The Standard of Ur

The British Museum currently has The Standard of Ur, a Sumerian artifact from the third millennium BC. It is made out of a hollow wooden box that is 49.53 centimeters (19.50 in) long and 21.59 centimeters (8.50 in) wide, and it is inlaid with a mosaic of lapis lazuli, red limestone, and shell. It is from the historic city of Ur (located in modern-day Iraq west of Nasiriyah). It is approximately 4,600 years old and dated to the First Dynasty of Ur during the Early Dynastic era. The standard was most likely built in the shape of a hollow wooden box with scenes of conflict and peace depicted on each side by intricately inlaid mosaics. Although its discoverer saw it as a standard, its original intent is still unclear. It was discovered in a royal tomb in Ur in the 1920s adjacent to the skeleton of a man who may have been its bearer and who had been ritually sacrificed.

The mosaic, which was first thought to be covering a hollow, four-sided box, is actually fairly modest, yet it contains a wealth of information about various facets of ancient Mesopotamian society. The two pieces that have survived have been given the names "War" and "Peace." The first depicts the king as a two-dimensional, enormous person watching a column of nude, often wounded, prisoners being dragged past his chariot. In their helmets and with their weapons ready, Mesopotamian troops are depicted.

It is unclear with certainty what the Standard of Ur's original purpose was. It is now seen as improbable that Woolley's claim that it represented a standard was true. It has also been conjectured that it was a musical instrument's soundbox. Paola Villani hypothesizes that it was used as a chest to hold resources for war or charitable endeavors. As there is no inscription on the artifact to provide any background information, it is hard to know for sure.