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How were the walls of early Sumerian temples decorated with buttresses and recesses?

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The Great Ziggurat of Ur in Iraq, a massive ancient brick structure with broad staircases and terraced levels, stands alone in a barren landscape. — Mesopotamian art and architecture Ziggurat at Ur (modern Tall al-Muqayyar, Iraq), constructed c. 2100 bce.

In early Sumerian architecture, the exterior surfaces of temple walls were ornamented with a rhythmic pattern of alternating buttresses and recesses.1

These architectural features served a functional purpose as structural supports, but they were also employed as a deliberate design choice to relieve the visual monotony of the sun-dried brick or mud-plaster surfaces used in construction. This technique was already established during the Ubaid period and remained a characteristic feature of the typical Sumerian platform temple.1