Giparu or, more correctly, gipar (Sumerian:, Akkadian:) is a central concept of both the Sumerian belief system and temple architecture. Typically translated as 'cloister', the actual meaning of gipar includes multiple linked concepts. The giparu was originally a woven reed mat used as wedding bed.[1] Its symbolic meaning expanded to include the idea of the generative power of fertility to create and sustain life. In this sense the giparu expressed multiple ideas of abundance, the storehouse containing abundance, as well as a point of union with the generative power itself. In its role as point of union, the giparu was residence of the en, where the hierosgamos was consummated. Often the giparu temple was built over a giparu mat embedded in the structure. For this reason, cloister, connoting the residence of a priest, is given as the primary definition (ePSD).[2]
The giparu is written with two forms attested back to 2500 BC.[3]
The first Sign, MI, was developed from the pictogram of a storm cloud dropping rain. Cuneiform was initially written top to bottom then written rotated counter-clockwise 90 degrees later in history. The second Sign, NI was developed from a pictogram of plow.
Other variants in spelling come from the Ur expedition report, Royal Inscriptions from Ur.[4]
The giparu of Inanna in Uruk is mentioned in Enmerkar and the lord of Aratta, lines 1–24:"Before the land of Dilmun yet existed, the E-ana of Unug Kulaba was well founded, and the holy ĝipar of Inana in brick-built Kulaba shone forth like the silver in the lode."[5]
Often gipar is written as 'giparu' from the Akkadian . In certain contexts giparu refers to a specific gipar in Ur where the entu (priestess) of the god Nanna dwelt. In this case giparu derives from gipar ku (Sumerian: gi-par-ku), or Palace of the Gipar.