The Royal Standard Of Ur

The Standard of Ur

Most the object

The Standard of Ur is a box, the two large sides of which evidence aspects of life in early Mesopotamia. The purpose of the object remains unknown. Woolley though it might have been mounted on a pole and carried – hence its proper noun. Others think it may be the sounding box of a lyre. The ornament on each side is divided into three levels (registers) which tin can be read from bottom to top. I side shows scenes of peace and the other scenes of war.

War and peace

The war side shows a Sumerian ground forces and scenes of warfare. On the bottom level are chariots pulled by donkeys which are trampling enemies. The chariots motility faster as they movement from left to right. Further up the levels there are infantry soldiers with cloaks carrying spears, enemy soldiers beingness killed with axes, prisoners existence paraded naked and presented to ruler who appears at the top carrying a spear and larger than all the other figures.

On the other side of the Standard, the lesser two levels testify workers of all sorts conveying bags on their shoulders, probably containing fresh produce, and backpacks supported by headbands. There are men leading donkeys as well as bulls, sheep and goats; others are carrying fish. At the top there is a royal banquet. The ruler, wearing a woollen fleece skirt, is seated before his guests who are also dressed similarly, though less extravagantly. The banqueters are served by attendants and entertained by a singer and musician playing a lyre.

What the Standard tells us about life in an ancient Mesopotamian metropolis

Ur was 1 of the offset village settlements founded effectually 4000 BC in an area of Mesopotamia known as Sumer, and past 2800 BC it had get i of the most prosperous city-states in the region. Equally the outset cities adult, increased population led to the establishment of complex systems of assistants and record-keeping and increased wealth gave ascent to social hierarchies, specialist roles inside society and the demand for more organised forms of protection.

The peace side of the Standard shows how the city, and in detail the ruler, draws upon the agricultural and natural resources of its territory. Agricultural success was necessary to the growth of a urban center-state and to the benefits it brought to the people. It was also on this success that the ruling group could build a courtly lifestyle involving feasting and entertainment. Agricultural surplus could be used to merchandise exotic foreign appurtenances, such as the materials used to decorate the Standard, which came hundreds or thousands of miles from the Persian Gulf (the white shells), Afghanistan (the blue lapis lazuli) and India (the cherry-red stones).

On the other side, the Standard portrays warfare as a means of protecting the wealth of the city-state from outsiders. The organised nature of the army, their equipment and their conquest of enemies tin be seen as symbols of the ruler's ability and status.

One further reason why the Standard is valuable to our understanding of ancient cities is that information technology shows a range of people – prisoners, warriors, agricultural workers, musicians – overseen past the ruler positioned at the top and shown larger than everyone else. So fifty-fifty though the purpose of the Standard of Ur remains uncertain, the message it conveys is very clear: that a lodge's prosperity is generated through social organization of its people, and the protection and direction of its resources.