Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (760 page)

A structure on which woven cloth is manufactured comprising two more or less vertical supports (often set in the ground) with a horizontal beam across the top. The warp threads are tied to the cross-beam so that they hang down, thus allowing the weaver to move a horizontal
shed rod
between alternating sets of the warp in order that a shed is opened up for the weft to be threaded through. The warp threads were tensioned by
LOOMWEIGHTS
(see also
WARP-WEIGHTED LOOM
). The upright loom was commonly used in antiquity, traces of them being known in Europe from the middle Bronze Age onwards.

 
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Large tell mound in southern Mesopotamia first identified in 1854 and later extensively investigated under the direction of Sir Leonard Woolley for the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania in 1918–19 and 1922–34. The site was identified with the Biblical city of Ur of the
CHALDEANS
, birthplace and early home of Abraham. The earliest occupation dates to
UBAID
times in the 6th millennium
bc
. At this time the settlement covered about 10ha and was already one of the most important towns in the region. In the 3rd millennium
bc
it grew to city size and status, covered 50ha, and lay at the heart of the
SUMERIAN
civilization, by about 2100 bc becoming the ceremonial centre of the
UR III
empire which controlled much of Mesopotamia and the adjacent Zagros region. An associated royal cemetery with sixteen tombs was excavated in 1922 and illustrates the extreme wealth of the royal and elite burials, as well as showing the marked differentiation when compared with other contemporary burial grounds. The religious architecture of the period was especially impressive, including the ziggurat of
NANNA
the moon god. Abundant written texts and inscriptions provide a great deal of detail about the inhabitants and use of the site. Occupation continued during the 2nd and down to the end of the 1st millennium
bc
, and while it grew in size to reach a maximum of 60ha as a result of participation in long-distance and local trade, it was never of the same importance as in earlier times. Ur ceased to exist in the 4th century
bc
, probably because the River Euphrates changed course.
[Sum.: C. L. Woolley and P. R. S. Moorey , 1982,
Ur of the Chaldees
(revised edition). London: Herbert]

 
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The coiled serpent shown on the forehead of Egyptian kings as a symbol of authority.

 
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Absolute dating method that uses the decay patterns of a series of radioactive isotopes of uranium, usually
²³⁸
U or
²³⁵
U. Dates are usually based on the measurement of one of the uranium isotopes and a relatively short-lived daughter isotope expressed as isotopic ratios. When uranium is precipitated as a trace constituent in surface outcropping minerals it begins producing daughter isotopes. In applying the technique for dating, samples are ideally chosen from chemically closed systems in which the isotopic ratio used to calculate the sample age was initially zero. The great value of uranium dating is that it can be applied to materials far more ancient than could be covered by radiocarbon dating, in exceptional cases back to 1 million years ago. The kinds of material that can be dated are also slightly different, and include coral, mollusc shells, marl, bone, teeth, caliche and calcretes, peat, wood, and detrital sediment.

 
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An extensive and generally decentralized state covering modern northwest Iran, northeast Turkey, and Armenia that emerged in the 11th century
bc
and lasted through most of the 1st millennium
bc
. The geographical focus of the kingdom was a series of sites around Lake Van, for example Toprakkale, Turkey, although important centres existed elsewhere too, for example at Karmir Blur, Armenia. The art and architectural styles of the Urartu kingdom show heavy influences from the contemporary Assyrian culture, and the Urartu was a major obstacle to the northward expansion of Assyria between 900 bc and 600 bc.

 
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