Following the King Into Death: The Royal Cemetery of Ur and the Afterlife in Ancient Sumer

Around 2500 BC, dozens of people followed the rulers of Ur into death. They were laid out in rows in the royal tombs, dressed in gold, silver and lapis lazuli. When Leonard Woolley uncovered the Royal Cemetery in the 1920s, he believed they went willingly, hoping for a better afterlife. Modern CT scans of the skulls suggest a darker story. In this episode, we explore the royal tombs of Ur, including the tomb of Queen Puabi and the Great Death Pit, and turn to two Sumerian poems, “The Death of Gilgamesh” and “The Death of Ur-Nammu,” to see what the Sumerians believed awaited a king, and his household, beyond the grave. Devotion, faith, fear or force: what do you think happened in the death pits of Ur? Let me know in the comments. *Contents:* 00:00 Introduction 01:59 Who was buried here? 03:26 A clue from the poets 04:42 The death of Gilgamesh 06:54 The death of Ur-Nammu 09:32 Putting the pieces together 10:53 But why would anyone go with him? 11:23 Thank You and Patrons *Related Videos:* *The Dark Secrets of the Royal Cemetery of Ur* https://youtu.be/zF0Yf_puDuo *The Complete and Concise History of the Sumerians and Early Bronze Age Mesopotamia (7000-2000 BC)* https://youtu.be/szFjxmY7jQA *Nabonidus: The King Who Dug Up Babylon's Secret Past (556–539 BC)* https://youtu.be/xR_LKdVSS6U *Did the Babylonian Marriage Market as described by Herodotus really Exist? Daily Life in Mesopotamia* https://youtu.be/iJc6LZ6aQM4 *Sources and Suggested Reading:* _Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur_ - Ed. Richard L. Zettler and Lee Horne _The Sumerians_ - Samuel Noah Kramer _Ur: City of the Moon God_ - Harriet Crawford _Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization_ - Paul Kriwaczek _Historical Sources in Translation: The Ancient Near East_ - Ed. Mark W. Chavalas Samuel Noah Kramer, “The Death of Ur-Nammu and His Descent to the Netherworld,” Journal of Cuneiform Studies 21 (1967) “The Death of Gilgamesh,” Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL 1.8.1.3), University of Oxford: https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section1/tr1813.htm “The Death of Ur-Namma,” Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature (ETCSL 2.4.1.1), University of Oxford *Follow History with Cy:* Instagram ► https://www.instagram.com/historywithcy/ Facebook ► https://www.facebook.com/historywithcy/ Twitter ► https://twitter.com/historywithcy Merch ► https://my-store-11502415.creator-spring.com Podcast ► https://historywithcy.buzzsprout.com/ Patreon ► https://www.patreon.com/historywithcy *Music:* Epidemic Sound #sumerians #ancienthistory #bronzeage