The Establishment at Nippur

The "establishment" at Nippur was mostly the religious establishment. By the Old Babylonian period (used broadly to refer to the period extending from the fall of the Ur III dynasty at the end of the twenty-first century B.C. to the collapse of community life at Nippur at the end of the eighteenth century B.C.) the city already had a very long tradition as a regional religious center in the midst of Sumer and Akkad. Since Nippur was home to the principal shrine of the Sumerian high god Enlil, the bestower of kingship, political and military elites from a broad area were eager to provide votive gifts, operational expenses, and infrastructure improvements, particularly for Enlil's shrine, Ekur, which included a massive stepped tower or ziggurat.

Massive Architecture for Enlil

"Massive" is a good descriptive word for the architectural projects that supported the religious establishment at Nippur. Enlil's ziggurat (originally planned and carried through by Ur-Nammu king of Ur, who reigned 2112-2095 B.C.) is a good case in point. The base of the ziggurat formed a rectangular measuring 39 by 58 meters, thus covering an area of 2262 square meters (or almost 128 by about 190 feet, yielding an area of over 24,335 square feet). The first stage of the ziggurat rose 6.25 meters (20.5 feet) into the air. The second stage was set back 4.11 meters (13.5 feet) and was constructed at some height and formed the base of a third stage. At this considerable height, visible for quite some distance in the neighborhood, a shrine to Enlil was built. Since the lower level Enlil temple near the ziggurat did not have a room set aside for the enthronement of the deity's image, the residence of Enlil's throne and image must have been high up on the summit of the ziggurat. Unfortunately, nothing of this has been preserved for us. This huge stepped tower supporting the upper shrine of Enlil was built of mostly unbaked bricks measuring 31 by 31 by 6.5 cm. (about 12 by 12 by 2.5 inches). The bricks were laid in an alternating fashion. How many bricks were manufactured and placed for such a large project?

The Enlil temple built on the platform that supported the ziggurat was also a substantial building. It did not rest directly on its foundation, but rather an elaborate double substructure was constructed under the temple itself. The walls of the substructure were well built and measured about 3.5 meters (with considerable variation) or about 11.5 feet in thickness. The walls of the temple itself may have been thinner to allow more internal space. The Kassite rebuilding of the Enlil temple destroyed the original superstructure of Ur-Nammu. The external dimensions of the lower temple were about 21.75 by 47 meters (over 71 by 154 feet). The rooms of the building were too wide for a roof supported by locally available palm logs. The king must have gone to the extra trouble of importing larger timber from outside Sumer. The primary purpose of the lower temple may have been culinary. Here the temple functionaries of Enlil prepared the food for the sustenance of the deity and his divine attendants.

Massive Architecture for Inanna