Sumer

Shell plaque from 'Queen' Puabi's Grave

Shell plaque from 'Queen' Puabi's Grave

• Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600-2400 BC• Presumed to have been a decoration on a lyre or harp• Shell was often combined with coloured stones like lapis lazuli to decorate wooden goods like musical instruments and furniture - specialised craftsmanship• Shell came from the gulf - trade

Queen's lyre from Ur

Queen's lyre from Ur• From Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600-2400 BC Decorated with shell, lapis lazuli, red limestone & gold• Discovered along with sacrificial victims• Discovered by Leonard Woolley: plaster of Paris poured in depression left by decayed wood thus preserving decorations in their appropriate place• Reconstructed once and then again in the 70s

Beads and pedants

Beads and pedants • Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600-

2400 BC

• From a 'royal' grave

• Possibly offerings

• Gold, lapis lazuli, carnelian, silver obtained through trade or conquest

• Highly skilled gold-work

• Lapis-lazuli from Afghanistan

The 'Standard' of Ur

The 'Standard' of Ur• From Ur about 2600-2400 BC• Original function not understood • Speculation that it was a standard or a soundbox• Sumerian army: chariots pulled by donkeys.

Spears, axes, prisoners• Banquet: animals, fishes, woollen fleeces, skirts• Present restoration a 'best guess'

The Royal Game of Ur

The Royal Game of Ur

• From Ur about 2600-2400 BC• One of the most popular games in the ancient

world

The 'Ram in a Thicket'

The 'Ram in a Thicket'• From Ur about 2600-2400

BC• Woolley's name for the

object is a biblical allusion• Goats one of the early

animals to be domesticated• Gold, copper, lapis lazuli,

shell, red limestone• Complex process of

preservation

Cylinder seal of Pu-abi

Cylinder seal of Pu-abi• From Ur, around 2600 BC

• Used to roll an impression on wet clay

• Administrative tool

• 'Pu-abi nin'

• Banquet scene

• Ownership indicates importance

Record of food supplies

Record of food supplies

• Southern Iraq circa 3000 BC

• Pictographs made by drawing sharp stick or reed across clay

• Head with bowl in top left corner represents eating

Find out more about ancient Sumer

Visit the main Museum website www.britishmuseum.org

Use Explore to look at objects from Sumerwww.britishmuseum.org/explore/introduction.aspx

Learn more about Sumerwww.ancientmesopotamia.co.uk