Human sacrifice and intentional corpse preservation in the Royal Cemetery of Ur

Baadsgaard, Aubrey; Monge, Janet; Cox, Samantha L.; Zettler, Richard L.

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00067417

Cited by 34 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…There are hints that also cadavers buried at the Royal Cemetery of Ur in the late Early Dynastic phase (c. 2500 BC) were preserved by means of heat and mercury (Baadsgaard et al. ).…”

Section: Periods Of Embalmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Human body preservation – old and new techniques

2014

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This review deals with the art of (anatomical) embalming. The first part contains a brief historical review of the history of embalming, starting with ancient cultures such as the Egyptians and the lesser known Chinchorro culture, then going down the centuries and describing the anatomical techniques developed over the last two centuries. The second part deals in detail with the chemicals used for embalming purposes. The third part deals with several approaches to evaluating embalming methods, their suitability for biomechanical testing, antimicrobial properties, histological appearance, and usability. The fourth and final part analyze the European Biocidal Products Directive (98/8/EC) in the light of embalming.

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“…There are hints that also cadavers buried at the Royal Cemetery of Ur in the late Early Dynastic phase (c. 2500 BC) were preserved by means of heat and mercury (Baadsgaard et al. ).…”

Section: Periods Of Embalmingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This exenteration characterized the preservation of human remains for the next millennia. There are hints that also cadavers buried at the Royal Cemetery of Ur in the late Early Dynastic phase (c. 2500 BC) were preserved by means of heat and mercury (Baadsgaard et al 2011).…”

Section: Periods Of Embalming Ancient Culturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human body preservation – old and new techniques

2014

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“…The practice of killing and interring people upon the death of a ruler clearly reinforced the subordinate status of other classes-from specialists to commoners to prisoners (e.g., Campbell 2014; Morris 2014). Such sacrifices are seen in the Royal Tombs of Ur (Baadsgaard et al 2011), which was constructed by the Indus civilization's contemporaries in Mesopotamia. When clear evidence of this sort is absent, evidence for craft specialization, long-distance exchange, and even relative wealth differences in residential contexts cannot serve as a substitute.…”

Section: Do Complex Societies Necessarily Have a Ruling Class?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Killing the Priest-King: Addressing Egalitarianism in the Indus Civilization

Green

2020

J Archaeol Res

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The cities of the Indus civilization were expansive and planned with large-scale architecture and sophisticated Bronze Age technologies. Despite these hallmarks of social complexity, the Indus lacks clear evidence for elaborate tombs, individual-aggrandizing monuments, large temples, and palaces. Its first excavators suggested that the Indus civilization was far more egalitarian than other early complex societies, and after nearly a century of investigation, clear evidence for a ruling class of managerial elites has yet to materialize. The conspicuous lack of political and economic inequality noted by Mohenjo-daro’s initial excavators was basically correct. This is not because the Indus civilization was not a complex society, rather, it is because there are common assumptions about distributions of wealth, hierarchies of power, specialization, and urbanism in the past that are simply incorrect. The Indus civilization reveals that a ruling class is not a prerequisite for social complexity.

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“…As a result, ancient societies who chose to dispose of corpses in single interments have been privileged for bioarchaeological research. Collective burials serve many functions such as preserving family and community identity (Bentley, ; Bloch, ; Rott, Päffgen, Haas‐Gebhard, Peters, & Harbeck, ), companionship or sacrifice (Baadsgaard, Monge, Cox, & Zettler, ; Judd & Irish, ), health risk intervention (e.g., plague pits) (Grainger, Hawkins, Lynne, & Mikulski, ), and space or time constraints (Fiorato, Boylston, & Knüsel, ; Kjellström, ; Palubeckaite et al, ). Episodic commingled collections result from multiple interments following a single event such as a mass disaster or battle (Osterholtz, Baustian, & Martin, ), and may be laid in rows so that with careful excavation individuals are relatively complete (Fiorato et al, ; Kyle, Reitsema, Tyler, Fabbri, & Vassallo, ; Rott et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commingled crypts: Comparative health among Byzantine monastics in the Levant

Judd

2020

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objectives: Early Byzantine (A.D. 330-842) monastic rules stipulated that entrants relinquished familial connections, personal belongings and secular relationships to become part of the ascetic collective that continued in death, resulting in bioarchaeological marginalization, as was the case of the monastics excavated from the Chapel of Robebus at Mount Nebo, Jordan (ca. A.D. 491-640). It was hypothesized that compared to contemporary monastic groups, the Mount Nebo monastics experienced poorer health and gravitated to Mount Nebo, owing to its association with the Prophet Moses and proximity to the Dead Sea, Livias baths and Jordan River, all associated with curative benefits, especially for those suffering from leprosy. Materials and Methods: The commingled remains of 73 adult males from Mount Nebo and the articulated skeletons (n = 27) from the Sanctuary of Agios Lot at Deir 'Ain 'Abata (Jordan) were assessed for paleopathology, then compared with a contemporary commingled group from the Monastery of Saint Euthymius at Khan-el-Ahmar (Judean Desert) (n = 117).Results: No skeletal evidence of leprosy was observed among the groups. Most Mount Nebo individuals did not reach an older age, yet injuries, severe osteoarthritis, lower leg osteoperiostitis and antemortem tooth loss were common. The paleopathological profile was similar at Deir 'Ain 'Abata, but paleopathology was negligible at Khan-el-Ahmar. Conclusions:The similar paleopathological profiles of the Jordanian monastic groups suggest that the proximity to the Dead Sea may have attracted monastics to both sites, in addition to spirituality, but leprosy was not a factor based on the skeletal evidence. K E Y W O R D S bioarchaeology, healing, Jordan, leprosy, paleopathology

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Human sacrifice and intentional corpse preservation in the Royal Cemetery of Ur

Cited by 34 publications

References 23 publications

Human body preservation – old and new techniques

Human body preservation – old and new techniques

Killing the Priest-King: Addressing Egalitarianism in the Indus Civilization

Commingled crypts: Comparative health among Byzantine monastics in the Levant

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