The destruction of the silver pipes from Ur: a new proposal

Abstract

This paper proposes that the silver pipes found in the Royal Cemetery of Ur (ca. 2450 BCE) were intentionally made unfit for use after having been used to play music during the funerary procession that led to the burial of the deceased in Private Grave 333. Based on Mesopotamian archaeological and cuneiform evidence, as well as brief comparative observations, it is suggested the reason for this was so that the spirits living inside this wind instrument could not at some point in the future disturb the living.

Keywords

• Mesopotamia
• Early Dynastic III Period
• Silver Pipes from Ur
• Dumuzi/Tammuz
• ritual breakage