The Sanctuary of Ningizzida and Gestinanna at Girsu

My, object, the Neo-Sumerian Offering Stand, was looted from a sanctuary dedicated to Ningizzida and Gestinanna at Girsu. It was probably also produced there around 2100 BCE. Girsu was a city and major administrative center in and for the Neo-Sumerian Empire (also known as the Third Dynasty of Ur). 

This dynasty lasted from 2100 BCE to 2000 BCE. It coexisted and traded with the declining Akkadian empire and shared many cultural influences with Akkadia. 

Little is known about The Third Dynasty of Ur, but it is notable for two things. First, this dynasty produced the Law Code of Ur Nammu. This is the oldest known law code surving today; it pre-dates Hammurabi's code by about 300 years. Second, the Third Dynasty of Ur was notable for its commitment to developing and maintaining social and religious infastructure. 

Unfortunately, the architectual plan of the Sanctuary of Ningizzida and Gestinanna is unknown due to multiple botched excavations. However, historical context dictates that it probablly resembled a Ziggurat. Research by Benjamin Foster suggests that the sanctuary of Ningizzida and Gestinanna was in fact originally two seperate sanctuaries that were later joined together. 

The Third Dynasty of Ur collapsed around 2000 BCE. Historians do not think it was concquered militarily, but rather guess that it decentralized and collapsed. Because there was not a violent collapse, historians do not know if sanctuaries like the one the Neo-Sumerian Offering Stand resided in went into decline at the end of the Neo-Sumerian Empire, or continued to be used in subsequent iterations of Mesopotamian empires. Therefore, it is not known if the Neo-Sumerian Offering Stand was moved from its sanctuary before its excavation from there. However, conjecture supported by historical evidence suggests that the Offering Stand was created in and for the Sanctuary, and therefore probably remained there.

Text Sources

Foster, Benjamin F. "A Lapidary's Gift to Gestinanna." Iraq 40 (1978): 61-65

Bottero, Cassina, Vercoutter. The Near East: The Early Civilizations. New York: Delacorte Press, 1967