The exact role of the retainers buried with the elites in the Royal Cemetery at Ur has been long debated. Woolley was of the opinion that they were willing sacrifices; but later scholars disagree. Recent CT scans and forensic analysis of the skulls of six attendants from different royal tombs show they all died of blunt force trauma (Baadsgard and colleagues, 2011). The weapon appears in some cases to have been a bronze battle axe. Further evidence indicates that the bodies were treated, by heating and/or adding mercury to the corpse.
Whoever it was that ended up buried in Ur's Royal Cemetery alongside clearly royal individuals, and whether they went willingly or not, the last stage of the burial was to adorn the bodies with rich grave goods. This wreath of poplar leaves was worn by an attendant buried in the stone tomb with Queen Puabi; the attendant's skull was one of those examined by Baadsgaard and colleagues.
By the way, Tengberg and associates (listed below) believe that the leaves on this wreath are not poplar but rather those of the sissoo tree (Dalbergia sissoo, also known as Pakistani rosewood, native to the Indo-Iranian borderlands. Although the sissoo is not a native of Iraq, it is grown there today for ornamental purposes. Tengberg and colleagues suggest this supports evidence of contact between early dynastic Mesopotamia and the Indus civilization.
Figure Caption: Wreath of poplar leaves (Length: 40 cm) made of gold, lapis lazuli and carnelian, found with the body of a female attendant crouched at the foot of Queen Puabi's bier, Royal Cemetery of Ur, ca 2550 BCE.
Sources
Baadsgaard A, Monge J, Cox S, and Zettler RL. 2011. Human sacrifice and intentional corpse preservation in the Royal Cemetery of Ur. Antiquity 85(327):27-42.
McCaffrey, Kathleen. 2008. The Female Kings of Ur. pp. 173-215 in Gender Through Time in the Ancient Near East, Diane R. Bolger, editor. AltaMira Press, Lanham, Maryland.
Pollock, Susan. 2007. The Royal Cemetery of Ur: Ritual, Tradition, and the Creation of Subjects. pp 89-110 In Representations of Political Power: Case Histories from Times of Change and Dissolving Order in the Ancient Near East, Marlies Heinz and Marian H. Feldman, editors. Eisenbrauns: Winona Lake, Indiana.
Rawcliffe, C., et al. 2005 Laser Engraving Gulf Pearl Shell--Aiding the Reconstruction of the Lyre of Ur. Lacona VI. Unpublished paper given at the Lacona VI meetings in Vienna, Austria, September 21-25, 2005. Free download
Tengberg, M., D. T. Potts, and H.-P Francfort 2008 The golden leaves of Ur. Antiquity 82:925-936.
- Iraq's Ancient Past: Rediscovering Ur's Royal Cemetery, Penn Museum Press Release
- Ancient Ur, Iraq, more details about the Mesopotamian city state
- Timeline and Description of Mesopotamia
- C. Leonard Woolley
