Numerous temples existed in Ur during the Paleo-Babylonian period. Some were found during excavations, such as the one dedicated to Enki, or the temple of Ningišzida; others are attested only by texts, such as those of Ningublaga, Gula, etc. The most important sanctuary was that of Ur's poliad deity, the Moon-god, named Nanna or Sin, whose goddess Ningal was his parèdre; like all temples, it bore a ceremonial name, in this case that of Ekišnugal, "Temple (shining like) alabaster".
The issue of Ekišnugal's topography is particularly complicated, both in terms of analyzing the remains and the textual data. The main problem for archaeology is that this complex, built for the most part in the 21st century BC, was constantly remodeled until the 6th century: it's not always easy to disentangle what belongs to which phase. Other difficulties are due to gaps in the excavation documentation, such as the lack of topographical points whose altitude can be reliably indicated. Some progress has been made by Martin Gruber, in a very recent article, some of whose conclusions, however, cannot be accepted [1]. What Woolley has termed "temenos" corresponds to the space enclosed within the wall in Neo-Babylonian times; but in the Palaeo-Babylonian period, this space was more restricted. It was at the time of Ur III that the main lines of the sanctuary's organization were established. The main thrust of the architectural project put in place under Ur-Nammu, the first king of the 3rd Dynasty of Ur, was to structure the space by means of superimposed platforms and terraces, which had a triple advantage: making the sanctuary visible from afar, separating the temple from the surrounding city, and delimiting specific spaces within the temenos. Two offices were linked to the existence of this space: the prebends of porter (né-du8) and sweeper (kisal-luh). Their holders were responsible for controlling the entrance to the sanctuary and ensuring its cleanliness. The ensemble was dominated by the mass of the multi-storey tower: this ziggurat had a ceremonial name distinct from that of the temple itself, in this case E-temen-nigur, "Temple, foundation clothed in terror". It was a mud-brick construction with a bitumen-jointed fired-brick facing, measuring 62.5 m x 43 m at its base. Woolley recovered only the second floor, culminating at a height of 11 m, and the beginnings of the second. His reconstruction is based on a study of the slope of the staircases: he estimated that there were only three floors in all. The courtyard at the foot of the ziggurat appears to be known as the kisal-mah, where the temple cella, the papâhum, was located. The term kisal-sag-an-na seems to have designated what Woolley described as the "courtyard of Nanna", located in the northern part of the religious complex.
