Ebabbar of Larsa — ziggurat
Larsa · Senkereh, Iraq · founded or restored under the Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur-Nammu, c. 21st century BCE); the main rebuildings date to the Dynasty of Larsa (19th–18th centuries BCE); later restored by Babylonian kings (Hammurabi, Burna-Buriash II, Nebuchadnezzar II) and by Nabonidus
A temple of the sun god with a ziggurat. Larsa rivalled Isin and Babylon; its kings regularly repaired the “shining house”. Today it is a low mound of mud brick on the plain.
Dossier
- Type: Classic Sumerian
- Ancient city: Larsa
- Modern location: Senkereh, Iraq
- Deity: Utu / Shamash
- Dating: founded or restored under the Third Dynasty of Ur (Ur-Nammu, c. 21st century BCE); the main rebuildings date to the Dynasty of Larsa (19th–18th centuries BCE); later restored by Babylonian kings (Hammurabi, Burna-Buriash II, Nebuchadnezzar II) and by Nabonidus
- Builders: Ur-Nammu (c. 2112–2095 BCE); rebuildings by the kings of Larsa (Zabaya, Sin-iddinam and others), Hammurabi, Burna-Buriash II, Nebuchadnezzar II
- Material: mud brick with a baked brick facing (standard technique; the details of the Larsa ziggurat's masonry have not been published)
- Plan: an almost completely destroyed ziggurat within the extensive Ebabbar temple complex (the house of Shamash/Utu); neither the ground plan nor the number of steps has survived — the central mound of the tell rises in its place
- Height (surviving): about 21 m
What matters
The ziggurat is almost completely destroyed and its dimensions have not survived: excavations have mainly studied the extensive Ebabbar temple complex. Of the tower itself only the central mound of the tell remains, about 21 m high — as early as 1854 it was described as the ruins of a ziggurat, although this height also includes cultural layers. Its original height, plan and number of tiers cannot be established.