In today's video, we dive into the mysteries surrounding the Royal Cemetery at Ur and its associated Death Pits, examining who exactly was buried there, what Sumerian mythology has to say about the rituals conducted within, and whether it constitutes Mesopotamian's only known example of human sacrifice. And beyond these question, we examine the Cemetery's biggest quandary of all. Were its burials even royal at all? This video owes a special thanks to archaeologist Dr Geoff Emberling, who kindly allowed me to use a number of his photos of Iraq. You can find more information on his research activities in the links below: https://archaeology.lsa.umich.edu/people/emberling.php https://umich.academia.edu/GeoffEmberling Join this channel to get access to perks: null Help support us elsewhere at: https://www.patreon.com/thehistocrat https://twitter.com/The_Histocrat https://bsky.app/profile/thehistocrat.bsky.social You can find more of Ettore's excellent artwork below: https://www.instagram.com/ettore.mazza/ https://ettoremazza.tumblr.com/ #history #documentary #mesopotamia I'd also like to thank all of my voice actors for today's episode, whose own work you can find below: Articulations as Enheduanna null Byron Lewis as Various Texts null Stefan Milo as C. Leonard Woolley null