﻿UR 
  OF 
  THE 
  CHALDEES 
  WOOLLEY 
  

  

  447 
  

  

  seems 
  to 
  have 
  consisted 
  of 
  two 
  parts, 
  a 
  lower 
  wall 
  of 
  crude 
  mud 
  bnck 
  

   and 
  an 
  upper 
  wall 
  of 
  burnt 
  brick 
  of 
  which, 
  in 
  the 
  section 
  cleared 
  by 
  

   us 
  nothing 
  at 
  all 
  remains. 
  But 
  the 
  mud-brick 
  wall 
  is 
  an 
  amazmg 
  

   structure. 
  It 
  stood 
  some 
  26 
  feet 
  high, 
  its 
  back 
  vertical, 
  its 
  outer 
  

   face 
  sloped 
  back 
  at 
  an 
  angle 
  of 
  45 
  degrees, 
  and 
  at 
  its 
  base 
  it 
  measured 
  

   not 
  less 
  than 
  75 
  feet 
  in 
  thickness! 
  Really 
  it 
  served 
  the 
  purpose 
  of 
  an 
  

   earth 
  rampart 
  along 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  which 
  ran 
  the 
  wall 
  proper, 
  but 
  it 
  was 
  

   itself 
  built 
  entirely 
  of 
  bricks 
  carefully 
  laid. 
  Behind 
  it 
  the 
  floor 
  level 
  

   was 
  raised 
  about 
  12 
  feet 
  above 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  plain 
  outside, 
  though 
  

   whether 
  this 
  was 
  continuous 
  over 
  the 
  city 
  area 
  or 
  was 
  m 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  

   a 
  platform 
  backed 
  against 
  the 
  wall 
  we 
  can 
  not 
  yet 
  say; 
  judgmg 
  from 
  

   surface 
  indications 
  the 
  former 
  would 
  seem 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  case. 
  The 
  sloped 
  

   mud 
  face 
  of 
  the 
  wall 
  must 
  have 
  suffered 
  badly 
  from 
  weather 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  

   twice 
  reinforced 
  with 
  revetments 
  which 
  added 
  another 
  18 
  feet 
  to 
  the 
  

   wall's 
  thickness; 
  the 
  authorship 
  of 
  these 
  is 
  still 
  uncertain, 
  but 
  the 
  first 
  

   addition 
  may 
  well 
  have 
  been 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  Larsa 
  kings, 
  part 
  of 
  whose 
  

   superstructure 
  is 
  well 
  preserved. 
  In 
  their 
  time 
  the 
  levels 
  mside 
  the 
  wall 
  

   had 
  risen 
  almost 
  to 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  Ur-Engur's 
  mud 
  brick. 
  So 
  far 
  as 
  the 
  

   inner 
  face 
  of 
  this 
  showed, 
  they 
  revetted 
  it 
  with 
  burnt 
  brick 
  and 
  set 
  up 
  

   along 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  it 
  a 
  continuous 
  row 
  of 
  buildings 
  which 
  served 
  a 
  double 
  

   purpose; 
  they 
  were 
  at 
  once 
  the 
  burnt-brick 
  wall 
  cro^vning 
  the 
  rampart 
  

   and 
  livmg 
  accommodations 
  for 
  citizens 
  or 
  officials, 
  for 
  their 
  inner 
  

   ground 
  plan 
  is 
  exactly 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  private 
  houses 
  excavated 
  by 
  us 
  on 
  

   the 
  other 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  Temenos; 
  in 
  spite 
  of 
  their 
  position 
  and 
  the 
  fact 
  

   that 
  they 
  are 
  built 
  to 
  a 
  general 
  plan 
  with 
  bricks 
  bearmg 
  royal 
  stamps, 
  

   there 
  is 
  nothing 
  military 
  about 
  them. 
  One 
  is 
  reminded 
  of 
  Rahab 
  who 
  

   dwelt 
  upon 
  the 
  wall 
  of 
  Jericho 
  and 
  of 
  some 
  medieval 
  city 
  like 
  Aleppo 
  

   where 
  the 
  sohd 
  masonry 
  of 
  the 
  ramparts 
  rises 
  up 
  to 
  merge 
  msensibly 
  

   into 
  the 
  flimsy 
  window-broken 
  backs 
  of 
  private 
  houses. 
  

  

  We 
  know 
  that 
  after 
  a 
  revolt 
  against 
  Babylon 
  the 
  "great 
  walls 
  of 
  

   Ur 
  " 
  were 
  destroyed 
  by 
  Hammurabi's 
  son 
  in 
  about 
  1870 
  B. 
  C. 
  Then, 
  

   and 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  the 
  next 
  450 
  years, 
  even 
  the 
  lines 
  of 
  the 
  super- 
  

   structure 
  must 
  have 
  vanished, 
  for 
  we 
  find 
  a 
  great 
  gate 
  passage 
  of 
  

   Kuri-Galzu 
  running 
  athwart 
  everything. 
  It 
  was 
  strongly 
  built 
  with 
  

   burnt 
  bricks, 
  a 
  large 
  proportion 
  of 
  which 
  bear 
  his 
  name, 
  but 
  everythmg 
  

   else 
  of 
  his 
  work 
  has 
  been 
  destroyed 
  by 
  a 
  later 
  building, 
  a 
  fort 
  lying 
  

   inside 
  the 
  wall 
  and 
  probably 
  (though 
  our 
  work 
  has 
  not 
  gone 
  far 
  

   enough 
  to 
  prove 
  this) 
  flanking 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  city 
  gates. 
  Only 
  the 
  mud- 
  

   brick 
  substructures 
  of 
  this 
  are 
  left 
  together 
  with 
  the 
  burnt-brick 
  

   facing 
  of 
  its 
  outer 
  wall 
  on 
  the 
  northeast, 
  but 
  the 
  foundations 
  show 
  

   that 
  it 
  was 
  extraordinarily 
  massive, 
  even 
  the 
  inner 
  walls 
  being 
  never 
  

   less 
  than 
  13 
  feet 
  thick. 
  Notwithstanding 
  this 
  it 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   considered 
  insufficient 
  for 
  the 
  city's 
  safety, 
  for 
  close 
  to 
  it 
  on 
  the 
  

   northeast, 
  just 
  outside 
  the 
  Hnes 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  waU, 
  we 
  have 
  exposed 
  the 
  

   greater 
  part 
  of 
  a 
  second 
  external 
  fort 
  obviously 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  date 
  

  

  