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A Short Investigation of the Temple at Al-'Ubaid<br />

Author(s): P. Delougaz<br />

Source: Iraq, Vol. 5 (1938), pp. 1-11<br />

Published by: British Institute for the Study of Iraq<br />

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4241617<br />

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Iraq.


A SHORT INVESTIGATION OF THE TEMPLE<br />

AT AL-'UBAID<br />

By P. DELOUGAZ<br />

T HE following is an account of a short investigation carried out under the<br />

auspices of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago at Al-<br />

'Ubaid in January I937.<br />

Excavations on this site have previously been undertaken by other institutions;I<br />

some explanation is therefore necessary of the origin and circumstances<br />

of our short campaign.<br />

In the course of the Oriental Institute's exploration of the Dyala region,<br />

not only was the existence of early Sumerian civilization established at several<br />

sites in this comparatively northern part of Babylonia,2 but successive stages<br />

in its development were revealed and could be studied in detail. At <strong>Khafaje</strong> it<br />

was with this problem that we were mainly occupied for seven successive<br />

seasons.<br />

The uniformity of the material culture as found at these sites and at others<br />

located in Sumer proper soon became apparent, and was confirmed by innumerable<br />

cases of obvious resemblance between individual discoveries.3 It,<br />

therefore, seemed not unreasonable to expect a similar uniformity to appear<br />

in contemporary architectural remains.<br />

In point of fact, during the course of our second season's digging at <strong>Khafaje</strong><br />

(the winter of I93I-2) we cleared within the great Oval enclosure a 'square<br />

structure' in plan not unlike the Platform at Al-'Ubaid.4 Both structures were<br />

built of plano-convex bricks and both could be dated with certainty to<br />

approximately the same part of the Early Dynastic period. The common lines<br />

of these two structures have been discussed in a previous study,s while the<br />

most significant difference consists in the placing of the stairways. Just as the<br />

position of the stairway off centre against the Platform at <strong>Khafaje</strong> enabled us<br />

to reconstruct a definite type of shrine, namely the 'northern', on top of it<br />

(Fig. I), so the position of the stairs against the middle of the Platform at Al-<br />

'Ubaid may indicate that the shrine there was of the 'southern' type. The<br />

smaller size and the greater number of buttresses may provide a clue for the<br />

comparative dating of the two structures.6 The Al-'Ubaid Platform was<br />

I The site was discovered in I919 by the late Dr.<br />

Hall. Work was carried on there first by Dr. Hall<br />

and afterwards by Sir Leonard Woolley. The<br />

results of the excavations were fully published by<br />

these two excavators in collaboration with Mr. C. J.<br />

Gadd, in Al 'Ubaid, Oxford University Press, I927.<br />

' Extensive remains of the Early Dynastic period<br />

were excavated at Tell Assmar, <strong>Khafaje</strong>, and Tell<br />

Agrab. The main results were published by Dr.<br />

Henri Frankfort and collaborators in the annual<br />

reports of the Iraq Expedition, Oriental Institute<br />

B<br />

Communications, nos. 13, i6, I7, I9, and 20.<br />

3 One of the first and most striking of such<br />

examples is a plaque from <strong>Khafaje</strong> (Kh. I/400), a<br />

missing corner of which could practically be re-<br />

placed by a fragment of a similar plaque found at<br />

Ur. See OIC. No. 13, 96-7.<br />

4 OIC., No i6, p. 64, fig. 40.<br />

s DELOUGAZ, Planoconvex Bricks and the Methods<br />

of their Employprent, Studies in Ancient Oriental<br />

Civilization, No. 7.<br />

6 DELOUGAZ, Planocomex Bricks, pp. 28 f.


comparatively well preserved<br />

P. DELOUGAZ<br />

and had a revetment of baked brick, while the<br />

'square structure' was built entirely of unbaked bricks of which only a few<br />

courses were preserved.<br />

However, although our knowledge of the architecture of the Early Dynastic<br />

period has increased considerably during the last few years, the Oval Temple<br />

enclosure at <strong>Khafaje</strong> stands out as unique of its kind among the other known<br />

buildings (Fig. i). On the other hand, the magnitude of this building and the<br />

conservatism characteristic of the ancient Near East seem to exclude the<br />

possibility of its peculiarities being the outcome of a whim or eccentricity,<br />

especially as we have established that it had been repeatedly rebuilt on similar<br />

lines, probably conforming to some definite tradition.<br />

When the excavations of the Oval Temple at <strong>Khafaje</strong> were completed,<br />

it<br />

became evident that the 'square structure' was in fact an integral part of a<br />

more elaborate building. Having in mind the close affinity of the Nin-<br />

Khursag temple to it, the writer felt inclined to extend the parallel and<br />

expect an oval building at Al-'Ubaid as well. That such a building was not<br />

found in the previous excavations is not a matter for surprise. From the<br />

excellent report on these excavations it is clear that the excavators' attention<br />

had been concentrated on a small area round and in front of the Platform, the<br />

area, in fact, where the important objects were found. As one can clearly see<br />

from the air photographs,1<br />

the dumps encroached to within a few metres of<br />

the platform walls, and this, of course, did away with the possibility<br />

of investi-<br />

gating the ground thus covered for architectural remains (PI. I.). It was only<br />

in the very limited space of a few narrow trenches, particularly<br />

in the one to<br />

the north-east, that any such remains might have been found. Beyond the<br />

dumps to the east, however, a wall built of baked bricks, and dated by some<br />

bricks bearing the name of Shulgi to the Third Dynasty of Ur, had been<br />

traced.2 This wall shows a definite curve both in the air photographs<br />

and on<br />

the plan,3 and there was evidence of other building activities on the part of<br />

the same king at the summit of the Temple Platform. It is obvious that he<br />

intended to preserve some of the tradition of the earlier building, as he even<br />

imitated the special character of the material used in this earlier period.<br />

(Some of his bricks were planoconvex in shape, bearing the characteristic<br />

finger-marks.4) It therefore seemed equally within the bounds of possibility<br />

that the curvature of this wall might have reflected some earlier tradition of<br />

the building. It is true that it was explained by the previous excavators as a<br />

quaywall or a revetment of a canal,5 yet, since it was never completely dug, it<br />

seemed to us that a further investigation might produce some new evidence.<br />

The work of the joint expedition of the British Museum and the University<br />

Museum of Pennsylvania was terminated some time ago, and the Oriental<br />

Institute is also bringing its activities in Iraq to a close for the time being. If,<br />

therefore, results were to be obtained before the final publication<br />

of the Oval<br />

1 Al 'Ubaid, pi. i.<br />

2 Ibid. 62.<br />

3 Ibid., pi. 1, fig. 2; pi. 11.<br />

? Ibid. 14, 63.<br />

5 Ibid. 62.


A SHORT INVESTIGATION OF THE TEMPLE AT AL-'UBAID 3<br />

Temple at <strong>Khafaje</strong> went to press, the investigation of this intriguing compari-<br />

son could not be postponed. We consequently apprised Sir Leonard Woolley<br />

of our project, and after obtaining his kind consent as well as formal permis-<br />

sion from the Director of Antiquities in Iraq, the writer, accompanied by the<br />

architect of the Iraq Expedition, Mr. Seton Lloyd, left Baghdad on January<br />

17th for Al-'Ubaid. Our time was limited by the closing down of our excava-<br />

tions on January 16th and the subsequent 'Division Day' at <strong>Khafaje</strong>, and<br />

January 23rd, on which date our season officially closed with the departure<br />

of Dr. Frankfort. Excluding the time for the journey up and down, only four<br />

full days were left for the campaign. The results obtained during this short<br />

time are largely due to the tireless application and spirit of the group of seven<br />

young pickmen who accompanied us from the north. In addition to these<br />

skilled wall-tracers a score or so of local Arabs were employed as basket-<br />

carriers.<br />

While the writer was conducting the excavations and taking photographs in<br />

the field, Mr. Lloyd undertook the planning of the newly excavated ruins as<br />

well as a complete survey of the site. All object photographs reproduced in<br />

these pages were taken at <strong>Khafaje</strong> by Mrs. Rigmor Jacobsen, the photographer<br />

of the<br />

Iraq Expedition.<br />

I. ARCHITECTURAL REMAINS<br />

The Oval. In view of certain considerations mentioned above, our first<br />

concern was to re-excavate Shulgi's curved wall. Luckily, however, it proved<br />

unnecessary to continue working on this secondary structure, since before the<br />

end of our first morning we were able to transfer our activities to the earlier<br />

Oval enclosure, the line of which at one point was just discernible on the<br />

surface owing to the difference in colour between its masonry and the soil<br />

which surrounded it. Mr. Lloyd first observed these contrasting colours on<br />

the south-west side of the Platform, while we were searching the mound for<br />

painted pot-sherds, and the explanation soon became clear. The material<br />

used in the earlier building was a peculiar reddish brick. But at a later date<br />

the walls had been completely filled in and covered with a layer of greyish<br />

clay.1 On the north, west, and south-west sides of the building this later<br />

structure had been partially washed away, exposing the earlier reddish brick-<br />

work. The grey colour was thus only preserved in the spaces between the<br />

walls, where the grey bricks still remained in place against the earlier red ones<br />

(see section, Fig. 4).<br />

Once the presence of a curved wall was detected at one point, wall-tracers<br />

were placed at short intervals outside the line which it seemed likely to be<br />

going to take, and were instructed to cut narrow trenches in the direction of<br />

the platform. Each in turn encountered the reddish brickwork of the wall and<br />

proceeded to follow it until he reached the point where his neighbour had<br />

started. In this way a continuous line was soon obtained.<br />

1 Al 'Ubaid, 62.


4 P. DELOUGAZ<br />

Plate I, i, shows a portion of the Oval on the south-west side (above the<br />

head of the wall-tracer in the foreground an arrow indicates the shallow<br />

trench by which he reached the wall).<br />

Plate I, 2, shows the south-east side of the Oval after it had been traced<br />

through the earlier dumps.<br />

The results of the excavations were surveyed by Mr. Lloyd and are shown<br />

on the plan (Fig. 2). The newly-excavated part is marked in solid black, while<br />

the part previously excavated is hatched in. It will be seen that the Platform<br />

is placed a little off the centre of an oval enclosure some 80 metres long<br />

and<br />

65 wide. We were unable in the limited time at our disposal to uncover the<br />

entire length of the Oval, yet sufficient tracing was done at a succession of<br />

points to enable us to complete the circuit with a minimum of conjecture.<br />

It should be made clear that the solid black does not indicate any definite<br />

thickness of wall, but only the face of what is probably solid brickwork. If<br />

enclosure walls existed round the Platform, it is indeed unlikely that these<br />

are preserved, except perhaps on the east side where less erosion has taken<br />

place, but the ground is partly covered by dumps. The Oval thus far exca-<br />

vated probably represents only the outer face of an artificial terrace similar to<br />

the low terrace at <strong>Khafaje</strong>, on top of which the Platform was built.<br />

On the south side of the terrace a drain of baked brick runs outwards from<br />

the centre and appears to have been embedded in the brickwork of the terrace.<br />

Unfortunately, it could not be traced to its starting-point owing to lack of<br />

time and the considerable size of the dumps which covered its northern end.<br />

Plate II, 1, shows this drain, looking north.<br />

The Entrance. Once the shape and character of the Oval terrace which<br />

carried the Platform had been determined, it seemed natural to expect an<br />

entrance somewhere on the main axis of the impressive stairway<br />

which can<br />

be seen on the plan. Yet, as the tracing of the outer face progressed,<br />

this point<br />

was reached without any interruption in its continuity. The only alternative<br />

position seemed to be a point in line with the earlier pavement<br />

or ramp which<br />

was excavated near the stairway and took a somewhat different angle.1<br />

Here<br />

it was in fact found, during the last minutes of our short campaign (Fig.<br />

2, Square E-5). For the moment, therefore, it seemed reasonable to conclude<br />

that it was contemporary<br />

with some building period earlier than the Platform<br />

to which the staircase belonged. After the plan was drawn, however, Mr.<br />

Lloyd pointed out that it was the only spot in the whole of the Oval where the<br />

entrance could be at right angles with a tangent to the Oval and facing the<br />

staircase. This may, therefore, suggest an alternative explanation of the<br />

asymmetrical position of the stairs in the fa?ade of the Platform to that sug-<br />

gested at the time of its excavation,2 namely, that their position was adapted so<br />

that their axis might correspond to an earlier entrance.<br />

The Terrace. A few hours of our time were devoted to the investigation of<br />

the upper surface of the newly discovered Oval Terrace. Near the east comer<br />

of the Flatform, and beneath the pavement upon and above which lay the rich<br />

1<br />

AV?baid^z.<br />

Ibid., 74?


A SHORT INVESTIGATION OF THE TEMPLE AT AL-'UBAID 5<br />

collection of objects found by the previous excavators, we succeeded in<br />

tracing a short length of a wall running north and south. At either end it dis-<br />

appeared beneath high dumps, and its further investigation in the time which<br />

remained at our disposal was consequently impossible.<br />

The part traced was about 18 metres in length, and about 4 metres from<br />

the south end a doorway was found leading eastwards into the space which<br />

separated it from the outer face of the enclosure. This doorway is 2 metres<br />

in width and somewhat elaborate in treatment, having a panelled buttress on<br />

one side and a recess on the other. Farther to the north a shallow buttress<br />

was uncovered which seemed likely to have been one of a series forming a<br />

continuous treatment of the inner face of the wall?again a parallel from<br />

<strong>Khafaje</strong>. The thickness of the wall was ascertained only in one point near<br />

the south side of the entrance, where it measured 1-50 m.<br />

Plate II, 2, shows a part of this wall as well as the east corner of the Platform.<br />

The buttress mentioned above appears beneath the metre-stick in the fore-<br />

ground, while the doorway can be seen a little beyond.<br />

The space in front of the Platform, corresponding to the main courtyard<br />

inside the Oval at <strong>Khafaje</strong>, was of course almost entirely cleared by the pre-<br />

vious excavators, since it was here that they encountered such a rich harvest<br />

of objects. Beneath the pavement which they laid bare, however, there are<br />

indications of floors belonging to at least three earlier<br />

occupations.<br />

These<br />

could plainly be seen at a point where a deep trench had been dug, perhaps<br />

to examine the foundations of the Platform.<br />

The position of the trench can be seen in Fig. 2 : it is situated in front of the<br />

Platform, south-west of the stairway. Plate III, 2, shows its vertical side and<br />

clearly indicates the various floor-levels. For the sake of producing a clear<br />

photograph, the various pavements from the sand upwards were cut into projecting<br />

shelves, upon<br />

the lowest of which some painted Al-'Ubaid sherds are<br />

lying. Beneath this shelf there is a layer of sand, the depth of which we had<br />

not time to establish ; it is certain, however, that it is not virgin soil because<br />

a number of painted sherds were found embedded in it.<br />

The Platform. Since most of our time had to be devoted to the tracing of<br />

the Oval, we were able only to investigate the top of the Platform during the<br />

last few hours of our visit, and not more than two men could be spared for this<br />

work. Near the south corner, in the vicinity of a pile of baked bricks?<br />

probably all that remains of a Shulgi wall1?we found traces of the foundations<br />

of another building (Plate III, 1). These consisted of a few courses of<br />

unbaked bricks laid at a different angle from the face of the earlier platform<br />

and showing signs of belonging to some structure which extended beyond<br />

it. The surviving foundations had been cut off short when the baked brick<br />

revetment of the early platform was traced,2 so that there was no possibi-<br />

lity of establishing their extent or outline. It is none the less conceivable<br />

that a further investigation of their fragmentary remains may reveal some<br />

clue as to the character of the building which originally stood upon the<br />

1 Al 'Ubaid, 63.<br />

Ibid. 14.


6 P. DELOUGAZ<br />

Platform. The further investigation of this point would, of course, involve the<br />

complete removal, after tracing, of all secondary remains, in order to avoid<br />

their becoming confused with such traces as might survive of the original<br />

structure.<br />

Earlier Foundations. In addition to the newly excavated features, Mr.<br />

Lloyd was also able to record in the plan a deep search-trench which we<br />

found had been cut in the southern corner of the Platform (Fig. 2, Square<br />

D-4). At the bottom of this trench the remains of a wall-foundation, con-<br />

sisting of irregular slabs of limestone, came to light.1 We continued tracing<br />

these for some distance at either end beneath the masonry of the Platform, and<br />

found that the wall of which they formed part had run east and west, that is to<br />

say, at an angle of 45o with the axis of the Platform. It may belong to an earlier<br />

building of some importance<br />

and is probably well worth investigation. At<br />

corresponding levels elsewhere in the site great quantities of small clay cones<br />

were found, both by us and by the previous excavators. These cones are<br />

evidence of a certain technique of mosaic decoration discovered at Warka, but<br />

practically unknown elsewhere.2<br />

Topographical Survey\ While excavation was in progress, Mr. Lloyd under-<br />

took and completed a topographic survey of the site (Fig. 3). In this survey he<br />

also located the position of the early settlement and cemetery excavated by<br />

Sir Leonard Woolley.3 This was done in order to establish their relative<br />

positions, and at the same time to make some record of the contour of the tell.<br />

The appearance of the latter does not, we feel, support the theory that at some<br />

time during the occupation of the site a canal ran between the early settle-<br />

ments and the Temple. The cross-section on Fig. 4 shows the levels of the<br />

ruins so far excavated.<br />

II. SMALL FINDS<br />

The very few objects which were found during our investigation were for<br />

the most part surface finds. The types of the painted pottery sickles, clay,<br />

and stone pegs, &c, are well known from previous publications. We shall,<br />

therefore, briefly describe only a few which we consider to provide some new<br />

information.<br />

Finds of the Jemdet Nasr Period. The most important of these was a well-<br />

preserved cylinder seal which can be assigned to the Jemdet Nasr Period<br />

(Plate IV, 1). This seal was found beneath the surface against the western<br />

side of the Oval. It is made of white marble, unpierced, with a small circular<br />

indentation at one end, and is in this way practically identical with certain<br />

seals found in the Sin Temple of the Jemdet Nasr Period at <strong>Khafaje</strong> (one of<br />

which?Kh.<br />

VI/160?is<br />

shown on Plate IV, 2).<br />

Some 10 metres to the south of the Oval a small rectangular brick of the<br />

1 The sounding, as I learned later from Sir<br />

Leonard Woolley, was made by Mr. M. E. L.<br />

Mallowan when he was a member of the staff of his<br />

expedition working at Ur.<br />

2<br />

Loftus, Travels and Researches in Chaldaea and<br />

Susiana, 187 ff.; Jordan, Dritter vorl?ufiger<br />

Bericht Uruk. (Abh. Preuss. Akad. Wiss. 1932.<br />

Phil.-Hist. Klasse Nr. 2).<br />

3 See Al 'Ubaid, pl. xlii.


A SHORT INVESTIGATION OF THE TEMPLE AT AL-'UBAID 7<br />

'Riemchen' type was also found on the surface. This brick (Plate IV, 4) is<br />

baked, and measures 12x21 centimetres. It was<br />

evidently made in an open<br />

mould, as the portion of clay which had exuded beneath the frame in the<br />

making of the brick can be clearly distinguished even in the photograph.<br />

Plate IV, 3, shows an unbaked 'Riemchen' from <strong>Khafaje</strong> of the Jemdet Nasr<br />

Period. This, too, was doubtless made in a similar way, as is suggested by the<br />

edge of surplus clay, and by the defect in the<br />

shape of the brick in the top<br />

left-hand corner, which was certainly caused by a rectangular piece of wood<br />

inserted in one corner to strengthen the frame. The<br />

similarity between these<br />

two bricks in shape and size is obvious, and may be evidence of the existence<br />

at Al-'Ubaid of architectural remains of the Jemdet Nasr Period, although<br />

one would, of course, need to find these bricks in situ in a dated stratum before<br />

drawing positive conclusions. The cylinder seal described above seems a<br />

weighty argument in favour of this contention.<br />

I gather also that some fragments of painted pottery of the Jemdet Nasr<br />

Period were found by Dr. Hall, but naturally they could not be identified at<br />

that time, as the site of Jemdet Nasr was only later discovered and excavated.<br />

Clay Cones and Mosaics. As previously stated, we also found in great num-<br />

bers the small clay cones which had been from the beginning associated with<br />

the 'Stiften' mosaic technique, as found in the temple at Warka,1 where clay<br />

cones were inserted in the mud mortar so that their circular flat ends painted<br />

in various colours lay flush with the wall and so formed patterns. The cones<br />

are of various sizes, ranging between 3 and 12 centimetres in length, some of<br />

them still bearing traces of black or red paint on their flat end. There seems<br />

to be no doubt that this kind of mosaic ornament was employed in some<br />

building on this site. But, as there is no example at Al-'Ubaid of such mosaic<br />

work found in position, nothing can be said of the pattern. A small brick,<br />

however, found near the western side of the Oval bore clear traces of a design<br />

in black and white paint, very similar to the pattern of the 'Stiften* mosaic at<br />

Warka. This brick (Plate IV, 5) is broken in the middle and it is clear that<br />

it was decorated with two painted panels. Approximately in the centre of each<br />

panel was a hole made by one of the smaller clay cones when the clay was still<br />

wet. In the centre, between the two panels, there was also a third hole,<br />

which can be seen just where the break occurred. Plate IV, 6, is a reconstruc-<br />

tion of the same brick. As No. 7 on the same Plate we reproduce an unpainted<br />

brick from Eridu, which also has a series of three holes, made before baking<br />

in the same way. This type of brick is quite common on the surface at<br />

Eridu, but there seems to be no definite proof as to the period to which it<br />

belongs. All the bricks on this plate are of a similar type and may, therefore,<br />

indicate a connexion between the Jemdet Nasr and Uruk periods.<br />

Inlay Pieces. Not so numerous as the clay cones, but still plentiful, were the<br />

triangles, lozenges, and flower petals of pink, grey, and white stone or some-<br />

times shell; most of these undoubtedly belonged to the inlaid mosaics,<br />

columns, and artificial flowers which were found in abundance by the previous<br />

LoFTUS, Travels and Researches in Chaldaea and Susiana, 187 ff.


8 P. DELOUGAZ<br />

excavators. But there seems no doubt that some were used in wall friezes in<br />

the Early Dynastic buildings, comprising the usual geometrical patterns<br />

which were of three types : (i) joined lozenges forming a 'diamond-check'<br />

pattern; (ii) joined triangles forming a 'wedge' pattern; and (iii) formal<br />

rosettes.1<br />

Fortunately we were able to detect the way in which some of these friezes<br />

were fixed to the wall. For this purpose, clay cones identical in size and shape<br />

with the 'Stiften' mosaic type (averaging 10 cm. in length) were used, but<br />

differing in that the flat end of each is obliquely pierced by two holes from<br />

top to side, Plate IV, 9 and 10. These holes correspond exactly to loops formed<br />

by drilling into the back of the single mosaic pieces, and could be attached to<br />

them with string, or more likely with copper wire, traces of which were<br />

actually found in some cases (Plate IV, 8). The cones could then be inserted<br />

into the wet clay plaster exactly as in the earlier 'Stiften' mosaic technique<br />

until the piece of mosaic lay flush with the wall. Furthermore, as the surface<br />

of the mosaic pieces was generally larger in area than the thickness of the cone,<br />

enough space was left between cones for the displaced plaster to settle, and<br />

thus minor adjustments were facilitated.<br />

The advantage of this method over the earlier<br />

technique is obvious. In<br />

this way it is possible to obtain a larger variety of pattern and colour as well<br />

as a more durable effect. There is an obvious connexion between this method<br />

of using stone inlay pieces attached to clay cones, presumably in the Early<br />

Dynastic period,<br />

and the pure 'Stiften' mosaic technique as found at Warka.<br />

On the other hand, numerous coloured stone cones, found on the surface of<br />

the earliest settlement among the painted sherds, suggest that at the earliest<br />

(Al-'Ubaid) period the technique of similar mosaic work was already known.2<br />

It is possible that stone was first used for the purpose of mosaic decoration in<br />

this part of the country, since it is obtainable in a variety of colours in the<br />

vicinity, and that the clay cones were a substitute devised later in a part of<br />

the country where stone was not easily come by.<br />

Now, whereas recent excavations have thrown much light on the transition<br />

from the Jemdet Nasr period to the Early Dynastic period, the sequence of<br />

the earlier stages, that is to say, the relations between the Al-'Ubaid, Uruk, and<br />

Jemdet Nasr periods, still remains problematical ; consequently, any probable<br />

link between these periods, suggested by however trivial-seeming an object,<br />

deserves special attention ; and it is from this point of view that our finds had<br />

to be considered.<br />

Our object in revisiting the south was to verify the theory about the exis-<br />

tence of an oval-shaped structure in connexion with the Nin-Khursag Temple<br />

at Al-'Ubaid. Of this we were fortunate enough to obtain positive proof;<br />

1 In this connexion it is interesting to note that<br />

exactly the same pattern occurs in some of the inlaid<br />

vas?s of the Jemdet Nasr Period found at <strong>Khafaje</strong>.<br />

Even the colours are the same, red and white en a<br />

field of black bitumen and occasionally on red<br />

paint. (See Illustrated London Netvs, Sept. 26th,<br />

1936, 526.)<br />

2 Such stone pegs are still common on the surface<br />

at Eridu, but they were also found previously in<br />

profusion on the surface of Al-'Ubaid (see Al<br />

'Ubaid.S).


?-w-?:^-r,*?**.. *^??*^ -r---"C-Ai .*=? . -*?*<br />

2. The south-eastern side of the Oval at Al-'Ubaid<br />

3. A general view of the Temple mound at Al-'Ubaid from the north-east<br />

-. '.:-*,.fcV_<br />

PLATE I


PLATE II<br />

?. The baked-brick drain at the south side of the Oval at Al-'Ubaid<br />

2. The wall on top of the terrace at Al-'Ubaid


?. The brickwork on top of the Platform at Al-'Ubaid<br />

2. The floor levels in front of the Platform at Al-'Ubaid<br />

PLATE III


PLATE IV<br />

Et<br />

o<br />

u<br />

?<br />

Ie!<br />

4^ VO ?4-1<br />

0> O<br />

'S -r4 w<br />

8 "S 8<br />

S ?r m oc<br />

* J, c c<br />

?8 ^ 1?<br />

O O ?? ?H<br />

'S ?? CL ?*<br />

^<br />

^ o S<br />

TJ?S<br />

4> 'G!<br />

J-fi<br />


A SHORT INVESTIGATION OF THE TEMPLE AT AL-'UBAID 9<br />

apart from this, the results that could be gathered in such a short campaign<br />

were necessarily scanty and incomplete; but even so, these results were<br />

enough to bring us counter to some of the fundamental problems of Baby-<br />

lonian archaeology, and even to provide some material for speculation. It is<br />

indeed impossible to work on these sites, even on a very small scale, without<br />

obtaining the feeling, nay, the conviction, that only when regular excavations<br />

on a proper scale are resumed, will some of these problems find their solution.


^I^^E?^ MCUftS<br />

THE TEMPLE OVAL<br />

KHAFAJE<br />

Fig. i. A RECONSTRUCTED PLAN OF THE TEMPLE OVAL AT KHAFAJE.<br />

Fig. 2. GROUND PLAN OF THE TEMPLE AT AL-'UBAID.


Fig. 3. TOPOGRAPHIC SKETCH OF AL-'UBAID.<br />

TELL AL 'U ? A I D . cross scction throuqh t pe tcmrlc ri at f or m .<br />

^w-<br />

^2<br />

Fig. 4.

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