Ziggurat Terrace | ZT
| Context Title: | Ziggurat Terrace | ZT |
| Context Name (Publication): | Ziggurat Terrace |
| Context Name (Excavation): | ZT |
| Context Description: | The excavation area abbreviation ZT stands for Ziggurat Terrace. It was used for any portion of the terrace on which the ziggurat stood, though other more specific abbreviations were also used. For example, the abbreviation PDW refers to the northern side of the terrace, west of the Great Nannar Courtyard (PD), and HD refers to the southern part of the terrace. Early references using the abbreviation ZT refer specifically to excavations along the terrace retaining wall itself. Later references, however, mention specific areas on top the terrace such as the so-called 'boat shrine.' The abbreviation also refers to deep clearing of the terrace fill, particularly on the north side in later excavation seasons, though the abbreviation Zig.31 was most often used for this. Woolley uncovered large areas of the retaining wall that supported the platform known as the ziggurat terrace. He found that it was decorated with large wall cones. These cones bore an inscription of Urnamma but there is evidence that the terrace in some form existed in the Early Dynastic period as well. The Urnamma retaining wall was slanted to support the terrace, was 1.7 meters high, 34 meters wide, and was decorated with 5-meter-wide buttresses about 4 meters apart. The inscribed cones dedicate the terrace to the moon god, Nanna, and show that it was called e-temen-ni-gur, which translates as, "house, foundation platform clad in terror." (Woolley read this e-temen-ni-il). |
| Season Number: | 02: 1923-1924 |
| Season Number: | 03: 1924-1925 |
| Season Number: | 05: 1926-1927 |
| Season Number: | 10: 1931-1932 |
| Season Number: | 11: 1932-1933 |
Files
| Object | U Number | Museum Number (UPM Date Reg Number) | Museum Number (BM Registration Number) | Museum Number (UPM B-number) | Description (Catalog Card) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 17689A | (none) | (none) | (none) | Lid of jar. Al Obaid ware. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17693 | 32-40-312 | (none) | (none) | Bead. Steatite. Pierced lengthwise; series of scratchings. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 17704 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Grinder. Diorite. Great toe of left foot of statue sawn off and used as grinder. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17712A | 32-40-138.1 | (none) | (none) | [A-B] Nail. Obsidian. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 17712B | 32-40-138.2 | (none) | (none) | [A-B] Nail. Obsidian. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17714 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Arrowhead. Flint. Point missing. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17725 | 32-40-86 | (none) | (none) | Arrowhead. Chert. Tang and point broken. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17729 | 32-40-458 | (none) | (none) | Ear stud. Clay [drawing 1:1] |
| 17731 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Bead clay. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17734 | 32-40-4 | (none) | (none) | Incense burner. Clay. [drawing] 008 x 008 x 006 | |
| 17743 | 32-40-313 | (none) | (none) | Bead. Steatite. [drawing 1:1] | |
| 17752 | 32-40-127 | (none) | (none) | Weight. Haematite. Square cut. Type II. [drawing 1:1] ZT. not req_d for vol. V | |
| 17755A | (none) | (none) | (none) | [A-B] Ear studs. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17755B | (none) | (none) | (none) | [A-B] Ear studs. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17756 | (none) | (none) | (none) | [A-B] Ear studs. Clay. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17756B | (none) | (none) | (none) | [A-B] Ear studs. Clay. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17764 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Ear studs. Clay. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17766 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Fragment of obsidian vase. [drawing 1:1] |
| 17819A | (none) | 1932,1008.237 | (none) | Terracotta figurine. Nude seated woman suckling a child. |
| 17830 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Door socket. Diorite. With inscription of Ur-Engur. |
| 17831 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Door socket. Diorite. With inscription of Ur-Engur. |
| 17833 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Statuette of reclining dog (?). Calcite. Originally, colored bright red (some of color left) with eyes filled in with black. The beast has a ruff and a bushy tail. A hole is pierced from the top of the back to the stomach. On the under side a seal cutting (much perished) showing animals mostly cut with the drill. |
| 17834 | (none) | (none) | (none) | Figurine of seated calf. White calcite. Usual attitude, body in profile. Left hand turned over shoulder to face outwards. |
| 17835A | 32-40-308 | (none) | (none) | [A-B] Two lion's heads. Silhouetted in profile. White calcite, originally painted red, but the color gone: both are really stamp seals with rough designs drill-cut on the flat lower surface. Both are pierced for suspension from the top of the head to the bottom of the mane. [drawing] | |
| 17835B | (none) | (none) | (none) | [A-B] Two lion's heads. Silhouetted in profile. White calcite, originally painted red, but the color gone: both are really stamp seals with rough designs drill-cut on the flat lower surface. Both are pierced for suspension from the top of the head to the bottom of the mane. [drawing] |
| Media | Media Title | Title | Label | Author | Omeka Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UPM Field Photo numbers | UPM Field Photo numbers | (none) | (none) | (none) |
| Ur Excavations V: The Ziggurat and its Surroundings | Ur Excavations V: The Ziggurat and its Surroundings | 1939 | Woolley Leonard | (none) |
| Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods | Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods | 1955 | Woolley, L. | (none) |
| Field Photographs | Field Photographs | GN0097 | GN0097 | (none) | |
| Field Photographs | Field Photographs | GN0098 | GN0098 | (none) | |
| Field Photographs | Field Photographs | GN0099 | GN0099 | (none) | |
| Woolley's Field Note Cards | Woolley's Field Note Cards | Ur_Notes_v2_p160 | Ur_Notes_v2_p160 | (none) | |
| Woolley's Field Note Cards | Woolley's Field Note Cards | Ur_Notes_v2_p211 | Ur_Notes_v2_p211 | (none) | |
| Woolley's Field Note Cards | Woolley's Field Note Cards | Ur_Notes_v2_p212 | Ur_Notes_v2_p212 | (none) | |
| Woolley's Field Note Cards | Woolley's Field Note Cards | Ur_Notes_v2_p213 | Ur_Notes_v2_p213 | (none) | |
| Woolley's Field Note Cards | Woolley's Field Note Cards | Ur_Notes_v2_p214 | Ur_Notes_v2_p214 | (none) | |
| Woolley's Field Note Cards | Woolley's Field Note Cards | Ur_Notes_v2_p215 | Ur_Notes_v2_p215 | (none) | |
| Woolley's Field Note Cards | Woolley's Field Note Cards | Ur_Notes_v2_p219 | Ur_Notes_v2_p219 | (none) | |
| Woolley's Field Note Cards | Woolley's Field Note Cards | Ur_Notes_v4_p121 | Ur_Notes_v4_p121 | (none) | |
| Woolley's Field Note Cards | Woolley's Field Note Cards | Ur_Notes_v4_p218 | Ur_Notes_v4_p218 | (none) |
- 15 Media
Sibling Locations
AH Site | AH - City Wall | CLW - DP - Dublalmah | LL - EH Site | EH - Ehursag | HT - EM Site | EM - Enunmah | TTB | ES - ESB - FH - Giparu | KP - Great Nanna Courtyard | PD - Harbor Temple - House 34/1 - House 34/2 - House Site - Kassite Fort - KPS Site | KPS - LT - LW - Mausoleum Site | BC - Neo-Babylonian Housing | NH - NNCF - NTB - P/103 - Palace of Bel-Shalti-Nannar | AD - Pit F - Royal Cemetery | PG - SM - Temenos Wall | TW - TTC - XNCF
Child Locations
Courtyard BB - Ningal Temple | HD - PDW - Room FF - Room GG - Room SW 2 - Ziggurat
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Context
Ur > Ziggurat Terrace | ZT
References
Woolley, L. . (1955) Ur Excavations IV; The Early Periods, Oxford: Oxford University Press.