In the 1920s, archaeologists of Ancient Iraq, or Assyria, excavated a series of ‘royal tombs’. These sites were filled with riches and skeletal remains. Scattered amongst the bodies there was gold and high-quality sculpture. The academic in charge of the excavation, Leonard Wooley, influenced by the tomb of Tutankhamun which had been excavated only 8 years earlier, concluded that these sites must be the preserve of royalty. After all, they were fit for a king! Yet it was not long before this theory came to be questioned.

A black and white photo of a large archaeological site. Flights of steps are visible.

One of the theories Wooley had for why there were so many skeletons on the site was that there had been a mass suicide in honour of the king. However, another scholar, the French academic Charvát, questioned this theory, pointing to the fact that the skeletons appeared to have died at different times. Further scholars then used analysis of the skeletons to suggest that many of the skeletons showed injury (damaged skulls and broken bones). The argument that came to be advanced was that these bodies were the product of human sacrifice, perhaps of a religious nature, not suicide.

Through an appeal to different evidence and academic dialogue, we can see how Wooley’s thesis came to be challenged. Nowadays, historians no longer consider these tombs to be ‘royal’ – rather they are believed to be religious. This is thanks to a critical reading of the evidence available to academics. It is this reading that has allowed a more sophisticated theories to be developed.

Task

Now you have read this description, ask yourself: what enabled these accepted beliefs to be challenged?
Note down your thoughts.

For more on this topic, see:

Bergbaum Museum (2021) 'The Royal Tombs of Ur, Mesopotamia: new investigations, new results from the
examination of metal artifacts and other archaeological finds'. Available at: https://www.bergbaumuseum.de/fileadmin/forschung/zeitschriften/metalla/22.1/metalla-22-1-royal-tombs-of-ur-mesopotamia-klein-hauptmann.pdf (Accessed: 10 April 2024).

Pollock, S. (1999) Ancient Mesopotamia: case studies in Early Studies. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Tinney, S. (1998) 'Death and burial in Early Mesopotamia: the view from the texts' In: Zettler, R. and Horne, L. (eds.) Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur. Seattle: Marquand Books, Inc., pp. 26-31. Available at: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Treasures+from+the+Royal+Tombs+of+Ur.-a078437047 (Accessed: 10 April 2024).

Ur Online (2024) 'Wooley's excavations'. Available at: http://www.ur-online.org/about/6/#:~:text=Royal%20tombs,approximately%2070%20by%2055%20meters (Accessed: 10 April 2024).

Image: UrOnline.org