E-Nun-Makh Building

The Enunmah, translated as either ‘The Strong Room or The House of Plenty,’ is located southeast of the ziggurat. The building was a sanctuary surrounded by storage rooms, where cuneiform tablets recording temple revenues were kept. It was originally built sometime in the prehistoric period of Ur, its purpose during that time is unconfirmed, but it most likely served as a storage house. Under the kings Ur-Nammu and Shulgi, it was rebuilt as a temple dedicated to the Moon god Nanna and his consort Ningal. While it was refurbished at least 15 times over the centuries, the ground plan of the structure remained the same from its pre-historic beginnings, until the seventh century BCE. It was not until the Neo-Babylonian period that it underwent alterations under King Nebuchadnezzar, and modified again during Cyrus’ Achaemenid occupation.