[2]

[3]
(the ziggurat at Ur)

The Gipar and its cultic function:

The Gipar at Ur was uncovered by Woolley and was found to be a self-contained residence with kitchens, ceremonial rooms etc and even a crypt. The was the residence of the entu priestesses and a bedroom was incorporated within the shrine which presumably relates to the Sacred Marriage ritual. J.N Postgate (1992
ph.130) relays: "The earliest En known to us was a daughter of Sargon of Akkad called Enheduanna. She is also the most famous, since she is one of the very few authors of a Mesopotamian literary work whose name is known, but she was followed by a long line of important ladies, most if not all of whom were close
relatives of the current royal family. Thus among others we find the daughters of Naram-Sin of Akkad, Ur-Bau of Lagash, Ur-Nammu, Shulgi, (and probably subsequent Ur III kings),Ishme-dagan of Isin, and Kudu-mabuk - the last being sister of Warad-Sin and Rim-sin of Larsa. The memory lived on for well over a thousand years, when the last king of Babylon, Nabonidus, in a consciously traditional gesture made his daughter priestess of the moon-god at Ur."

Special features of the Ningal temple:

In examining the archeological evidence at the temple of Ninlil, Penelope N. Weadock makes an interesting observation [1]; She notes that like all Mesopotamian temples devoted to a god, the Ningal temple contained features that were particular to the residence of the divine: "the ritual washing place where the priest or worshiper might purify himself before approaching the divine owner of the house; the bases upon which stood stelae comemmorating the pious acts of such important attendants as the king or the entu; and the benches against the wall serving as seats the the divine administrators of the temple affairs." In addition there was of course "the cella and ante-cella..here the goddess sat on a raised dais and here visitors paid court to her effigy."
However Weadock also discusses a feature of the Ningal temple not found in other temples, a special room (C 28) which by its position and rabbeted doorways "appears of an importance almost equal to that of the cella." She notes the room contains a low platform almost equal to half its area - and Woolley had suggested the platform may have served as a base for a bedstead. In addition, this part of the giparu is associated with the name E2.NUN: an
examination of this name, and related writings E2-NUN-kug and E2-ag-ru-na-NUN (agrun), the author says, amount to 'a place where one may spend the night'.
Weadock comes to the conclusion this was a central feature of the dwelling of Ningal "a bedroom where Sin [Nanna] might spend the night; it seems reasonable to see this bedroom for Sin in the apparently secondary cella (c 28) of the Ningal temple which contained the low platform suitable as the base of the bedstead." The author sees this as evidence of the celebration of the sacred marriage of Ningal and Sin with the Ningal temple as is "clearly revealed by the plan of the temple and by the inscriptions material connected with the temple."

[1] The Giparu at Ur, by Penelope N. Weadock Iraq, 1975 British Institute for the Study of Iraq.

[2] http://picasaweb.google.com/fringesofhisgrace/MartinSDeployment#5174275124533544034

[3]http://www.iraker.dk/irakfoto/ur/ur.htm