Shell

Excavated at Ur, Iraq, by 1930 [1];

Acquired as part of the finds from the Ur excavation by the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) Museum, Philadelphia, 1930-1933;

Transferred from the Penn Museum to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1933 [2].

NOTES:

[1] The British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum co-sponsored an archaeological expedition to Ur in southern Iraq from 1922 to 1934. The expedition was led by Sir Charles Leonard Woolley.

[2] In 1931-32 the Nelson-Atkins co-sponsored an archaeological expedition to the Astarabad region of northeastern Iran. The partage agreement between the museums specified that if the value of the found objects did not match the dollar amount invested by the Nelson-Atkins, the Penn Museum would transfer objects from its own collection to the Nelson-Atkins to make up the difference. When the excavation failed to meet expectations, these earrings were part of a group of objects transferred from the Penn Museum’s collection to the Nelson-Atkins. Among this group were a number of pieces of jewelry and gold from Ur. It is unclear which Nelson-Atkins accessioned object corresponds exactly with each piece of Ur gold transferred from Penn.