Seniors Voyage To Exotic Mesopotamia (Part I)

Ur has long been an ancient site that has attracted philosophers, archeologists and senior travelers over the centuries. Researchers have  recently unearthed a centuries-old city in southern Iraq, that was the home of biblical Abraham. I refer to Ur, a site that years ago my philosophy prof at Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, IA  (1960) had visited.  He often brought up the names of other ancient cities like Nineveh, Ashur and Nipur. He lived the history and was full of biblical archeology and transferred it well to my class called “The Nature of Values.”

Babylon and Ur go back a long ways into history and culture. I refer to an ancient site in Babylon that had been a political and spiritual capital of southern Mesopotamia way back when Hammurabi ruled in 1792-1550 BC. My prof often spoke of this site and he knew of it’s historical and biblical importance.

He spoke of the ancient Tells in the region. The Ziggurat of Ur dates back to the early bronze age and is worth a visit. I discovered this neat video that will take you on a visual tour of the area. The To Next Place arrow will take you to other fascinating and ancient civilization sites. 

New Archeological Discovery Intrigues Seniors

A British archaeologist says he and his colleagues have unearthed a huge, rare complex near the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq, home of the biblical Abraham.  It’s an exciting new discovery and archeologists are taking note. It goes back about 4,000 years, around the time Abraham would have lived there. It’s believed to be an administrative center for Ur and loaded with treasures. The dig is led by Stuart Campbell from the Manchester University’s Archaeology Department, and he says finds like this are quite rare.

The complex includes a number of artifacts including a plaque, and the building surrounds a courtyard. The compound is near the site of the partially reconstructed Ziggurat, or Sumerian temple, said Campbell. British Archaeologists are very excited about the new find.

Wikipedia will tell interested senior historians about UR and its ancient history. So where is ancient Ur?  About.com notes that the Mesopotamian city of Ur, known as Tell al-Muqayyar, was an important Sumerian city state between about 2025-1738 BC. Located near the modern town of Nasiriya in far southern Iraq, on a now-abandoned channel of the Euphrates River, Ur covered about 60 acres, surrounded by a city wall.

When Woolley excavated in the 1920s and 1930s, the city was a tell, a great artificial hill over seven meters high composed of centuries of building and rebuilding mud brick structures, one stacked on top of another. This senior citizen finds it really cool. The Royal Tombs at UR are now famous and well known. See Part 2 that follows…there’s simply too much here for one blog.  jeb