Pit X

General

Context Title:	Pit X¹
Context Name (Excavation):	Pit X
Context Name (Publication):	Pit X
Context Description:	Pit X was excavated as a large southern extension of the Royal Cemetery area, likely originally conceived as an extension of Pit Y (Pit J) at the southwest corner. Its main purpose was to uncover the earliest burials in the area, the so-called Jemdat Nasr cemetery first encountered in pits Y and Z. Pit X measured approximately 30x15 meters, though it may originally have been laid out to be 35x20. Woolley reports it as a rectangle covering 1000 square meters, but even the largest indication on the plan map and satellite images is at most 700 square meters and not truly rectangular. Nevertheless, it is a very large space that reached sea level some 20 meters below the surface of the mound. In the Antiquaries Journal for 1934 Woolley reports a total of 13,160 cubic meters of dirt having been removed from this pit. Some minor building remains of the Neo-Babylonian and Kassite periods were found near the surface but most of the area was apparently used as a dumping ground in the Late Bronze Age and later. Woolley knew that the Royal Cemetery area extended to the south of his main area PG but believed he would find few graves of the Akkadian and EDIII period. He discovered more than he expected, but none were overly rich in finds. These graves did not receive PG numbers since the UE2 Royal Cemetery volume had already been published. Instead, they received PJ numbers. The series PJG applied to graves in Pit X Woolley felt to be Akkadian or later and PJB applied to those of the EDIII period. The break between these two sequences came at around 10 meters above sea level. In all, Pit X added some 250 to the more than 1000 burials of these periods that Woolley had already uncovered in area PG. Beneath the graves of the Royal Cemetery (starting at around 6 meters above sea level) Woolley reached the earlier graves of what he called the Jemdat Nasr cemetery. Graves at this depth were given JNG numbers. In fact, JNG eventually applied to all of the early graves discovered in pits W, X, Y, and Z. Some of those excavated in Y and Z had received PG numbers but they were renumbered for publication in the JNG sequence. Most of these graves actually date to the Early Dynastic I period. The area near the base of the pit was smaller than that at the top. Only around 400 square meters was exposed near sea level, yet more than 200 early graves were discovered. Although Ubaid period pottery fragments were found, only two Ubaid burials were discovered here. The large area excavation stopped at 2 meters above sea level, but a test pit at the bottom reached down to sea level itself.

[1] Imported from BM list of contexts.

Files

General

UE 4 Pit X.pdf - Download

UE 4 Pit X.3.pdf - Download

UE 4 Pit X.2.pdf - Download

Objects: Pit X Export: JSON - XML - CSV

U Number	Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number)	Museum Number (BM Registration Number)	Museum Number (UPM B-number)	Description (Catalog Card)
(none)	35-1-229	(none)	(none)	Unknown
(none)	35-1-228	(none)	(none)	Unknown
(none)	35-1-227	(none)	(none)	(none)
(none)	35-1-255	(none)	(none)	(none)
(none)	35-1-226	(none)	(none)	unknown
(none)	35-1-225	(none)	(none)	(none)
15140	31-16-373	(none)	(none)	Stone bowl. Dark green basic diorite. Type XIII. JN38. [drawing 2:5]
15778	31-17-12	(none)	(none)	Baked clay vase. Spouted. Light drab. Covered by a lead tumbler. Clay vase is badly broken. Type same as 15758.
18647	33-35-97	(none)	(none)	Lead tumbler. Distorted. [The following note is an addition to original text] Not in cat. Vol IV.
18724	(none)	(none)	(none)	Cylinder seal. Brown-grey steatite. Two gods and two worshippers, with standard emblems.
18725	(none)	(none)	(none)	Frog amulet. Dark steatite. [drawing 1:1]
18726A	52-30-141	(none)	(none)	[DUPLICATE NUMBER] Clay tablet.
18727	(none)	(none)	(none)	Object of unbaked clay. flat oval base 013 x 008 rising with fairly vertical sides to a convex top in the middle of which is an oval depression: it might be an exaggerated copy of a plano-convex brick : total ht 007 In the middle of one side, in the top and close to the edge of the depression, is a large carnelian bead impressed in the clay: below this & to one side of it is a cowrie (?) shell of which the base only shows, making a sort of crescent. [drawing]
18728	(none)	(none)	(none)	Terracotta relief. Female figure, full face with long sleeves and heavily flounced skirt, standing and holding with each hand in front of her breast a dumb-bell shaped object.
18729	(none)	(none)	(none)	Cylinder seal. Very dark steatite. A spread eagle and two small birds beneath a star. Bould rough cutting.
18730	(none)	(none)	(none)	Cylinder seal. Dark steatite. Much worn. Figures in crude style.
18734	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay tablet.
18735	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay tablet.
18736	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay tablet. Corner missing.
18737	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay tablet. Fragment of (with date).
18738	(none)	(none)	(none)	Seal impressions on black clay; fragmentary, but some from the same seal.
18739	(none)	(none)	(none)	Bone pin. Tip missing. The head in the form of an open human hand. [drawing 1:1]
18740	35-1-78	(none)	(none)	Beads: of glazed frit and glass paste mostly yellow and green, many of the beads being green with a yellow tip; these are pear-shaped or date-shaped; there are also plain yellow ring beads, a lapis scaraboid and a green-glazed frit scarab, and yellow date-shaped beads.
18741	(none)	(none)	(none)	Ear-stud. Dark greenish-grey stone (jasper?) [drawing]
18742	(none)	(none)	(none)	Clay cone. Fragment of. With inscription on shaft (not on base).