The Temenos area of ancient Ur includes the Neo-Babylonian temenos walls, the Third Dynasty of Ur Ziggurat and the associated ziggurat temples of various periods, the principle monuments of the Third Dynasty of Ur.

After the fall of the Neo-Assyrian dynasty in 612 BCE, the Neo-Babylonian kings (612-539 BCE) would renovate all of the major monuments of Ur and build a new temenos area around the principle temples and religious residences. Finally, Cyrus the Great, the founder of the Persian Empire (550-530 BCE), considered the moon god Nanna as the patron god of Ur. For a short time, Nanna became part of the official cult of the Achaemenid kings, who rebuilt parts of the temenos enclosure and sacred gates.

circa 2112 BCE- 500 CE

The Temenos of Ur, or the sacred precinct, was the religious and ceremonial heart of the city, occupying a central, elevated area enclosed by a high mudbrick wall. Its development began in the Early Dynastic period (circa 2600 BCE), but the most significant expansion occurred during the Ur III dynasty, particularly under Ur-Nammu (reigned circa 2112–2095 BCE) and his successor Shulgi. Ur-Nammu is credited with formalizing the temenos layout and constructing its most prominent feature, the Great Ziggurat of Ur, dedicated to the moon god Nanna (Sumerian: Nanna-Suen), the city’s patron deity. The temenos included not only the ziggurat but also temples, administrative buildings, courtyards, and storage facilities—all arranged around open ceremonial spaces. These structures were systematically organized and elevated above the rest of the city to emphasize their sanctity. The precinct served both religious and political functions, housing priesthood offices and state-controlled redistribution centers. Later, during the Neo-Babylonian period under Nabonidus (reigned 556–539 BCE), the sacred precinct was partially restored, especially the ziggurat, underscoring its long-standing cultic importance across millennia.

circa 2112-2004 BCE

Ninmakh Temple
The temple to Ninmakh, also spelled as Nunmakh, Ninmah or Nunmah, is situated to the east of the Dub-Lal-Mah temple and dates back to the third dynasty of Ur. It comprieses of a square building measuring approx. 47x47 meters, and contains several chambers and passageways. Original inscriptions refer to the building as the Ga-Nun-Makh (literally meaning "the lofty storehouse"), and it was likely a treasury of sorts, storing religious, ritualistic and cultic items, dedications and tax payments made to the temples of the sacred area (temenos). A large duck weight inscribed with king Shu-Sin's name was found in the building and may have originally been meant as a standard or official weight formeasuring incoming commoditites.

A wide courtyard and some new rooms were added to the structure either during the Kassite period (circa 1595-1150 BCE) or the Neo-Babylonian period (circa 626-539 BCE) to the sourthern and western sides of the building, where it extended to reach the Dub-Lal-Makh. At this time, the building was reinterpreted as a temple, the E-Nun-Makh (the lofty storehouse).

circa 2050-1980 BCE

Ziggurat
The Ur ziggurat was a piece in a temple complex that served as an administrative center for the city, and which was a shrine of the moon god Nanna, the patron deity of Ur. It was built by the Sumerian King Ur-Nammu and his son Shulgi in circa the 21st century BCE (short chronology) during the Third Dynasty of Ur. The massive step pyramid measured 210 feet (64 meters) in length, 150 feet (46 meters) in width and over 100 feet (30m) in height. The height is speculative, as only the foundations of the Sumerian ziggurat have survived.

circa 2050 BCE

Dub-Lal-Mah Temple
The remains of Dub-Lal-Makh (literally meaning "the house of the tablets"), located south-east of the great Ziggurat of Ur, was originally constructed most likely during the reign of Amar-Sin, the third ruler of the Third Dynasty. Located on the south-eastern side of the Ziggurat of Ur-Namma, the building fulfiled several functions over the course of the its long history. Initially it served as a gateway leading to the ziggurat, as well as a storehouse for tablets, from which it takes its current name. It later became a court of law, and sometime after the end of the Third Dynasty, a shrine, while still retaining its function as a court of law.

E-Dub-Lal-Makh was destroyed by the Elamites at the end of the third dynasty, and later restored during the Isin-Larsa / Old Babylonian period (circa 1894-1595 BCE). Subsequent kings, including Kurigalzu I (17th king of Kassite period, circa 1370 BCE), as well as the Babylonian kings Nebuchadnezzar (second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, circa 605-562 BCE) and Nabonidus (last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruled 556-539 BCE) rendered their own reconstructions of the sanctuary while still following the original floor plans of the earlier core constructions. According to Leonard Woolley, of all the buildings excavated by him at Ur this is one of the most important and boasts the longest history. The preserved arched doorway dates back to the time of the Kurigalzu (circa 1400 BCE) and is one of the oldest standing true arches known today.

a small temple situated at Ziggurat Railing in the eastern angle that subtends ziggurat. The temple consists of two rooms one internal and was a little bit higher than the other room and represented a place for divine isolation or solitude. Originally the temple was an entrance to the passage that leads to the temple of mood deity atop the great ziggurat.

circa 2100 BCE

Shrine of Nanna
It was located north-west of the Great Ziggura of Ur.

circa 2100 BCE

Palace of Ur-Nammu
The Palace of Ur-Nammu (Ekhursag) is one of the three most well-preserved structures dating back to the Third Dynasty of Ur. It is situated in the sourthern corner of the sacred temenos area, to the south-east of the ziggurat. Its Sumerian name means "house of the mountain's head", and its distinctive feature is the massive construction of the walls, which were built with baked brick and bitumen. The building is 59 x 59 meters in size and contains an entrancy that leads to a wide central courtyard surrounded by corridors and service rooms. It was most likely built by King Shulgi (circa 2095-2047 BCE), though a few bricks of his father Ur-Namma were also discovered during excavations. Some scholars have interpreted it as a temple, but Shulgi is known to have built a palace called E-Khur-Sag and inscribed bricks of this building confirm the name. Though rather small for a palace from the period, it appears to have been administrative structure, perhaps for the residence of the king for short periods while conducting rituals in the sacred temenos.