Kish excavations, 1923-1933

280 Pages·2011·13.9 MB·English

ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM • OXFORD
SH
Excavations
1923-1933
WITH A MICROFICHE CATALOGUE
OF THE OBJECTS IN OXFORD
EXCAVATED BY THE OXFORD-FIELD MUSEUM,
CHICAGO, EXPEDITION TO KISH IN IRAQ, 1923-1933
ER.S.Moorey
Kish was one of the most important cities of
ancient Iraq, the site of crucial political develop-
ments in the late fourth and early third millennia
B.C., in what is generally acknowledged to be one
of the oldest literate urban civilizations in the
world. Even after its political supremacy passed its
geographical position ensured a continuing role in
the history of Mesopotamia to the Islamic conquest.
The excavations of the Oxford-Field Museum,
Chicago, Expedition from 1923-33 were on a very
large-scale, never likely to be repeated, and were
never fully published. A final report only exists for
one of the six major areas of excavation. This book
seeks to fill the gap as far as is now possible by
offering a comprehensive survey of the results
integrated with information from other excavations
in Iraq. A concluding essay attempts a history of
Kish. A set of microfiches bound in with the text
provide a fully illustrated catalogue raisonne of the
Oxford collection of finds from these excavations.
They are a representative sample of the whole,
complemented by the results of studying the
collections in Baghdad and Chicago.
Of particular interest are the results of studying
the archaeological remains contemporary with the
very early secular kingship exercised from Kish,
c. 3000-2500 B.C., including the 'chariot graves'
and two very early palaces; a well equipped
cemetery of the Persian occupation of Iraq in the
fifth to fourth centuries B.C.; a series of large
Sasanian buildings, two with a unique group of
stucco decoration.
Dr. Moorey is Senior Assistant Keeper in the
Department of Antiquities, Ashmolean Museum,
and Fellow of Wolfson College, Oxford.
KISH EXCAVATIONS
1923-1933
ASHMOLEAN MUSEUM • OXFORD
KISH
EXCAVATIONS
1923-1933
WITH A MICROFICHE CATALOGUE
OF THE OBJECTS IN OXFORD
EXCAVATED BY THE OXFORD - FIELD MUSEUM,
CHICAGO EXPEDITION TO KISH IN IRAQ, 1923-1933
BY
P. R. S. MOOREY
M2§
1978
CLARENDON PRESS OXFORD
Oxford University Press, Walton Street, Oxford 0x2 6 D P
OXFORD LONDON GLASGOW
NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE WELLINGTON
IBADAN NAIROBI DAR ES SALAAM LUSAKA CAPE TOWN
KUALA LUMPUR SINGAPORE JAKARTA HONG KONG TOKYO
DELHI BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS KARACHI
© Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1978
Published in co-operation with the Visitors of the Ashmolean
by the Delegates of the Press
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
the prior permission of Oxford University Press
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Oxford - Field Museum, Chicago,
Expedition
Kish excavations, 1923-1933.
1. Kish, Iraq
I. Title II. Moorey, Peter Roger Stuart
III. Ashmolean Museum
935 DS70.5.K5
ISBN 0-19-813191-7
Printed in Great Britain by
Thomson Litho Ltd, East Kilbride, Scotland.
CONTENTS
Preface vi
Acknowledgements x
xii
List of Maps and Plans
Abreviations xi
Notes for the Reader x
1 The Exploration of Kish, 1811-1933 1
I Early Exploration: 181-1923 1
II The Oxford-Field Museum (Chicago)
Expedition, 1923-3 13
Tels Uhaimir Khazna and Bandar 19
I Uhaimir (a Documentary evidence 19
The Zigurat 20
(c
The Temple Area 27
(d
The 'town site' 28
(e
The «fort» 29
The outlying tels 30
(i) Tel Khazna 30
(i) Tel Bandar 30
3 Area 'P': The Piano-Convex Building 34
(i) Plan and course of excavation 34
(i) Function, antecedents and sucesors 41
4 Mound W 48
(i) The Structures 48
(i) The Graves 50
5 Mound A 5
I The Palace 5
I The Cemetery 61
(i) Grave-groups and Chronology 65
(ii) Graves on Tell Ingharra contemporary
with cemetery A 70
I Conclusion 74
6 Tel Inghara 81
I Ancient Hursagkalama 81
f
II Excavation Areas other than the 'Y
Soundings 83
I The 'Y' Sounding 9
IV Cuting »YW» 14
V Cuting 'YWN' 14
VI
7 Tel H: The Sasanian Setlement 12
8 The Outlying Tells 147
I Jamdat Nasr 147
I Tel Barguthiat 157
I Um el-Jir 158
9 Archaeology and History: the city of Kish,
c.30 B.C. to A.D. 650 164
Concise Bibliography 187
Select Index to the main text 200
Index to the catalogue and illustrations on
microfiche