Abstract
Excavations at Fara.—A preliminary report by Dr. Erich Schmidt on a short season's work at Fara appears in the Museum Journal (Philadelphia), vol. 22, 3–4. Fara lies north-west of Ur. The surface of the mound was much disturbed by the Koldewey Expedition of 1902–3. Work was confined to a few test plots at points of medium height, three to eight metres above plain level. The original ground surface level was attained in one group of twin plots. Three strata or periods were distinguished. Fara III is a settlement of the time of the third dynasty of Ur (2400–2300 B.C.) which was known as Shuruppak. As the remains of Fara II begin immediately below the surface of the mound, the only evidence for the existence of this settlement in the plots investigated is that yielded by a well-built circular construction of brick which proved to be a granary of the second period filled in by debris, including a number of human skeletons, of the third period. One of two cuneiform tablets speaks of ‘the year when Gimil-Sin became king’. The most striking finds were a number of pottery figurines or ‘plaques’, valuable especially for the style of dress and the insignia of royalty or deity. Fara II, ‘the Early Sumerian’, found immediately below the surface and extending down to a sterile stratum, saw the climax of the life of the mound, when it was large and wealthy. The finds included a large number of archaic inventory tablets. Lumps and fragments of copper were found at all depths. Below the sterile layer is Fara I, ‘the Painted Pottery period’, comparable to Jemdet Nasr culture, with suggestions of, but as yet no very definite clue to, the earlier al'Ubaid period. Fara I has as yet provided no written records. Fara, like Ur and Kish, thus supplies evidence of an inundation; but the occurrence of pottery and seals of Fara II in association with the Jemdet Nasr levels is interpreted to mean that while the Jemdet Nasr and ‘early Sumerian’ cultures were independent, they yet lived side by side during the infiltration of the Sumerian and until Jemdet Nasr died out.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Research Items. Nature 129, 247–249 (1932). https://doi.org/10.1038/129247a0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/129247a0