Woolley's excavation of RT 800 (Queen Pu-Abi's Grave)

The care with which Sir Leonard Woolley excavated the Royal Cemetery of Ur is justly famous, and the difficult conditions under which he worked would prove challenging to even the most skilled archaeologist today. The relationship between graves RT 789 and RT 800 illustrates this point. RT 789 preceded RT 800, as attested by the location of RT 800's "death pit" above that of of tomb RT 789. However (and for unknown reasons), the tomb-cutters decided to sink her tomb chamber deeper into the ground and next to the tomb chamber of RT 789. It is supposed by some that the original occupant of RT 789 was Queen Pu-Abi's king, but because that tomb was plundered in antiquity, his identity is unknown.




Woolley's plan of RT 800

(click on a region to zoom in)



Download a Quicktime video of the tombs


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