SourcesOne of the richest sources of data on Sumerian settlement comes from the University
of Chicago Oriental Institute’s excavations in the Diyala Region. These include investi-
gations at the site of Khafajah Mound A, which was Early Dynastic in date and has
satellite imagery which adds residential detail to the public architecture excavated by
the team. Other contemporary remains include part of a temple excavated at Tell Agrab
and some third millennium remains from Tell Asmar, though most of its surface is early
second millennium in date. Beyond the Diyala, two temples have been excavated at
Lagash, which also has excellent preservation of surface details based on satellite
imagery, most of which can be dated to the Early Dynastic period based on the surface
survey (Carter et al. 1990 ). Other sites with major public architecture include Eridu
and Kish, which together have the earliest secular public buildings known.
Abu Salabikh has been the focus of a project designed specifically to understand the
organization of this small center, with the excavators using surface scraping to recover
broad architectural plans, complemented by selective excavations. Other sites provide
less information. At Nippur Early Dynastic levels were reached in the Inanna Temple,
and at Umm al-Aqqarib a combined temple/residence was excavated but has yet to be
published. For details of small settlements we have only a few satellite images of
surveyed sites to guide us.
Urban centersIt is in the cities where we find evidence for the public buildings which represent the
institutional developments of the Sumerians: a continuation of the importance of
temples and the first palaces–evidence for the development of secular rule. Palaces were
always less common than temples, and since kingship only really developed toward
the end of the Early Dynastic period, our cities from this time period provide few
examples.
Centralizing institutionsEarly Dynastic temples came in two varieties. One was temples oval–large complexes
surrounded by one or two oval walls; the other was the more standard, rectangular type
already known from the Protoliterate and even ‘Ubaid periods. The size of the oval
temples and their complexity suggest that these were the most important religious
buildings–indeed, the most important institutions–in the cities where they have been
found. Four examples exist: one recently published example at Tell Abu Sheeja, the
ancient city of Pashime (Hussein et al. 2010 ); one at Tell ‘Ubaid (Delougaz 1938 ): one
at Lagash (Hansen 1992 );^11 and the best preserved example at Khafajah, ancient Tutul
(Delougaz and Jacobsen 1940 ). To the extent that we know, all date to the latter part
of the Early Dynastic period. Some–those at Tell ‘Ubaid and Abu Sheeja–were
superseded in later times by the more usual rectangular temples, obscuring some details
of their organization, but this was not the case for the Khafajah and Lagash examples,
though the latter did suffer from erosion.
All temples oval were located at the edge of the city (Figure 8. 3 ).^12 This peripheral
location is also true of the large Shara Temple at Tell Agrab, though smaller examples,
such as the Abu Temple at Tell Asmar, the Sin and Nintu temples at Khafajah
–– Elizabeth C. Stone ––