Tell Me How You Live: Dig House Tour at Ur

In October and November of 2022, the Penn Museum conducted the first post-pandemic excavation season at the ancient city of Ur in southern Iraq. Our main goal was to more completely understand habitation at the edges of the city and just beyond its limits, particularly in the Ur III to Old Babylonian periods, 2100-1740 BCE. But how do the archaeologists themselves live? What is their daily routine and what are the conditions of their lives in the 6-8 week period?
I thought that would make an interesting video, so I invite you here to join me on a short tour of our dig house at the archaeological site of Ur!
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[@mists_of_time]

Very interesting to see. It's seems like a mix of an expedition to Mars and living with too many flatmates in college 😂

[@jacob_90s]

I'm curious how you guys chose WHERE specifically to place your buildings, in particular pour that concrete pad? I can't be the only one who gets a chuckle out of the idea that the archaeologists might have built their camp right on top of a very important site

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

I'm not sure how that choice was made. The building was there long before I started working there. It is, however, located in what Woolley called 'the north harbor'. Presumably the choice was made because it was less likely there would be archaeological buildings in the harbor.
Woolley's dig house was on the ancient city mound and built largely with ancient bricks. It was dismantled long ago, though.

[@enricozetti]

Thank you very much, it's always very intresting to see some "behibd the scenes" of how the work is done

[@azuradawn5683]

Super interesting! Thanks for showing us!

[@hyperflares2879]

Thanks, I had been wondering in the back of my head how this worked, and it's just as cool and kind of intense as i thought

[@ne2ko714]

It is verry interesting to see a little peak behind the curtains, and the system behind finding, cleaning, documenting, categorizing, and all that behind the scenes type of work

[@j.l.emerson592]

I was struck by how you commented on the usurpation of some of your work & living space... "It's not so bad"... To me, what is not said is as telling as what is said. After having lived & worked in Iraq for 4 years, I can honestly say: "I feel ya"...

[@Dantalliumsolarium]

;~; this is such amazing work, fills the heart with awe and joy

[@robryan9841]

Thanks for the tour 👍

[@8draco8]

Why you have bars in windows? Is the area so dangerous? Do you also require security?

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

The entire site of Ur is fenced in and the Iraqi police guard the gate and perimeter. Just to the south is a military base and just to the east is a major prison, so there are many potential issues. But it also means we are well protected when working here as there is a large police presence in the area overall.

[@williamharris8367]

How far away is the nearest significant town or city? About how often do the archeologists get away from the site (for non-work activities)?
Working a minimum of six days per week in an isolated area does not seem very appealing.

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

The nearest city is Nasiryah and it's about 10 miles away. The archaeologists almost never leave the site, working constantly. Instead, we have locals who drive into town to buy things like supplies and groceries, and we hire locals to cook for us as well. We try to arrange trips to other archaeological sites on Fridays, though I tend to stay at Ur and do my filming then.
We work long hours because we have only a limited time in country and we have to get our analysis done on site since we can't take artifacts out. It's intense but typically only about 6 weeks of that level of intensity. Then we work on the gathered data at a slower pace back at the university.

[@timwilliams990]

Thanks for sharing, that was interesting.

[@bluenexus1212]

Damn, looks like slightly better army life but cooler!

[@hannahbrown2728]

Looks cozy, thanks for some behind the scenes!

[@aurifulgore]

Thank you for sharing!

[@phonotical]

You need to Bury some cups 🤣

[@jameswoodard4304]

I wonder if this is typical of Neareastern Archaeology in general. I realize that many sites have not been being worked at as long as Ur, and some are at or very near current settlements. I wonder how these differences will effect how the team functions, living arrangements, work spaces, etc.

[@artifactuallyspeaking]

When near a village or town we usually rent a house or space in some way from a local family. When not near a village we hope to be able to set up living near the site, perhaps in tents at first, but often rent in the nearest village and commute to the site. Ur is a bit unusual in having this protected and pre-built dig house already available.

[@jameswoodard4304]

@@artifactuallyspeaking ,
Thank you so much for replying!

[@the-flatulator]

First viewer and first comment too. yay for me.