less 
  than 
  20 
  feet 
  by 
  10, 
  there 
  are 
  crowded, 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  in 
  ordered 
  

   rows, 
  the 
  bodies 
  of 
  39 
  women 
  and 
  1 
  man. 
  

  

  SECOND 
  SHAFT: 
  SEAL 
  OF 
  MES-KALAM-DUG 
  

  

  Another 
  shaft 
  opened 
  more 
  sensationally 
  with 
  a 
  wooden 
  box 
  in 
  

   which 
  were 
  two 
  daggers 
  with 
  gold 
  blades 
  and 
  gold-studded 
  handles 
  

   and 
  a 
  cylinder 
  seal 
  inscribed 
  "Mes-kalam-dug 
  the 
  King," 
  a 
  relative, 
  

   one 
  must 
  suppose, 
  of 
  that 
  prince 
  Mes-kalam-dug 
  whose 
  gold 
  helmet 
  

   was 
  the 
  glory 
  of 
  our 
  last 
  season. 
  As 
  the 
  previous 
  grave 
  has 
  produced 
  

   the 
  seal 
  of 
  a 
  woman 
  bearing 
  the 
  title 
  "Dam-kalam-dug" 
  — 
  ''the 
  

  

  