Great Ziggurat of Nugala

Purpose / Function

The ziggurat was constructed to serve as a place of worship for Nugala, the Kalu goddess of the moon and guardian deity of Kalasu.

Architecture

A renovated structure was built in a style that hearkened back to the ancient Kalu, although taking some inspiration from architecture styles from the time of Delmash. The foundations were made entirely from mud bricks, along with the walls and staircases. The shrine was made with a fine stone imported from quarries in the Sekarnu Mountains. Interiors were decorated with glazed brick, plaster, bitumen, stones, and wooden beams.
Lush gardens filled with trees, bushes, and vines surrounded the ziggurat, which in turn was enclosed by an impressive wall. A great staircase aligned with the moon's position as it rises in the night sky takes a person up the first level, where statues of former high priestesses stood among a garden of flowers tended to by novices. The second and third levels contained storehouses, kitchens to cook food for the gods and the priestesses, and a school where they would study subjects such as magic, astronomy and mathematics. Levels four and five housed living quarters, a library, and sites of private worship. On the sixth and final level stood the shrine, where Nugala's priestesses worshiped her by reciting prayers, sacrificing animals, and leaving sacred offerings.

History

The site of the current temple has been in use for over two thousand years by the time of the Sack of Kalashu. The city is the most powerful of several where Nugala's magic runs the strongest and her worship the most influential. Who ordered the construction of the original ziggurat is unknown.
The first level of mud brick was all that remained from the time before the Hatasuli occupation. The remaining seven levels were commissioned by Nugalagigi to honor the goddess he believed to have granted him his kingdom. They were finished in the reign of his son, Nugalababa.
The following Sarisis added their own touches to the temple in the form of steles and reliefs. Gold and gems taken from Kalumak's enemies came to adorn the walls of the complex and enrich its coffers. Special artifacts that were highly treasured by the Sarisi are kept here as well.
Its splendor came to an end during the sack of Kalashu, when it was stripped of its treasure and anything that could burned was. Over the subsequent centuries, the ziggurat's bricks crumbled or were reused in other building projects.

Type

Temple / Religious complex

Parent Location

Kalasu