the second day in the ki-a-nag ̆, which is usually translated as “place of libation,”
although it is possible that the term refers to a mortuary chapel during the Ur III period
(Jagersma 2007 : 292 ). To what extent the mourning at the ki-a-nag ̆was public is
unknown, because so far it has proven impossible to exactly locate the sites of mortuary
practices that are mentioned in the texts (Jagersma 2007 : 294 – 298 ; Selz 1995 a: 153 – 154 ).
A fifth meal was served to Geme 2 – dLama 3 on her third day in her grave. The meals
consisted of ghee, honey, dates, cheese, dried pears(?), dried apples, dried grapes,
pomegranates, and figs (Jagersma 2007 : 292 ). These dishes reflect the high social status
of Geme 2 – dLama 3.
We simply do not know whether people of lower social strata followed similar
mourning and burial customs; if so, it is likely that the ceremonies were shorter
depending on the status of the deceased and on the wealth of his or her family.
Following Jagersma ( 2007 : 294 ), it is important to stress that both of the funerary rites
discussed above are in some ways comparable to “state funerals” today, that is, funerals
in which representation and public ceremonial plays important roles. The same may
not hold true for regular funerals. Moreover, the texts discussed above date to periods
that are around 350 years apart. It is highly unlikely that mourning rites remained the
same over such a long period of time, and thus we cannot assume that there was any
kind of underlying continuity visible in these texts, as the discussion above may have
suggested. These administrative documents, terse accounts that were part of the state
administration, provide no information on ritual practices in the context of mourning.
Due to the lack of sources, there is also little information on the lamentations that
surely must have been recited on such occasions. For the same reasons, we are unable
to gain any insight into the practices let alone the emotions of the direct relatives of a
deceased. Notwithstanding the dramatic nature of the event, the texts demonstrate well
how our understanding of past thoughts, desires, and feelings must to a large extent
remain abstract.
THE GRAVE
While the body was prepared for the funeral, the grave (ki-mah) for the deceased was
prepared. As mentioned in the beginning, in the third millennium BCburials were
found either under the floors inside occupied or abandoned houses or in cemeteries.
Grave pits seem to be the rule for burials in Southern Mesopotamia, both in
cemeteries–for example, in the Jemdet Nasr cemetery in Ur, in the “A” cemetery in Kisˇ,
and in the “private cemetery” of the Royal Cemetery–and in houses – for example, in
Fara, Tell Abu ̄S.ala ̄bı ̄kh
̆
, or Kh
̆afaje. Occasionally we find brick graves or crypts
(Kh
̆
afaje; Y-cemetery in Kisˇ; Royal Cemetery in Ur) (summarized by Pollock 1999 :
207 – 209 tabs. 8. 3 , 8. 4 ; Eickhoff 1993 : tabs. 9 , 10 ). Burials inside houses were often pot
burials for children. The pots used were typically plain ware (“Gebrauchskeramik”),
whereby the size of the pots would vary depending on the age of the deceased child.
The children were interred in a foetal position and only rarely did their graves yield any
funeral objects (Kulemann-Ossen and Novák 2000 ; Kulemann-Ossen and Martin
2008 : 234 – 237 ). In the Royal Cemetery, however, Woolley identified two child burials,
each of which yielded rich equipment (PG 1068 ; PG 1133 ; cf. Woolley 1934 : 162 – 164 ,
167 – 168 ). Skeletal remains were almost never found outside of a burial context (Pollock
1999 : 206 ), although the Stele of the Vultures of E’annatum depicts a pile of naked
–– Helga Vogel ––