ETD

• domestic chapels
• Mesopotamia
• Old Babylonian Period
• terracotta figurines
• Ur

This thesis explores the interpretation of domestic religious space at the archaeological site of Ur in modern-day Iraq during the transition between the third and second millennia BC. It investigates whether domestic chapels existed within households and re-examines Leonard Woolley’s interpretation that terracotta figurines inhabited these spaces. Drawing on historical archaeology, space syntax analysis, and theories of material culture, the study integrates perspectives on domestic spatial organisation and family-based religious practices in Mesopotamia. It critically assesses how built environments and artefacts interact, questioning long-standing assumptions about the function of figurines in everyday life. By synthesising spatial analysis with cultural and archaeological theory, the thesis offers a nuanced reinterpretation of domestic ritual practice and the social role of material objects in ancient urban contexts.