Ancient Babylonia - Sir Charles Leonard Woolley
Sir Charles Leonard Woolley, 1880-1960, English archaeologist. His early work
included excavations at Carchemish (1912-14) and the Egyptian site of
Tel-el-Amarna (1921-22). He was then chosen to direct the joint British Museum and Univ.
of Pennsylvania expedition at Ur in Mesopotamia (1922-34), where his findings
did much to further the study of the Sumerian civilization in the 3d millennium
B.C. Woolley oversaw the excavation of the prehistoric cemetery at Ur, which
included 16 royal tombs with treasures of gold and lapis lazuli and evidence of
large-scale human sacrifice. Later excavations led by him were those of the
Syrian sites of Al-Mina (1936) and Tell Atchana (1937-39 and 1946-49). His
writings include The Sumerians (1928), Digging Up the Past (1930), Ur of the Chaldees
(1938, rev. ed. 1952), A Forgotten Kingdom (1953, rev. ed. 1959), and
Excavations at Ur (1954).
Ancient Babylonia
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