Tell al-'Ubaid

Tell al-'Ubaid
العبيد
	Shown within Iraq Tell al-'Ubaid (Near East)
Location	Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq
Region	Lower Mesopotamia
Coordinates	30°58′12″N 46°1′32″E / 30.97000°N 46.02556°E
Type	tell, type site
Height	2 metre
History
Periods	Early Dynastic period, Ubaid period, Jemdet Nasr period, Ur III period
Site notes
Excavation dates	1919, 1923-1924, 1937
Archaeologists	Henry Hall, Leonard Woolley, Pinhas Pierre Delougaz, Seton Lloyd

Tell al-'Ubaid (Arabic: العبيد) also (Tall al-'Ubaid) is a low, relatively small ancient Near Eastern archaeological site about six kilometers west of the site of ancient Ur in southern Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate. Today, Tell al-'Ubaid lies 250 kilometers from the Persian Gulf, but the shoreline lay much closer to the site during the Ubaid and Early Dynastic periods. Most of the remains are from the Chalcolithic Ubaid period, for which Tell al-'Ubaid is the type site, with an Early Dynastic temple and cemetery at the highest point. It was a cult center for the goddess Ninhursag.^[1] An inscription found on a foundation tablet (BM 116982) in 1919 and on a copper strip in 1923 read "For Nin-hursag: A'annepada, king of Ur, son of Mesannepada, king of Ur, built the temple for Ninhursag". Mesannepada (c. 26th century BC) and A'annepada were rulers of the First Dynasty of Ur.^[2]

Its ancient name is unknown but Nutur (alt Enutur) has been proposed, mainly based on the 20th year name of Ur III Empire ruler Shulgi (c. 2094–2046 BC) "Year: Ninḫursaga of Nutur was brought into her temple".^[3]

Archaeology

Tel al'Ubaid

Tell al 'Ubaid is an oblong mound measuring approximately 300 meters on a roughly north-south axis rising about two meters above the plain. A fan of surface debris, mainly pottery shards, extended to the south and southwest of the mound.^[4]

The site was first worked by Henry Hall of the British Museum in 1919. Hall focused on the area which turned out to be the temple of Ninḫursaĝ, a 50 meter long and 7 meter high outcrop on the northern edge of the mound. At the southeast end the only remains of an Ur III period temple built atop the Early Dynastic temple were found with bricks inscribed with the standard inscription of Shulgi (c. 2094–2046 BC), first ruler of the Ur III Empire, "Sulgi, mighty man, king of Ur, king of the lands of Sumer and Akkad".^[5] Hall began work clearing the walls of the Early Dynastic temple finding, by the entrance ramp, multicolored mosaic columns, copper statues of lions, bulls, and birds heads, with some parts of the statues are filled with bitumen. A gold bitumen filled bulls horn was also found. Lastly a large (7 feet 9 1/2 inches long by 3 and a half feet wide) copper relief in a copper frame (6" broad and 4" deep) was found depicting a scene of Anzû.^[4] Hall found a 37 centimeter high Early Dynastic III dark green stone statue of Kurlil inscribed (according to the excavator) "Kurlil, Keeper of the Granary of Erech, Damgalnun he fashioned, (her) temple he built". Kurlil is known from a similar inscription found on a statue at Uruk.^[6]

Later, C. L. Woolley excavated there in 1923 and 1924,^[7] followed by Seton Lloyd and Pinhas Delougaz in 1937, the latter working for the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago.^[8]^[9]

A cemetery was also found with 94 graves, mostly from the Early Dynastic Period, primarily Early Dynastic I. Grave goods included two copper shaft-hole axes and a number of wide conical cups.^[10]^[11]

In 2008 the site was surveyed as part on an investigation of war-time damage to archaeological sites in Iraq by an Iraqi-British team. The team reported extensive damage as a result of "military installations when it was established as an Iraqi command post". This damage included a 4 meter square and 1.5 meter deep pit on the summit of the mound, 10 vehicle bays built around the mound base, and numerous hollows and pits on and around the mound. There was no sign of looting.^[12]

Tell al-'Ubaid and its environment

Finds included a copper framed frieze of limestone birds set in a black shale background.^[13]

Occupation history

The lower level of the site featured large amounts of Ubaid pottery and associated kilns. Evidence for Ubaid period pottery manufacture has also been observed on the surface of the site.^[14] The site also yielded a cemetery and some finds from the Jemdet Nasr period. The temple of Ninhursag at the summit was on a cleared oval similar to that at Khafajah. The wall surrounding the temple was built by Shulgi of the Ur III Empire.

Gallery

Stone statue of Kurlil, Early Dynastic III, 2500 BC Tell Al-'Ubaid
Parts of mosaic columns from the entrance to the Temple of Ninhursag at Tell al-'Ubaid, Iraq, 2800-2600 BCE. Iraq Museum
Recumbent cow, part of a frieze once decorated the facade of the Temple of Ninhursag at Tell al-'Ubaid, Iraq, 2800-2600 BCE. Iraq Museum
Sumerian scene, milking cows and making dairy products. From the facade of the Temple of Ninhursag at Tell al-'Ubaid, Iraq, 2800-2600 BCE. Iraq Museum
A'annepada foundation tablet (BM 116982). British Museum

References

^ Frayne, Douglas R. and Stuckey, Johanna H., "N", A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East: Three Thousand Deities of Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 219-287, 2021
^ Gadd, C. J., "A New Copy of A-Anni-Padda's Inscription from Al-'Ubaid", The British Museum Quarterly, pp. 107-108, 1930
^ [1]Firth, Richard, "Notes on Year Names of the Early Ur III Period: Šulgi 20-30", Cuneiform Digital Library Journal CDLJ 2013-1, 2013
^ ^a ^b [2]H. R. Hall, "Season's Work at Ur; Al-'Ubaid, Abu Shahrain (Eridu), and Elsewhere; Being an Unofficial Account of the British Museum Archaeological Mission to Babylonia, 1919", Methuen, 1930
^ Frayne, Douglas, "Šulgi", Ur III Period (2112-2004 BC), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 91-234, 1997
^ Reade, Julian, "Early monuments in Gulf stone at the British Museum, with observations on some Gudea statues and the location of Agade", vol. 92, no. 2, pp. 258-295, 2002
^ Hall, Henry R. and Woolley, C. Leonard, "Al-'Ubaid. Ur Excavations 1", Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1927
^ Delougaz, P. (1938). "A Short Investigation of the Temple at Al-'Ubaid". Iraq. 5: 1–11. doi:10.2307/4241617. JSTOR 4241617. S2CID 130499268.
^ Seton Lloyd, "Ur-al 'Ubaid, 'Uqair and Eridu. An Interpretation of Some Evidence from the Flood-Pit", Iraq, vol. 22, Ur in Retrospect. In Memory of Sir C. Leonard Woolley, pp. 23-31, (Spring - Autumn, 1960)
^ Harriet P. Martin, "The Early Dynastic Cemetery at al-'Ubaid, a Re-Evaluation", Iraq, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 145-185, 1982
^ Moorey, P. R. S., "The Archaeological Evidence for Metallurgy and Related Technologies in Mesopotamia, c. 5500-2100 B.C.", Iraq, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 13–38, 1982
^ Curtis, John, et al., "An Assessment of Archaeological Sites in June 2008: An Iraqi-British Project", Iraq, vol. 70, pp. 215–37, 2008
^ [3]Paszke, Marcin Z., "Bird species diversity in 3rd millennium BC Mesopotamia: The case of the Al-Ubaid bird frieze from the Temple of Nin", Bioarchaeology of the Near East 15, pp. 25-54, 2021
^ Moore, A.M.T. (2002). "Pottery Kiln Sites at al 'Ubaid and Eridu". Iraq. 64: 69–77. doi:10.2307/4200519. JSTOR 4200519.

External links

[1] Frayne, Douglas R. and Stuckey, Johanna H., "N", A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East: Three Thousand Deities of Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 219-287, 2021

[2] Gadd, C. J., "A New Copy of A-Anni-Padda's Inscription from Al-'Ubaid", The British Museum Quarterly, pp. 107-108, 1930

[3] [1]Firth, Richard, "Notes on Year Names of the Early Ur III Period: Šulgi 20-30", Cuneiform Digital Library Journal CDLJ 2013-1, 2013

[Hall1930-4] [2]H. R. Hall, "Season's Work at Ur; Al-'Ubaid, Abu Shahrain (Eridu), and Elsewhere; Being an Unofficial Account of the British Museum Archaeological Mission to Babylonia, 1919", Methuen, 1930

[Frayne1997-5] Frayne, Douglas, "Šulgi", Ur III Period (2112-2004 BC), Toronto: University of Toronto Press, pp. 91-234, 1997

[6] Reade, Julian, "Early monuments in Gulf stone at the British Museum, with observations on some Gudea statues and the location of Agade", vol. 92, no. 2, pp. 258-295, 2002

[7] Hall, Henry R. and Woolley, C. Leonard, "Al-'Ubaid. Ur Excavations 1", Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1927

[8] Delougaz, P. (1938). "A Short Investigation of the Temple at Al-'Ubaid". Iraq. 5: 1–11. doi:10.2307/4241617. JSTOR 4241617. S2CID 130499268.

[9] Seton Lloyd, "Ur-al 'Ubaid, 'Uqair and Eridu. An Interpretation of Some Evidence from the Flood-Pit", Iraq, vol. 22, Ur in Retrospect. In Memory of Sir C. Leonard Woolley, pp. 23-31, (Spring - Autumn, 1960)

[10] Harriet P. Martin, "The Early Dynastic Cemetery at al-'Ubaid, a Re-Evaluation", Iraq, vol. 44, no. 2, pp. 145-185, 1982

[11] Moorey, P. R. S., "The Archaeological Evidence for Metallurgy and Related Technologies in Mesopotamia, c. 5500-2100 B.C.", Iraq, vol. 44, no. 1, pp. 13–38, 1982

[12] Curtis, John, et al., "An Assessment of Archaeological Sites in June 2008: An Iraqi-British Project", Iraq, vol. 70, pp. 215–37, 2008

[13] [3]Paszke, Marcin Z., "Bird species diversity in 3rd millennium BC Mesopotamia: The case of the Al-Ubaid bird frieze from the Temple of Nin", Bioarchaeology of the Near East 15, pp. 25-54, 2021

[moore-14] Moore, A.M.T. (2002). "Pottery Kiln Sites at al 'Ubaid and Eridu". Iraq. 64: 69–77. doi:10.2307/4200519. JSTOR 4200519.

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