﻿UE 
  OF 
  THE 
  CHALDEES 
  WOOLLEY 
  445 
  

  

  LIMITS 
  OF 
  THE 
  CEMETERY: 
  THE 
  PREHISTORIC 
  CITY 
  

  

  The 
  excavation 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  cemetery 
  came 
  to 
  an 
  end 
  early 
  in 
  

   February 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  site 
  that 
  the 
  very 
  last 
  

   grave 
  discovered 
  should 
  be 
  the 
  richest 
  of 
  its 
  period 
  yet 
  brought 
  to 
  

   light. 
  It 
  was 
  of 
  the 
  Sargonid 
  age, 
  about 
  2650 
  b. 
  c, 
  and 
  was 
  that 
  of 
  

   a 
  man, 
  judging 
  from 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  copper 
  weapons 
  placed 
  at 
  the 
  

   head 
  and 
  along 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  wooden 
  coffin 
  in 
  which 
  were 
  the 
  crumb- 
  

   ling 
  bones; 
  amongst 
  them 
  were 
  three 
  of 
  the 
  largest 
  spears 
  that 
  the 
  

   cemetery 
  had 
  produced 
  and 
  with 
  them 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  copper 
  vessels, 
  

   some 
  unusually 
  large, 
  and 
  a 
  copper 
  tray 
  made 
  to 
  imitate 
  basket-work 
  

   and 
  piled 
  with 
  bowls 
  and 
  vases 
  of 
  novel 
  forms. 
  Six 
  gold 
  fillets 
  

   adorned 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  man 
  and 
  round 
  his 
  neck 
  were 
  three 
  strings 
  of 
  

   beads 
  of 
  gold 
  and 
  colored 
  stone, 
  agate, 
  carnelian, 
  jasper, 
  chalcedony, 
  

   and 
  sard, 
  stones 
  which 
  are 
  rarely 
  found 
  before 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  Sargon 
  of 
  

   Akkad. 
  On 
  the 
  wrists 
  were 
  four 
  heavy 
  bangles 
  of 
  gold 
  and 
  four 
  of 
  

   silver, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  fingers 
  were 
  gold 
  rings; 
  b}^ 
  these 
  lay 
  two 
  engraved 
  

   cylinder 
  seals 
  of 
  lapis 
  lazuli 
  capped 
  with 
  gold, 
  and 
  from 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   strings 
  of 
  beads 
  hung 
  a 
  gold 
  amulet 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  a 
  standing 
  goat 
  

   exquisitely 
  modeled 
  in 
  the 
  round, 
  a 
  real 
  gem 
  of 
  miniature 
  sculpture. 
  

   Having 
  exhausted 
  the 
  graves 
  in 
  the 
  area 
  selected 
  for 
  this 
  season's 
  

   work 
  we 
  proceeded 
  to 
  dig 
  down 
  beneath 
  them 
  for 
  relics 
  of 
  the 
  older 
  

   civilization 
  represented 
  by 
  the 
  great 
  rubbish 
  heaps 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  

   graves 
  are 
  set. 
  In 
  a 
  stratum 
  of 
  this 
  rubbish 
  which 
  is 
  late 
  in 
  com- 
  

   parison 
  with 
  much 
  that 
  lies 
  beneath 
  it 
  but 
  very 
  much 
  earlier 
  than 
  

   the 
  oldest 
  graves, 
  we 
  were 
  fortunate 
  enough 
  to 
  find 
  in 
  a 
  ruined 
  house 
  

   (for 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  the 
  primitive 
  settlement 
  overflowed 
  its 
  normal 
  

   Umits 
  and 
  houses 
  were 
  constructed 
  on 
  the 
  slope 
  of 
  the 
  town's 
  refuse 
  

   dump) 
  some 
  200 
  tablets 
  written 
  in 
  a 
  very 
  archaic 
  script, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   oldest 
  forms 
  of 
  writing 
  known 
  in 
  Mesopotamia. 
  

  

  Meanwhile 
  work 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  excavated 
  area 
  proved 
  

   the 
  northwest 
  limits 
  of 
  the 
  cemetery 
  also. 
  Our 
  work 
  here 
  produced 
  

   no 
  graves 
  but 
  either 
  stratified 
  rubbish 
  or 
  superimposed 
  house 
  remains 
  

   according 
  as 
  the 
  limits 
  of 
  the 
  early 
  town 
  fluctuated 
  in 
  times 
  of 
  

   greater 
  or 
  less 
  expansion. 
  Near 
  the 
  surface 
  we 
  came 
  on 
  a 
  pavement 
  

   of 
  plano-convex 
  bricks 
  which 
  could 
  be 
  dated 
  as 
  not 
  later 
  than 
  3000 
  

   B. 
  c. 
  and 
  we 
  dug 
  down 
  through 
  successive 
  floor 
  levels 
  to 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  

   8 
  meters 
  below 
  this, 
  by 
  which 
  time 
  we 
  were 
  finding 
  very 
  early 
  seal 
  

   impressions 
  on 
  cla}^ 
  and 
  pottery, 
  painted 
  or 
  otherwise 
  decorated, 
  

   of 
  types 
  elsewhere 
  occurring 
  only 
  below 
  the 
  10-foot 
  bed 
  of 
  clay 
  

   which 
  I 
  have 
  regarded 
  as 
  a 
  relic 
  of 
  the 
  flood. 
  For 
  the 
  full 
  working 
  

   out 
  of 
  the 
  earliest 
  history 
  of 
  Ur 
  excavations 
  on 
  a 
  large 
  scale 
  ought 
  to 
  

   be 
  undertaken 
  either 
  at 
  this 
  spot 
  or 
  a 
  little 
  to 
  the 
  northwest 
  of 
  it. 
  

   With 
  regard 
  to 
  the 
  ancient 
  cemetery 
  lying 
  on 
  the 
  slope 
  below 
  the 
  

   walls 
  of 
  the 
  settlement, 
  we 
  now 
  know 
  its 
  width 
  and 
  further 
  excava- 
  

  

  