Located southeast of the ziggurat, the sanctuary of E-Dublal-Mah, meaning ‘The House of Tablets,’ was originally constructed of mudbrick, most likely during the reign of Amar-Sin, the third ruler in the Third Dynasty. However, Woolley suggests it can be dated to the Early Dynastic periods. Located on the southeastern side of the Ziggurat of Ur Nammu, the building was utilized for different purposes over the years.
Initially, it served as a gateway leading to the ziggurat, as well as a storehouse for tablets, from which it takes its name. It later became a law court, and sometime after the end of the Third Dynasty, a shrine, while still retaining its function as a court of law.
E-Dublal-Mah was destroyed by the Elamites at the end of the Third Dynasty, and later restored during the Isin-Larsa/Old Babylonian period. Subsequent kings, including the Kassite Kuri-galzu, as well as the Babylonian kings Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus, rendered their own reconstructions to the sanctuary while still following the original floor plans. Because of this, the building changed very little over the course of centuries.