HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND CULTURE 1_White Temple and ziggurat OF UR

1. White Temple and ziggurat, Uruk
Archaeological site at Uruk (modern Warka) in Iraq (photo: SAC
Andy Holmes (RAF)/MOD, Open Government Licence v1.0)
Uruk (modern Warka in Iraq)—where city life began more than five
thousand years ago and where the first writing emerged—was
clearly one of the most important places in southern
Mesopotamia. Within Uruk, the greatest monument was the Anu
Ziggurat on which the White Temple was built. Dating to the late
4th millennium B.C.E. (the Late Uruk Period, or Uruk III) and
dedicated to the sky god Anu, this temple would have towered
well above (approximately 40 feet) the flat plain of Uruk, and
been visible from a great distance—even over the defensive walls
of the city.

2. Digital reconstruction of the White Temple and ziggurat, Uruk
(modern Warka), c. 3517-3358 B.C.E. © artefacts-berlin.de;
scientific material: German Archaeological Institute
Ziggurats
A ziggurat is a built raised platform with four sloping sides—like a
chopped-off pyramid. Ziggurats are made of mud-bricks—the
building material of choice in the Near East, as stone is rare.
Ziggurats were not only a visual focal point of the city, they were a
symbolic one, as well—they were at the heart of the theocratic
political system (a theocracy is a type of government where a
god is recognized as the ruler, and the state officials operate on
the god’s behalf). So, seeing the ziggurat towering above the city,
one made a visual connection to the god or goddess honoured
there, but also recognized that deity's political authority.

3. Remains of the Anu Ziggurat, Uruk (modern Warka), c. 3517-3358
B.C.E. (photo: Geoff Emberling, by permission)
Excavators of the White Temple estimate that it would have taken
1500 laborers working on average ten hours per day for about five
years to build the last major revetment (stone facing) of its massive
underlying terrace (the open areas surrounding the White Temple
at the top of the ziggurat). Although religious belief may have
inspired participation in such a project, no doubt some sort of
force (corvée labor—unpaid labor coerced by the state/slavery)
was involved as well.
The sides of the ziggurat were very broad and sloping but broken
up by recessed stripes or bands from top to bottom (see digital
reconstruction, above), which would have made a stunning
pattern in morning or afternoon sunlight. The only way up to the
top of the ziggurat was via a steep stairway that led to a ramp
that wrapped around the north end of the Ziggurat and brought
one to the temple entrance. The flat top of the ziggurat was
coated with bitumen (asphalt—a tar or pitch-like material similar
to what is used for road paving) and overlaid with brick, for a firm
and waterproof foundation for the White temple. The temple gets
its name for the fact that it was entirely white washed inside and
out, which would have given it a dazzling brightness in strong
sunlight.

4. Digital reconstruction of the two-story version of the White Temple,
Uruk (modern Warka), c, 3517-3358 B.C.E. © artefacts-berlin.de;
scientific material: German Archaeological Institute
The White Temple
The White temple was rectangular, measuring 17.5 x 22.3 meters
and, at its corners, oriented to the cardinal points. It is a typical
Uruk “high temple (Hochtempel)” type with a tri-partite plan: a
long rectangular central hall with rooms on either side (plan). The
White Temple had three entrances, none of which faced the
ziggurat ramp directly. Visitors would have needed to walk around
the temple, appreciating its bright façade and the powerful view,
and likely gained access to the interior in a “bent axis” approach
(where one would have to turn 90 degrees to face the altar), a
typical arrangement for Ancient Near Eastern temples.

5. Section through the central hall of the "White Temple," digital
reconstruction of the interior of the two-story version White Temple,
Uruk (modern Warka), c, 3517-3358 B.C.E. © artefacts-berlin.de;
scientific material: German Archaeological Institute
Thenorthwestandeastcornerchambersofthebuildingontainedstairc
a

6. ses (unfinished in the case of the one at the north end). Chambers
in the middle of the northeast room suite appear to have been
equipped with wooden shelves in the walls and displayed cavities
for setting in pivot stones which might imply a solid door was fitted
in these spaces. The north end of the central hall had a podium
accessible by means of a small staircase and an altar with a fire-
stained surface. Very few objects were found inside the White
Temple, although what has been found is very interesting.
Archaeologists uncovered some 19 tablets of gypsum on the floor
of the temple—all of which had cylinder seal impressions and
reflected temple accounting. Also, archaeologists uncovered a
foundation deposit of the bones of a leopard and a lion in the
eastern corner of the Temple (foundation deposits, ritually buried
objects and bones, are not uncommon in ancient architecture).
Interior view of the two-story version of the "White Temple," Digital
reconstruction of the White Temple, Uruk (modern Warka), c, 3517-
3358 B.C.E. © artefacts-berlin.de; scientific material: German
Archaeological Institute
To the north of the White Temple there was a broad flat terrace, at
the center of which archaeologists found a huge pit with traces
of fire (2.2 x 2.7m) and a loop cut from a massive boulder. Most
interestingly, a system of shallow bitumen-coated conduits were

7. discovered. These ran from the southeast and southwest of the
terrace edges and entered the temple through the southeast and
southwest doors. Archaeologists conjecture that liquids would
have flowed from the terrace to collect in a pit in the center
hall of the temple.
View of The great white temple of Uruk.

8. Plan of the Zigurrat of Anu and The white Temple of Uruk.

9. The city of Ur
Known today as Tell el-Muqayyar, the "Mound of Pitch," the site
was occupied from around 5000 B.C.E. to 300 B.C.E. Although Ur is
famous as the home of the Old Testament patriarch Abraham
(Genesis 11:29-32), there is no actual proof that Tell el-Muqayyar
was identical with "Ur of the Chaldees." In antiquity the city was
known as Urim.
Postcard; printed; photograph showing archaeological
excavations at Ur, with Arab workmen standing for scale in the
excavated street of an early second millennium B.C.E. residential
quarter © Trustees of the British Museum
The main excavations at Ur were undertaken from 1922-34 by a
joint expedition of The British Museum and the University Museum,
Pennsylvania, led by Leonard Woolley. At the center of the
settlement were mud brick temples dating back to the fourth
millennium B.C.E. At the edge of the sacred area a cemetery
grew up which included burials known today as the Royal Graves.
An area of ordinary people's houses was excavated in which a

10. number of street corners have small shrines. But the largest
surviving religious buildings, dedicated to the moon god Nanna,
also include one of the best preserved ziggurats, and were
founded in the period 2100-1800 B.C.E. For some of this time Ur was
the capital of an empire stretching across southern Mesopotamia.
Rulers of the later Kassite and Neo-Babylonian empires continued
to build and rebuild at Ur. Changes in both the flow of the River
Euphrates (now some ten miles to the east) and trade routes led
to the eventual abandonment of the site.

11. The royal graves of Ur
Close to temple buildings at the center of the city of Ur, sat a
rubbish dump built up over centuries. Unable to use the area for
building, the people of Ur started to bury their dead there. The
cemetery was used between about 2600-2000 B.C.E. and
hundreds of burials were made in pits. Many of these contained
very rich materials.
In one area of the cemetery a group of sixteen graves was dated
to the mid-third millennium. These large, shaft graves were distinct
from the surrounding burials and consisted of a tomb, made of
stone, rubble and bricks, built at the bottom of a pit. The layout of
the tombs varied, some occupied the entire floor of the pit and
had multiple chambers. The most complete tomb discovered
belonged to a lady identified as Pu-abi from the name carved on
a cylinder seal found with the burial.
Cylinder seal of Pu-abi, c. 2600 B.C.E., lapis lazuli, 4.9 x 2.6 cm, from
Ur
© Trustees of the British Museum
The majority of graves had been robbed in antiquity but where
evidence survived the main burial was surrounded by many
human bodies. One grave had up to seventy-four such sacrificial
victims. It is evident that elaborate ceremonies took place as the
pits were filled in that included more human burials and offerings
of food and objects. The excavator, Leonard Woolley thought the

12. graves belonged to kings and queens. Another suggestion is that
they belonged to the high priestesses of Ur.
The Standard of Ur
This object was found in one of the largest graves in the Royal
Cemetery at Ur, lying in the corner of a chamber above the right
shoulder of a man. Its original function is not yet understood.
Peace (detail), The Standard of Ur, 2600-2400 B.C.E., shell, red
limestone, lapis lazuli, and bitumen (original wood no longer
exists), 21.59 x 49.53 x 12 cm, Ur © Trustees of the British Museum
Leonard Woolley, the excavator at Ur, imagined that it was
carried on a pole as a standard, hence its common name.
Another theory suggests that it formed the soundbox of a musical
instrument.
When found, the original wooden frame for the mosaic of shell,
red limestone and lapis lazuli had decayed, and the two main
panels had been crushed together by the weight of the soil. The
bitumen acting as glue had disintegrated and the end panels
were broken. As a result, the present restoration is only a best
guess as to how it originally appeared.

13. War
(detail), The Standard of Ur, 2600-2400 B.C.E., shell, red limestone,
lapis lazuli, and bitumen (original wood no longer exists), 21.59 x
49.53 x 12 cm, Ur © Trustees of the British Museum
The main panels are known as "War" and "Peace." "War" shows
one of the earliest representations of a Sumerian army. Chariots,
each pulled by four donkeys, trample enemies; infantry with
cloaks carry spears; enemy soldiers are killed with axes, others are
paraded naked and presented to the king who holds a spear.
The "Peace" panel depicts animals, fish and other goods brought
in procession to a banquet. Seated figures, wearing woolen
fleeces or fringed skirts, drink to the accompaniment of a musician
playing a lyre. Banquet scenes such as this are common on
cylinder seals of the period, such as on the seal of the "Queen" Pu-
abi, also in the British Museum (see image above).
Queen's Lyre
Leonard Woolley discovered several lyres in the graves in the
Royal Cemetery at Ur. This was one of two that he found in the
grave of "Queen" Pu-abi. Along with the lyre, which stood against
the pit wall, were the bodies of ten women with fine jewelry,
presumed to be sacrificial victims, and numerous stone and metal
vessels. One woman lay right against the lyre and, according to
Woolley, the bones of her hands were placed where the strings
would have been.

14. Queen's Lyre (reconstruction), 2600 B.C.E., wooden parts, pegs

15. and string are modern; lapis lazuli, shell and red limestone mosaic
decoration, set in bitumen and the head (but not the horns) of the
bull are ancient; the bull's head in front of the sound box is
covered with gold; the eyes are lapis lazuli and shell and the hair
and beard are lapis lazuli; panel on front depicts lion-headed
eagle between gazelles, bulls with plants on hills, a bull-man
between leopards and a lion attacking a bull; edges of the
sound-box are decorated with inlay bands; eleven gold-headed
pegs for the strings, 112.5 x 73 x 7 cm (body), Ur © Trustees of
the British Museum
The wooden parts of the lyre had decayed in the soil, but Woolley
poured plaster of Paris into the depression left by the vanished
wood and so preserved the decoration in place. The front panels
are made of lapis lazuli, shell and red limestone originally set in
bitumen. The gold mask of the bull decorating the front of the
sounding box had been crushed and had to be restored. While
the horns are modern, the beard, hair and eyes are original and
made of lapis lazuli.
This musical instrument was originally reconstructed as part of a
unique "harp-lyre," together with a harp from the burial, now also
in The British Museum. Later research showed that this was a
mistake. A new reconstruction, based on excavation
photographs, was made in 1971-72.

16. Ziggurat of Ur
Ziggurat of Ur, c. 2100 B.C.E. mud brick and baked brick, Tell el-
Mukayyar, Iraq (largely reconstructed)
The Great Ziggurat
The ziggurat is the most distinctive architectural invention of the
Ancient Near East. Like an ancient Egyptian pyramid, an ancient
Near Eastern ziggurat has four sides and rises up to the realm of
the gods. However, unlike Egyptian pyramids, the exterior of
Ziggurats were not smooth but tiered to accommodate the work
which took place at the structure as well as the administrative
oversight and religious rituals essential to Ancient Near Eastern
cities. Ziggurats are found scattered around what is today Iraq
and Iran, and stand as an imposing testament to the power and
skill of the ancient culture that produced them.
One of the largest and best-preserved ziggurats of Mesopotamia
is the great Ziggurat at Ur. Small excavations occurred at the site

17. around the turn of the twentieth century, and in the 1920s Sir
Leonard Woolley, in a joint project with the University of
Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia and the British Museum in
London, revealed the monument in its entirety.
Woolley Photo of the
Ziggurat of Ur with workers Ziggurat of Ur, c. 2100 B.C.E., Woolley
excavation workers (Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq)
What Woolley found was a massive rectangular pyramidal
structure, oriented to true North, 210 by 150 feet, constructed with
three levels of terraces, standing originally between 70 and 100
feet high. Three monumental staircases led up to a gate at the first
terrace level. Next, a single staircase rose to a second terrace
which supported a platform on which a temple and the final and
highest terrace stood. The core of the ziggurat is made of mud
brick covered with baked bricks laid with bitumen, a naturally
occurring tar. Each of the baked bricks measured about 11.5 x
11.5 x 2.75 inches and weighed as much as 33 pounds. The lower
portion of the ziggurat, which supported the first terrace, would
have used some 720,000 baked bricks. The resources needed to
build the Ziggurat at Ur are staggering.
Moon Goddess Nanna
The Ziggurat at Ur and the temple on its top were built around
2100 B.C.E. by the king Ur-Nammu of the Third Dynasty of Ur for the
moon god Nanna, the divine patron of the city state. The structure

18. would have been the highest point in the city by far and, like the
spire of a medieval cathedral, would have been visible for miles
around, a focal point for travelers and the pious alike. As the
Ziggurat supported the temple of the patron god of the city of Ur,
it is likely that it was the place where the citizens of Ur would bring
agricultural surplus and where they would go to receive their
regular food allotments. In antiquity, to visit the ziggurat at Ur was
to seek both spiritual and physical nourishment.
Ziggurat at Ali Air Base Iraq, 2005 Ziggurat of Ur, partly restored, c.
2100 B.C.E. mudbrick and baked brick Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq
Clearly the most important part of the ziggurat at Ur was the
Nanna temple at its top, but this, unfortunately, has not survived.
Some blue glazed bricks have been found which archaeologists
suspect might have been part of the temple decoration. The
lower parts of the ziggurat, which do survive, include amazing
details of engineering and design. For instance, because the
unbaked mud brick core of the temple would, according to the
season, be alternatively more or less damp, the architects
included holes through the baked exterior layer of the temple

19. allowing water to evaporate from its core. Additionally, drains
were built into the ziggurat’s terraces to carry away the winter
rains.
Hussein’s Assumption
The Ziggurat at Ur has been restored twice. The first restoration was
in antiquity. The last Neo-Babylonian king, Nabodinus, apparently
replaced the two upper terraces of the structure in the 6th century
B.C.E. Some 2400 years later in the 1980s, Saddam Hussein restored
the façade of the massive lower foundation of the ziggurat,
including the three monumental staircases leading up to the gate
at the first terrace. Since this most recent restoration, however, the
Ziggurat at Ur has experienced some
damage.
US soldiers decend the Ziggurat of Ur, Tell el-Mukayyar, Iraq
During the recent war led by American and coalition forces,
Saddam Hussein parked his MiG fighter jets next to the Ziggurat,
believing that the bombers would spare them for fear of
destroying the ancient site. Hussein’s assumptions proved only

20. partially true as the ziggurat sustained some damage from
American and coalition bombardment.

21. Oval Temple- Khafaje
• Oval temple is an example of second type of Sumerian
temples
• It was constructed around 2600 BC
• The temple is named oval because of its massive oval walls
surrounding the temple
• Located in the city, emphasis in its organization is on
enclosing space within courtyards
• Space is enclosed to create island of peace from a busy city
• The temple is raised on a simple platform enclosed within the
oval walls
• It had subsidiary chambers at the ground level
• The outer wall was extended to protect a priestly residence
with its own chapel
• The inner court had an offering table and showed evidence
of animal sacrifices
• The inner court also had basins for ablution as well as
workshops and storage rooms