The Sumerian World (Routledge Worlds)

The organisation of a Sumerian town

Figure 8.3 Plans showing the locations of Oval temples at Khafajah, Pashime, Lagash, and Ubaid.

(Delougaz and Lloyd 1942) and the Inanna Temple at Nippur (Zettler 1992: 54) are
distributed more broadly.
At Lagash, the Temple Oval was dedicated to the goddess Inanna, whereas the
temple to the titular deity of the city, Ningirsu, was located more than one and half
kilometers to the north (Hansen 1970), isolated on a small island. These were but two
of five major temples known from written documents to have been built at Lagash
(Hansen 1992: 207), but it is not clear whether the second oval enclosure, located more
or less midway between the Inanna and Ningirsu temples, was one of these temples
(Hansen 1992). Unfortunately, this structure was discovered during the last season of
work at the site and there exists little published information.
The earliest known temples in Mesopotamia appear millennia before the Early
Dynastic period (Tobler 1950: pi. XI-XII; Safar, Mustafa and Lloyd 1981: 68-114), but
this is not the case with the second major Mesopotamian institution, the palace. We
only see its evolution in the Early Dynastic period, especially the latter part of it.
The earliest phase of the Temple Oval at Khafajah included a large private house
between the two oval enclosure walls. Delougaz and Jacobsen suggest that this residence
“was probably occupied by the ruler of the city in his capacity as high priest of the
temple” (Delougaz and Jacobsen 1940:140). However, it was omitted when the building
was reconstructed at the end of the Early Dynastic period and there is no good candidate
for a separate palace at Khafajah visible in either excavations or satellite imagery.

Lagash

Khafajah

Pashime

0 250 500 1,000

Meters

Legend

Temple Oval

Occupied Area