Temenos Wall | TW

Context Title: Temenos Wall | TW     
Context Name (Excavation): TW     
Context Name (Publication): Temenos Wall     
Context Description: The excavation area abbreviation TW stands for Temenos Wall, a wall that surrounded the ziggurat terrace and its extended sacred space in the northern central portion of the city of Ur through much of its history. The wall may have begun in the Early Dynastic period, as Woolley found some indication of what he believed to be its earliest foundation. There was clearly an Ur III period version that ran south of the giparu and then further southeast to encompass the ehursag. This was the general line of the wall through the Isin-Larsa/Old Babylonian and into the Kassite period, though the Kassites made some changes in the northern portion. Finally, the Neo-Babylonians changed the wall greatly, expanding the area encompassed to the north and south and adding several gateways. The foundations of this later, quite massive, wall often destroyed earlier remains. Woolley explored parts of the temenos wall in many seasons and frequently used the TW abbreviation for the wall in any of its building periods. Other excavation area abbreviations include parts of the temenos, particularly NCF, PDW and BC. The temenos wall built by Urnamma was 6 meters thick and built of mud brick with a baked brick facing. Most of the baked brick had been removed, probably for later building. The Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus temenos wall had chambers within it and sported six gates into the temenos area. This area was known as e-gish-nu-gal (Woolley read this e-gish-shir-gal). At least one later interpretation conflates TW with the phrase Town Wall, but the wall surrounding Ur was always referred to as the city wall, (CLW).     
Season Number: 01: 1922-1923      
Season Number: 03: 1924-1925      
Season Number: 05: 1926-1927      
Season Number: 11: 1932-1933      
Season Number: 12: 1933-1934      

Objects: Temenos Wall | TW Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Object U Number Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number) Museum Number (BM Registration Number) Museum Number (UPM B-number) Description (Catalog Card)
666 (none) (none) (none) Beads of carnelian, amethystine, quartz, agate, etc.
607 (none) (none) (none) Beads of frit originally blue glazed, the glaze wholly perished. 15 spheroids and 4 bugles.
17852 (none) (none) (none) Beads. A mixed collection of carnelian, sard & agate lentoids & bugles, carnelian rings, lapis paste lentoids, glazed frit fluted ball, lapis ball, quartz lentoid, amethyst lentoid, pebble lentoid, 2 unshaped but pierced rock crystal lumps & a steatite cylinder seal completely defaced.
13065 (none) 1929,1017.325 (none) Beads. Carnelian double conoids and decorations. Chalcedony double conoids giving a diamond shaped secition 1 glazed ball bead.
13049 (none) (none) (none) Beads. Carnelian ring beads, glazed frit and a minute glazed frit amulet in shape of a male head - grotesque. [drawing]
12798 (none) (none) (none) Beads. Glazed frit. 3 balls. 1 fluted double conoid with rings ends; 1 ball with ringed ends thus [reference to drawing]; 1 flat seal - oval shaped with markings.
17826 (none) (none) (none) Beads. Mixed: a long barrel of blue paste with gold caps, lentoids of carnelian, jasper, amazonite (?) and chrysoprase, crystal pendant and carnelian rings. Kassite.
12797 (none) (none) (none) Bes amulet. Glazed frit.
19874 (none) (none) (none) Bird's head. Hard limestone (perhaps for a shell lamp?) [drawing 1:1] Style of Royal Tombs
690 (none) (none) (none) Bronze bracelet. With snake-head ends.
691 (none) (none) (none) Bronze finger ring. Plain wire, the ends overlapping.
650 (none) (none) (none) Bronze tool. Rather thick metal, square hafted. [drawing 1:1]
7684 (none) 1928,1009.336 (none) Chain. Bronze. Circular links. Fragment. 3 portions.
610 (none) (none) (none) Clay antefix roughly moulded in greenish drab clay; fragment only: petal pattern in relief. [drawing]
757 (none) (none) (none) Clay bottle. Drab clay. ? Hand made. Type LXII =P.94. Found with U.758.
13066 (none) (none) (none) Clay bottle. Glazed ware. Blue bleached white. Type same as U.13046.
13062 (none) (none) (none) Clay bottle. Glazed ware. Blue: bleached white. Type 91 =183 [drawing]
13045 (none) (none) (none) Clay bottle. Glazed. Blue. Color has bleached.
13046 (none) (none) (none) Clay bottle. Glazed. Blue. Color has bleached.
13027 (none) (none) (none) Clay bottle. Glzed ware. Bluish. Type. New type P.184.
680 (none) (none) (none) Clay bottle. Red clay with drab engobbage. Wheelmade. Top broken. Type LXI =new L type =P.201a. (L47) [reference to drawing, presumably this is the new L type] [drawing]
13026 (none) (none) (none) Clay bowl. Baked. Fine egg shell ware. Hamispherical. =P.4
13041 (none) (none) (none) Clay bowl. Baked. Light drab clay. Very thin egg shell ware. Broken and part missing. Type 3 P.
976 (none) (none) (none) Clay Bowl. Drab clay, wheelmade, broken. Type IC.
681 (none) (none) (none) Clay bowl. Drab clay, wheelmade, broken. Type LXVII but with rim. Not p.

Media: Temenos Wall | TW Export: JSON - XML - CSV

Media Media Title Title Label Author Omeka Label
Ur Excavations V: The Ziggurat and its Surroundings Ur Excavations V: The Ziggurat and its Surroundings 1939 Woolley Leonard (none)
Ur Excavations IX; The Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods Ur Excavations IX; The Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods 1962 Woolley, L. and Mallowan, Max (none)
Ur Excavations VIII; The Kassite Period and the period of the Assyrian Kings Ur Excavations VIII; The Kassite Period and the period of the Assyrian Kings 1965 Woolley, Leonard (none)
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References

Woolley, L. and Mallowan, Max. (1962) Ur Excavations IX; The Neo-Babylonian and Persian Periods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Woolley Leonard. (1939) Ur Excavations V: The Ziggurat and its Surroundings, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Woolley, Leonard. (1965 ) Ur Excavations VIII; The Kassite Period and the period of the Assyrian Kings, Oxford: Oxford University Press.