Raw Material

Samples of ivory, wood and various seeds. Never accessioned.

"1. Matchbox of seeds. An internal label says "Unbekannte Sameln von W. Seite der ostlich Tempelmaur, nordlich von? Thur? c. 2000-1000 v. Chr” [Unknown seeds from W. side of the eastern Temple wall, north of? The door? C. 2000-1000 BCE. Approximately 1 cc Suaeda seeds, probably from a ‘modern’ insect cache, rehoused into a vial as they were spilling out.

2. Wooded box labelled “Charred barley (13/III, W. section of ?court? of ___, about same level.” Charred 2-row hulled barley (Hordeum vulgare va. distichum), mostly fragments, broken post carbonization. 9.5 x 6 x 2 cm. ca. 115 cc. As barley is the major grain of Mesopotamia, there is nothing remarkable about its presence.

3. Open box labeled “Charred wood (or ivory?)” Includes bitumen, bone bit, uncharred sheep/goat pellet, tooth fragment, maybe some amber. The sample is mostly beads, probably bitumen and at least one made from a tooth. Maybe some of the beads are ivory, too.

4. Wooden box labelled “Charred ‘unknown’ fruit (?) 19/III W side of ?E? Temple wall.” Charred Prosopis seeds, 9.5 x 6 x 0.5 cm, ca 30cc. Prosopis (“shok” in Arabic; in the Fabaceae (same genus as mesquite) is a small spiny shrub, with only one species native to Iraq (Prosopis farcta). The pods are eaten by sheep, and sometimes by people.”