Tell al-'Ubaid (Tell el-Ubaid)
تل العبيد · Tell al-Ubaid · al-Ubaid · Obeid
Ubaid to Ur III (6500–2000 BCE; peak Ubaid 5500–3800 BCE)·Ubaid (southern Mesopotamian) → Uruk → Early Dynastic → Ur III·🇮🇶 Dhi Qar Governorate, southern alluvium, Iraq
About
About Tell al-'Ubaid (Tell el-Ubaid)
Type-site of the Ubaid period (c.6500–3800 BCE), low oblong mound 500 × 300 m 7 km west of Ur, 2 m high, excavated by H.R. Hall (1919) and Woolley (1923–24). Sequence gives stratified Ubaid 0–4 pottery from Halili painted wares to classic black-on-buff Ubaid and Ubaid-temple architecture: tripartite niched-and-buttressed temples on relief-packed mudbrick with copper lion-headed bolts, Mother Goddess ophidian figurines and late Ubaid cemetery. Overlying Early Dynastic Temple of Ninmah (Shulgi) with 107 copper founder figures. Cornerstone for Mesopotamian Neolithic–Chalcolithic chronology and the 'Ubaid expansion' from Gulf to Hamrin.
Why it mattersDefines Ubaid ceramic and architectural horizon — the baseline for Mesopotamian Chalcolithic from Susiana to island Bahrain.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Explains Ubaid expansion but own settlement oddly small vs Tell Uqair/Abada?
Theories
- 01Shrinking shrine-town after Uruk founding 4 km east
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c. 6500 BCE (Ubaid 0/Hajji Muhammad) ; temple Uruk–ED
- Period
- Ubaid to Ur III (6500–2000 BCE; peak Ubaid 5500–3800 BCE)
- Culture
- Ubaid (southern Mesopotamian) → Uruk → Early Dynastic → Ur III
- Builders
- Ubaid villagers; Early Dynastic temple builders (Anu/Ur kings); Shulgi (Ur III rebuilding)
- Purpose
- Farming village then sacred temenos of Mother Goddess Ninmah
- Abandoned
- c.2000 BCE after Ur III
- Rediscovered
- 1919 Hall, BM; 1923 Woolley UM–BM Ur Expedition
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.5200 BCE
Ubaid 3 tripartite temple with copper bolts built
c.2500 BCE
Ancient Temple freed and Ninmah temple erected with copper lions
1919
Hall sinks first soundings
On the ground
Structures & features
30.9720° N · 46.0310° E · 8 m · 2 mapped features
Ubaid Temple platform (Ubaid 3)
templeTripartite niched temple with copper lion fittings
30.9723° N · 46.0313° ETemple of Ninmah (ED)
templeEarly Dynastic platform with Shulgi copper figures
30.9719° N · 46.0308° E