It is important that the ground-plans of no less than four of the temples in Babylon have been recovered, for it will be seen that the main features, already noted in Ninmakh's temple, are always repeated.[141] In each the temple buildings are arranged around an open court, to which access is given through one or more entrances with vestibules. The doorways to temple and to shrine are flanked by grooved towers, while within the shrine itself the cult-statue stood on a low dais, visible from the court. Yet with this general similarity, all combine special features of their own. The temple "Z," for example, is exactly rectangular in plan, and is divided into two distinct parts, the object of which may be readily surmised. The larger and eastern portion, opening on the great court, was obviously devoted to the service of the deity. For there, on the south side, is the shrine and its ante-chamber, with the dais for the eult-image against the south wall. The western portion is grouped around two smaller courts, and, as its arrangement resembles that of a private dwelling-house, we may regard it as the quarters of the resident priesthood. Other notable features are the three service-chambers to the shrine, and the three separate entrances to the temple itself, each with its own vestibule and porters' room. But there is only one narrow passage, extending partly behind the shrine and containing, as suggested, a ramp or stairway to the roof. There was probably an altar before the northern gate, as shown in the restoration, but only the paved area on which it stood was found to be still in place. [Illustration: FIG. 24. CONJECTURAL RESTORATION OF THE UNIDENTIFIED TEMPLE KNOWN AS "Z." The view is taken from a point immediately opposite the north corner of the temple. The stepped battlements on walls and towers, borrowed from military architecture, are here adopted in accordance with one theory of reconstruction. (After Andrae and Koldewey.)]