leonard woolley was the british archaeologist that discovered the royal cemeteries at ur.
leonard woolley was the british archaeologist that discovered the royal cemeteries at ur.
who was the british archaeologist that discovered the royal cemeteries at ur?
leonard woolley
the british archaeologist sir leonard woolley discovered five gameboards of the game of ur during his excavation of the royal cemetery at ur between 1922 and 1934. because the game was first discovered in the royal cemetery at ur, it became known as the "royal game of ur", but later archaeologists uncovered other copies of the game from other locations across the middle east. each of the boards discovered by wooley date to around 3000 bc. all five boards were of an identical type, but they were made of different materials and had different decorations. woolley reproduced images of two of these boards in his 1949 book, "the first phases". one of these is a relatively simple set with a background composed of discs of shell with blue or red centers set in wood-covered bitumen. the other is a more elaborate one completely covered with shell plaques, inlaid with red limestone and lapis lazuli. other gameboards are often engraved with images of animals.
royal game of ur
in recent years, archaeological work has begun once again at el kurru. in collaboration with the national council for antiquities and museums (ncam), and partially funded by the qatar sudan archaeological project (qsap), dr. geoff emberling (kelsey museum of archaeology, michigan) and dr. rachael j. dann (associate professor, egyptian & sudanese archaeology, university of copenhagen) co-direct excavation, survey, documentation and conservation work at the site. much of this work is discussed here:









































international kurru archaeological project









































section::::royal cemeteries.









































for other royal cemeteries see 









































bullet::::- nuri









































bullet::::- gebel barkal royal cemetery









































bullet::::- bagrawiyah royal cemeteries









































bullet::::- pyramids of meroe (begarawiyah)
el-kurru