Cult of the Deceased entu: The III giparu at Ur Victoria Wilson Why are there tombs in a Mesopotamian temple? University of Chicago The giparu The entu Royal Blood Ancestor Worship At its most basic, the giparu was the Mesopotamian temples were The appointed entu-priestess Mesopotamian household dwelling of the entu-priestess of conceptualized as the houses was always of royal blood. The religion appears to mirror Nanna. ( bīt) o f t h e g o d s . T h e first recorded entu w a s temple rituals, as it priesthood was responsible for , daughter of Sargon primarily concerns the care Chronology the care, feeding and of Akkad. This tradition continued and feeding of the family’s Early Dynastic/Akkadian (Early - • adornment of the gods. through the Ur III and Isin- ghosts. The practice also Mid 3rd millennium BCE) periods, with ’s daughter used much of the same Ur III (c. 2112 - 2004 BCE) • The office of the en was the Ennirzianna and Ishme-Dagan’s infrastructure: altars, Isin-Larsa (c. 2004 - 1763 BCE) • highest rank of the priesthood. daughter Enanatuma. For benches, and podiums. Kassite (c. 1595 - 1155 BCE) • According to sacrificial lists, the Sargon and his conquest of Ur, it The rituals involved: the Assyrian/Neo-Babylonian (1st • en were second only to the was important to create a pāqidu (the one who millennium BCE) king. connection to the city’s culture attends to), kispa kasāpu The Plan and administration. Similarly, the (making funerary offering), The remains of the earlier 3rd Unlike many women of 3rd kings who followed, particularly mê raqû (pouring water/ millennium plano-convex brick building millennium , the entu- those of the Ur III period, desired libations), and šuma were leveled for the platform of the Ur priestess had her own seal, to cement their right to rule zakāru (the calling of the III complex. Construction of the Ur III could bring forth lawsuits, and through a blood tie to a higher name). giparu was begun by Ur-Namma, and own and administrate land. authority. I argue that by serving as elaborated on by Amar-. However, Sacred Marriage the remains from the Ur III period Sectioning the giparu the pāqidu at the graves of mostly consist of foundations, thicker The excavators Woolley and Mallowan sectioned the giparu In this context sacred marriage her predecessors, the entu into three parts, labeled: A, B, and C. A and C were split by a reaffirmed her right as than the Isin-Larsa superstructure built transverse passageway, and each had its own entrance and refers to the entu being the atop them. By following the plan of the chapel. A was considered the residential sector, in part for its human representation of Ningal. successor to her role and Plates from Woolley and Mallowan 1976. Left: Plan of the giparu greater exclusivity. C was deemed the Ningal Temple proper. (edited line art version of which is in bottom left corner of poster) Ur III foundations, the reconstruction As although its entrance gave it more public access, its path to Ningal, and thus the entu, was the giparu. Above: Map of Ur’s temple district in the Isin-Larsa period. done by Enanatuma, daughter of the shrine was impeded by benches for offerings. the consort of Nanna, whose B, the sectors with which this poster is primarily concerned, Discussion Ishme-Dagan, appears faithful to the was unlabeled by the excavators. Due to it containing the ziggurat was central to the The State Cult The Graves earlier layout. Amar-Sin trilithion and the “cemetery,” B’s character lends itself sacred precinct. to the royal sphere. The Ur III kings broke with At least six tombs exist in the The giparu defies Mesopotamian convention convention when they claimed giparu: B10, B12-15, and C43. by having intramural burials in a sacred space. divinity. Evidence of the royal cult The cluster of graves in the B Intramural burials signal ownership by the exists in the giparu, particularly sector was highly eroded, and family of the deceased, an idea at odds with A: Residential in B7, the Amar-Sin Trilithon. was robbed out in ancient times. the Mesopotamian temple, the bīt, belonging to This bitumen paved room was C43, the lone tomb in the its primary deity. Was this allowed in the giparu named for the three stelae southern corner, is a much better because the entu were considered the avatars preserved and bearing Amar- preserved example, and was of the goddess Ningal? Or was the internal Sin’s name. These stelae were photographed by the excavators. space delineated in the ancients’ conception to covered in later periods and had The tomb can be dated to the Ur the point that areas like the kitchen and their inscriptions mostly erased. III period by its corbeled shaft. cemetery were not considered part of the B7 was surrounded by either Similarly, the B tombs were also sacred area? Exploring that ideology will s t o r a g e r o o m s o r a made of brick, and enough require further research on the intersection of circumambulatory, adding to the remained to show they were likely domestic and sacred spaces in . The “cemetery” function or intensive use of the vaulted. Whatever may be the reason for their space. presence, I argue that the graves served a B7 C43 shows clear signs practical function. As mentioned previously, of ritual use, especially intramural burials signaled ownership of the B involving libations. The space. By returning to the graves of her tomb was comprised predecessors to perform rituals, the entu of baked bricks, solidified her claim to the giparu and its bitumen paving on the estates. Further, the role of the entu was floor, and a drain, always entangled with the royal sphere due to along with the two blood ties, but in the Ur III period this vents that allowed connection took on a special significance. As access. the entu strengthened her ties to the giparu and Ningal, so too could the Ur III kings C43 strengthen their claim to divinity.

Abridged Bibliography Bayliss, Miranda. 1973. “The Cult of Dead Kin in Assyrian and .” 35 (2): 115–25. Photographs Weadock, Penelope. 1958. “The Giparu at Ur: A Study of the Archaeological Remains and Related Textual Material.” Top: B7, the Amar-Sin Trilithon. Above: C43, inside tomb, facing C: The Ningal Temple chimneys and showing vaulting. Right: C43, looking down at top of Dissertation, Chicago: The University of Chicago tomb, showing the two vents. ———. 1975. “The Giparu at Ur.” Iraq 37 (2): 101–28. All photographs from Woolley and Mallowan 1976. Woolley, Leonard, and Max Mallowan. 1976. The Old Babylonian Period. Vol. 7. Ur Excavations: Joint Expedition of the British Museum and of the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania to Mesopotamia. London: Oxford University Press.