structural:summarization, structural:expansion, information:filtering
Excavation and preservation

The remains of the ziggurat were rediscovered by William Loftus in 1850. The first excavations at the site were conducted by John George Taylor (mistakenly credited as "J. E. Taylor") in the 1850s, leading to the identification of the site as Ur.After World War I, preliminary excavations were performed by Reginald Campbell Thompson and Henry Hall. The site was extensively excavated in the 1920s by Sir Leonard Woolley by appointment of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and the British Museum in the period of 1922 to 1934.

The remains of the ziggurat consist of a three-layered solid mass of mud brick faced with burnt bricks set in bitumen. The lowest layer corresponds to the original construction of Ur-Nammu, while the two upper layers are part of the Neo-Babylonian restorations. The façade of the lowest level and the monumental staircase were rebuilt under the orders of Saddam Hussein.

The rebuilt ziggurat was damaged in the Gulf War in 1991 by small arms fire, and the structure was shaken by explosions. Four bomb craters can be seen nearby, and the walls of the ziggurat are marred by over 400 bullet holes.

As of 2008, the site was under the supervision of curator Dief Mohssein Naiif al-Gizzy.