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The golden leaves of Ur

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

M. Tengberg ,
D.T. Potts  and
H.-P. Francfort
M. Tengberg
Affiliation:
UMR 7041 – Archéologie et Sciences de l'Antiquité, Maison de l'Archéologie et de l'Ethnologie, 21 allée de l'Université, F-92023 Nanterre, France
D.T. Potts
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, New South Wales, Australia
H.-P. Francfort
Affiliation:
UMR 7041 – Archéologie et Sciences de l'Antiquité, Maison de l'Archéologie et de l'Ethnologie, 21 allée de l'Université, F-92023 Nanterre, France
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Abstract

The famous headdress of Pu-abum at Ur is an object of great beauty. But the authors show that the gold leaves of the headdresses and diadems of her court circle can tell an even richer story. Identifying among them the leaves of the sissoo tree, they show that its symbolic usage celebrated a wide range of properties, from medicine to furniture. These were properties appreciated not only in Mesopotamia but in eastern Iran and the Indus Valley, home to the sissoo tree as well as to neighbouring civilisations.

Keywords

MesopotamiaUrheaddressPu-abumsissoo treeDalbergia sissoosymbolic ornament
Type
Research
Information
Antiquity , Volume 82 , Issue 318 , December 2008 , pp. 925 - 936
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd 2008

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