ZIGGURAT
![](640px-White_Temple_ziggurat_in_Uruk.jpg)
![](640px-White_Temple_%27E_at_Uruk,_3500-3000_BCE.jpg)
Anu
ziggurat and White Temple at Uruk. The original pyramidal structure,
the "Anu Ziggurat", dates to the Sumerians around 4000
BCE, and the White Temple was built on top of it circa 3500 BCE
A
ziggurat (Akkadian: ziqquratu, D-stem of zaqaru 'to protrude, to
build high' cognate with other semitic languages like Hebrew zaqar
'protrude') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia.
It has the form of a terraced compound of successively receding
stories or levels. Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat
of Ur near Nasiriyah, the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near Baghdad, the
now destroyed Etemenanki in Babylon, Chogha Zanbil in Khuzestan
and Sialk. The Sumerians believed that the Gods lived in the temple
at the top of the Ziggurats, so only priests and other highly respected
individuals could enter. Society offered them many things such as
music, harvest, and creating devotional statues to leave in the
temple.
The
biblical account of the Tower of Babel has been associated by modern
scholars to the massive construction undertakings of the ziggurats
of Mesopotamia, and in particular to the ziggurat of Etemenanki
in Babylon in light of the Tower of Babel Stele describing its restoration
by Nebuchadnezzar II.
The
design of Egyptian pyramids, especially the stepped designs of the
oldest pyramids (Pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara, 2600 BCE), may have
been an evolution from the ziggurats built in Mesopotamia.
Description
:
![](640px-Ancient_ziggurat_at_Ali_Air_Base_Iraq_2005.jpg)
Partially
reconstructed facade and access staircase of the Ziggurat of Ur,
originally built by Ur-Nammu, circa 2100 BCE
![](Chogha_Zanbil,_Ziggurat_(model).jpg)
Chogha
Zanbil Ziggurat (model). Circa 1300 BCE
Ziggurats were built by ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Elamites,
Eblaites and Babylonians for local religions. Each ziggurat
was part of a temple complex that included other buildings. The
precursors of the ziggurat were raised platforms that date from
the Ubaid period during the sixth millennium BCE. The ziggurats
began as a platforms (usually oval, rectangular or square). The
ziggurat was a mastaba-like structure with a flat top. The sun-baked
bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks
on the outside. Each step was slightly smaller than the step below
it. The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have
had astrological significance. Kings sometimes had their names engraved
on these glazed bricks. The number of floors ranged from two to
seven.
According
to archaeologist Harriet Crawford,
It
is usually assumed that the ziggurats supported a shrine, though
the only evidence for this comes from Herodotus, and physical evidence
is non-existent ... The likelihood of such a shrine ever being found
is remote. Erosion has usually reduced the surviving ziggurats to
a fraction of their original height, but textual evidence may yet
provide more facts about the purpose of these shrines. In the present
state of our knowledge it seems reasonable to adopt as a working
hypothesis the suggestion that the ziggurats developed out of the
earlier temples on platforms and that small shrines stood on the
highest stages ...
Access
to the shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one side of
the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. The Mesopotamian
ziggurats were not places for public worship or ceremonies. They
were believed to be dwelling places for the gods and each city had
its own patron god. Only priests were permitted on the ziggurat
or in the rooms at its base, and it was their responsibility to
care for the gods and attend to their needs. The priests were very
powerful members of Sumerian and Assyro-Babylonian society.
![](640px-Choqa_Zanbil_Ziggurat_1.jpg)
Elamite
Ziggurat of Dur Untash in Persian Choqa Zanbil in Khuzestan, Iran,
circa 1300 BCE
One of the best-preserved ziggurats is Chogha Zanbil in western
Iran. The Sialk ziggurat, in Kashan, Iran, is one of the oldest
known ziggurats, dating to the early 3rd millennium BCE. Ziggurat
designs ranged from simple bases upon which a temple sat, to marvels
of mathematics and construction which spanned several terraced stories
and were topped with a temple.
An
example of a simple ziggurat is the White Temple of Uruk, in ancient
Sumer. The ziggurat itself is the base on which the White Temple
is set. Its purpose is to get the temple closer to the heavens,
[citation needed] and provide access from the ground to it via steps.
The Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected
heaven and earth. In fact, the ziggurat at Babylon was known as
Etemenanki, which means "House of the foundation of heaven
and earth" in Sumerian.
The
date of its original construction is unknown, with suggested dates
ranging from the fourteenth to the ninth century BCE, with textual
evidence suggesting it existed in the second millennium. Unfortunately,
not much of even the base is left of this massive structure, yet
archeological findings and historical accounts put this tower at
seven multicolored tiers, topped with a temple of exquisite proportions.
The temple is thought to have been painted and maintained an indigo
color, matching the tops of the tiers. It is known that there were
three staircases leading to the temple, two of which (side flanked)
were thought to have only ascended half the ziggurat's height.
Interpretation
and significance :
![](image.jpg)
Al
Zaqura Building in Baghdad, constructed in the 1970s
According to Herodotus, at the top of each ziggurat was a shrine,
although none of these shrines have survived. One practical function
of the ziggurats was a high place on which the priests could escape
rising water that annually inundated lowlands and occasionally flooded
for hundreds of kilometers, for example, the 1967 flood. Another
practical function of the ziggurat was security. Since the shrine
was accessible only by way of three stairways, a small number of
guards could prevent non-priests from spying on the rituals at the
shrine on top of the ziggurat, such as initiation rituals like the
Eleusinian mysteries, cooking of sacrificial food and burning of
sacrificial animals. Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex
that included a courtyard, storage rooms, bathrooms, and living
quarters, around which a city spread.
The
shape of the ziggurat experienced a revival in modern architecture
and Brutalist architecture starting in the 1970s. The Al Zaqura
Building is a government building situated in Baghdad. It serves
the office of the prime minister of Iraq. The Babylon Hotel in Baghdad
also is inspired by the ziggurat. The Chet Holifield Federal Building
is colloquially known as "the Ziggurat" due to its form.
It is a United States government building in Laguna Niguel, California,
built between 1968 and 1971. Further examples include The Ziggurat
in West Sacramento, California, and the SIS Building in London.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Ziggurat