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Treatment Of The Dead Mesopotamia 2700 BC Term Paper

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Burial in Ur What were death rituals like in Biblical times? Studying archaeological sites from ancient Mesopotamia offers some answers, as well as raises more questions. Mesopotamia or the "the Land between the Rivers" or "House of Two Rivers" is a region of Southwest Asia between the Trigris and Euphrates rivers, near Iraq ande Syria. Writings from this area are some of the earliest known in human culture, so it is believed that this may indeed be the cradle of civilization.

The Sumerians lived in this area of Mesopotamia about 2800 BC in cities such as Adab, Eridu, Isin, Kish, Kullab, Lagash, Larsa, Nippur, and Ur. Around the city of Ur, which was established around 2100 BC, grew rich agricultural lands. Inside the city...

Archaeologists found a cemetery in Ur dating back to about 2600 BC with hundreds of bodies. Many of these individuals were buried with very expensive items. In one area of the cemetery, a group of 16 graves dates back to the mid-third millennium. Unlike the other burials, these large, shaft graves included stone, rubble and brick tombs that were built at the bottom of a pit. The tombs' design varied, with some taking up a whole section of the pit and having numerous chambers. In one of these larger tombs was…

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Some archaeologists believe instead that the burials were for priests or priestesses, who were killed as part of a sacred marriage ceremony, a ritual offering to the god and goddess of Ur to ensure fertile land and a bountiful harvest. Opponents state that one would expect a fertility rite to be performed annually, and this does not correspond to the number of graves. Also if the sacrifice was based on a sacred marriage, the couple would most likely be buried together, Yet, each tomb only contains one individual.

Since most of the graves were robbed over the years, it is difficult to know for sure. The remains were excavated in the 1920's by Sir Leonard Woolley in a joint expedition between the British Museum and the University of Pennnyslvania.

Unless additional information is someday found about the individuals who were buried in these tombs, the individuals will have taken the answer to this mystery with them to their graves.
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