All the Queens Clothes

Identifying Female Royalty

at Early Dynastic Ur

Cylinder seal impression from grave PG 1237 in the Ur Royal Cemetery showing seated banquet scene.
Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

he famous discoveries of Sir Leonard Woolley in the

Ur Royal Cemetery included 16 graves deemed to
belong to royal occupants due to their interment
within built tomb chambers and the presence of one or more
attendants, presumably sacrificial victims, either with them
inside the tomb chamber or in adjacent death pits (Woolley
1934: 33). Inscriptions on cylinder seals appeared to vindicate the assumption that these graves were intended for
Urs rulers, both kings and queens (1934: 38), and probably
also princes and princesses (Reade 2001: 17). The identification of some or all of the graves as belonging to royalty,
or political rulers, has been questioned, and some continue
to urge restraint in classifying the Ur graves as royal, in
light of our limited understanding of the nature of Early
Dynastic rulers at Ur and of their connection to the local
cult and priesthood (see Moorey 1977; Pollock 1991). Given
the fact that at least three names of women inscribed on
cylinder seals have the accompanying title eresh (formerly
read as nin) signifying elevated status, probably rulership
or queenship, it seems reasonable, however, to assume that
Ur royalty, of whatever distinctive and local nature, both
male and female, were indeed buried in the cemetery (see
Reade 2001: 18).

Aubrey Baadsgaard

All of Woolleys designated royal graves appear to date

to the Early Dynastic IIIA period (26002450 b.c.e.), perhaps within the span of about a century (Nissen 1966: 143).
In spite of superficial similarities, the layout and construction of the 16 royal tombs vary considerably. Moorey (1977:
25) divides them into two different types: those with a definable tomb chamber and those with only a death pit. Identifying the occupants of the royal tombs has proven elusive
primarily due to the extensive looting that took place in most
of the tomb chambers. In contrast to the relative dearth of
information on the royal males buried in the Early Dynastic cemetery at Ur, abundant and well-preserved evidence
for royal women was recovered from the only two tomb
chambers that escaped looting in antiquity, PG 800 and PG
1054. The female buried in grave PG 800 is a richly adorned
queen (fig. 1), with the name Puabi (or, more probably, Puabum, see Marchesi 2004: 19394) and the female royal title
inscribed on a cylinder seal worn near her right shoulder;
while the primary female burial of PG 1054 (known as Body
C) wears a gold cylinder seal with a banquet scene, but no
accompanying inscription (fig. 2). Her gender and status are
inferred by her distinctive and elaborate dress and her central position in the main tomb chamber (Woolley 1934: 106).

148 NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 79:3 (2016)

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An additional, high ranking

woman (Body 61) can also
be identified from grave
PG 1237, The Great Death
Pit. She wears a set of hair
and body ornaments similar
to the other two identified
royal women, although she
lacks explicit identification
(fig. 3).

THE QUEENS
FASHIONS

All of the probable female

rulers described above
share many features in their
mortuary ornaments and
headdresses,
confirming
their likely status as queens
or other royalty. Connections between the dress of
these elite women and others buried in the cemetery,
including female court attendants from royal tomb
chambers and death pits
and a few non-royal graves
(see Gansell 2007), indicate
that distinctively gendered,
female fashions existed
in Early Dynastic society,
and that elite women wore
a greatly elaborated version of this gendered fashion accomplished through
changing the quantity, size,
and physical attributes of
dress and body ornaments.
Although found on the deceased, the dress of queens
at Ur has clear connections
to artistic depictions of elite
women found on visual media throughout the Early
Dynastic sphere, and the
dress and ornaments worn
at death seem to parallel
those owned and worn during life, such as described
in texts at Ebla (see Archi
2003: 167, 188), suggesting that mortuary dress
was intended to enable elite
women to continue their social role and identity in the
netherworld.

Figure 1. Plan of Puabis Grave (PG 800). The tomb chamber, containing Puabis bier and skeletal remains,
is at the top of the plan, her death pit, at the bottom. Reprinted from Woolley 1934: pl. 36.
Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

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example, Puabis headdress

(PG 800), which consists
of double to four times
the number of ornaments
worn by other women (including multiple wreaths),
collectively weighing from
five to fourteen times more
than the headdresses of
female attendants (fig. 4)
from across royal graves.
The other two female rulers
share Puabis gold ribbons
and multiple gold wreaths;
Puabi and the female in
PG 1054 added gold ring
wreaths/frontlets to their
ensemble, while Puabi and
Body 61 from PG 1237
wore wreaths with triple
willow leaves, the only
two examples discovered
in the cemetery (see figs
56). Puabi had a second
poplar leaf wreath, Body 61
a unique wreath made with
gold discs inlaid with lapis
lazuli, and PG 1054 a gold
frontlet with a rosette-decorated plaque. Combs were
worn by Puabi and Body 61
from PG 1237. Each set of
royal headgear is overtly
similar to the others, but
also distinct, perhaps related to alterations in royal fashions that occurred
throughout the span of the
cemetery or to the changing role and relevance of
elite females in Early Dynastic society.

Beads and
Body Ornaments

Like the headdresses, the ornaments worn on the body

Figure 2. Plan of the upper part of grave PG 1054. The coffin and remains of Body C are located on the right side, near the
wall of the tomb chamber. Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
by the three presumed royal
women buried in the Royal
Cemetery
are
similar
to
those
worn
by attendants in death
Royal Headdresses
pits
and
other
graves,
but
also
distinct
in their overall richHeaddresses seem a standard part of elite female fashion
ness and sheer quantity, sure hallmarks of the three womens
across the cemetery. The head seems to have been the priposition and status. Puabis set of ornaments from PG 800
mary locus for the display of gold ornaments, in the form of
stands out from all the rest (see Baadsgaard 2008). She wore
ribbons, wreaths, flowers, and large double lunate-shaped
at least 13 different ornament types, including 4,911 beads.
and spiral earrings. The headdresses of the three presumed
Her cape alone is made up of an incredible 3,569 beads, ten
female rulers are elaborations of the standard wear, as for

150 NEAR EASTERN ARCHAEOLOGY 79:3 (2016)

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buried in PG 1054 wore six

ornament types and 184
beads. Both of these women, along with Puabi, wore
ornaments sharing some
important characteristics.
All wore large gold earrings
(Puabi has two pairs) and a
preponderance of gold and
carnelian beads. Each also
had gold finger rings and
garment pins on the breast,
probably to secure a robe
and/or cloak; the elite woman of PG 1054 has a pin of
gold and carnelian, the only
one of its type in the cemetery. All three women also
had cylinder seals made of
precious stone or metal. All
show banqueting/feasting
scenes, while the seal found
with Body 61 of PG 1237
also has an animal combat
scene on the lower register,
a motif commonly associated with royalty in Mesopotamian glyptic. Perhaps
enacting the scenes on the
seals, all three women were
surrounded in their respective tombs by various vessels
and cups presumably used in
feasting, two of them (Body
61 from PG 1237 and the
female from PG 1054) holding tumblers to their face,
and both Puabi and PG 1054
Figure 3. Plan of The Great Death Pit (PG 1237), showing the remains of 73 retainers arranged in rows
having silver drinking straws
and near musical instruments and a canopy. Body 61 is located on the top row, second from the right wall.
with gold mouth pieces.
Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
Perhaps as a further marker of their elite identity and
times the total number of beads worn by any of the female atconnection to male rulers, Puabi wore a bearded bull amulet
tendants. All components of her burial dress are much elaboimagery more closely associated with masculinity and male deirated versions of those found with other females, including
ties, and the female in PG 1054 had a copper blade and whether much longer choker and necklace. Compared to all other
stone at her waist, common elements of male outfits in the cemgraves, Puabis person also had twice the number of gold and
etery. The wearing of ornaments normally connected to males
carnelian beads, and several unique bead types, including a
by two high status women implies either that at certain social
preponderance of ball beads and long carnelian beads. Her
levels more flexibility was allowed in the wearing of images or
beads also have the highest mean length, nearly 2 mm longer
objects with links to male gender categories, or that women of
than other beads, as well as the highest standard deviation
particularly high status were able to incorporate ornaments
in length and the highest average bead weight, reflecting the
with particular gender associations into royal fashions.
diversity of bead shape and size in her assemblage.
FEMALE ROYALTY AT UR
The other two female rulers also wore a rich, albeit distinct
Based on their mortuary attire, it seems appropriate to speak
assemblage of ornaments. Body 61 from PG 1237 wore nine
of a distinctive class of royal woman buried in the Early
types of ornaments and over 500 beads, and the royal female

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Dynastic Ur Royal Cemetery, two in tomb chambers in graves

PG 800 and 1054, and a third alongside her attendants inside
the Great Death Pit of grave PG 1237. The shared fashion of
these three women suggests that a class of royal women existed in society alongside royal men, that the formation of leadership roles for women was an important part of the institutionalization of authority, along with kingship, that occurred
during the Early Dynastic period of southern Mesopotamia.
These women had social and material access far beyond others, which allowed them to possess elaborate headdresses and
body ornamentssome of them shared by their associates
and attendants buried with them in the gravebut unique
in form, material, and in sheer size, quantity, and diversity.
Through their lavish dress, royal women were able to create
a distinctive royal fashion, becoming social figures with the
power to design and embody fashions connected to newly
created social and political positions for women in Early Dynastic society.

Figure 5. Photograph of PG 1054, Body C in situ

showing head and body ornaments, from Woolley 1934: Plate 74b.
Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

Figure 4. Reconstruction of Puabis headdress and body ornaments

from grave PG 800. Photograph courtesy of Richard Zettler,
Associate Curator-in-Charge, Near East Section,
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

The head seems a particular locus for elite identification.

Iconographic evidence suggests this elaborate ornamentation
of the head was normally reserved for male rulers, divine
figures, and high status royal women, such as the women of
Mari who wore the elaborate polos headdress (Parrot 1956:
pl. 37; 1967: pls. 51, 5860). Like royal male headgear, the
headdresses of royal women in the Royal Cemetery were
made in gold and are similar to those worn by high-status
women at Ebla, which included wreaths, hair ribbons, and
frontlets made of gold (Archi 2003). Unlike male examples,
however, female headdresses are rendered in what were apparently deemed specifically feminine forms. These include
flowers and leaves, similar to those mentioned in the Inanna
texts, where ornaments have shapes or other qualities linked
to natural forms and products, such as bees for ornaments
worn on the eyes and hips, doves for navel rings, and willow

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Figure 6. Reconstruction of the headdress from PG 1237, Body 61 from Woolley 1934: Plate 144.
Courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

leaves used to cover the

genitalia.1 To these might be
added the list of ornaments
worn by the women of Ebla,
which included beads made
in the shape of acorns,
cloves, or grapes (Archi
2003: 182). The wearing of
elaborate headdresses by the
three royal women buried in
the Ur Royal Cemetery confirms the presence of high
status women, possibly even
ruling figures, in southern
Mesopotamian society in
the Early Dynastic period.
Gold ornaments were
commonly associated with
royalty in Mesopotamia and
worn by the king, queen,
and their sons and daughters continuing into the Ur
III period.2 The incorporation of distinct elements into
ornaments, such as long carnelian beads of Indus Valley
manufacture, showcase the
access of Urs elite women
to long distance exotics (see
Kenoyer 1997). The skilled
production, whether at
home or abroad, evident in
many aspects of female royal
dress may have been central
to their aesthetic and social
value and contributed to the
creation of the unique role
and prominence of Early
Dynastic elite women (see
Winter 2012). The wearing
of bearded bull imagery by
Puabi also suggests connections to male rulers and
male deities and to the social power and access held
by them.
In sum, the mortuary attire of three females in the
Ur Royal Cemetery indicates the existence of a distinct royal, feminine fashion
whose embodiment was essential for the emergence of
female rulers at Ur, who were
perhaps capable of wielding
power in their own right.

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Figure 7 (above). Cylinder seal impression from Puabis tomb (PG 800), showing seated females and female attendants
with drawn-up hairstyles and wearing female robes.
Figure 8 (below). Cylinder seal impression found with PG 1237, Body 61 showing seated females, likely in the act of feasting,
served by female attendants on the upper register and an animal contest scene on the lower register.
Images courtesy of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.

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The inscribed name and title without reference to a king on

the cylinder seal worn by Puabi suggests females at Ur did in
fact occupy a distinct social position and were not defined exclusively through male relationships. While Puabi is the only
female ruler we know by name, the appearance of at least two
others, identified through a careful evaluation and comparison of their headdresses and body ornaments, confirms that
a royal class of females did exist at Ur, one with greater social
access and prominence than has been previously recognized.
Indeed, written texts, such as those from the Emunusa archive
at Lagash, a cult institution associated with the goddess Baba
and presided over by the consort of the ruler of Lagash (Beld
2002), and the later works of Enheduanna, daughter of the
King Naram-Sin and chief entu-preistess at Ur (Westenholz
1990), show that women occupied prominent political and
cultic positions and held power and authority through these
roles. The presence of royal women in the Royal Cemetery at
Ur supports this evidence, indicating that females did occupy
prominent and powerful positions, leaving a lasting legacy in
early Mesopotamian civilization.

Notes

1. See DI T 7-27, translation after Sefati 1998.

2. See RTC 221, 222, and 223, and discussion of texts in Loding 1974.
See also lists from Nippur administrative documents such as IT text
6 NT 606.

References

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Beld, Scott. 2002. The Queen of Lagash: Ritual Economy in a
Sumerian State. Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan.
Gansell, Amy R. 2007. Identity and Adornment in the

Third-millennium BC Mesopotamia. Royal Cemetery at Ur.

Cambridge Archaeological Journal 17: 29-46.
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About the Author

Figure 7. ArchField artifacts and loci displayed in same geographic space as SfM and LiDAR scans (visualized in ArtifactVis2).

N. G. Smith.
Aubrey Baadsgaard is a consultant scholar Image
in thebyNear
East Section of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the
Department of Anthropology at Gettysburg College. She received her Ph.D. from the University
of Pennsylvania, Department of Anthropology. Her research interests include the Early Dynastic
Period of the ancient Near East, gender and the body, material culture, dress and adornment practices, bioarchaeology and mortuary archaeology.

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