Iraq's Ancient Past

One of the most important projects ever sponsored by the Penn Museum was the joint expedition to Ur, Iraq. Symbols of plants and animals were found among the many ornaments of gold, carnelian and lapis in the Royal Cemetery, especially in the tomb of Queen Puabi. Fertility and abundance, important themes of later ancient Mesopotamian texts, are clearly in evidence even before those narratives were written down. Close examination of this 70-year old museum display was key to new interpretations.

Dr. Richard L. Zettler, Co-curator of Iraq's Ancient Past gives a one-hour lecture about Biblical Ur of the Chaldees, one of the largest and most important Mesopotamian cities. Drawing on Sir Leonard Woolley's excavations in the 1920s and 30s, he presents a colorful portrait of the city that existed circa 2100-1600 BCE, a city with a towering ziggurat and crowded residential areas. The city that Woolley so painstakingly uncovered is not only the city he claimed Abraham walked, but also the model for our understanding of ancient Mesopotamian urbanism today.

In April 2009, Dr. Brian Rose, Deputy Director of the Penn Museum was invited by the State Department to help coordinate cultural preservation efforts in Iraq. Along with a team of army specialists and other cultural experts, Dr. Rose visited several cultural heritage sites across the country that experienced significant damage during the recent wars. Among these sites was the ancient city of Ur, known as the cradle of civilization and the site of the biblical Garden of Eden. Here, we are guided through the Ziggurat of Ur built by Ur-Nammu in 2100 BCE. The site is also said to be the birthplace of the biblical Abraham although there is no archaeological evidence to support this claim. In 2000, Saddam Hussein built a modern "House of Abraham" out of cement in hopes that the Pope would visit on the Anniversary year of the Vatican. The Pope, however, did not come. Dr. Rose filmed Guide Dhaif Munsen as he revealed some of the facts about the site from its ancient past to recent attempts at renovation and interpretation. Dhaif Munsen's grandfather worked a the excavation site with Sir Leonard Woolley in 1922. The group also tours the site of the Great Death Pit at the Royal Cemetery of Ur dating from 2500BCE. The site, excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley in 1922, yielded the an extraordinary cache of gold and cultural artifacts as well as a dramatic story of human sacrifice. The materials he found, including the headdress of Queen Pu-Abi and a bull-shaped lyre and are the highlights of a new exhibition at the Penn Museum, Iraq's Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur's Royal Cemetery.

In this video, the Penn Museum exhibit team, Conservator Lynn Grant, and Near East Section Keeper Katy Blanchard assemble Queen Puabi as she may have appeared 5,000 years ago. Much of what we know of the people and cultures of early Mesopotamia comes from the material uncovered in the Royal Cemetery at Ur by Sir Leonard Woolley in 1922. Inhabited from about 5500 BCE, Ur was finally abandoned around 400 BCE because of difficulties with its water supply. In between, Ur was a politically and economically powerful center on the Euphrates, particularly during the 3rd millennium BCE, with easy access to the Persian Gulf and long-distance sea trade. Queen Puabi probably reigned prior to the time of the First Dynasty of Ur. Her remains were uncovered in burial PG 800 along with a diverse group of objects includes items from her dressing table, such as her cosmetics. Her name and title are known from the short inscription on one of three cylinder seals found on her person. In early Mesopotamia, women, even elite women, were generally described in relation to their husbands. The fact that Puabi is identified without the mention of her husband may indicate that she was queen in her own right. Read more about Queen Puabi on Iraq's Ancient Past website at http://www.penn.museum/sites/iraq/?page_id=61

In April 2009, Dr. Brian Rose, Deputy Director of the Penn Museum was invited by the State Department to help coordinate cultural preservation efforts in Iraq. Along with a team of army specialists and other cultural experts, Dr. Rose visited several cultural heritage sites across the country that experienced significant damage during the recent wars. Among these sites was the ancient city of Ur, known as the cradle of civilization and the site of the biblical Garden of Eden. Here, we are guided through the Ziggurat of Ur built by Ur-Nammu in 2100 BCE. The site is also said to be the birthplace of the biblical Abraham although there is no archaeological evidence to support this claim. In 2000, Saddam Hussein built a modern "House of Abraham" out of cement in hopes that the Pope would visit on the Anniversary year of the Vatican. The Pope, however, did not come. Dr. Rose filmed Guide Dhaif Munsen as he revealed some of the facts about the site from its ancient past to recent attempts at renovation and interpretation. Dhaif Munsen's grandfather worked a the excavation site with Sir Leonard Woolley in 1922. The group also tours the site of the Great Death Pit at the Royal Cemetery of Ur dating from 2500BCE. The site, excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley in 1922, yielded the an extraordinary cache of gold and cultural artifacts as well as a dramatic story of human sacrifice. The materials he found, including the headdress of Queen Pu-Abi and a bull-shaped lyre and are the highlights of a new exhibition at the Penn Museum, Iraq's Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur's Royal Cemetery.