Area D: stratigraphy and architecture of the “Mountain lifted above all (other) houses” at Tell Zurghul, ancient Nigin, Iraq

The chapter presents the results of the excavation carried out during the second season of excavations at Tell Zurghul in 2016. Area D is located on the top and South-Western slope of Mound A, that is nearly at the centre of the site. Archaeological evidence, although scanty and poorly preserved due to the heavy erosion of the mound, and written evidence dated to Gudea of Lagaš actually confirm that Mound A is the result of artificial superimposition of strata and buildings dating back at least to the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC; on its top the temple Sirara of the goddess Nanše, celebrated by Gudea in his inscriptions, was built.