Burial in Ur What were death rituals like in Biblical times? Studying archaeological sites from ancient Mesopotamia offers some answers, as well as raises more questions. Mesopotamia or the "the Land between the Rivers" or "House of Two Rivers" is a region of Southwest Asia between the Trigris and Euphrates rivers, near Iraq ande Syria. Writings from this area are some of the earliest known in human culture, so it is believed that this may indeed be the cradle of civilization.

The Sumerians lived in this area of Mesopotamia about 2800 BC in cities such as Adab, Eridu, Isin, Kish, Kullab, Lagash, Larsa, Nippur, and Ur. Around the city of Ur, which was established around 2100 BC, grew rich agricultural lands. Inside the city...

Archaeologists found a cemetery in Ur dating back to about 2600 BC with hundreds of bodies. Many of these individuals were buried with very expensive items. In one area of the cemetery, a group of 16 graves dates back to the mid-third millennium. Unlike the other burials, these large, shaft graves included stone, rubble and brick tombs that were built at the bottom of a pit. The tombs' design varied, with some taking up a whole section of the pit and having numerous chambers. In one of these larger tombs was…