Vessel

Stratum VIII, test pit L4

Terracotta

1931.145

Height: 8.8 cm

Rim diam.: 6.5 cm

Max. diam. (at shoulder): 6.8 cm

Small, red terracotta vessel with flared rim and tapered body. The flared rim is pierced on two opposite sides by holes approximately 1 cm apart; perhaps these holes allowed for the affixing of a cord handle or suspension string. The underside of the foot is concave, with a slightly convex protrusion at the center.

Context

Starr excavated a test pit in room L4 below the baked brick pavement of the Stratum II levels to probe the earlier occupation levels. The city name “Ga.Sur” frequently appeared in texts found between the prehistoric and Nuzi levels, and thus Starr proposed that it was the earlier name of the city on the site. Starr differentiated 12 different strata in the test pit, so-called pavements that likely were floors or living surfaces. Only a few wall fragments were discovered in this relatively small probe; however, various elevations of test pit L4 produced numerous artifacts and 19 graves, including two infant burials. The number of grave goods within the graves varied.

Publications: None (but compare Starr 1937, pl. 52A, from grave 5 in test pit L4)

Original Field Catalogue Entry

The Harvard Art Museum Archives does not have a record of the original field number for this vessel, although the registration card for this object mentions the findspot as “from a burial, city GaSur, Room L4.” Starr recorded several “red ware” vases from the graves of L4 (cf. graves 10, 9, 8, 5A, and 5 in Starr 1939, 30-38), but most were never illustrated or published, making it difficult to identify from which grave this vessel originated. Possible numbers include 30.12.78, 30.12.87, 30.12.109, 30.12.225, and 30.12.226.