.The Revelation of which is 'The Book Of Ur' Is a Thoughtful and somewhat Provocative In-Depth Relationship, Between Writing and the Reality Thereof, a Journey through the Literary Medium of Profound 'Sayings' Statements, Songs & Poems', Delving Deeply, into the Spiritual Psyche, between the Indulgent Self and Other such Religious Pursuits, relating to the Human Experience. Noteworthy, that 'The Book Of Ur' is also an Expression of Thanks & Gratitude, for the Life & Times Afforded to each and every one of us Comrades & Citizens of the World, and for each & every Peoples, along with their Love & Wisdom, and for the Appreciation of their Acts of Alms & Piety, and for their Endless Perseverance & Endurance of their Unwavering Spirit of Nature, and for the Acceptance & Humility of their Belief & Faith, through to the Trials & Tribulations of their Deliverance.
The ancient Mesoptamian city of Ur was a Sumerian city state which flourished as a centre of trade and civilisation between 2800–2000 BCE. However, in the recent past it suffered from the disastrous Gulf war and from neglect. It still remains a potent symbol for people of all faiths and will have an important role to play in the future. This account of Ur's past looks at both the ancient city and its evolution over centuries, and its archaeological interpretation in more recent times. From the 19th century explorers and their identification of the site of Mukayyar as the Biblical city of Ur, the study proceeds to look in detail at the archaeologist Leonard Woolley and his key discoveries during the 1920s and 30s. Using the findings as a framework and utilising the latest evidence from environmental, historical and archaeological studies, the volume explores the site's past in chronological order from the Ubaid period in the 5th millennium to the death of Alexander. It looks in detail at the architectural remains: the sacred buildings, royal graves and also the private housing which provides a unique record of life 4000 years ago. The volume also describes the part played by Ur in the Gulf war and discusses the problems raised for archaeologists in the war's aftermath.
The goal of this book is to present a revised edition of the Sumerian Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur, a lament bewailing the fall of the glorious Ur III kingdom in 2004 B.C.E. Lamentation is a well-known genre in world literature. Laments of various types are part of the cultural legacy and literary corpus of many societies, from ancient to modern times, and Sumerian literature is no exception. However, Mesopotamian lamentation literature includes a significant body of laments belonging to a unique and almost unparalleled genre—the genre of lamentations over the destruction of cities and temples. This genre has no known ancient parallel outside the ancient Near East; more specifically, it is almost exclusively attested in Sumerian and biblical literature. The Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur is the most famous and important exemplar of the city-laments. In this updated and revised publication of the Lamentation over the Destruction of Ur, Samet provides an introductory discussion of Sumerian city-laments in general; a full presentation of the text of the Ur Lament, including transliteration, translation, and an extensive philological commentary; and an accounting of the extant textual witness in score format. Plates with color photos of many texts are included.
This stunning catalogue includes color photographs of more than 230 objects, excavated in the 1930s by renowned British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley, from the third-millennium-B.C. Sumerian city of Ur. Learn the fascinating story of the excavation and preservation of these magnificent artifacts. Many of the objects are published in color and fully described for the first time—jewelry of gold and semiprecious stones, engraved seal stones, spectacular gold and lapis lazuli statuettes and musical instruments; and vessels of gold, silver, and alabaster. Curator Richard Zettler sets the stage with a history of Ur in the third millennium and the details of the actual excavations. Art historians Donald Hansen and Holly Pittman discuss the historical importance and significance of the many motifs on the most spectacular finds from the tombs.
Garth had given the mighty Sword of Bheleu into the Forgotten King's keeping. Now he needed it back, and the King demanded that Garth bring him the Book of Silence in exchange -- but Garth feared that the King would use the Book to bring about an Age of Death.
Judging from the sheer amount of textual material left to us, the rulers of ancient Ur were above all else concerned with keeping track of their poorest subjects, who made up the majority of the population under their jurisdiction. Year after year, administrators recorded, in frightening detail, the whereabouts of the poorest individuals in monthly and yearly rosters, assigning tiny parcels of land to countless prebend holders and starvation rations to even more numerous estate slaves. The texts published in this volume--dating from the time of the Third Dynasty of Ur (ca. 2100-2000 BC)--attest to the immense investment of the ancient rulers in managing their subjects. This volume presents editions of two hundred and twenty-four cuneiform tablets selected from the Schøyen Collection, the vast majority of which have not been previously published. The ancient provenience for these texts is primarily Umma, with other core provinces represented in smaller numbers, such as notable contributions from ancient Adab, which is underrepresented in the published record. In order to provide a fuller picture of the administration of the Ur III state, a number of texts from other collections, both published and unpublished, have been integrated into this volume. Accompanied by Jacob L. Dahl's precise translations, extensive commentary, and exhaustive indexes, this volume presents extensive new data on prosopography, economy, accounting procedures, letters, contracts, technical terminology, and agriculture that adds significantly to our knowledge of society and the economy during the Third Dynasty of Ur. An important contribution to the study of the Ur III period, in particular for Assyriology, this volume will serve as a useful handbook for scholars and students alike.
A brother and sister's search for a new life and new home . . . 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia during a terrible drought, Jomar and Zefa's father must send his children away to the city of Ur because he can no longer feed them. At fourteen, Jomar is old enough to apprentice with Sidah, a master goldsmith for the temple of the moongod, but there is no place for Zefa in Sidah's household. Zefa, a talented but untrained musician, is forced to play her music and sing for alms on the streets of Ur. Marjorie Cowley vividly imagines the intrigues, and harsh struggle for survival in ancient Mesopotamia.
This lavishly illustrated 736-page reference provides a lifetime of entertainment! It contains complete rules, playing tips, and instructive move-by-move examples of 65 fun and diverse games. They range from Senat, a pastime enjoyed by King Tut, to Hex, invented by a 20th-century mathematician; from strategy games like Siege of Paris to dice games like Chuck-a-Luck to chase games like Pachisi; from Asian Shogi to African Wari; and from traditional Chess and Go to modern creations like Mastermind and Othello. Colorful illustrations show old-time and modern players, game boards, and equipment alongside fascinating anecdotes and curious facts about games throughout history. For every player, this one’s a sure winner!
*Includes pictures *Includes ancient passages and accounts about Ur written by Babylonian kings and others *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading When American archaeologists discovered a collection of cuneiform tablets in Iraq in the late 19th century, they were confronted with a language and a people who were at the time only scarcely known to even the most knowledgeable scholars of ancient Mesopotamia: the Sumerians. The exploits and achievements of other Mesopotamian peoples, such as the Assyrians and Babylonians, were already known to a large segment of the population through the Old Testament and the nascent field of Near Eastern studies had unraveled the enigma of the Akkadian language that was widely used throughout the region in ancient times, but the discovery of the Sumerian tablets brought to light the existence of the Sumerian culture, which was the oldest of all the Mesopotamian cultures. Long before Alexandria was a city and even before Memphis and Babylon had attained greatness, the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur stood foremost among ancient Near Eastern cities. Today, the greatness and cultural influence of Ur has been largely forgotten by most people, partially because its monuments have not stood the test of time the way other ancient culture's monuments have. For instance, the monuments of Egypt were made of stone while those of Ur and most other Mesopotamian cities were made of mud brick and as will be discussed in this report, mud brick may be an easier material to work with than stone but it also decays much quicker. The same is true to a certain extent for the written documents that were produced at Ur. The people of Mesopotamia, which Ur was part of, employed the cuneiform system of writing; since cuneiform was almost always written on clay tablets, modern scholars have been forced with the unfortunate problem that many of those tablets have been broken and made unreadable throughout the centuries. Despite the ephemeral nature of its monuments and to some extent its written texts, Ur proved to be an inspiration to the Sumerians who built the city and also to later cultures and dynasties that inhabited Mesopotamia. An examination of primary sources relating to Ur, as well as archaeological excavations done in the ancient city reveal that the city was a cultural beacon for thousands of years. Ur began as a Sumerian city of secondary importance but quickly grew to be the most important Sumerian city. At its height Ur was the center of a great dynasty that controlled most of Mesopotamia directly through a well maintained army and bureaucracy and the areas that were not under its direct control were influenced by Ur's diplomats and religious ideas. This study will also reveal that Ur was a truly resilient city because it survived the downfall of the Sumerians, outright destruction at the hands of the Elamites, and later occupations by numerous other peoples, which included Saddam Hussein more recently. Ur inspired the imaginations of ancient peoples, but it has also enraptured the minds of moderns, who have worked for over 150 years to unlock the city's mysteries. Truly, when it comes to important ancient cities, Ur should be counted among the greatest. Ur: The History and Legacy of the Ancient Sumerian Capital traces the history and legacy of one of the most influential cities of antiquity. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the history of Ur like never before, in no time at all.
