A History Of Leonard Woolley’s Archaeological Excavations At Ur

Sir Charles Leonard Woolley(1880—1960), British archaeologist, who devoted himself to the ancient West archeology, and carried out extensive archaeological field work in Egypt, Syria and Iraq, the most important contribution in his lifetime was excavations at Ur in Mesopotamia, and use the scientific method in archaeological excavations at Ur, namely stratigraphy. He has made an outstanding contribution for reconstruction of history of West Asia, and returning to the original history civilizations of Sumer and Babylonian,which has been existed for two thousand years. He became famous for excavations at Ur, and found the ‘Flood’ provides the basis for ‘Flood Story’ in Biblical Archaeology. 12 years(or rather 12 seasons) at Ur excavate Ur, Ziggurat, temples and the royal tombs, reveal Sumerian religious art, architecture, text, lifestyle and customs. In this paper, which order of time, according to preliminary reports of every year to summarize the excavations process of every season, and count out the results of excavations of each season, learning about the first four years excavations at Ur, namely 1922—1926, are making fully prepared for the subsequent excavations of Royal Cemeteries of Ur, mainly focus on the part of the region in Temenos of Ur, Ziggurat, temples and palaces ruins. In 1926—1930 mainly excavate Royal Cemeteries of Ur, found the remains of the Flood, In 1930—1934 mainly excavated Temenos, and temples and urban architectures, Ziggurat and The Jemdet Nasr graves and so on. The 12 years of archaeological process disclosed the excavations’ at Ur significance in archaeological history of West Asia. And through collecting and studying of the results to understand the mode of producing of agriculture and graziery in Ur. From ‘The Great death pit’ of Royal Tombs and the number of sacrifices to learn about the sacrificial system in this period. From the carving methods and artistic features of unearthed objects to understand the artistic exchanges in Ur, Egypt and Phoenicia. From the materials of decorations and sculptures to understand the regional scope of business and trade in Bronze Age of Ur. From Mesopotamia characteristic artwork-cylinder seals, which largely unearthed at Ur, to understand the change in theme and its functional value of cylinder seals’ image.