Puabi

Puabi
𒅤𒀜
Queen of Ur
Queen Puabi seated, with attendants, c. 2600 BCE[1][2][3]
Reignfl. c. 2600 BCE
HouseFirst Dynasty of Ur
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Location of Ur, in the Near East, modern Iraq
Plan of tomb PG 800, drawn by archaeologist Katharine Woolley
Reconstructed Sumerian headgear necklaces found in the tomb of Puabi on three of her attendants, housed at the British Museum

Puabi (Akkadian: 𒅤𒀜 pu3-AD or Pu-abi "Orchard of my father"), also called Shubad or Shudi-Ad due to a misinterpretation by Sir Charles Leonard Woolley, was an important woman in the Sumerian city of Ur, during the First Dynasty of Ur (c. 2600 BCE).[4] Commonly labeled as a "queen", her status is somewhat in dispute, although several cylinder seals in her tomb, labeled grave PG 800 at the Royal Cemetery at Ur,[5] identify her by the title "nin" or "eresh", a Sumerian word denoting a queen or a priestess. Puabi's seal does not place her in relation to any king or husband, possibly indicating that she ruled in her own right.[6] It has been suggested that she was the second wife of king Meskalamdug.[5] Although little is known about Puabi's life, the discovery of Puabi's tomb and its death pit reveals important information as well as raises questions about Mesopotamian society and culture.[7]

  1. ^ British Museum notice WA 121544
  2. ^ Crawford, Harriet (2013). The Sumerian World. Routledge. p. 622. ISBN 9781136219115.
  3. ^ Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and; Hansen, Donald P.; Pittman, Holly (1998). Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur. UPenn Museum of Archaeology. p. 78. ISBN 9780924171550.
  4. ^ Diakonoff, I. M. (2013). Early Antiquity. University of Chicago Press. pp. 78–79. ISBN 9780226144672.
  5. ^ a b Reade, Julian (2003). Art of the First Cities: The Third Millennium B.C. from the Mediterranean to the Indus. Metropolitan Museum of Art. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-58839-043-1.
  6. ^ "Queen Puabi's Headdress from the Royal Cemetery at Ur - Penn Museum". www.penn.museum. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  7. ^ Durn, Sarah, The Most Lavish Mesopotamian Tomb Ever Found Belongs to a Woman, Atlas Obscura, February 10, 2022 with an image of adornment found on Puabi