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Daily Data: Human Sacrifice and the Royal Tombs of Ur

1,214 views · Published 31 May 2018 · 7:59 · Indexed 12 November 2026

Channel: Digital Hammurabi · 2018 · Entertainment

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Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/digitalhammurabi Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/digitalhammurabi Join our Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/digitalhammurabi The royal tombs of Ur contain not only beautiful objects, but one of the only examples of human sacrifice in Mesopotamia. Megan gives some possible explanations!

Image credits:
Cemetery plans: https://tinyurl.com/yalh9vbx https://tinyurl.com/y7ws7vus
Bull's head lyre - https://tinyurl.com/yc72qmvv 
https://tinyurl.com/ybmpkjmc
Ram in the thicket - https://tinyurl.com/ydck8twh
Wreath, courtesy of Penn Museum - https://tinyurl.com/y8nj2jza
Puabi's headdress, courtesy of Penn Museum - https://tinyurl.com/ybhsqwmr
Hair comb, courtesy of Penn Museum - https://tinyurl.com/yd5r47wb
All other images provided by Megan Lewis.

More information:
Zettler, R. and L. Horne (eds),  Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur -https://tinyurl.com/ydd39p5v 
Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur, video from Penn Museum - 
https://tinyurl.com/y798njbm
Ur - The Royal Graves - https://tinyurl.com/ydxs7b53
Ram in the Thicket - https://tinyurl.com/y7xhxu49
Queen Puabi's Headdress - https://tinyurl.com/y7moxkdd
Cohen, A. 2005. Death Rituals, Ideology, and the Development of Early Mesopotamian Kingship: Toward a New Understanding of Iraq's Royal Cemetery of Ur.
Dickson, B. Death Rituals, Ideology, and the Development of Early Mesopotamian Kingship: Toward a New Understanding of Iraq's Royal Cemetery of Ur, in J. Hill, P. Jones, and A. Morales (eds), 'Experiencing Power, Generating Authority: Cosmos, Politics, and the Ideology of Kingship in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia', p. 311-328.
Baadsgaard, A., J. Monge, S. Cox, and R.L. Zettler. 2011. Human Sacrifice and Intentional Corpse Preservation in the Royal Cemetery of Ur. Antiquity.
Molleson, T., and D. Hodgson. 2003. The Human Remains from Woolley’s Excavations at Ur. Iraq 65:91– 129.
Pollock, S. 1991. Of Priestesses, Princes and Poor Relations: The Dead in the Royal Cemetery of Ur. CAJ 1(2): 171– 89. 
Pollock, S. 2007a. Death of a Household. In N. Laneri (ed.), Performing Death: Social Analyses of Funerary Traditions in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean. p. 209– 22. 
Pollock, S. 2007b. The Royal Cemetery of Ur: Ritual, Tradition, and the Creation of Subjects. In M. Heinz and M. H. Feldman (eds), Representations of Political Power: Case Histories from Times of Change and Dissolving Order in the Ancient Near East. p. 89– 110. 

For general information and sources relating to the Ancient Near East, we recommend these websites:

http://www.etana.org/abzubib - collection of free and open-access data
https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/orie... - University of Chicago Oriental Institute, great collection of free books and articles
http://www.livius.org - general encyclopedia on the ancient world
http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk - Mesopotamian literature
http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu - collection of projects relating to Mesopotamia
http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/epsd/neps... - Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary
https://cdli.ucla.edu - Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative

Music: www.bensound.com

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