﻿444 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1929 
  

  

  more 
  important 
  was 
  a 
  royal 
  tomb 
  which 
  underlay 
  the 
  rest. 
  It 
  was 
  

   a 
  single 
  building 
  measuring 
  42 
  feet 
  by 
  26, 
  built 
  throughout 
  of 
  un- 
  

   hewn 
  limestone; 
  it 
  contained 
  four 
  chambers, 
  two 
  small 
  central 
  rooms 
  

   roofed 
  with 
  ring 
  domes 
  and 
  two 
  long 
  flanking 
  rooms 
  with 
  corbel 
  vaults, 
  

   all 
  communicating 
  with 
  each 
  other 
  by 
  arched 
  doorways: 
  Inside, 
  the 
  

   roughness 
  of 
  the 
  walls 
  was 
  disguised 
  by 
  a 
  smooth 
  cement 
  plaster, 
  and 
  

   the 
  same 
  plaster 
  was 
  used 
  for 
  the 
  floors. 
  The 
  tomb 
  is 
  indeed 
  an 
  under- 
  

   ground 
  house, 
  and 
  this 
  fact 
  throws 
  new 
  light 
  on 
  the 
  beliefs 
  of 
  the 
  oldest 
  

   Sumerians 
  and 
  should 
  explain 
  why 
  the 
  dead 
  king 
  was 
  accompanied 
  

   by 
  such 
  a 
  crowd 
  of 
  courtiers 
  and 
  domestics 
  — 
  his 
  life 
  was 
  to 
  continue 
  

   in 
  surroundings 
  as 
  like 
  as 
  might 
  be 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  this 
  world. 
  Of 
  the 
  

   servants 
  and 
  court 
  attendants 
  there 
  remained 
  in 
  this 
  case 
  little 
  but 
  

   scattered 
  bones, 
  for 
  ages 
  ago 
  robbers 
  had 
  broken 
  through 
  the 
  roof 
  

   of 
  the 
  tomb 
  and 
  made 
  a 
  clean 
  sweep 
  of 
  its 
  contents. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  neck- 
  

   laces 
  torn 
  from 
  the 
  bodies 
  had 
  broken, 
  and 
  the 
  floors 
  were 
  littered 
  

   with 
  lapis 
  lazuli 
  and 
  gold 
  beads, 
  two 
  silver 
  lamps 
  lay 
  overlooked 
  in 
  a 
  

   corner, 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  broken 
  sceptre 
  of 
  mosaic 
  work 
  with 
  gold 
  bands 
  

   decorated 
  with 
  figures 
  in 
  relief; 
  but 
  the 
  great 
  treasures 
  which 
  the 
  

   tomb 
  must 
  have 
  contained 
  had 
  vanished. 
  It 
  was 
  a 
  disappointment 
  

   of 
  course, 
  but 
  we 
  had 
  the 
  satisfaction 
  of 
  having 
  found 
  the 
  tomb 
  

   itself, 
  a 
  first-class 
  monument 
  of 
  this 
  early 
  age. 
  How 
  much 
  the 
  robbers 
  

   had 
  actually 
  taken 
  one 
  can 
  only 
  guess, 
  for 
  not 
  all 
  the 
  royal 
  graves 
  

   were 
  as 
  rich 
  as 
  Queen 
  Shub-ad's; 
  we 
  have 
  just 
  laid 
  bare 
  one 
  "death 
  

   pit" 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  ranked 
  bodies 
  were 
  all 
  quite 
  poorly 
  attired, 
  with 
  a 
  

   few 
  silver 
  ornaments 
  in 
  the 
  place 
  of 
  gold; 
  but 
  the 
  pit 
  rewarded 
  us 
  

   well, 
  for 
  against 
  its 
  edge 
  stood 
  a 
  harp 
  with 
  a 
  particularly 
  fine 
  calf's 
  

   head 
  modeled 
  in 
  copper 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  front 
  of 
  the 
  sounding 
  box 
  a 
  panel 
  

   of 
  mosaic 
  work 
  with 
  human 
  figures 
  in 
  shell 
  set 
  against 
  a 
  background 
  

   of 
  lapis 
  lazuli, 
  the 
  technique 
  of 
  the 
  wonderful 
  "standard" 
  discovered 
  

   last 
  season. 
  

  

  DEEPER 
  LEVEL 
  AND 
  OLDEST 
  TABLETS 
  

  

  Here, 
  too, 
  another 
  discovery 
  was 
  made. 
  The 
  graves 
  are 
  all 
  dug 
  

   down 
  into 
  a 
  vast 
  rubbish 
  heap 
  which 
  sloped 
  down 
  from 
  the 
  walls 
  of 
  

   the 
  earliest 
  Sumerian 
  settlement 
  to 
  the 
  marsh 
  or 
  river 
  out 
  of 
  which 
  it 
  

   rose, 
  and 
  the 
  bottom 
  of 
  this 
  particular 
  "death 
  pit" 
  just 
  touched 
  a 
  

   stratum 
  of 
  rubbish, 
  necessarily 
  very 
  much 
  older 
  than 
  itself, 
  wherein 
  

   lay 
  multitudinous 
  nodules 
  of 
  dark-colored 
  clay; 
  many 
  were 
  shape- 
  

   less, 
  but 
  amongst 
  them 
  were 
  written 
  tablets 
  and 
  clay 
  jar-stoppers 
  

   bearing 
  the 
  impressions 
  of 
  archaic 
  seals. 
  Not 
  so 
  old 
  as 
  the 
  picto- 
  

   graphic 
  tablets 
  of 
  Kish, 
  which 
  we 
  may 
  expect 
  to 
  parallel 
  from 
  the 
  

   deeper 
  rubbish 
  strata 
  of 
  Ur, 
  these 
  documents 
  carry 
  us 
  back 
  to 
  a 
  period 
  

   in 
  the 
  city's 
  existence 
  not 
  yet 
  illustrated 
  by 
  any 
  other 
  class 
  of 
  objects 
  

   except 
  crude 
  figurines 
  in 
  clay 
  of 
  animals 
  and 
  men 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  

   would 
  have 
  been 
  impossible 
  to 
  deduce 
  the 
  level 
  of 
  culture 
  attained 
  at 
  

   the 
  time. 
  

  

  