Urkesh Palace Pit = Bunker?
Those who have followed my thoughts probably know that my first instinct when I learn of an ancient subterranean structure is “bunker!”. It’s not a bad hypothesis, but very hard to prove. The problem is that the use as a bunker perhaps only lasted a few generations, and neglected to leave evidence – whereas subsequent uses may have been for longer, and left more evidence. A bunker that succeeded would most likely be emptied afterwards, and anything not removed, if at all, was likely to be organic or pottery. To put it bluntly, no bones.
Reading Archaeology magazine, July/Aug 2008, page 50, I found this, about a pit found next to Urkesh Palace, a pit that pre-dates the palace:
“unusual stone-lined pit… The pit’s large underground room has a square antechamber facing west and a deep circular pit… it was originally covered with a roof and had a single, easily closed entrance facing west… Within the pit they found silver rings, an obsidian blade, clay animal figurines… But it was the mass of animal bones…
Mostly they found the bones of piglets and puppies – dogs were considered unclean by the Hurrians. Sheep, goat and donkey bones were found as well, including the bones of entire animals. Consequently the archaeologists have proposed that the structure was for ritual animal sacrifices.
Fair enough, it was quite likely used for that, long after the pit has served its original purpose. I find it hard to believe that the Hurrians would have built such a quality pit just for animal sacrifices (even considering the related texts mentioning the underworld):
That photo is from the only online article I could find on the pit, entitled “Introduction to the Archaeo-zoology of the abi”
I propose that, ignoring what was found within, and just looking at the structure, and with the understanding that we will never know what the roof consisted of (but may have been a substantial organic mat), that it was a bunker. The thickness of the walls are similar to the plans I have for a bunker… Actually, if all you are doing is tossing animal bones into a pit, why have a tiny entrance and steps? Or to put it another way, if it was important for people to enter the sacrificial pit, why not make the steps a comfortable width? A bunker typically has the smallest entrance possible.
BTW, the ceramics found date to 2300-2100 BC.
