THE TIME OF THE SHAKKANAKKUThe reconstructionPhase P 0 of the palace of City II, restored immediately after the destruction of P 1 , was
quickly abandoned and a new palace was erected in its place. However, only a few
fragmentary remains of this period survive and it is not possible to reconstruct the
palace of the early Shakkanakku.
In the sacred area we can follow the evolution of the buildings thanks to the founda-
tion deposits below the various monuments. The sahuru, or foundation inscriptions,
and the temple of Ninhursag were the work of Nûr-Mêr, but it was Ishtup-Ilum who,
when he built the Temple of the Lions, also carried out work on the grand scale on the
High Terrace, which was closely associated with the temple, isolating these new con-
structions by layers of pebbles.
The ramparts, essential for the security of the city, were rebuilt and strengthened.
The outer dyke, once transformed into a defensive wall, was progressively enlarged to
about 10 m in width. This structure, which previously had been intended merely to
slow down an enemy, now became a particularly strong line of defence. The inner
rampart was also completely rebuilt with a deep foundation trench in which was built
a wall some 10 m thick. The city was thus provided with a double line of defences and
if one wants to assess the power of the city under the Shakkanakku, this alone is enough
to demonstrate it.
It is remarkable that each of the two restorations followed the original lines of both
the inner and the outer wall. Even if the interior of the city changed, its outline
remained the same; the topographic and climatic factors which determined the original
position of the city certainly remained the same, but reason suggests that the original
area, once defined and dedicated to a god, could not be altered.The transformation of the religious sector
Some major changes took place in the religious sector. It is not very clear what became
of the Massif Rouge. It was still in use at the beginning of the period with a sort of
rebuilding and possibly an additional terrace, but we do not know if it was still in use
in the Amorite period or whether by then another temple stood above it. Nothing is
very clear. The eastern limit of the sacred area remains uncertain for at least part of
City III.
Towards the south, the Sacred Way now forms the boundary of the temple area after
the temples of Ninni-zaza and Ishtarat have disappeared, and above the Ninhursag
temple of the second city there rose a newcomer, the temple tower of Ninhursag, with
a Levantine plan, here at the eastern edge of its distribution. It has been identified
thanks to the foundation deposits of its builder, Nûr-Mêr; its distinctive plan, similar
to that of the temple tower of the Massif Rouge, indicates a very different cult because
it is oriented towards the infinite heavens and not towards a face-to-face meeting with
the divinity.
The major project, probably undertaken by Ishtup-Ilum, was the building of a new
High Terrace (Figures 27. 2 and 27. 7 ), an essential monument because it was here that
sacrifices took place. Originally it was rectangular, about 40 m by 20 m in area, its long
–– J.-C. Margueron, trans H. Crawford ––