I recently read an amazing article on Atlas Obscura (of course, haha), which shows the elaborate golden headdress, beaded top, and jewellery of a queen who lived 4,500 years ago. Go check it out, seriously.
Her name was Queen Pu-abi, and she was unearthed in the 1920s, from a stone burial chamber alongside three more bodies, presumably her poor maidservants (eeeek!) from the most lavish Mesopotamian tomb ever discovered.
So, in the 1920s, the discovery of this 4,500 year old tomb and skeleton caused a huge stir, because Queen Pu-abi was a woman, and well … it was the 1920s, haha.
Here is a little quote about Pu-abi and the city of Ur:
‘Queen Pu-abi, a name carried down through the millennia thanks to a lapis-lazuli seal pinned to her burial garment, lived at the height of Ur’s power around 2600 BC. In her time, the ancient city-state held extensive sway across Sumer, a region nestled between the Tigris and Euphrates. Trade in Ur flourished and trade routes extended from modern-day India to Sudan. As the main harbor for Indian goods, Ur garnered huge amounts of wealth. Though no contemporary documents mention Pu-abi, scholars believe she may have ruled in her own right since her seal mentions no husband.’ – Atlas Obscura
So anyway, I really don’t know much about Ur or Sumer, but seeing this article made me hope to learn more! Apparently the word they used for ‘queen’ in conjunction with Pu-abi’s name, was ‘eresh’.
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PJ Nwosu writes dark mystery novels set in epic fantasy worlds.
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