publication (Adams and Nissen 1972 : 199 ), suggests that the southwestern mound was quite a
bit larger than it is today. If, like the other two sites, it had an additional western mound, this is
long gone.
7 Today, the most common animal found in the marshes of southern Iraq is the water buffalo, but
these animals were not domesticated in the fourth millennium. Cattle are also to be found grazing
on reeds to this day.
8 If so, this did not survive into the later parts of the Early Dynastic period.
9 Eridu would have been the exception here since no residential districts have been identified (Safar,
Mustafa and Lloyd 1981 ).
10 Satellite imagery of site Uruk survey 245 suggests the presence of a fortification wall around part
of the southwest mound.
11 There also exists a second oval enclosure at Lagash, excavated during the last season there in 1990
(Hanson 1992 ).
12 The situation of the temple at ‘Ubaid is less certain since the rest of the settlement dates to the
earlier ‘Ubaid period.
13 Although the Kish excavations left much to be desired in terms of recording, the data recovered
from the plano-convex building suggest a terminal Early Dynastic date (Moorey 1978 : 34 – 44 ).
14 Only complete vessels were recorded in the publication of the Eridu palaces, and the four
examples found within these structures have very variable dating (Safar, Mustafa and Lloyd 1981 :
304 ). However, a recent examination of the sherds in the dump from their excavations makes it
clear that, like the Kish palaces, the Eridu palaces can be dated to the very end of the Early
Dynastic period.
15 The publication of the Diyala houses suggests that the central space was a “main room” and thus
roofed; the reconstruction includes a clerestory to provide light, although the surrounding rooms
would have been quite dark (Delougaz, Hill and Lloyd 1967 : 145 – 151 ). Given that in the later
houses at Ur (Woolley and Mallowan 1976 ), this central space was generally paved with a drain
in the middle, it seems much more likely that these central spaces were unroofed.
16 One of these sites, Diyala Survey number 109 (Adams 1965 : 139 ), as is common in this volume,
is listed only as Early Dynastic, but since the preponderance of Early Dynastic sites from other
areas where finer distinctions were made dated to the latter part of this period, it seems likely that
this site should be dated to that time.
17 These data are obtained from the satellite imagery, not from any excavation. It should, however,
be noted that the intersection between the palaces and the houses suggests that the latter might
have been a little earlier in date than the palaces. Nevertheless, traces of residential buildings can
be identified–not always with great clarity–throughout the area between the palaces and the
plano-convex building.
18 The “E-Hur-Sag” is located within this area and is generally thought of as a palace. However, as
discussed in some detail by the excavator (Woolley 1974 : 38 – 39 ), all indications are that it was
really another temple.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abdel-Nour, Antoine 1982 Introduction à l’histoire urbaine de la Syrie ottomane (XVIe-XVIIIesiècle).
Beirut: Publications de l’Université Libanaise.
Adams, Robert McC. 1965 Land Behind Baghdad: a history of settlement on the Diyala Plains. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Adams, Robert McC. 1981 Heartland of Cities: surveys of ancient settlement and land use on the central
floodplain of the Euphrates. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Adams, Robert McC. and Hans Nissen 1972 The Uruk Countryside: the natural setting of urban
societies.Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
–– The organisation of a Sumerian town ––