CAUTION OF ORIGIN · PG 1237 · GREAT PIT OF DEATH

The goat from PG 1237

The "ram" that never belonged to Puabi

This goat figure comes from another tomb in Ur, not from Puabi, and its exact function is unknown.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Visual reconstruction of an upright goat from PG 1237 in Ur — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Two almost twin figures appeared in PG 1237. They probably show goats raised against a plant and combine gold, silver, shell, lapis lazuli, bitumen and a reconstructed core. Its function could have been to hold a container or part of a piece of furniture.

The name "Ram in the Bush" refers to a biblical story and does not accurately describe either the animal or the context. Above all, PG 1237 is not PG 800: this piece is not part of Puabi's grave goods.

Evidence and interpretation

Origin and materials are documented. Animal, exact function and symbolic reading remain open; associating it with Puabi would be a catalog error.

Catalogue facts

Date: ca. 2600–2400 BCE
Location: PG 1237 · Great Pit of Death, Ur
Materials: Gold, silver, shell, lapis lazuli, bitumen and reconstructed support
Does not belong to: Puabi · PG 800/800B
Function: Possible support; unresolved

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

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ca. 2600–2400 BCE

The goat from PG 1237

Sumer

The function as support is not resolved.

Current record

Gold32 dated objects

3 / 32In the centre: The goat from PG 1237

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Silver

The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer — You are viewing
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Before the Iberias · Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE · Iberians
Twenty-six voiceless signs · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Rogozen · mainly 5th–4th centuries BCE; The set has a history of accumulation, not a single manufacturing date. · Thracians
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Treasure of Jávea · 4th century BCE · Iberians
Thoth in the form of a baboon · 664–30 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Falcata from Almedinilla · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
Treasure of Cheste · Jewellery from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE; concealment at the end of the 3rd century BCE. · Iberians
Mairena Hoard · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Vase from Chão de Lamas · Piece: III–II centuries BCE · concealment ≈110–76 BCE · Iberians
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Patera from Perotito · Second half of the 2nd–beginnings of the 1st century BCE · Iberians
Denarius of Carisius · ≈25–23 BCE · Iberians

Shell and mother-of-pearl

'Jamila's' necklace · ≈7250–7000 BCE · Prehistory
Worshiper of Tell Asmar · Towards 2900–2600 BCE · Sumer
Royal Game of Ur · 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer — You are viewing
Standard of Ur · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Statue of Ebih-Il · Towards 2400 BCE · Sumer
The Gallery of the Conch Shells · Main use c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Meluhha · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Three hundred lives in the sand · Mainly 4th century BCE–3rd century CE · Yayoi Japan

Animal imagery

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Eland Cave · Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period · Prehistory
Fawn spear-thrower · Middle Magdalenian · Prehistory
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Kakadu · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era · Prehistory
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians
Trumpet from Numantia · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians

Sculpture

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Lespugue · ≈28,000 years · Prehistory
Zaraysk Bison · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Shigir Idol · C. 10,000 BCE · approximation; debated dating · Prehistory
Warka Mask · End of the 4th millennium BCE · Sumer
Gebel el-Arak knife · 3600–3200 BCE · Naqada II C–D · Ancient Egypt
Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Narmer Palette · ca. 3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Before Yayoi · Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE · Yayoi Japan
Ur-Nanshe relief · Mid-3rd millennium BCE · reign of Ur-Nanshe · Sumer
The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer — You are viewing
Stele of the Vultures · Towards 2450–2425 BCE · Sumer
Akkadian sovereign head · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Bassetki Statue · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Naram-Sin Stele · Reign of Naram-Sin, 2254–2218 BCE · Sumer
Before Pre-Inca Cultures · Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE. · Pre-Inca cultures
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Wooden faces · c. 1600–1000 BCE, in several phases · Maya worlds
Head 2 · c. 1200–900 BCE · Maya worlds
The voice of Ahiram · c. 11th–10th century BCE · Phoenicians
Before the Scythians and Sakas · Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Scythians and Saka
Black Obelisk · 825 BCE · Sumer
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Las Limas · c. 1000–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Phoenicians
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Iberians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Lanzón · c. 900–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Stele of Esarhaddon · 7th century BC C. · 671 campaign BCE · Sumer
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Heads on the wall · c. 800–300 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Two voices in an urn · 530–520 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The god on the roof · Towards 510–500 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Glazed brick guards · 522–486 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Twenty-three delegations · 6th–5th centuries BCE, mainly under Darius and Xerxes · Achaemenid Persia
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar · first quarter of the 5th century BCE · Phoenicians
The statue was the urn · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
The Raimondi Stele · c. 400–200 BCE according to MNAAHP · Pre-Inca cultures
Torreáguila fountain spout · 101–125 CE · Etruscans and Rome
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Articulated doll from Tarragona · Late 3rd–4th century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Seven heads · c. 500–700 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Seated figure · 13th century, date attributed by the museum · Mande Worlds
Gold rhinoceros · ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Kongo crucifix · 16th–17th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Kuba ndop · ca. 1760 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Before Persia · Central core c. seventeenth century BCE; Neo-Elamite additions between the ninth and sixth centuries BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Lararium of Vilauba · Roman period · Etruscans and Rome
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Restoration can change a posture

During the intervention of 1997–1998, microscopic observation found joints between gold fragments of the tree that Woolley had not recognized. By fitting them, the tree gained height and the goat's front legs could be relocated. The photograph of the discovery supported the new arrangement. This change shows a concrete way of producing knowledge: combining material unions, excavation images and comparison with the second figure. Conservation is not limited to stabilizing a work; it may also correct how we understand its construction.

Museum · Penn Museum · Rescue and RestorationAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

Where it is held

Penn Museum

Item or group in the record · On display

Object 30-12-702, marked as exhibited by the institution.

The holding institution is documented; public display may change. Check its official record before visiting.

Sources and references

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History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

The goat from PG 1237

The Gold of Varna

Puabi headdress

The goat from PG 1237

Before Phoenicia

Tutankhamun's grave goods

Stag Vessel

Valchitran

Before the Iberias

Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi

Kushite king

Gold at Kuntur Wasi

Regolini-Galassi tomb

Condomina Earring

Uni was also Astarte

Ezerovo Ring

Coțofenești helmet

A battle on a comb

The Kul-Oba vase

The Solokha gold comb

The archer in gold

Treasure of Jávea

Susa grave goods

Thoth in the form of a baboon

Faces of the Steppe

Poroina Mare Rhyton

Treasure of Cheste

Marina Alta Hoard

Panagyurishte

Mairena Hoard

Patera from Perotito

Moulds for gold

Gold rhinoceros

A closer look

Restoration can change a posture

Where it is held

Penn Museum

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?