Woolley, Charles Leonard

Born Apr. 17, 1880, in London; died there Feb. 20, 1960. English archaeologist.

From 1907 to 1912 Woolley took part in excavations in Nubia, and from 1912 to 1914 and in 1919 he participated in the excavations at Carchemish on the Euphrates. In 1921 and 1922 he directed the excavations at Tell el-Amarna. Between 1922 and 1934 he directed the work of the Anglo-American archaeological expedition at Ur, which discovered the temple household archives (28th century B.C.), royal tombs of the first dynasty of Ur, a number of temples, the royal household archives of the third dynasty of Ur, and numerous inscriptions. The excavations at Ur made it possible to establish the general outlines of the history of this city-state. From 1936 to 1939 and from 1946 to 1949, Woolley conducted excavations of Alalakh in Turkey. In his historical reconstructions Woolley idealized the social system and culture of the ancient states of Mesopotamia.