A Sumerian Palace and the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia

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90 A SUMERIAN PALACE AND "A" CEMETERY, KISH lamp to light the passage at night. No trace of smoke was found anywhere in the recess, but this was hardly to be expected after such an enormous lapse of time. On the west, the passage leads into chamber 25, the dimensions of which are 3.70 x 3.70 metres. This was evidently a chamber of some importance, as it was fitted with a door. Chamber 26 to the north was probably entered from a room which opened into the same passage, but its northern wall is unfortunately entirely denuded away. To the east of passage 28 and entered from a blind passage at right angles to it is the complex of chambers 29, 30, and 31. Chamber 29 was most uninteresting; it was paved with crude mud brick, and had plain mud-plastered walls. Its dimensions are 8.10 by 4.10 metres. The chamber by which it is entered (30) had several interesting features. At the west- ern end there were found three large pottery jars, of very coarse paste and imperfectly baked, which were coated with bitumen both inside and out. They were bowl-shaped with flat, thick rims, and were strengthened at intervals by a slight projecting ribbing which was roughly ornamented with notches made with the finger. These vats, which average a metre in diameter, were partly supported by plano-convex bricks placed around them on the mud floor to prevent their rolling. Another jar of the same size and kind was found in the north-east corner of the chamber (Plate XXXI, Fig. 2). The middle of the room was heavily paved with thick plano-convex bricks which measured 23.50 x 14 x 4-5 cm and 25 x 15 x 4-5 centimetres. The majority of these bricks were plain, but a few had a single thumb-mark in the centre. The cement used was mud with a little bitumen here and there. The floor, despite great irregularity, seems to be of the same date as the walls of this chamber, but whether the jars are of the same date is difficult to say. The brick paving was in some places 72 cm thick, some of the bricks being on edge, others lying ob- liquely, and still others flat. The fact that the paving does not extend beneath the jars, being cut off here in a straight line, suggests that they were in place or their position decided upon before the bricks were laid. A considerable amount of white plaster was found adhering to the walls. Chamber 31 on the other side of the blind passage also possessed many interesting features. They were, however, found disturbed by intrusive burials and kilns dating to about 3000 B.C. In the first place, four large blocks of limestone were found on the mud floor, two of which are so regularly placed with regard to one another as to lead one to suspect that this chamber was once paved with stone. The average thickness of these blocks is 17 cm, and their average length 78 centimetres. They were roughly smoothed, but no tool marks are visible. The level at which they were found— just above the footing—would also suggest their having been used for paving. At the south-east comer of the same chamber were the remains of a brick pavement, of which the bricks average 23 x 15 x 5-6 cm in size. It is difficult to understand the presence of remains of both brick and stone pavements unless the limestone blocks belong to an earlier and the bricks to a later occupation. The levels of both were practically the same (19 cm below zero-datum line).
THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," KISH 91 A curious platform, 3.60 m long by 3.20 m wide, was found in the northwest corner of the chamber. It is entirely constructed of plano-convex bricks averaging 23 x 13.50 x 4-6 cm, laid nine courses deep. The wall against which the platform is set was also lined with bricks, four courses high and one brick thick. Mud was used for the mortar with bitumen in a few places, and exposed sides of the platform were heavily coated with bitumen. This platform may possibly have been a sleeping bench, as its height above the footing was 55 centimetres. Another alternative is that it was a stand for pottery. The fact that it is of early date is proved by burial 23 being placed upon it. When this platform was demolished to ascertain its structure, a well-preserved unbaked tablet was found beneath it, inscribed with very archaic characters. This tablet is shown in Plate XXXVI, Figs. 10 and 12. Chambers 29, 30, and 31 are bounded on the east by a wall 3.90 m thick. This wall corresponds with the outer wall of the palace and is evidently part of it, though how far it extended to the north it has been impossible to find out owing to denudation. On the other side of this wall is what is perhaps the most interesting feature of the palace, namely, a flight of steps which must have led into the most impor- tant part of the building. Unfortunately, however, this portion of the palace has been almost entirely swept away by weathering. The steps are eight in number. The width of each tread is 31 cm and the height 15 centimetres. The total rise from the level of the pavement to the top step is 1.28 m and the width of the stairway 2.35 centimetres. The bricks forming the steps measure 20.50 x 13 x 3.50-5 centimetres. They were unkaked and laid in mud mortar. It was impossible to ascertain whether the stairway was built of solid brickwork or filled with rubble in the middle, for this would have entailed its partial destruction, and the information gained would be of little real value. The steps show surprisingly little wear, and they must have been covered with either wood or copper. The latter is the more probable, as it could be removed on account of its value without leaving any trace behind, whereas a wood or burnt-brick covering would have left some trace behind (PlateXXV, Figs. 1-3). On mounting the steps, a spacious entrance (34), 3.10 m wide, leads into a vestibule (33) of the same width, from which doorways open into other chambers and passages to east and west. Unfortu- nately, owing to denudation, no trace of the upper walling of that part of the building lying to the west and north of 33 could be found, though the foundations (denoted by dotted lines) are well preserved. On the east, however, three chambers (36, 37, and 38) with their doorways have been traced. The walls of chamber 33 were found on excavation to have been beautifully plastered with white stucco and paved with burnt bricks measuring 23 x 14.50 X 4.50-6 cm, set in bitumen. Traces of bitumen on the top of these bricks suggest that bitumen was also laid over them. The walls of the chamber averaged only 40 cm in height; but we were fortunate in being able to recover as much as we did. Chamber 36 measures 9.50 m in length by 3.70 m in width. Its walls also were stuccoed, but there was no trace of a flooring of brick. The same is true of chamber 38 whose dimensions are 9.40 by 3.70 metres. The narrow passage
Page 2: LIBRARY >A. \^ Class\\ 4^
Page 10 and 11: PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AME
Page 12 and 13: 68 CONTENTS Lipped Flat-based Potte
Page 14 and 15: LIST OF PLATES XXL Plan of Palace "
Page 17 and 18: PREFACE This volume contains the fi
Page 19 and 20: A SUMERIAN PALACE AND THE ''A" CEME
Page 21 and 22: INTRODUCTION 77 Only three burials
Page 23 and 24: TOPOGRAPHY OF KISH AND HARSAGKALAMM
Page 29 and 30: THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," K
Page 33: THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," K
Page 49 and 50: — THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A
Page 73 and 74: THE "A" CEMETERY, KISH (Continued)
Page 83 and 84: POTTERY This chapter deals with the
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THE "A" CEMETERY, KISH (Continued)
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TOOLS AND WEAPONS A considerable nu
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PERSONAL ORNAMENTS MEDALLIONS Plate
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STONE VESSELS Plates XXXVIII, No. 1
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NOTES 215 " A very similar dish to
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 24
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A Sumerian Palace and the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia

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