Editing Lagash (section)

==Archaeological remains==
===Area A (Ibgal of Inanna)===
Though commonly known as Area A or the Ibgal of [[Inanna]], this temple complex was actually named Eanna during the Ur periods, while Inanna’s sanctuary within Eanna was known as Ibgal.<ref name="Ashby 2017 86">[https://repository.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3956&context=edissertations] Darren Ashby, "Late Third Millennium Bce Religious Architecture At Tell Al-Hiba, Ancient Lagash", Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations, 2017</ref>
====Level I architecture====
[[File:3-D reconstruction of Area A.png|thumb|381x381px|3-D reconstruction of Area A by Keifuhui (Front)]]
Level I of Area A was occupied from [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic]] (ED I) to Ur III.<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" /> It was used for both daily worship activities and festive celebrations, particularly for the queen of Lagash during the Barley and Malt-eating festivals of [[Nanshe|Nanše]].<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" /><ref>Beld, S. G., "The queen of Lagash: ritual economy in a Sumerian State", Ph.D Dissertation, Near East Studies, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2002</ref>

Level I consists of an oval wall on the Northeast end, surrounding an extensive courtyard. The fragments, together comparison to another Sumerian temple at [[Khafajah]], show that the wall should originally be approximately 130m long.<ref name="Hansen1970" >{{Cite journal |last=Hansen |first=Donald P. |date=1970 |title=Al-Hiba, 1968-1969, a Preliminary Report |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3249506 |journal=Artibus Asiae |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=243–258 |doi=10.2307/3249506 |jstor=3249506 |issn=0004-3648}}</ref>

For the temple-building, it is connected to the courtyard with steps. Twenty-five rooms have been excavated inside the building, in which the western ones would open up to the outside of the temple with corridors and form a tripartite entrance.<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" /> Both the temple-building and the oval wall were built with plano-convex mud bricks, which was a very common material up to the late Early Dynastic III period. Additionally, foundations are found under the temple-building. They are composed of rectangular areas of various sizes, some as solid mud bricks and some as cavities of broken pieces of alluvial mud and layers of sand, then capped again with mud bricks.<ref name="Hansen1970" />
[[File:3-D reconstruction of Area A by Keifuhui.png|thumb|365x365px|3-D reconstruction of Area A by Keifuhui]]
====Level II and Level III architecture====
Two more levels are present beneath Level I. All of them are similar to each other in terms of layout and construction materials. During the process of building on top of each other, workers at that time would choose to destroy some portions while keeping some others, leading to much open speculation as to the rationales behind.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hansen |first=Donald P. |date=1973 |title=Al-Hiba, 1970-1971: A Preliminary Report |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3249575 |journal=Artibus Asiae |volume=35 |issue=1/2 |pages=65 |doi=10.2307/3249575 |jstor=3249575 |issn=0004-3648}}</ref>

===Area B (3HB Building and 4HB Building at Bagara of Ningirsu)===
====The 3HB Building====
Three building levels were discovered and 3HB III is the earliest and most well-preserved level. 3HB II and 3HB I shared the same layout with 3HB III. All three levels have a central niched-and-buttressed building which is surrounded by a low enclosure wall with unknown height.<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />
{| class="wikitable"
! Building Level
! Building Material<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />
! Occupation Period<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />
! Notes<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />
|-
|3HB III
|Plano-convex bricks, mud plaster
|ED IIIB

([[Eannatum]]’s rule or later)
|Dimensions:

3HB Building: 24 x 20m

Enclosure Wall:

approximately 31m x 25m
|-
|3HB II
|Plano-convex bricks, mud plaster
|ED IIIB – Late Akkadian
|
|-
|3HB I
|Plano-convex bricks, mud plaster
|Late – Post-Akkadian
|
|}
[[File:3-D reconstruction of Area B by Dcldeobi.png|thumb|321x321px|3-D reconstruction of Area B by Dcldeobi (Front)]]

An excavator believes that the 3HB Building was a “kitchen temple” that aimed at meeting some of the god’s demands.<ref name="Hansen" >Donald P. Hansen, "Royal building activity at Sumerian Lagash in the Early Dynastic Period", Biblical Archaeologist, vol. 55, pp. 206–11, 1992</ref> Alternatively, it has been suggested that the building was a shrine in the Bagara complex as it shared more similarities with other temples than kitchens in terms of layout, features and contents.<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />
====The 4HB Building====
[[File:3-D reconstruction of Area B by Dcldeobi (Back).png|thumb|450x450px|3-D reconstruction of Area B by Dcldeobi (Back)]]
The excavators discovered five building levels. The layout of 4HB V cannot be obtained due to limited exploration. 4HB IV-4HB I shared the same layout. 4HB IVB was the first level that was exposed completely.<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" /> 
{| class="wikitable"
! Building Level
! Building Material<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />
! Occupation Period<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />
! Notes<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />
|-
|4HB V
|Plano-convex bricks
|ED III

(Evidence from pottery)
|
|-
|4HB IVA
|Plano-convex bricks
|ED III

(Evidence from pottery)
|
|-
|4HB IVB
|Plano-convex bricks
|ED IIIB
|Dimensions:

4HB Building: 23 x 14m

|-
|4HB III
|Plano-convex bricks
|ED IIIB – Late Akkadian
|
|-
|4HB II
|Plano-convex bricks
|Late – Post-Akkadian
|
|-
|4HB I
|Plano-convex bricks

and flat, square bricks
|[[Gudea]]’s rule
|
|}
It has been suggested that the 4HB Building is a brewery as ovens and storage vats and a tablet mentioning “the brewery” and “a brewer” were found.<ref name="Hansen" /> An alternate proposal is that 4HB building is a kitchen as it shared lots of similarities with temple kitchens at [[Ur]] and [[Nippur]].<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />
===Area C===
Located 360 meters southeast of Area B. It contains a large Early Dynastic administrative area with two building levels (1A and 1B). In level 1B were found sealing and tablets of [[Eanatum]], [[Enanatum I]], and [[Enmetena]].<ref>[[Zainab Bahrani|Bahrani, Zainab]], "The administrative building at Tell Al Hiba, Lagash", (Volumes I and II), Ph.D Dissertation, New York University, 1989.</ref>

===Area G===
[[File:3-D reconstruction of Area G.jpg|thumb|377x377px|3-D reconstruction of Area G by Nic9137]]
Area G is located at the midway of Area B in the North and Area A in the South. First excavated by Dr Donald P. Hansen in season 3H, Area G consists of a building complex and a curving wall which are separated by around 30-40m.<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />
====Western Building Complex====
[[File:3-D reconstruction of Area G of Lagash.jpg|thumb|277x277px|3-D reconstruction of Area G by Nic9137]]
5 building levels are found in the area. There is little information about Levels I and IIA as they were poorly preserved without sealed floor deposits.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |date=1991 |title=Excavations in Iraq 1989-1990 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4200346 |journal=Iraq |volume=53 |pages=175 |jstor=4200346 |issn=0021-0889}}</ref> In Levels IIB, III and IV, changes can be found in the building complex with reconstructions. In Level III, benches are built near the eastern and northern courtyards. Sealings made in the “piedmont” style which are found in the rooms share a resemblance with the Seal Impression Strata of Ur and sealings from Inanna Temple at Nippur,<ref name=":6" /> indicating the administrative nature of the buildings. Apart from institutional objects, fireplaces, bins and pottery were found in the rooms as well.<ref name="Hansen" />
====Curving Wall (Eastern Zone)====
A 2-m wide wall that runs from the south to the north is found on the eastern part of Area G. The features of the curving wall and the rooms found near it are determined to be different from other oval temples built in the Early Dynastic in other major states. Intrusive vertical drains are found at the base of the plano-convex foundation.<ref name="Hansen" /> Archaeologists excavated further deeper to the water level during season 4H and found extensive Early Dynastic I deposits.<ref name="Ashby 2017 86" />