Puabi

Puabi (Akkadian: 𒅤𒀜 pu3-AD; c. 2590 BC - c. 2550 BC), also called Shubad or Shudi-Ad due to a misinterpretation by Leonard Woolley, was an important queen in the Sumerian city of Ur, during the First Dynasty of Ur. Commonly labeled as a "queen", her status is somewhat in dispute, although several cylinder seals in her tomb, labeled grave PG 800 at the Royal Cemetery at Ur, identify her by the title "nin" or "eresh", a Sumerian word denoting a queen or a priestess. Puabi's seal does not place her in relation to any king or husband, possibly indicating that she ruled in her own right. It has been suggested that she was the second wife of king Meskalamdug. Although little is known about Puabi's life, the discovery of Puabi's tomb and its death pit reveals important information as well as raises questions about Mesopotamian society and culture. The meaning of Puabi's name is uncertain, though it could perhaps mean "word of my father" or "orchard of my father".