Puabi

Sumerian queen whose splendid gold headdress was found in the Royal Tombs of Ur.

Life

Cylinder seal

Puabi was queen, or perhaps ruling queen, of the Sumerian city-state of Ur in c. the 26th century BCE. Her name comes from a cylinder seal found in her tomb.

Gold headdress

In 1927-1928 the archaeologist Woolley excavated her tomb: she wore a magnificent headdress strung with gold leaves, gold flowers and lapis lazuli, and was buried with gold and silver vessels, a lyre and a chariot, while the burial pit held more than fifty sacrificed attendants.

Retainer sacrifice

Her grave goods are now divided among the British Museum, the Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania and the Iraq Museum. (She lived before the start of the site's timeline, so she is placed at the timeline's earliest year.)

Legacy

Puabi's tomb is one of the best-preserved royal burials in Mesopotamia, revealing the wealth and craftsmanship of Sumerian civilization.

Did you know? Her tomb had never been robbed, which is extremely rare among ancient royal tombs.

Key dates

• 2100 BCE(Actually c. 26th century BCE) Buried in the Royal Tombs of Ur
• 1927Tomb excavated