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

THE "A" CEMETERY, KISH (Continued) 137
what crude design threaded in one or more strings. A strong belief in an after life
is implied by the large quantity of pottery and other objects buried with the dead,
but the fact that this belief was in some respects rather vague is shown by the
lack of any fixed orientation of the body and head. Both sexes were accustomed
to use kohl for the eyes, and the use of cosmetics was general among men,
women and even children. That the women as well as the men were continually
engaged in agriculture seems to be proved by the presence of foot rubbers in their
graves. Evidently, both men and women were unaccustomed to sandals, and
required some aid to remove hard skin from the feet.
The men carried weapons, such as daggers and battle axes. It is obvious
that, as at the present day in Mesopotamia, life was not always serene and that
constant watchfulness was necessary, the principal danger being, as now, raids
from adjoining tribes or from the powerful city states in the south. That linen
clothing was worn is proved by samples found in the graves, but only where it had
come into contact with copper, and was preserved by the oxidation of the latter
(graves 51 and 57) . From the seals it is apparent that the garment worn by the
men took the form of a simple kilt, the better classes being clothed above the
waist in a kind of shawl that was carried over the left shoulder and under the
right arm. Women are not portrayed on the seals, but silver medallions found in
the graves show that they were clothed from the neck, the medallion serving to
decorate the garment at the breast, and perhaps also to fasten it.
It was probably the work of the women also to prepare the yarn for the
weaver. Spindles and spindle-whorls have been found in one female burial this
season and in another last year. In these two cases, the articles, which were made
of copper, were preserved intact, but whorls, whose spindles were of wood and
consequently had decayed, were also common in the mound. Linen and wool
were the only materials that were spun, and clothing made from the latter was
probably confined to outer garments. There is also evidence from one grave that
ornamental leather work was known. A dagger-sheath of leather has left its im-
print on a blade in the form of an elaborate border enclosing a fine design in diaper
tool work. The sheath itself disappeared long ago, but its pattern has been preserved
owing to the oxidation of the metal. Leather work is to be expected among
a people engaged in agriculture and pastoral pursuits, but it is exceptionally
fortunate to obtain this glimpse of the sort of work that they produced (Plate
LXII, Fig. 19).
Many of the men as well as the women were accustomed to wearing a silver
or copper fillet around the forehead. Two definite examples of a nose ornament
have been found in adult graves (burials 63 and 128; Plate LIX, Fig. 28), and two
studs of silver found in a child's grave prove that this form of ornament was also
worn by children (burial 100; Plate LIX, Fig. 24). Men and women carried toilet
sets in a small copper case, such as are still earned on a string around the neck by
men in northern India. The case contained various implements including tweezers,
ear-picks, prickers, and sometimes a small blade. In the graves of the "A"
cemetery, the usual place for these toilet sets was near the pelvis, showing that