Hannah's School Blog: The Tombs of Ur

Sir C. Leonard Woolley

and his discovery of

The Royal Tombs of Ur

Report By: Hannah Marriott

C. Leonard Woolley, an archaeologist, from 1922 to 1934 excavated the site of the ancient Sumerian city of Ur. He made many great discoveries about the people who lived there, mainly from the burials. Leonard found 1800 tombs. 16 of these tombs had more valuable objects than in the other 1784 tombs. These 16 tombs, Leonard called 'Royal Tombs'.

Tomb Plan

Sir Charles Leonard Woolley was born the 17 of April 1880 in London, England

and died the 20 of February 1960 at the age of 79.

Ur

The City of Ur, hometown of Abraham, is located in Sumer (southern Mesopotamia), near the Rivers of Tigris and Euphrates on the Persian Gulf. Ur, also known as Tell al-Muqayyar (a tell is a hill made of crumbling buildings with new building made on top), was one of twenty such city-states flourishing in the valley between the Two Rivers between 2,900 and 2,350 B.C. It was also was an important Sumerian city state between 2025-1738 BC. The remains of the city are now in Iraq, near the city of Nasiriyah and south of Baghdad. The City is mainly made out of mud-brick structures built on top of each other. Ur covers about 60 acres, and is surrounded by a city wall.