-1 101 z The temenos, or sacred precinct, at Ur was constructed by the Ur III kings over earlier temples, and was dedicated to the moon-god Nanna and his consort Ningal.
# Temenos
2 101 x Deep soundings revealed a village and cemetery of the Ubaid period. The earliest houses were of reeds daubed with clay. Massive deposits of broken pottery show that the excavated area was a large pottery-making 'factory' in the Uruk period.
# Early Ur, Female figurine
3 102 A Ur-Nammu, founder of the Ur III dynasty, began the building of ziggurats, massive stepped platforms representing the cosmic mountain of Sumerian mythology, topped by a shrine. His ziggurat at Ur, the best preserved today, had three tiers and was completed by his son, Shulgi.
# Ziggurat
6 101 x Corbelled vaults (vaults constructed with courses of projecting stones) beneath the richly decorated funerary palace (mortuary shrine) built by Shulgi house the buried remains of the Ur III kings. Shulgi's son Amar-Sin added the two flanking wings of the palace.
# Mausolea.
7 101 x E-nun-mah, a large temple storehouse of the Ur III period containing the remains of innumerable votive stone vessels smashed when the Elamites sacked Ur in 2004 BC.
# E-nun-mah
8 102 C The Royal Cemetery was probably the burial ground of the Early Dynastic kings and queens of Ur, as well as of lesser individuals in less richly endowed graves. The great wealth of the city around 2600-2400 BC is shown by the magnificent grave offerings in the Royal Tombs which also contained the bodies of sacrificed retainers.
# Royal Cemetery, gold helmet from the tomb of Meskalamdug:
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# FM Sumerian lyre
11 101 x The layout of this building, E-hursag, suggests that it was a palace of the Ur III kings although it was unlikely to have been their main one.
# E-hursag
12 102 B The northern part of the Ur temenos was occupied by a shrine and courtyard sacred to the moon god Nanna, patron of the city. From the time of Sargon, the king's daughter filled the elevated office of Nanna's high priestess, residing in the temenos.
# Temple of Nanna, seal showing libation to Nanna
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# rus. doll
14 101 x The Giparu, temple of the goddess Ningal, home of the entu priestess who personified the goddess in the annual Sacred Marriage ceremony in which the king incarnated the god. The temple contained antechambers, purification rooms, a reception hall, a dining room and kitchens as well as a large sanctuary.
# Giparu, Woolley
#1 101 x Ur was surrounded by a canal linked to the river Euphrates. This gave it a vital role as the major Sumerian port controlling both seaborne trade from the Persian Gulf and riverine traffic to cities in northern Mesopotamia like Mari.
