The organisation of a Sumerian townProtoliterate
Period Settlements
700
MetersFigure 8.1 Comparative plans o f three Protoliterate Townsout from the probable location o f the temple. Such architectural traces visible on the
southeastern mound are all oriented to the northwest-as is usually the case in
Mesopotamia.
Tell ‘Uqair, well known for its painted Protoliterate temple (Lloyd and Safar 1943),
is also part o f a double mound with a current area o f some 11 ha.6 Although the degree
to which the southwest mound was contemporary with the temple is somewhat in
doubt (Adams and Nissen 1972: 198), the similarities in size and orientation between
this and sites 245 and 1096 are striking, especially when one considers the evidence for
a temple in the northwest mound o f site 245.
These data, though still very tentative, suggest that there may have been a general
model for the protoliterate town, with the main residential area to the southeast and
the religious focus to the northwest, perhaps anticipating the divided cities o f later
times.
If the major remains available for consideration come from the larger Protoliterate
settlements, this is not the case for the earliest phases o f the Early Dynastic. There our
data come almost exclusively from very small sites. At both Abu Salabikhs West
M ound (Postgate 1983) and Sagheri Sughir (Wright 1969: 48) quite clear traces o f
tripartite houses associated with extensive courtyards or otherwise unoccupied areas
prevail. Most clearly expressed at Abu Salabikh, the remains o f large corrals with
limited housing within suggest a settlement heavily focused on animal husbandry. But
Temple? Site 10960 50 100 200 300 400 500 600Site 245Tell Uqair