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

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96 A SUMERIAN PALACE AND "A" CEMETERY, KISH The few bricks that remain of the pavement in the northern part of the chamber stand 27 cm higher than the paving at the south. Doubtless there was an intended slope toward the south that water for washing down the pavement might drain away. Search was made for a drain, but without success. This, however, is hardly to be wondered at considering that so much of the pavement has disappeared. Around the base of a portion of the third column from the north there appears at first sight to be a remnant of a burnt-brick casing. This, however, on closer examination proved to be part of the pavement. No trace whatever was found of anything that could possibly have formed a casing to these columns. It seems hardly likely, however, that crude-brick columns, as exposed as these were, were not protected by a hard covering, such as wood or copper. If wood was used, it would have been burnt with the building. Copper would have been stripped off and taken away as booty. It has also been suggested that these columns were covered with inlay set in bitumen composition; but if this system of decoration had been used, pieces of the inlay would surely have been found in the chamber, and of this, unfortunately, there was not a trace. The purpose of this chamber is difficult to explain. Its proximity to the outer walls, I think, precludes its being a royal apartment, which would more likely be situated in the interior of the building both for safety and for privacy. I would suggest that this hall was a barracks for the palace guard, with the two doorways at the west to provide rapid access to the walls in the event of an attack. The fact that these doorways were unprovided with recesses for doors supports this suggestion and rules out the possibility of this hall being the private quarters of anyone of great importance. Chamber 55, which is entered from the pillared hall and served as a passageway between it and the rest of the annex, measures 14.50 by 5.60 metres. It presents little of interest beyond the fact that a quantity of pieces of plaster were found scattered over the floor on a level with the top of the footing. The average thickness of these pieces, 2.50 cm, precludes their having been the plaster of the walls. They must be, therefore, the remains of a plaster pavement, which is borne out by a similar pavement being found in another large building at Kish of the same or possibly earlier date. The walls of this chamber were heavily coated with mud plaster, which was whitened. Lying on the ground of this chamber were three basalt querns in good condition (Reg. Nos. 1619-1621). Chamber 58, into which doorways led from both the large hall and chamber 55, was found in a very dilapidated condition, and its walls could only just be traced. No trace whatever of a pavement could be found, and if there ever was a burntbrick floor in this room, it must have been entirely removed in ancient times. Giving access to chamber 55 from the east is a narrow chamber-passage (57), whose dimensions are 9.60 by 2.60 m and about which there is nothing of interest to report. Chamber 60, which is entered from this passage to the south, measures 4.20 by 2.60 metres. Its floor is partly covered with burnt bricks, whose dimensions are 2 x 15 x 4-6 cm, with a rather pronounced convexity. There were traces of
THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," KISH 97 very thin stucco on the walls, and several pieces of thick pavement plaster were found below the burnt-brick paving—a fact which suggests a second occupation. The adjoining apartment (59) was entered from another passage at the south which is lost through denudation. The small hall (61) measures 10.70 by 3.70 metres. Though in a poor state of preservation, its walls show traces here and there of being at one time covered with a white stucco. For some reason this hall was divided into two portions, and the eastern end of the dividing wall rests upon the footing, showing that it was a later addition. A quantity of most interesting inlay was found lying along the foot of the northern wall of this chamber, together with numerous pieces of slate which once formed the background of the inlay. This inlay, which is described in the chapter on objects found in the palace and illustrated in Plate XXXVI, Figs. 1, 3-6, was associated with broken pottery of simple cuplike form and also more elaborate types, such as spouted jars. A small button of iron was found adhering to one of the slate fragments; it was pointed out to me by Colonel Lane before it was removed from its position (Plate XXXVI, at base of Fig. 2). This and two similar fragments found near-by are discussed in the chapter. It is cer- tain that the strata here were untouched and that the iron was not a later intrusion. In the south-west corner of the hall there were the remains of a pottery drain consisting of four segments, each 37 cm high and 72 cm in diameter. Each segment had a thick rounded rim at the top and the bottom, and the thickness of the pottery midway between was 1.50 centimetres. The lowest section rested on the mud-brick floor of the hall. In removing this drain, the exceptionally well-preserved adze or hoe was found which is illustrated in Plate XXXIX, Fig. 2. A small portion also of shell inlay lay in the middle of the chamber and along the northern end of the west wall. It would appear that it had fallen from the walls, but from what part, whether high up or low down, it is impossible to say. From the damage done to the animal figiires of which the scenes were mostly composed there is every reason to suppose that the inlay was torn from its slate setting and maliciously broken up. Portions of it, for instance, figures of deities and kings, may even have been carried off. The position of this chamber in the palace, together with the portico before its entrance, would justify the assumption that it was a reception room for visitors of note waiting to see the royal occupant of the palace. The narrow passage 56, it will be seen, leads to four rooms which appear to have been used as store-rooms. The first of these (53), the dimensions of which are 6.70 by 4.10 m, has nothing of note about it, except that the bones of an ox, which were in a very bad condition, were found in the middle of the room, just above the level of the base of the footing. Chamber 52 beyond measures 6.60 by 4 m and was paved with crude mud brick. An interesting feature was the presence in its north-west corner of a large vat made of coarse, badly baked ware of a greenish color, thickly coated with bitumen inside and out. The heavy rim averaged 5.50 cm in thickness and height, and the body of the vat was strengthened at intervals of about 15 cm by hori-
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 39: 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. AN
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 24
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I FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.
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Field museum of natural history. AN
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A Sumerian Palace and the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia

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