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)
683 (none) (none) (none) Clay bowl. Drab clay, wheelmade, broken. Type unknown. Scrapped.
638 (none) (none) (none) Clay bowl. Drab clay, wheelmade. [beloq] Type [crossed out] LV, XVI =RC.73 =L, Vol. VII.
13063 (none) (none) (none) Clay bowl. Glazed ware. Blue bleached white. Type same as U.13058. New type 103 [illegible, looks like 75 7b or 76? unclear.]
15070 (none) (none) (none) Clay cone. Fragment (15662) Rim-Sin HC.17
15071 (none) (none) (none) Clay cone. Fragment. A Larsa king, unidentified or new. HC.18
20069 (none) (none) (none) Clay cone. Imperfect. Inscribed on base only : about half the text preserved.
747 (none) (none) (none) Clay cone. Nearly complete. Ur-Engur's inscription concering E-temen-ni-il. Placed in IN/No. 4.
19488B (none) (none) (none) Clay cone. Part of. Inscribed on the base and stem : about half of the text on the base preserved
19488A (none) (none) (none) Clay cone. Part of. Inscribed on the base and stem : about half of the text on the base preserved
19488C (none) (none) (none) Clay cone. Part of. Inscribed on the base and stem : about half of the text on the base preserved
555 (none) (none) (none) Clay cup. Drab clay, wheel-made, broken. Type XIII.
554 (none) (none) (none) Clay cup. Drab clay, wheelmade, broken. Type XIII.
624 (none) (none) (none) Clay cup. Drab clay, wheelmade, broken. [below] Type L = p.71
682 (none) (none) B15383 Clay cup. Type LIV =P76b [typology]. Grave not P series.
651 (none) (none) (none) Clay figurine fr. of. Bull, roughly modeled and painted with details in black on greenish-drab clay. [drawing]
18326 (none) (none) (none) Clay figurine of running animal hand modelled: baked clay. [drawing 1:1]
684 (none) (none) (none) Clay figurine. Headless: moulded. Figure in long drapery concealing feet, hands clasped on breast. Male? Heavy work, no detail.
608 (none) (none) (none) Clay figurine. Lower part only of flat wide-hipped Astarte figure. [below] Photo 69. [drawing 1:2]
644 (none) (none) (none) Clay figurine. Snow-man technique. Male figure with long beard + pointed tall cap inclined forwards: arms and + missing. [drawing 1:2]
959 (none) (none) (none) Clay fragment with seal impression, showing animal figures and a tree.
957 (none) (none) (none) Clay fragment. Seal impression, showing standing figures.
944 (none) (none) (none) Clay fragment. With seal impression, traces of 1 line inscription and a single figure. Placed in IN/No. 8.
956 (none) (none) (none) Clay fragment. With seal impressions showing animals and animal-men fighting. See U.955.
17825 (none) (none) (none) Clay instrument. Flat and thin, toothed along one edge like a carder. On one side, a painting, in black paint, of a similar object (?) [drawing 1:1]
633 (none) (none) (none) Clay jar. Drab clay, wheelmade. [Below] Type LIII = RC.40 = L [circled] not p.

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

Media Media Title Title Label Author Omeka Label
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 V: The Ziggurat and its Surroundings Ur Excavations V: The Ziggurat and its Surroundings 1939 Woolley Leonard (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)
  • 3 Media

Share

Email | Edit

Context

Ur > Temenos Wall | TW

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.