Ziggurats were also built over a much longer period than Egyptian pyramids and most importantly, ziggurats were built by a plethora of different people who inhabited ancient Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, unlike Egypt, was full of disparate and at times warring ethnic groups, but they all followed a similar religion and built ziggurats to appease their gods and as signs of temporal power. The fact that ziggurat construction took place over such a long period — from the third millennium until the sixth century BC [1] and was done by so many different groups of people is an indicator of the importance of these colossal structures.
Any king worth his salt in ancient Mesopotamia had to build a ziggurat that could be seen for miles around, which would ultimately serve to immortalize him for posterity. Read the rest of the article at DailyHistory. They were also the first people to build ziggurats in the southern portion of that land, generally known as Sumer. It was during what is known as the Uruk Period ca.
Essentially, the first of these ziggurats comprised a simple tower built on top of a platform. Later, true ziggurats would dwarf these early ones in size, but the meaning, style, and construction methods used to make them were established during this early period by the Sumerians.
It was also during this early period when the secular and the religious importance of ziggurats were first solidified. Modern archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia have determined that ziggurats were often the first buildings constructed in a settlement. They, in fact, provided much of the impetus for early urban development in Mesopotamia. As mentioned above, a ziggurat was believed to be the god or goddess's earthly home to whom it was dedicated.
The concept was certainly not unique among pre-modern religions, but what ziggurats were meant to symbolize was. The first ziggurats were simple structures; most were built on top of hills or large mounds, which were believed to symbolize a mountain with the top room being the actual abode of the god or goddess. The higher a ziggurat went, the closer one was to god was the belief. A king would take special pride in a ziggurat built during his reign and often name the monuments.
Besides functioning as the earthly home of a particular deity, ziggurats were part of larger temple complexes where young men would study in scribal schools. Mesopotamians took the knowledge they learned at ziggurat temple complexes to create bigger and more intricate ziggurats. Although ziggurats were awe-inspiring monuments to behold, they have, for the most part, not stood the test of time. Unlike the pyramids made of stone, ziggurats were made primarily of mud, brick, and clay with some stone.
Unfortunately, despite being constructed with sound methods and mathematical precision, the core material of clay and mud-brick led to the demise of nearly every ziggurat in Mesopotamia. Today, only the ziggurats that have been preserved by modern antiquities services have survived, and oftentimes only the parts made of stone. With that said, the ephemeral nature of ziggurat building material was not enough to stop numerous kings from several dynasties from constructing ziggurats and improving their predecessors' techniques.
As noted above, the earliest ziggurats were built by the Sumerians in the southern region of Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. At that time, Mesopotamia was essentially divided into several independent and often competing city-states until the Third Dynasty of Ur — named for the home city of the dynasty — was established by Ur-Nammu ruled ca.
The ziggurat was dedicated to the moon-god and stood at the center of a massive temple complex that dominated Ur's city. After the decline of the Sumerians, Mesopotamia's cultural focus shifted northward to the region around the city of Babylon, which was known as Babylonia.
It was in and around Babylon where kings of the Amorite and Kassite ethnic groups built their ziggurats to honor their gods and to express their political legitimacy to the people. One of the more impressive ziggurats was built by a Kassite king named Kurigalzu I reigned sometime in the early fourteenth century BC in a newly founded city.
The tradition of building a ziggurat was started by the Sumerians, but other civilizations of Mesopotamia such as the Akkadians, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians also built ziggurats.
The ziggurat was always built with a core of mud brick and an exterior covered with baked brick. Ziggurats are found scattered around what is today Iraq and Iran , and stand as an imposing testament to the power and skill of the ancient culture that produced them.
One of the largest and best-preserved ziggurats of Mesopotamia is the great Ziggurat at Ur. As mentioned above, a ziggurat was believed to be the earthly home of the god or goddess for whom it was dedicated.
The first ziggurats were simple structures; most were built on top of hills or large mounds, which were believed to symbolize a mountain with the top room being the actual abode of the god or goddess. Known today as the Code of Hammurabi , the laws are one of the earliest and more complete written legal codes from ancient times.
The codes have served as a model for establishing justice in other cultures and are believed to have influenced laws established by Hebrew scribes, including those in the Book of Exodus.
The Sumerians and Akkadians including Assyrians and Babylonians dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history c. Known for their innovations in language, governance, architecture and more, Sumerians are considered the creators of civilization as modern humans understand it. Their control of the region lasted for short of 2, years before the Babylonians took charge in B.
There are about 25 known ziggurats still in existence today, located mostly in Iran and Iraq. Perhaps the most famous ziggurat is one that no longer remains, the massive Marduk ziggurat , or Etemenanki, in ancient Babylon. The main reason ancient Mesopotamians built ziggurats has its roots in religious beliefs. They built them to make the temples closer to the heavens and therefore closer to the Gods.
This is tied to the belief that Gods appeared on earth at the highest point in the land. In Mesopotamia , the school -day would last from sunrise to sunset. Only boys received a formal education in Mesopotamia , and the cost of tuition was very high. Therefore, only wealthy, male children were educated. Boys would start school around seven or eight, and would stay in education until nineteen or twenty.
Pyramids are simply tombs or burial grounds while ziggurats are more of temples. Ziggurats were said to have temple tops while pyramids don't have any but just a converging point for its sides. Sumerian cuneiform. Sumerian cuneiform is the earliest known writing system.
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