The Ziggurat of Ur (sometimes called the "Great Ziggurat of Ur"; Sumerian E-temen-nigur(u) É.TEMEN.NÍ.GÙR(U).(RU) 𒂍𒋼𒉎𒅍(𒊒)[1] meaning "house whose foundation creates terror"[2]) was a Neo-Sumerian ziggurat, located in the city of Ur, located near Nasiriyah in the present-day Dhi Qar Province, Iraq. The Middle Bronze Age (21st century BC) structure had crumbled by Neo-Babylonian times (6th century BC) and a restoration of the ziggurat was built under king Nabonidus.
Its remains were excavated in the 1920s to 1930s by Sir Leonard Woolley. They were encased by a partial reconstruction of the facade and the monumental staircase under Saddam Hussein, during the 1980s.
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Sumerian ziggurat
The ziggurat was built by the Sumerian King Ur-Nammu and his son Shulgi in approximately the 21st century BC (short chronology) during the Third Dynasty of Ur.[2] The massive step pyramid measured 210 feet (64m) in length, 150 feet (46m) in width and over 100 feet (30m) in height. The height is speculative, as only the 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 shrine of the moon god Nanna, the patron deity of Ur.[3]
The construction of the ziggurat was finished in the 21st century BC by 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.
Neo-Babylonian restoration
King Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian 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.[4]
Excavation and preservation
The remains of the ziggurat were first described by William Kennett Loftus in the early 18th century. The first excavations at the site were conducted by John George Taylor (mistakenly credited as "J. E. Taylor"[5]) in the 1850s, leading to the identification of the site as Ur. After World War I, preliminary excavations were performed by Reginald Campbell Thomson and Henry Hall. The site was extensively excavated in the 1920s by Sir Leonard Woolley by appointment of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and the British Museum in the period of 1922 to 1934. The ziggurat of Ur is the best preserved of 25 ziggurats known from Iran and Iraq. It is one of three well-preserved structures of the Neo-Sumerian city of Ur, alongside the Royal Mausolea and the Palace of Ur-Nammu (the E-hursag).
The remains of the ziggurat consist of a three-layered solid mass of mud brick faced with burnt bricks set in bitumen. The lowest layer corresponds to the original construction of Ur-Nammu, while the two upper layers are part of the Neo-Babylonian restorations. (Woolley 1939). The facade of the lowest level and the monumental staircase were rebuilt under the orders of Saddam Hussein. The ziggurat was damaged in the First Gulf War in 1991 by some 400 bullet holes and the structure was shaken by explosions, recognizable from four nearby bomb craters.
See also
References
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- ^ Jacob Klein Three Šulgi hymns: Sumerian royal hymns glorifying King Šulgi of Ur, Bar-Ilan University Press (1981), ISBN 9789652260185, p. 162.
- ^ a b Explore the ziggurat of Ur, The Ziggurat of Ur, The British Museum[unreliable source?]
- ^ Gardner's Art Through the Ages by Helen Gardner, Fred S. Kleiner, Christin J. Mamiya
- ^ Trudy Ring, Robert M. Salkin, Sharon La Boda. International Dictionary of Historic Places. ISBN 1884964036. Page 719.
- ^ E. Sollberger, Mr. Taylor in Chaldaea, Anatolian Studies (1972)
- Woolley, C. Leonard, Ur Excavations, published in 10 volumes, 1927ff., vol. V: The Ziggurat and its Surroundings (1939).
- Woolley, C. Leonard and Moorey, P. R. S., Ur of the Chaldees: Revised and Updated Edition of Sir Leonard Woolley's Excavations at Ur, Cornell University Press (1982).
External links
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