Ur and Eridu, the Prehistory

Abstract

Sir Leonard Woolley's excavations at Ur, and his meticulous publication of the results, made available to Mesopotamian archaeologists a vast body of information on a great many topics, and the subsequent investigations which his work inspired have in no way detracted from its importance. He pointed the way to the solution of many major problems, the existence of which had not hitherto been realized; and in particular, his account of the prehistoric periods in Southern Mesopotamia may justly be said to have inaugurated a new field of research. The importance of his original contribution, both in material and in ideas, to the study of this vital phase in the development of Mesopotamian civilization cannot be overrated. The evidence of the Flood made a spectacular appeal to popular imagination, but his discovery in the same pit of an occupation level with al ‘Ubaid pottery marked a great advance in knowledge. It is, however, no criticism of Woolley to say that, like all pioneers, he raised more questions than he could solve; and the body of new information which has emerged from the recent excavations conducted by the Iraq Directorate-General of Antiquities at the nearby site of Eridu makes it appropriate and useful on this occasion to review the evidence as a whole and attempt to answer some of these outstanding questions. It is a tribute to Sir Leonard Woolley that the excellence of his publication makes such a reappraisal possible.