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

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118 A SUMERIAN PALACE AND "A" CEMETERY, KISH three stand at right angles to a longer wall of irregular thickness, average 34 cm in height, and foundations are at a level of 86 cm below datum. In the space between the two southernmost walls there was a bitumen pavement, 2 cm thick, at a level of 77 cm below datum. From the size of the bricks I would date this group of walls to a period of a little later than Hammurabi, perhaps that of Samsuiluna. Farther to the east is a remnant of an important building, marked "E." Its widest part is 1.50 m thick, and a doorway was found in it measuring 80 cm in width. The size of the bricks of which this wall is built is 27 x 19.50 x 10 cm; that is, exactly the same size as in wall "C" with which it was probably once connected. This wall when found stood about 72 cm high, with its base 36 cm below datum. The enclosure marked "W" in the plan is a pit that contains a number of graves of the Greek period. It measures roughly 8.40 x 5 m, with walls averaging from 30 to 50 cm in height. No bricks were found in the sides of the pit; they seem to have been simply of mother earth coated with a thick layer of mud plaster. Owing to denudation it is not known how high the walls of this chamber formerly were. When discovered, the top of the wall was 2.49 m above datum, whereas the surface of the ground was 2.71 m above. The entrance to this pit is at the north, and a recess there seems to have been intended to take a door. The floor is paved with bricks of a late date, both whole and broken, whose dimensions are 31 x 31 x 8 centimetres. The same-sized brick is also found in the large mound "W," to the west of the "A" mound, which is entirely composed of Neo-Babylonian buildings, and the bricks of this burial chamber were probably taken from that site. On the pavement at the south of the chamber there is a coliimn measuring 90 by 70 cm, which stands 34 cm high, that is, four courses in height. At the north is what appears to be a small piece of walling, measuring 25 cm in thickness and 55 cm in length, built of broken brick plastered with mud. The top of this wall is 2.40 cm above datum. The pavement is in some places laid more than two bricks deep, and its surface is at a level of 2.28 m above. Only mud mortar is used in lay- ing the pavement of which, however, a good portion has been removed, probably by brick robbers. In the northern portion of the chamber were found the bones of at least six bodies much confused as if they had been placed on top of one another, and orientated N. E. to S. W. The objects found with these bodies had been weathered badly. Some are shown in Plates XX and XVII, Figs. 8-14 and XLVII, Fig. 8; they are fully described in the last chapter. In many parts of mound "A" were found pottery drains evidently belonging to later buildings which have been denuded away. Though these drains in the present state of our knowledge are of little use for chronological purposes, they have been marked in black in the skeleton plan of the palace, and are fully described below. In the north-west corner of chamber 7 there is a vertical pottery drain made up of segments, 53 cm in diameter and 40 cm high, and open above and below. In each segment there is a pair of small holes for additional drainage in the middle of each of the opposite sides. The space between the debris filling the chamber and the segments was filled in with broken pottery, and into this
THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," KISH 119 loose material the water soaked away through the holes in the various segments. The upper rim of each segment of this drain consists of a rounded beading 5 cm deep and 5 cm thick. Considerable disturbance was caused in chamber 16 by the sinking of a vertical drain whose segments measure 64 cm in diameter by 18 cm in height. In this case each segment has a thick beading at the lower as well as the upper rim. None of the segments fitted one another, but merely rested one upon the other. The drain in the north-east corner of chamber 43 is of unusual design. Each segment is 72 cm in diameter and 30 cm high. The upper edge is strengthened with a thick beading, but the lower edge is rimless, and fits into the top of the segment immediately below. For additional strength there is a heavy beading around the middle of each segment. The bottom of this drain is at a level of 23 cm below datum. Four drains were found in the large pillared hall. The two to the north were evidently of the same date as they correspond in make and size, and they reach to 1.64 m below datum. They measure 53 cm in diameter, and are composed of segments 43 cm high, which are slightly cone-shaped and very roughly made. Contrary to the usual practice with cone-shaped segments, the smaller ends of suc- cessive segments are placed together, instead of their fitting into the larger ends. The two drains to the south are of slightly different make. The segments measure 50 cm in diameter and 23 cm in height, and both rims of each segment are heavily beaded. The level to which they were sunk averages 145 cm below datum. High up above chamber 49, three segments of a vertical drain were found, each 70 cm in diameter and 35 cm high. Both rims are thickened, and there is a beading around the middle of each segment. These segments are slightly conical so that they fitted about 2 cm one inside another. The level of the base of the lowest segment is 89 cm above zero. The larger drain in chamber 52 is composed of segments 60 cm in diameter and 21 cm high. The upper rim of each is strengthened by a rounded beading 4 cm wide and deep. The lower end of this drain is about the level of the top of the footing of the chamber; that is, 79 cm below datum. The second drain measures 49 cm in diameter, and each segment is 46.50 cm high with a plain lower rim and heavily-beaded upper one. It penetrated far below the foundations of the palace, and its base was never found. In the south-west corner of chamber 61 there were four segments of a pottery drain, each 72 cm in diameter and 37 cm high. Both rims are heavy and rounded, and each segment rests on the edge of the one below. The thickness of the pottery in the middle region of a segment is 1.50 centimetres. The lower edge of the lowest segment is 138 cm below datum. The copper or bronze adze shown in Plate XXXIX, Fig. 2, was found in a sandy deposit about the middle of the lowest segment. These drains do not resemble one another closely, except for the segments of those in chambers 43 and 49 being of much the same size and conspicuous for the beading around the middle of the segments. The largest segments were found in the drains in chambers 43, 49 and 61, their average diameter being 71 cm by an average of 34 cm in height.
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LIBRARY >A. \^ Class\\ 4^
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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 49 and 50: — THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A
Page 61: THE SUMERIAN PALACE AT MOUND "A," K
Page 73 and 74: THE "A" CEMETERY, KISH (Continued)
Page 83 and 84: POTTERY This chapter deals with the
Page 101 and 102: TOOLS AND WEAPONS A considerable nu
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THE "A" CEMETERY, KISH (Continued)
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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 ANT
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. VA
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FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY. 24
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I FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY.
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A Sumerian Palace and the "A" cemetery at Kish, Mesopotamia

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