Ур зиқұраты: тарихы мен қалпына келтірулер

Early Bronze Age ziggurat in present day Iraq
Its remains were excavated in the 1920s and 1930s by Sir Leonard Woolley. Under Saddam Hussein in the 1980s, they were encased by a partial reconstruction of the façade and the monumental staircase. The Ziggurat of Ur is the best preserved of those known from Mesopotamia, besides the ziggurat of Dur Untash (Chogha Zanbil). It is one of three well preserved structures of the Neo Sumerian city of Ur, along with the Royal Mausolea and the Palace of Ur Nammu (the E hursag).

The ziggurat was built by King Ur Nammu, who dedicated it in honour of Nanna/Sîn in approximately the 21st century BCE (short chronology) during the Third Dynasty of Ur. The construction of the ziggurat was finished in the 21st century BC by King Shulgi, who, in order to win the allegiance of cities, proclaimed himself a god. During his 48 year reign, the city of Ur grew to be the capital of a state controlling much of Mesopotamia.

King Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo Babylonian Empire in the 6th century BC, after "finding little left but the last stage and nothing to guide him as to the monument's original appearance", had it restored in seven stages rather than three.

The remains of the ziggurat were rediscovered by William Loftus in 1850. The first excavations at the site were conducted by John George Taylor (mistakenly credited as "J. E. Taylor") in the 1850s, leading to the identification of the site as Ur. After World War I, preliminary excavations were performed by Reginald Campbell Thompson and Henry Hall. The site was extensively excavated in the 1920s by Sir Leonard Woolley by appointment of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and the British Museum in the period of 1922 to 1934. The remains of the ziggurat consist of a three layered solid mass of mud brick faced with burnt bricks set in bitumen. The lowest layer corresponds to the original construction of Ur Nammu, while the two upper layers are part of the Neo Babylonian restorations. The façade of the lowest level and the monumental staircase were rebuilt under the orders of Saddam Hussein. The ziggurat was damaged in the Gulf War in 1991 by small arms fire, and the structure was shaken by explosions. Four bomb craters can be seen nearby, and the walls of the ziggurat are marred by over 400 bullet holes. As of 2008, the site was under the supervision of curator Dief Mohssein Naiif al Gizzy.