With her hands on her hips and a bitumen wig, the most defining characteristic of this figurine may be her bird head. Created in Iraq during the Ubaid Period, this figure represents a nude woman. The figurine is made from terracotta and bitumen. It was created using an incising method which uses sharp tools to [...]
Found in a baked brick box beneath the foundation of the Temple of Enki, at Ur. This statuette and tablet were inside one, of many, baked brick boxes found in the foundations of sites around southern Mesopotamia. They are one of the few that have been well-documented in an archeological context. The objects are [...]
This month at the Ur Project has been very busy. We have two major arms of activity ongoing, archival and artifactual (if that’s a word). This blog entry will try to display both through a point of convergence: PG 143. PG stands for Private Grave, a designation Woolley gave to graves in a particular area, [...]
This ornate headdress and pair of earrings were found with the body of Queen Puabi in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. The headdress is made up of 20 gold leaves, two strings of lapis and carnelian, and a large gold comb. When Queen Puabi was found, there were several distinct aspects of her burial. On [...]
Within the relative comfort of a 21st century museum, it is easy to forget the sacrifices, challenges, and dedication involved in the discovery of antiquities. All too frequently when we see glamorous vases, sarcophagi glistening with gold, and jewelry enlivened with lapis lazuli, we assume that these objects tell the entire glorious story of both [...]
As a volunteer working on the Ur Digitization Project, I spent time examining and scanning a series of original letters pertaining to the 1922-1934 Ur excavation. As a whole, these historical documents are fascinating; they provide insight into not only Ur, but the political history of the 1920s in the Middle East. One particular letter [...]
What do the world’s best mystery author and the Penn Museum have in common? A lot more than you’d think. Agatha Christie’s books are famous as being some of the most thrilling novels ever. Readers through the generations have relished her whodunits. We sit on the edge of our seats as Poirot twiddles his mustache [...]
This inlaid goat’s head was made in the Early Dynastic III (2550–2250 BCE) in Iraq. The range of the markhor goat, known for its spiraling horns, has historically covered Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikstan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northern India. This piece, created by lost-wax casting, is one of two goat heads acquired during the 1899–1900 campaign at [...]
Last Friday, my Facebook feed was flooded with comments about our cuneiform tablet that made it onto the Colbert Report in a spot about ancient yo mama jokes. Our tablet fragment, featured in the original scholarly article in Iraq, originates from Sippar (modern-day Abu Habbah, Iraq just southwest of Baghdad) during the Old Babylonian Period (1900-1600 [...]
Jane Hickman, Editor of Expedition magazine and Maureen Goldsmith, from the Director’s Office at the Penn Museum, recently sent a stack of past issues of Expedition magazine to Staten Island Project Homefront. The magazines are being sent to troops stationed abroad, including Afghanistan. Staten Island Project Homefront is a non-profit organization that supports the families of deployed military troops [...]
