Abu (god), votive statue 206
Abu Salabikh 24, 38, 45
bowls as grave goods 143
domestic buildings 110, 112
flint sickles 57
Jemdat Nasr pottery at 19
pottery kilns 166, 167
scribes at 12
town plan 63
Adab, city of 28, 44, 45, 47, 220
Agade period temple 82
Adams, R. McC. 5, 37, 40
administration 16, 33, 216
civil service at Ur 35
increasing sophistication 100, 203, 217
Upper Mesopotamia (middle Uruk) 119
see also palace; temple
afterlife 140, 157, 214
in Sumerian texts 135
Agade, city of 15, 33
see also Akkad, kingdom of
Agade dynasty 33–4, 189
see also Naram-Sin; Sargon
Agade period 21–2
end of 133
historical dating 24
metallurgy 171–3
public buildings 100–3
radiocarbon dating 24
seal impressions 203, 202–3
settlement patterns 45–7
stelae 210
temples 82–3
trade 189–90
agate 175
agriculture 52–9, 218
arable (cereals) 6, 7, 54–7
crops 53, 55, 55–6
dairy 57, 58
decline in Ur III period 35
economic surplus 15, 17–8
harvesting 55
labour for 57, 59
manuring 55
pastoralism 7, 11, 12–13, 17, 57–9, 93
rain-fed 7, 115
settled farmers 12–13
tools 56–7
see also irrigation
Akkad, river port 15
Akkad, kingdom of 8, 26
Urkesh and 126
see also Agade
Akkadian language 13
alabaster
Nippur votive statue 207
Uruk vase 55, 204
alloys
bronze 17, 167
copper arsenic 168
electrum 139, 139, 167
true tin bronze 168, 171, 190
Altyn Tepe, Turkmenia, ziggurat 88
Amar-Sin (Bur-Sin), king of Ur 83, 156
Amarna archives 197
Amorites 23, 35, 219
Anatolia
copper from 11
gold beads from 187
links with Upper Mesopotamia 8, 115
megaron buildings 82
obsidian from 139
raw materials from 180
Sumerian conquests in 33
trade with 182, 184
Uruk sites 23
Anu (sky god), at Uruk 28
Arabia
copper from 11
stearite/chlorite from 185
trade with 184
Ubaid pottery finds 182
see also Dilmun; Magan; Meluhha
Arabian Gulf
position of head of 9–10, 38, 48
trade routes 15, 181–3
Aratta, lord of 184
archaeological dating 16
historical 24
radiocarbon dating 16, 23–25
archaeological interpretation
of buildings 30–1, 75, 89–90, 98, 105–6, 117
of funerary evidence 136, 137, 157
archaeological techniques
German 3
modern 4–5
surveying 5, 37–9, 41 map, 42 map, 43 map
use of computers 5, 39, 221
archaeology
costs 4, 5
and destruction of sites 38
early 2 map, 1–2
effect of salt on sites 38
modern Iraq 4, 220–1
architects 69, 70
architecture
circular structures 93, 92–6, 183
corbel vault 36, 69
dome 36, 69
Early Dynastic 19, 96
megaron buildings 82, 118, 117–8
pillars 69
true arch 36, 69
Ur III period 22
see also buildings; domestic buildings; palaces; public buildings; temples
armies see warfare
Arparchiyah, Syria, pottery 164
Arslantepe/Malatya, Anatolia 178, 180
art, Ur III period 22
art objects 213, 219
see also pottery; seals; statuary; stelae; stone objects
Asimah, Arabia 188
Assur (Ashur) 2
Ishtar temple 79, 189
Assyrian kingdom 35
cAtij, site 121
Babylon 2, 219
Bad Tibira 45
Badakshan, lapis lazuli from 139, 180
Baghdad 1, 54
Bahrain
Barbar temples 191
City II (Ur III period) 190, 191
as entrepôt 182, 187
see also Dilmun
Banat 127
White monuments 154
Banks, E. J. 3
barley, as currency 159
basketry 160
beads
carnelian 175, 178, 181, 186
on clothing 161, 161
gold 187
grave goods 139, 145
pottery 138
Bell, Gertrude 4
Beydar (Nabada)
Kranzhugel town 125, 125–6, 133
seal impression 126
Bi’a, stone tomb 154
bitumen 6, 7
as mortar
boat building 160
boats
barges for transport 15
model 152, 153
Botta, Émile 2
Bouqras, stamp seal 198
Brak see Tell Brak
bricks
baked 66–7
name stamps on 82, 103
plano-convex, Early Dynastic 19, 66, 67
unbaked mudbricks 66
British School of Archaeology in Iraq 4
bronze 17, 167
arsenical 168
true tin 168, 171, 190
Buckingham, J. S. 1
building materials 66–9
baked bricks 66–7
mortar 67
mudbrick (unbaked) 66
plaster 67
roof timbers 68
surveying equipment 68
tools 68, 68
building plans 69
see also house plans; temple plans
buildings
floors 67
roofs 67–8, 106
upper storeys 97–8, 114, 132
windows 106
see also architecture; domestic buildings; house plans; public buildings; temple plans
bulla (clay ball), enclosing tokens 193
Bur-Sin see Amar-Sin
bureaucracy see administration; officials
burials
body position 141, 154
bone preservation 142, 148
cart (Kish) 143–5
of children 135, 138, 140, 147
funerary evidence 136, 157
inhumations 137, 138, 140, 142, 147
multiple 95, 145, 147, 153
retinues (Ur) 154, 156
pisé 137, 138
rituals and ideology 142, 143, 154, 155, 156
and social status 32, 138, 142, 157
vessel 138, 140
within private houses 110, 113, 155
see also cemeteries; graves; tombs
calendar
Sargon’s reform of 33
year-names 24
camel 59
canals
building and maintenance 54
linked with Euphrates 47
for transport and communication 14
see also irrigation
Carchemish, route from 14
carnelian
from Aratta 184
beads 175, 178, 181, 186
grave goods 139, 145
stamp seals 199
carts 15, 153
burials (Kish) 143–5
Çatal Hüyük, Anatolia, clay tokens 193
cattle 55, 58
cemeteries
extramural 135, 155
Kheit Qasim 136, 140–1, 142
Shahdad 187
Tepe Gawra 137–40
Ur (Jemdat Nasr) 141–2
see also Kish; Ur, Jemdat Nasr cemetery; Ur, Royal Cemetery
cereal cultivation see agriculture
chapels, private 113–4, 155
chlorite see steatite/chlorite
cire perdue (lost wax) casting of metals 167
cities
and satellite towns 10
Sumerian plain 27 map
see also town plans; towns
citizens, assemblies of 30
city-states
as political concept 20
small 126
Upper Mesopotamia 217
Uruk period 16, 28
clay
for tools (sickles) 57
see also plaques; tablets
climate fluctuation 6, 17, 221
end of Agade period 133
climate zones 7 map, 6–9, 17
clothing 149
decoration (embroidery) 161, 161
evidence from royal graves at Ur 148–9
head-dresses 149, 161
on statues 149, 150, 160–2, 207
see also textiles
colours 74–5
pigments 6
communications 14 map
east–west routes 13–4
hollow ways (Upper Mesopotamia) 115, 124
north–south routes 14–5, 50
waterways 61
see also trade routes
cone mosaics see mosaics
copper 6, 11, 13, 167
Arabia 182, 184, 188, 191
imported 173, 180, 181
to price exchanges 159
for tools 56
see also alloys
copper objects
figurines 169
lattice-work stand (grave good) 144
in public buildings (Tell Asmar) 100
statuary (Agade period) 21, 171, 172, 171–3
cosmetics 149
councils, of citizens 30
counting system, sexagesimal 36, 139
craftsmen 158
apprenticeship system 69
private enterprise 159, 166
state employees 173
tools 158, 174
crops 53, 55, 55–6
harvesting 55
cuneiform writing 195, 196, 197–8, 215
cylinder seals 17, 199–4, 215
agricultural scenes 56, 200, 201
at Bahrain 190
banquet scenes 150, 152, 202, 204
combat scenes 202, 202, 203, 204
drilled 201
in graves 141, 144, 147
Jemdat Nasr 18, 92
Ninevite V 121
north Mesopotamia 120, 134
Piedmont style 183, 183, 201
regional styles 201
ritual scenes on 200
scenes of pottery making 165
showing ziggurats 86, 86
subject-matter on 200–1, 203–4
see also seal impressions
date palm 52, 53
cultivated 52–3
Death of Gilgamesh, text 135, 156
Death of Ur-Nammu, text 135, 156
deer 7, 58
deforestation 6
diet
evidence from bones 148
evidence from graves 150
see also food and drink
Dilmun (Bahrain)
timber imported from 68, 187
trade with 15, 53, 182
diorite, black 182, 184
for royal statuary 21, 189, 190, 207
diplomatic links
marriages 177, 216
and trade 177, 191
Diqdiqqa, artisans’ quarter (Ur) 64
divination 58
Diyala valley 8
domestic buildings 110
Early Dynastic sites 19
Jemdat Nasr sites 19
settlement pattern 49–50, 51
see also Eshnunna; Kheit Qasim
dogs 58, 59
domestic buildings 106–4
chapels 113–4, 155
compared with modern traditional houses 106, 132
Early Dynastic period 110–2
elite houses 118, 119
as evidence of social status 32
hearths and ovens 107, 108, 111, 112
kitchens 111
resemblance to temple plans 77–9, 109–10
room functions 107–8
tombs within 110, 113, 135, 155
Ur III period 113–4
Uruk period 109–10
village houses 107, 107
see also house plans
donkeys 58, 59, 153
draught animals
cattle 180
donkeys 153
oxen 59, 153
dreams, interpretation of 31
Ea (god of Eridu) 28
on seal impressions
and The Flood 28
Eannatum of Lagash, stele 209, 219
Early Dynastic (ED) period 19–1
domestic buildings 110–2
north–south divergence 28
political power 30, 33
public buildings 96–100, 105
radiocarbon dating 24
settlement patterns 41 map, 42 map, 44, 45, 50
temple plans 76–82
trade (exports) 187–9
urbanisation 45
votive statues 207
see also Jemdat Nasr; Ninevite V period
Ebla/Mardikh, Syria 33
palace 98, 213
economy
agricultural surplus 15, 17–8
control of 31–2
exchange system 159
and external trade 46
market forces and prices 159
surpluses traded 159
see also industry; trade
Edin, uncultivated land 57
Egypt 181, 221
Elam
cedarwood from 68
and cuneiform script 197
Sargon’s attack on 33
electrum (natural alloy), wolf’s head 139, 139, 167
elite groups 216
burials (Upper Mesopotamia) 154
and cylinder seals 201
at Tepe Gawra 118
Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon 155, 197, 197, 216
Enki (god of Eridu) 48
Enkidu 135
Enlil (god, patron of Sumer) 28, 33
Enmerkar, myth of 184
Entemena of Lagash 163
Entu priestesses, at Ur 83
Erbil 60
Ergani Maden, copper production 13
Eridu, city of 28, 48–9
Portico building 91
Priests’ house 90, 91, 110
public buildings 96, 99
tripartite temple plan 69
Ubaid period 52
Eshnunna, Diyala valley 35, 50, 51, 217
law code 159, 170
Shu-Sin shrine 83, 85
ethnography, for modern comparisons 5, 60, 106
Euphrates 152
canal links 47
course changes 9, 48
as trade route 14, 179
exchange system 159
prices 159
Failaka island, Arabian Gulf 191
family
extended 32, 59, 116
nuclear 32, 111
see also households
Farmer’s Instructions (Sumerian text) 55, 56
festivals 152
figurines
copper 169
Ur III period 22
fish 11, 153
fishing and fishermen 151, 160, 212
flint
for blades 170
sickles 57
Flood, story of 28, 36
flooding
and arable farming 54
lower Mesopotamian plain 10
and salinisation 47
food and drink 53, 150
feasts 152
see also diet
France, archaeology in Iraq 2, 3
Frankfort, Henri 19, 60
fuel
dung as 57
scrub and thorn for 11
for smelting 167
funerary monuments, Upper Mesopotamia 127–8
funerary offerings, on platforms 141
furniture
evidence from royal graves at Ur 149–50
model 23
Gabristan, Iran 168
game 11, 58
gaming boards and gaming pieces 152
Garden of Eden 1, 8
gardens 52–4
Gawra see Tepe Gawra
gazelle, as food supply 58
Germany, archaeology in Iraq 2
Gilgamesh, mythical ruler of Uruk 30, 36, 135
Girsu, text 173
Godin Tepe, Iran 49, 180
gods 28
portrayed on seals 203
temples as homes of 79
see also Abu; Anu; Ea; Enki; Enlil; Ishtar/Inanna; Marduk; Nannar/Sin; Ningirsu
gold 167
beads 187
grave goods 127, 139
at Tepe Gawra 167
tumblers 163, 163
gold leaf, for plaster inlay 67, 173
Göltepe, Anatolia 190
Grai Resh, Uruk site 119
grave goods
with cart burials (Kish) 143
as evidence for everyday life 135, 136–7, 214
precious materials 127, 139, 143
and social status 118, 140–1, 150, 157
graves
‘burnt’ (Ur) 147
cist 127, 138
as evidence of social status 32
mass (Tell Gubba) 95
shaft 127
sidewall 140
under houses (Khafaje) 142–3
grazing land 57–9
middle zone 7
southern zone 11
Great Britain, and Ottoman empire 1
Great Zab river 8
Gudea, prince of Lagash 34, 47, 70, 207, 209
and trade 68, 190
Gungunum, king of Larsa 190
Guti tribes (hordes of Gutium), overthrow of Agade kings 21, 34, 133, 219
Habuba Kabira, Syria 62, 109, 120
abandoned 182
cylinder seals 201
Uruk colony town 61, 75, 179, 180
Habur valley 120
Kranzhugel towns 122–6
Hacinebi Tepe, Turkey, middle Uruk site 16, 164, 179, 180
Halaf period 215
stamp seals 198
Hammurabi of Babylon 25, 35, 211
Hamrin valley 8
circular structures 92–6, 183
route through 14, 183
settlement patterns 50–1
Ubaid houses 109
Harappan culture
decline 191
trading contacts 190
harbours, Ur 61
Hassek Huyuk, Uruk site 75, 120, 179, 180
Hassuna period 162
Hatra 220
route through 14
helmets 170, 210
Herodotus, descriptions of ziggurats 85, 219
al-Hiba see Lagash
Hili 8 site 187, 190
historical dating
King Lists 24
Sumerian King List 24
Hit–Samarra line (zone boundary) 6, 26, 115
horses 59
wild 58
house plans 106, 135, 218
compounds (Tell Taya) 130, 131, 131
courtyard type 110, 112, 114
modern compound 107
T-shaped 109
tripartite 110, 114
see also domestic buildings
household objects, reused 135
households
composition of 107
extended families 59, 116
see also family; house plans
human sacrifice, evidence for 145, 154, 156, 157, 217
Hurrian peoples 219
Ibbi-Sin, last king of Ur 35, 159, 219
ideology, and Intercultural decoration 185
Imdugud (lion-headed eagle) 163
Imdugud relief 81
imported goods
metals 167, 173, 178, 180, 181
stone 175, 178, 180
timber 11, 68, 180, 187
Inanna see Ishtar/Inanna (goddess)
India, introduced crops and cattle from 55
individuals, influence of 17, 221
Indus valley
archaeological dates 25, 145
carnelian beads from 186
Intercultural style chlorite finds 187
see also Harappan culture
industry
cottage industries 111, 158
specialised production 158
standardisation of utilitarian goods 158
within public buildings 98, 102
workshops 102, 111, 158, 162
see also raw materials; tools
inscriptions
for dating 24
royal 24, 47
on statues 207
from Urkesh 126
Iran 6, 8, 215
metals from 11, 93, 168
routes to 49
turquoise from 139
ziggurats 88
see also Tepe Yahya
Iraq 2, 6
British mandate 3
effect of second Gulf war 220
modern archaeology 4
Iraq National Museum
antiquities laws 4
looting from 171, 220
iron-working 168
irrigation 17, 47, 215
and flooding 54
methods of 54
middle zone 7, 115
and salinisation 6, 35, 47
and settlement patterns 40, 47
southern zone 10
see also canals
Ishqi-Mari (Lagmi-Mari), king of Mari 207
Ishtar/Inanna (goddess) 28, 135
and Sargon of Agade 29
on Uruk vase 204
Isin
city of 35, 47, 220
leather-working 159
Isin-Larsa period
statues 161
tablet at Bahrain 190
‘itinnu’ (‘builder’) 69
Ituria of Tell Asmar 104
ivory, grave goods 139
Jarmo, Kurdistan, clay tokens 193
jasper, red, pebbles 139
Jazira region 120
Jebel Aruda 75, 120, 179
cylinder seals 18
houses 109, 109–10
lapis finds at 180, 181
Jebel Hamrin hills 8
see also Hamrin valley
Jebel Sinjar hills 6, 88
Jemdat Nasr period 18–9
public buildings 91–6, 105
radiocarbon dating 24
settlement pattern 44–5, 50
temple plans 75–6
trade routes 182–4
trading colonies 182
see also pottery
Jemdat Nasr, site 91–2
jewellery
agate necklace 173
as grave goods 151, 154
see also beads
Jezirah, Roman province 6–8
Karrana 3 site 120
grain storage 121
Keith, Sir Arthur
Kerma, site 121
Kestel, Anatolia 190
Khafaje 60, 63
Abu temple 82
graves (under houses) 142–3, 144
House D 90
Nintu temple 82
Sin temple 76, 77, 78, 186
Temple Oval 64, 80, 80, 82
votive statue 205
Kheit Qasim, Diyala valley 96
cemetery 136, 140–1, 142
Ubaid houses 110, 119–20
Khorsabad, French archaeology at 2
kilns, lime (Khafaje) 90
kilns, pottery 92, 158, 165
domed 165
domestic 166
Eridu 90
two-storey 162
‘King of the Four Quarters’, title of 29, 34
‘King of Kish’, title of 30
King Lists 99, 196
and dating 24
Sumerian 24
kings 201, 216–7, 221
assumption of divine status 21, 34, 89, 155, 217
as military commanders 21, 216
relations with religious power 89–90, 216–8
Kish 26, 28
A cemetery 136, 166
Palace A 97, 98, 213, 218
Plano-Convex Brick building 98
public buildings 96
wall plaque 213
Y cemetery (cart burials) 143–5
ziggurats 86
Kranzhugel towns, Habur valley 125, 122–6, 133
labour
for agriculture 57, 59
for building 69
for irrigation 47
Lagash 10, 28, 99
date gardens 52
Inanna temple 80
as independent state 34, 47
rivalry with Umma 30, 45
slave trade 159
Lagash dynasty 24, 29
see also Gudea; Ur-Nanshe
land
grants to craftsmen 159
grants to officials 57, 218
unused 57
land ownership
by palace 31
private 32, 57, 218
languages see Akkadian; proto-Elamite; Semitic; Sumerian; writing
lapis lazuli 175
grave goods 127, 128, 139
traded 180–1, 184, 188
Larsa, city of 28, 35, 45, 47, 220
‘lavatories’
in domestic buildings (Tell Asmar) 112
in public buildings (Tell Asmar) 100, 101
law codes, Eshnunna 159, 170
Layard, Austen Henry 1, 2
lead 167, 180
vessels 163
leather-working 58, 159, 162
Lebanon, cedarwood from 11, 68
lists
King Lists 24, 99, 196
lexical 194
Professions 27, 32
literacy, and inscriptions on seals 203
Little Zab river 8
‘lugal’, term for king 29
Lugalzagesi of Uruk 33
Lullubi people, Naram-Sin’s victory over 34
maceheads
as grave goods 140
metal 170
stone 170, 175
Magan
Naram-Sin’s conquest of 34, 189
trade with 15, 68, 184, 188, 190
Mallowan, Sir Max 8, 122
Mandeville, Sir John 1
Manishtusu, king of Agade, statues of 161, 207
marble, votive statue (Tell Asmar) 206
Marduk (god) 56, 85
Mari 12, 121
Ishtarat temple 77, 78, 186
Ninni-Zaza temple 77, 186
plaque from 160, 160, 213
pottery at 184
priestesses of 161
public buildings (ED palace) 98, 99
steatite/chlorite finds 185
town plan 64
votive statues 207
marriage
diplomatic (dynastic) 177, 216
sacred 85–6, 154
marshes
modern drainage 38
Shatt-el-Arab 9, 10, 11
Maysar, Arabia 188, 190
measurements see weights and measures
Mediterranean
as boundary of Sumerian empire 33
routes to 13, 14, 181
megaron buildings
Anatolia 82
Tepe Gawra 82, 117–8
Meluhha, trade with 15, 68, 184, 189, 191
merchants 191–2, 217, 218
and supply of copper 173
Meshed (Mashhad) 180
Mesilim, king of Kish 30, 170
Meskalamdug, tomb of 148, 210
Mesopotamia, greater
defined 6
geographical zones 7 map, 6–9, 17
see also Mesopotamia, Upper
Mesopotamia, Upper 116 map, 115–4, 217
circular settlements 92–6, 183
decline (at end of Agade period) 133
geography 115
Kranzhugel towns 123–6, 133
Ninevite V period 120–2
urbanisation 119
see also Hamrin valley; Tell Brak; Tell Leilan; Tepe Gawra
Mesopotamian plain
lack of natural drainage 47–8
problems of surveying 38, 41 map, 42 map, 43 map
metal-working 167–5, 215
‘assay office’ 173
cire perdue (lost wax) casting 167, 168
smelting 167
techniques 167, 175, 215
tools 170, 174, 175
Uruk period 17
metals
all imported 167, 173, 178, 180, 181
from Iran 11, 93, 168
recycled 170
see also alloys; bronze; copper; electrum; gold; lead; silver; tin
metalwork
decorative techniques 168
pins and hooks 167
Puabi’s ‘diadem’ 169
Tepe Gawra 93
vessels 163
micromorphology 112
models
boats (grave goods) 152, 153
clay (Ur III period) 23
see also figurines
Mohenjodaro, Sumerian finds 187
money 159
mosaics, cone 69, 72, 74, 75
stone flowers 81
Mosul 13
Mozan (ancient Urkesh) 127, 126–7, 133
Mundigak, Afghanistan, ziggurat 88
musical instruments 151, 213
myths and stories
as evidence for councils of citizens 30
Inanna 135
in Intercultural stylistic decoration 185
see also Flood; Gilgamesh
Nannar/Sin (moon god), at Ur 28, 34
Naram-Sin, king of Agade 22, 33–4, 46, 126, 217
conquest of Magan 34, 189
copper figure of 171, 171, 172, 220
name stamp on bricks 82, 103
stelae 21, 34, 210
and Tell Brak 190
Near East, Western interest in 1–4
Nebuchadnezzar I, temenos at Ur 155
Neolithic period, stamp seals 198
Nimrud 4, 220
Nineveh 2, 8, 13, 180
Ninevite V period, Upper Mesopotamia 120–32
cylinder seals 201
Kranzhugel towns 122–4
pottery 121, 120–1
see also Early Dynastic (ED) period
Ningirsu (god of battle) 210, 219
Nippur 3, 19, 28, 45, 47
Enlil temple 83
and Euphrates 9
Inanna temple 77, 186
North temple 82
radiocarbon dates 24
Sargon’s temple at 33, 34, 82
scribal quarter 64
votive statues 151, 207
ziggurat 86
Nippur/Uruk waterway 47
nomads, pastoralists 12–3
numerical system, sexagesimal 36, 139
obsidian, grave goods 139
officials 215, 219
land grants to 57, 218
named on seals 203
Oman, Jemdat Nasr pottery in 19, 182
omens, interpretation of 31
onager 7, 58
in ritual deposits (Brak) 129
Ottoman Empire 1
overgrazing 6
oxen, draught animals 59, 153
palace
finance for trade 191
as landowner 31, 218
see also kings; rulers; temple
palaces
use of term 89
see also Kish; public buildings; Tell Asmar; temples; Ur
Palmyra, route to 14
paving (with sherds)
in domestic buildings 111
streets 61, 64, 112
pictograms 17, 194, 194
pig, wild 7, 11
pigments 6
colours 74–5
cosmetic 149
plants
cereals 55–6
garden crops 53
prosopis 48, 56, 57
pulses 55
plaques, clay
mass-produced 213
Ur III period 22
as wall decoration 75, 81
plaques, stone 212, 211–3
inlaid 211
plaster, mud or lime 67
inlaid decoration 67, 81
painted 67, 74
ploughs 56, 57
poems see texts
population
decrease (northern plain) 44
derived from domestic buildings 108–9
increase (Uruk period) 16, 17
and settlement patterns 39
potters’ marks 193
pottery
Agade period 46
bevelled rim bowls 120, 164–5, 180
bowls, as grave goods 138, 143
burnished wares 162, 164
decline in quality 162
fruitstands (ED III) 19
Habur ware 133
jars 19, 92, 165
Jemdat Nasr painted wares 19, 92, 121, 166, 182
local production 163
Ninevite V ware 121, 120–1
pilgrim flask (ED) 19
scarlet-washed (ED I) 19, 20, 92, 184
solid-footed goblets 143, 165, 166
specialist (for export) 164
stamped (Tepe Gawra) 116, 117
storage jars 92
transitional Ubaid/Uruk ware, Tepe Gawra 116
see also stone bowls
pottery making 162–7
fast wheel 17, 162, 215
mass production 163, 164, 165–6
shown on cylinder seals 165
slow wheel 165, 215
see also kilns
pottery ornaments, as grave goods 138
power, balance of
between religious and secular 89–90, 216–8
shifts between cities 33
see also rulers
pre-Halaf period, stamp seals 198
priests
administrative responsibilities 100
power of 28, 31
relations with secular power 89
private enterprise 32, 159, 166, 191–2
and private wealth 32, 191, 218
private houses see domestic buildings
private landownership 32, 57, 218
professions 217
architects/builders 69
smiths 167, 173
see also officials
Professions List (late Uruk) 27, 32
proto-Elamite language 180, 197
proxemics, study of living space requirements 108
Puabi, the lady
burial at Ur 53, 147, 148, 149, 163, 163
‘diadem’ 169
public buildings 89–106, 218
Agade period 100–3
circular structures 92–6
drainage 100
Early Dynastic period 96–100, 105, 218
industrial activities within 98, 102
interpretation of functions 30–1, 89–90, 98, 105–6
interpreted as temples 75, 117
multi-purpose 98
ritual sectors in 98
storage areas 98, 102
Ur III period 103–5, 106
Uruk period 90–1
see also domestic buildings; palaces; temples
Purushkanda, Anatolia 33, 190
Qalinj Agha 61, 119
pottery production 163
Quetta, Pakistan, lapis mines near 181
radiocarbon dating 16, 23–5
Raidau Sharqi, site 60
rainfall
lower Mesopotamian plain 10
upper Mesopotamia 115
Raqa’i, site 121
Ras al-Amiya, Ubaid site 38
Ras al-Junayz, site 189
Ras Shamra, stamp seal 198
rations
for agricultural labourers 57
bevelled rim bowls for 164
for craftsmen 173
for industrial workers 159
for temple workers 150
raw materials 214, 221
for artefacts 158
imported 178, 192
northern zone 6
southern zone 11
see also industry; metals; stone; timber; trade
razors, blades 149
Razuk, circular building 183
recycling, of usable materials 135, 170, 214
reeds, marsh 11, 15
Reforms of Uruinimgina 89
Rich, Claudius, British Resident in Baghdad 1
Rimush, king of Agade 210
rivers
and control of water supply 45
ports and harbours 15, 61
and settlement patterns 10
shifting courses 5, 9
see also canals; Euphrates; Tigris; Zab
royal titles 29, 34, 154
rulers
administrative responsibilities 100
Early Dynastic city-states 20, 28
economic constraints on 31–2
priests’ control over 31
secular 16, 27, 28, 216
as war leaders 21, 216
words for 29–30
see also kings; palace; power, balance of; priests; temple
Sabi Abyad, Burnt Village 198
sacrifice, animal 31, 58
Saddam Hussein, draining of marshes 11
Sakheri Saghir, site 60
salinisation
and flooding 47
and irrigation 6, 35, 47
remedies for 48
saluki, hunting dog 58, 59
Samarra period 178, 215
Sammelfund hoard, metal objects 168
Sana’a, Yemen 132
Sargon of Agade 17, 29, 33, 216, 221
adoptive father of 53
bronze head of 171
and evidence for trading contacts 189–90
name stamp on bricks 82
stele 210
Sarzec, M. de 3
scribal schools 35, 69
scribes 196
at Abu Salabikh 12
centralised training 195, 197
female 197
seafarers 192
seal impressions
Abu Salabikh 167
Agade period 203, 202–3
agricultural scenes 56, 200, 201
banquet scenes 150, 152, 202, 204
from Beydar (northern style) 125, 126
Brocade style
on bullae 193
combat scenes 202, 202, 203, 204
on containers 198
depiction of crafts 162, 162, 165
on doors 128, 198
Piedmont style 183, 183, 201
ritual scenes 200
Susa 165
from Tell Chuera 124
from Urkesh 126
see also cylinder seals
seals
collective (Jemdat Nasr) 92
as dating tool 200
functions of 199
Harappan (Indus valley) 189, 189
personal 154
Uruk 180
see also cylinder seals; stamp seals
Semites 11, 26, 28
personal names 12, 26
Semitic languages 13, 26, 197
settlement patterns 37–52
Agade period 45–7
agriculture and 59
archaeology and 37–9
Early Dynastic period 41 map, 42 map, 44, 45
Jemdat Nasr period 44–5, 50
linear (on waterways) 10, 40, 45
and population 39
Upper Mesopotamia 115
Ur III period 43 map
Uruk period 40–4, 48–9, 50
variations in 51–2
settlements
agricultural hinterlands 52
correlation of size with importance 39
erosion after abandonment 46
excavation of 60
fortified houses 51
gardens 52–4
hierarchy (Uruk period) 16, 44
modern comparisons 60
small rural 46–7
see also cities; town plans; towns; villages
shaduf, for irrigation 54
Shahdad, cemetery 187
Shamshi-Adad, first king of Assyria 35
Shamshu-Iluna of Babylon 113
Shahr-i-Sokhta 180
Sharkallisharri, king of Agade 103
sharru, ‘king’ (Akkadian) 27, 29
Shatt-el-Arab waterway 9, 15
sheep and goats 11, 57, 58
Sheikh Hassan
middle Uruk site 16
Uruk colony site 120, 179
shells
for decoration 11, 213
inlay in plaques 212, 213
Shu-Sin, king of Ur 35, 104
Shulgi, king of Ur 35, 58, 83, 103
mausoleum 83, 155, 156
Shurrupak, city of 44
Silk Road 8, 180
silt deposition 38
silver 180
as currency 159
vessels (votive jar) 163
‘simug’ (smith) 173
Sippar, nomadic camps near 12
skeletons, evidence from 11, 148, 157
slaves 32, 57
trade in 159
sledge, for transport 153
Sleimah 96
circular building 183
social system
development of 9, 217
evidence from burials 32, 136, 138, 142
stratified 16, 18, 32–3, 217, 218
see also elite groups
soil erosion 6, 10, 38
see also flooding
soil fertility, southern zone 10
specialisation 217
of material production 18, 158
sports, wrestling 152, 153
stamp seals 198, 198–9, 215
designs 199
Jemdat Nasr 92
materials for 199
Tepe Gawra 116, 198
stamps
on mudbrick 82, 103
on pottery 116, 117
standardisation 203
of scripts 82
of temple plans 82
of units of measurement 68
of utilitarian goods 158
statuary and statues 175, 204–8, 215
Agade period 21
animal figures 204
copper 21, 171, 172, 171–3
metal insets 176
naturalism 206, 207, 208
nude male figures 187, 188, 204
royal (black diorite) 21, 176, 189, 190, 207
in shrines 78
votive 161, 175, 184, 204, 205–7
Warka head (mask of woman’s head) 204, 205, 220
see also figurines; stelae
steatite/chlorite (stone) 182
bowls 175, 183, 184–6
stelae 210, 209–11, 215
Eannatum of Lagash 209, 219
Hammurabi 211
Lion Hunt 178, 179, 209
Naram-Sin 21, 34, 210
Sargon 210
Ur-Nammu 211
of the Vultures 209, 219
stone
diorite 21, 182, 189, 190
imported 175, 178, 180
steatite/chlorite 175, 182
supplies (northern zone) 6, 68
for tools 56
see also statuary and statues; stelae; stone bowls; stone objects
stone bowls 175, 184
decoration 185–6
grave goods 141
hut pots 185, 186
Intercultural style 184, 185
steatite/chlorite 175, 183, 184–6
stone objects 175
blades 170
maceheads 170, 175
plaques 212, 211–13
Uruk vase 55, 204
vase (ED III) 52, 53
see also seals; statuary and statues
stone-working 175–6
storage and storehouses
Hamrin valley 93
in public buildings 98, 102
Upper Mesopotamia 121
stylus 195
and cuneiform writing 195
sulphur 7
Sumer, kingdom of 8
cultural legacy 36, 219–20
fall of 35–6
outline history 25–36
Sumerian language 11, 12, 25
no longer spoken 13, 26, 35
syllabic 195
written (cuneiform) 196, 197
Sumerians 11, 214
personal names 12, 26
surveying (archaeological) 5, 37–9, 41 map, 42 map, 43 map
air photographs 5, 37
satellite imaging 5, 37
surveying (Sumerian) 69
equipment 68
Susa 165, 180, 181, 184
black diorite statues 207
depiction of pot 165
proto-Elamite tablets 197
steatite/chlorite from 185
Syria 6, 25, 219
links with 51
trade with 184
Uruk sites 23
systems theory, in archaeology 221
tablets, clay 17, 194–6
as evidence of administrative centres 99
Jemdat Nasr 19, 92
layout of 195
numerical signs on 194
pictograms on 19, 194, 194
superseding tokens 193
at Ur (Isin-Larsa period) 103
from Urkesh 126
Uruk-type 180
see also texts; writing
taboos 136
Tarut (island) 185, 187–8
statue 187, 188
Taurus mountains 6
Taylor, J. E. 3
Tchoga Zambil, Iran, ziggurat 88
technology, Uruk period 17, 215
Tell Abada
pottery kiln 163
Ubaid houses 110, 119
Tell Abraq, port 188
Tell Abu Qasim, circular building 183
Tell Adhaim 95
Tell Agrab
copper figure 169
Shara temple 77
Tell Asmar
Arch house 112, 111–12
Archaic shrine 76
domestic buildings 111–12
Early Dynastic town 60
forge 175
Nintu temple 176
Northern palace (Agade) 101, 101–2, 162
Northern palace (earlier) 100
Palace of Rulers (Ur III period) 104, 104–5
Square temple 78, 83, 106, 206
votive statues 205–6
Tell Brak, Syria 128–9, 133
and Beydar 126
clay tablets at 194
‘Eye’ idols 122, 123
Eye temple 122, 128, 173
middle Uruk site 16, 119, 120, 122
Naram-Sin palace 102–3, 129, 190
Ninevite V pottery 128
seal impressions 120, 202
Ur III period 35
Tell Chuera, Syria
Kleine Antentempel 81, 124
Kranzhugel town 124–5
votive statues 184, 188
Tell edh Dhiba’i, old Babylonian site 174, 175
Tell es-Sawwan 178
Tell esh-Shoke 95
Tell Gubba 51
circular building 93, 94, 94–5, 183
scarlet ware vase 20
Tell Hawa 122
Tell Leilan 122, 133
abandoned 133
acropolis 132
Tell Maddhur, circular building 183
Tell Ouelli, Ubaid period 52
Tell Rimah 4
ziggurat 88
Tell Rubeidheh 180
pottery kiln 166
Tell Taya 107, 130, 129–32
abandoned 133
citadel 129
house plan (compound) 130, 131, 131
pottery kiln 166
tomb (rock-cut) 132
Tell Uqair 40, 74, 75, 91
Tell-i-Iblis, Iran 168
Telloh 3, 169, 170
Maison des Fruits 76
votive statue 206, 206
tells 61
Assyria 8
formed by disintegrating mudbrick 66
temple
as centre of government 216
finance for trade 191
as landowner 21, 32, 218
power of in city-states 21, 27, 30
temple plans 76, 78
Agade period 82–3
compared with domestic buildings 77–9, 82
Early Dynastic 76–82
Jemdat Nasr (third millennium) 75–6
megaron (Tepe Gawra) 82, 117–18
T-shaped 73, 73
Temple Ovals 76, 80, 79–81
tripartite 69, 73, 117
Upper Mesopotamia 124
Ur III period 83–5
temples
multiple shrines 77, 79
position of altars 82, 104
as ‘public buildings’ (interpretation) 30–1, 75
raised platforms 85
as self-contained unit 77
Uruk period 69–75
see also palaces; public buildings; temple plans
Tepe Gawra 60, 75, 116–19
burials 137–40, 142
lapis finds at 180
megaron buildings 82, 118, 117–18
non-urban settlement 132
pottery 164
Round house 92, 116, 117, 137–8
stamp seals 58, 198
watch-tower 116
wells 64
wolf’s head (electrum) 139, 139, 167
Tepe Hissar 180
Tepe Yahya, Iran 68, 180, 184, 185
textiles 18, 57, 160–2
evidence from royal graves at Ur 148–9
felt 161
weaving 160, 162, 162
workshops 102, 162
see also clothing
texts 177, 196
Death of Gilgamesh 135, 156
Death of Ur-Nammu 135, 156
descriptions of afterlife 135
dictionaries 196
evidence of date palms 53
evidence of manufacturing 158
historical 196
lamentation 46
poems on destruction of Ur 23
reference to copper imports 181
treatises 196
see also poems
Tigris
course changes 9, 45
as trade route 14
Til Barsib, stone tomb 127, 154
timber 6
imported 11, 68, 180, 187
tin
supplies of 190
see also bronze
tokens, clay, accounting 139, 193, 194
tombs
libn (Tepe Gawra) 118, 138–9
mausoleum at Umm al-Marra 128, 128, 154
multi-chambered 127
prestige (Tepe Gawra) 118
rock-cut (Tell Taya) 132
Shulgi’s mausoleum 83, 155, 156, 173
superstructures 141, 147, 155
vaulted (Khafaje) 142–3
vaulted (Ur) 156
within domestic buildings 110, 113, 135, 155
see also burials; cemeteries; grave goods; graves
tools
agricultural 56–7, 92
for building 68, 68
craftsmen’s 158, 174
flint 166
as grave goods 150
smiths’ 170, 174, 175
town plans 60–6
Habuba Kabira 61, 62
Kranzhugel 125, 123–6, 133
Tell Taya 130
Ur (Ur III period) 61–2, 63, 65
see also building materials
towns
administrative quarters 61
artisans’ quarters 64
drains 64
functional areas 64
public spaces 64
rubbish disposal 64
streets (paved with sherds) 61, 64, 112
suburbs 63
Toynbee theory (‘stimulus and response’) 9
trade 9, 17, 46, 177–92, 214
Agade period 189–90
internal 18, 159
in manufactured goods
mechanisms of 179
metals 167, 173
north Mesopotamia 134
pottery 164
private 32, 191–2
Uruk period 178–82
world systems theory 178
see also raw materials
trade routes 8, 181 map
Arabian Gulf 15, 181–3
for lapis lazuli 180–1
see also communications
trading colonies, Uruk 120, 178, 179
transport
animal-power 153, 180
by water (for bulk goods) 14, 59, 179
turquoise, grave goods 139
al-Ubaid 58
graves 145
Ninhursag temple 80–1
wall plaque 81, 212, 213
Ubaid period 18
pottery 215
settlement patterns 40, 48, 49, 50
stamp seals 198
standard units of measurement 68
Uch Tepe 51
circular building 96, 95–6
Umm al-Aqarib, temple plan 82
Umm al-Jir 107
Umm al-Marra, stone mausoleum 128, 128, 154
Umm an-Nar 187, 188, 190
Umma 45, 47, 220
rivalry with Lagash 30, 45
votive statue 206
United States, early archaeology in Iraq 3
Ur III period 22–3, 34–5
domestic buildings 113–14
historical dating 25
public buildings 103–5
radiocarbon dating 24
seal impressions 203–4
temple plans 83–5
Ur 3, 10, 28, 48–9
city layout 61–2, 63, 64, 65
domestic buildings 113, 113–14
early (ED) ziggurat 86
Ehursag (Ur-Nammu palace) 103
Enunmah temple 83
extramural cemetery 155
fall and destruction of city 23, 35, 219
Gigparku chapels 83
Giparu palace 162
Isin-Larsa merchant’s house 173
Jemdat Nasr cemetery 141–2, 184, 186
Nannar/Sin (moon god) at 28, 34
Ningal temple 192
pottery production 165
private graves (in houses) 155
residential quarter 113
Royal Cemetery 137, 146, 145–52, 153–7, 218
cylinder seals 203
dating of graves 25
the lady Puabi 53, 147, 148, 149, 163, 163
Meskalamdug 148, 210
metalwork finds 153, 168
royal graves 155–7
Sargonid period 154–5
skeletal evidence from 11, 142, 148
Ur III period 83, 84, 155–7
Ur standard 213
Shulgi’s mausoleum 83, 155, 156, 173
wall against Amorites 35
ziggurat 61, 67, 87, 87–8
Ur-Nammu of Ur 135, 155, 190, 217
builder of ziggurats 87
founder of Ur III dynasty 22, 34, 83
stele 211
use of baked bricks 67
Ur-Nanshe, singer 207, 208
Ur-Nanshe of Lagash 29, 187
plaque 211
Ur-Zababa, king of Kish 33
urbanisation 51
Early Dynastic period 45
factors in (Uruk period) 17
Upper Mesopotamia 119
Urkesh 126–7, 133
Urkesh dynasty (Akkadian) 126, 127
‘uru’, city (Sumerian) 60
Uruinimgina, ruler of Lagash 89
Uruk, city of 28, 45
Eanna III compound 92, 99
Eanna precinct IV 73, 72–3, 90, 165, 194
Eanna precinct V/VI 71, 69–73, 218
Hall of Pillars 31
interpretation of ‘temples’ 30
Ishtar/Inanna (goddess) at 28
Limestone temple 69, 71, 72
Palace E 31
public buildings 72
Red temple 72
Riemchengebaude 76
size of 44
Stampflehmgebäude 97
Steingebaüde 76
Stone Mosaic temple 69, 71, 72, 168
Temple A 72, 73
Temple B 72
Temple C 73, 74, 90
Temple D 73
White temple 74, 76
ziggurat 86, 168
Uruk colony sites 120, 178, 179
abandoned 44, 182
see also Habuba Kabira; Sheikh Hassan
Uruk period 16–8, 27
cylinder seals 200–1
discontinuities at end of 182
domestic buildings 109–10
public buildings 90–1
radiocarbon dating 23
settlement patterns 40–4, 48–9, 50
standard units of measurement 68
syllabic writing 195
technological innovation 17, 215
temples 69–75
trade 178–82
Utnapishtim of Shurrupak 28
Utuhegal of Uruk 34, 49
Venus, astronomical observations of 25
villages
in archaeological record 10
use of space in 60
votive statues 161, 175, 204, 205–7, 215
commissioned by officials 219
named 207
at Tell Chuera 184
Wadi Batin, trade route 15
wall decorations
clay plaques 75, 81, 213
frescoes 74, 75
Shulgi’s tomb 156
see also mosaics
walls, city 35, 62, 64, 132
wand, ceremonial 139, 140
warfare 170
depicted on stelae 210, 210–11
Early Dynastic period 202
Uruk period 17, 18
Warka see Uruk
Warka head (mask of woman’s head) 204, 205, 220
water supplies 45, 64
wealth
distribution of 18, 218
private 32, 191, 218
weapons
as grave goods 140, 151
metal 163, 170
weights and measures 35, 68
sila bowls (Leilan) 132
wells and cisterns 64
wheel, first use of 36, 180
wheels
solid (cart) 15, 153
see also pottery making
Wilaya, public buildings (ED) 96, 99
women
diplomatic marriages 177, 216
as landowners 32
priestesses 83, 161
as scribes 197
as weavers 160, 160
wood
for roof timbers 68
for tools 56
wood-working 160
wool 18, 57
Woolley, C. L., on ziggurats 87
world systems theory of trade 178
writing
cuneiform 195, 196, 197–8, 215
development of 182, 215
early recording system (tokens) 139, 193, 194
lexical lists 194
standardisation of signs 195
syllabic 195
use of stylus 195
see also pictograms; scribes; tablets; texts
Yemen, modern 132
Zab rivers 8
Zagros mountains 6
funerary rites 141
ziggurats 86, 85–8
concept of 88
origins in Early Dynastic period 20, 86
Ur 61, 67, 87, 87–8
Ziusudra (Sumerian equivalent of Noah) 36