Royal Tombs of Ur

3D Model

The Royal Tombs of Ur includes more than 2000 burials. Amongst these burials were sixteen tombs identified as royal tombs based on their size and structure, variety and richness of grave goods, as well as the existence of artifacts associated with mass ritual. The Great Death Pit was an open square-shaped space, serving as the graveyard for the bodies of armed men that were laid out inside along with other corpses thought to belong to women or young girls. The introduction of massive death pits at Ur is usually associated to Meskalamdug, one of the kings of Ur that was also known as the paramount ruler of all the Sumerians. He started the practice of massive entombments with the sacrifice of soldiers and an entire choir of women to accompany him in the afterlife. It has also been suggested that the Great Death Pit was the tomb of Mesannepada. Digitised by participants (Jhazwan) during the Tech 4 Heritage workshops in Nasiriyah, Iraq.