War and peace on the Standard of Ur

Standard of Ur, 2600–2400 B.C.E., shell, limestone, lapis lazuli, and bitumen, 21.59 x 49.53 x 12 cm, found in the royal cemetery, Ur (© Trustees of the British Museum). A conversation between Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris.

[YeamanME]

Wonderful....the Standard of Ur is truly a one of a kind piece....I love the history banter between you two...

[sherryzimmerman]

This would be a magnificent teaching tool for for all grade schoolers building each year on their unit of world studies/civilizations….so much to learn reading the piece to deeper dives into for age appropriateness……loving this as a retired High School teacher and life long learner…..

[gerardjagroo]

Thank you for showing off this work of art. It's exquisite!

[jacklewis]

Thank you for this. I'm getting ready to teach Ancient Sumar for my 7th-grade social studies class. I felt there was not enough emphasis on how Historians know what they know. The Standard of Ur is so important to Historians (and teachers). I still would like an even simpler video with more cartoons for younger students to engage with. I'm also planning to use a Brainpop video about Sumer, but it's better when students can see the actual physical artifacts and investigate for themselves.

[Sasha]

The original video was great, but I can appreciate the improved editing for this new version (e.g. the map showing the locations of the stone / shell used to make this piece). It was worth watching again. The content here is and has always been fantastic. :)

[jewelrybag]

Thank you for your wonderful channel. I find myself quite fixated at this exhibition in the British museum owing to me being from Kuwait. It would be wonderful if you could do an art analysis of Queen Puabi's headdress that is also in the exhibition.

[creeproot]

So ancient. It’s absolutely mind blowing to think that it was made more than a thousand years before the time of the mythical trojan wars of the Iliad, and even those were so ancient to the Greeks that they didn’t exactly know when they would have supposedly taken place, given the anachronistic elements in the story which definitely belonged to a period that came after Mycenae. It’s simply wonderful, awesomely old, yet made by people that probably don’t look too different from the modern inhabitants of Mesopotamia.

[AmeerAli]

So, as in Iraqi I cant see this masterpiece cause some random dudes stole it and possibly even if I want to see it I wouldn't get a Visa, fantastic.

[عبداللهالعراقي-وزث]

فعلآ آثار العراق جذابة ومهمة وخاصتآ الحضارة السومرية في مدينة أور حيث الإبداع والتطور وبيت النبي إبراهيم الخليل عليه السلام زرتها مرة واحدة إنها رائعة

[varoonnone]

It is so ancient and yet these figures look so modern. Are we that much different ?

[starcapture]

4:32 These are not donkeys but an excitant kind similar to onagers forgot its name.

[starcapture]

Thanks For covering this super old masterpiece. I believe it is your first video on anything from Mesopotamia. Please Give us More and More. Lady of the night relief would be great to cover.

[WeTheLittlePeople]

Everyone noticing the use of Donkey/Onagers? instead of horses or camels. Apparently no riders but many battle wagon/heavy chariots.

[konstantinavalentina]

I wonder if the tesserae or diamond shaped decorations in the borders signify something, perhaps something important because if they were purely decorative, they should, perhaps, be fairly uniform across this artifact, but, they're not.
We have Red diamond shapes and then either blue diamond shapes picked out by lighter colored triangles, or, groups of triangles.
The bordering designs also differ on each side.
What information could these designs be attempting to record or tell us about the scenes depicted?
Also, if indicating numeric values, should they be considered through the lens of base 60, or however Sumerians counted?

[geeksdotbetter]

It's difficult to follow the narration with the echoing voices in the background.

[jon]

Are you guys aware of any academic speculation about those chairs with the single animal leg? Such an interesting detail to include. It looks like some sort of prey animal's leg, which seems interesting for the king and his surrounding aristocrats to associate themselves with, since I think in later periods the iconography is all bulls and lions.

[doncarlodivargas]

All the guys sitting and drinking from the same type of cups have a chair with one animal leg, it must be the interior architect that liked that style, anyhow, everyone are kind of participating in the same activity, except this one single man, the one to the upper left corner, obviously busy with something else, or perhaps on his rest, finished with his tasks

[PenjMel]

I greatly dislike when people referred to Mesopotamia as the birthplace of civilization. Europeans may consider it the birthplace of their civilization (which I'd say it's quite the stretch) but there were plenty of other cradles such as Ancient Egypt, the Indus Valley, China, Mesoamerica and the Andes

[marta]

In both scenes you can see men only and they are all bald and clean-shaven. I wonder: where they really shaving their heads and facial hair or was it just an artistic expression? This is really quite surprising, because what we are more familiar with in the art of Mesopotamia are those bearded men with elaborate hair styles and braided beards... 🤔