Ziggurat of Ur shrine of the moon the moon god Nanna, Nanna , the patron deity of Ur of Ur..[4]
The Ziggu (sometimes mes called called the “Grea “Greatt Ziggurat rat of Ur (someti Ziggur gurat of Ur"; Sumerian E-temen-nigur(u) É.TEMEN .TEMEN.NÍ .NÍ.GÙR .GÙR(U). (U).(RU) (RU) () ()[1] meaning "house house whose whose foundation creates terror creates terror") ")[2] is a NeoSumerian ziggurat in what was the city of Ur near Nasiriyah,, in present-day Dhi Nasiriyah present-day Dhi Qar Province, Province , Iraq Iraq.. The The structure was built during the Early Bronze Age (21st century BC), but had crumbled to ruins by the 6th century BC of the Neo-Babylonian period Neo-Babylonian period when it was restored by King Nabonidus King Nabonidus..
The construction of the ziggurat the ziggurat was was finished in the 21st century BC by King Shulgi King Shulgi,, who, in order to win the allegiance of cities, proclaimed himself a god. During his 48-year reign, the city of Ur grew to be the capital of a state controlling much of Mesopotamia of Mesopotamia.. Many ziggurats were made by stacking mud-bricks up and using mud to seal them together.
Its remains were excavated in the 1920s and 1930s by Sir Leonard Sir Leonard Woolley. Woolley. Under nder Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, they were encased by a partial reconstruction of the façade façade and the monumental monumental staircase. The ziggurat of Ur is the t he best-preserved of those known from Iran and Iraq, besides the ziggurat of Dur Untash (Chogha ( Chogha Zan[3] bil). bil ). It is one of three well preserved structures of the Neo-Sumerian city of Ur, along with the Royal Mausolea and the Palace of Ur-Nammu (the E-hursag).
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King King Nabonidus, Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in Empire in the 6th century BC, after “finding little left but the last stage and nothing to guide him as to the monument’s original appearance”, had it restored in seven stages rather than three. [5]
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Neo-Baby Neo-Babyloni lonian an restorat restoratio ion n
Excav Excavati ation on and preserva preservatio tion n
Sume Sumeri rian an zigg ziggura uratt
U.S. soldiers climb soldiers climb the steps of the ziggurat in 2010 Reconstruction of Ur-Nammu’s ziggurat, based on the 1939 reconstruction by Woolley (vol. V, fig. 1.4)
The remains of the ziggurat were first described by William Kennett Loftus in Loftus in the early early 19th century. century. The first first exca excava vatio tions ns at the site site were were condu conducte ctedd by by John George Taylo Taylorr (mistakenly credited as “J. E. Taylor”) [6] in the 1850s, leading to the identification of the site as Ur. Ur. After After World World War I, I, preliminary excavations were performed by Reginald by Reginald Campbell Thompson and Thompson and Henry Henry Hall.. The site was extensively excavated in the 1920s by Hall Sir Leonard Sir Leonard Woolley by Woolley by appointment of the University Museum Museum of the Univ Univers ersit ityy of Penns Pennsyl ylva vania niaand and the Britis Britishh Museum in the period of 1922 to 1934.
The ziggurat was built by King Ur-Nammu Ur-Nammu who who dedicated the great ziggurat of Ur in honour of Nanna of Nanna/Sîn, /Sîn, in approximately approximately the 21st century BC (short ( short chronology) chronology) during during the Thi Third rd Dyn Dynast astyy of Ur Ur..[2] The massiv massivee step pyra pyra-mid measured mid measured 64 m (210 ft) in length, 45 m (148 ft) in width and over 30 m (98 ft) in height. The height is speculative, as only the foundations foundations of the Sumerian ziggurat have survived.
The ziggurat was a piece in a temple complex that served as an administrative center for the city, and which was a The remains of the ziggurat consist of a three-layered 1
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7 EXTERNAL LINKS
solid mass of mud brick faced with burnt bricks set in bi- 6 Further reading tumen. The lowest layer corresponds to the original construction of Ur-Nammu, while the two upper layers are Woolley, C. Leonard and Moorey, P. R. S., Ur of part of the Neo-Babylonian restorations.[7] The façade of the Chaldees: Revised and Updated Edition of Sir the lowest level andthe monumental staircase were rebuilt Leonard Woolley’s Excavations at Ur , Cornell Uniunder the orders of Saddam Hussein. versity Press (1982). The ziggurat was damaged in the First Gulf War in 1991 by small arms fire and the structure was shaken by explosions. Four bomb craters can be seen nearby and the walls 7 External links of the ziggurat are marred by over 400 bullet holes. [8] Ziggurat of Ur, Smarthistory at Khan Academy As of 2008, the site is under the supervision of Curator Dief Mohssein Naiif al-Gizzy. Ur (modern name: Tell el-Muqayyar) at Open Con•
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See also
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Ali Air Base
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Ennigaldi-Nanna’s museum
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Sumer
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Sumerian architecture
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Third Dynasty of Ur
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Ziggurat
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Ziggurat of Aqar Quf
References
[1] Jacob Klein Three Šulgihymns: Sumerianroyal hymns glorifying King Šulgi of Ur , Bar-Ilan University Press (1981), ISBN 978-965-226-018-5, p. 162. [2] Explore the ziggurat of Ur, The Ziggurat of Ur, The British Museum [3] Heinrich, Ernst: Die Tempel und Heiligtümer im Alten Mesopotamien. Typologie, Morphologie und Geschichte, Berlin (1982) [4] Gardner’s Art Through the Ages by Helen Gardner, Fred S. Kleiner, Christin J. Mamiya [5] Ring, Trudy; Salkin, Rober M.; La Boda, Sharon. International Dictionary of Historic Places . p. 719. ISBN 1884964-03-6. [6] E. Sollberger, Mr. Taylor in Chaldaea , Anatolian Studies (1972) [7] Woolley, C. Leonard (1939). The Ziggurat and its Surroundings. Ur Excavations 5 . [8] Inati, S. C. 2003: Iraq: Its History, People and Politics, New York: Humanity Books, p31
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A brief history of the Sumerian Ziggurat at Ur Archaeology of ancient Iraq with a section on the zig gurat
The Harran andUr Latitudes, andTell Göbekli Tepe
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