Ziggurat 1

Ziggurat

The reconstructed facade of the Neo-Sumerian Great Ziggurat of Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq

Ziggurats (/ˈzɪɡʊˌræt/, Akkadianziqqurat, D-stem of zaqāru "to buildon a raised area") were massivestructures built in the ancientMesopotamian valley and westernIranian plateau, having the form of aterraced step pyramid of successivelyreceding stories or levels.

Notable ziggurats include the GreatZiggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, Iraq; theZiggurat of Aqar Quf near Baghdad,Iraq; Chogha Zanbil in Khūzestān,Iran; and Sialk near Kashan, Iran.

Description

Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians,Babylonians, Elamites, Akkadians, and Assyrians for local religions. Each ziggurat was part of a temple complexwhich included other buildings. The precursors of the ziggurat were raised platforms that date from the Ubaidperiod[1] during the fourth millennium BC. The earliest ziggurats began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period.[2]

The latest Mesopotamian ziggurats date from the 6th century BC. Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, orsquare platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of theziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside. The facings were often glazed in different colors and may havehad astrological significance. Kings sometimes had their names engraved on these glazed bricks. The number of tiersranged from two to seven. It is assumed that they had shrines at the top, but there is no archaeological evidence forthis and the only textual evidence is from Herodotus.[3] Access to the shrine would have been by a series of ramps onone side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places forpublic worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be dwelling places for the gods and each city had its ownpatron god. Only priests were permitted on the ziggurat or in the rooms at its base, and it was their responsibility tocare for the gods and attend to their needs. The priests were very powerful members of Sumerian society.

CAD rendering of Sialk's largest ziggurat basedon archeological evidence.

One of the best-preserved ziggurats is Chogha Zanbil in western Iran.The Sialk ziggurat, in Kashan, Iran, is the oldest known ziggurat,dating to the early 3rd millennium BC. Ziggurat designs ranged fromsimple bases upon which a temple sat, to marvels of mathematics andconstruction which spanned several terraced stories and were toppedwith a temple.

An example of a simple ziggurat is the White Temple of Uruk, inancient Sumer. The ziggurat itself is the base on which the WhiteTemple is set. Its purpose is to get the temple closer to theheavens,[citation needed] and provide access from the ground to it viasteps. The Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. In fact, the ziggurat atBabylon was known as Etemenankia or "House of the Platform between Heaven and Earth".

Ziggurat 2

An example of an extensive and massive ziggurat is the Marduk ziggurat, or Etemenanki, of ancient Babylon.Unfortunately, not much of even the base is left of this massive structure, yet archeological findings and historicalaccounts put this tower at seven multicolored tiers, topped with a temple of exquisite proportions. The temple isthought to have been painted and maintained an indigo color, matching the tops of the tiers. It is known that therewere three staircases leading to the temple, two of which (side flanked) were thought to have only ascended half theziggurat's height.Etemenanki, the name for the structure, is Sumerian and means "The Foundation of Heaven and Earth". The date ofits original construction is unknown, with suggested dates ranging from the fourteenth to the ninth century BC, withtextual evidence suggesting it existed in the second millennium.[4]

Interpretation and significanceAccording to Herodotus, at the top of each ziggurat was a shrine, although none of these shrines has survived.[1] Onepractical function of the ziggurats was a high place on which the priests could escape rising water that annuallyinundated lowlands and occasionally flooded for hundreds of miles, as for example the 1967 flood.[5] Anotherpractical function of the ziggurat was for security. Since the shrine was accessible only by way of three stairways,[6]

a small number of guards could prevent non-priests from spying on the rituals at the shrine on top of the ziggurat,such as cooking of sacrificial food and burning of carcasses of sacrificial animals. Each ziggurat was part of a templecomplex that included a courtyard, storage rooms, bathrooms, and living quarters, around which a city was built.[7]

Notes[1][1] Crawford, page 73[2][2] Crawford, page 73-74[3][3] Crawford, page 85[4] George , Andrew (2007) "The Tower of Babel: Archaeology, history and cuneiform texts" Archiv fuer Orientforschung, 51 (2005/2006).

pp. 75-95. (http:/ / eprints. soas. ac. uk/ 3858/ 2/ TowerOfBabel. AfO. pdf),[5] Aramco World Magazine, March–April 1968, pages 32-33[6][6] Crawford, page 75[7][7] Oppenheim, pages 112, 326-328

References•• T. Busink, "L´origine et évolution de la ziggurat babylonienne". Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch

Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux 21 (1970), 91-141.•• R. Chadwick, "Calendars, Ziggurats, and the Stars". The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies Bulletin

(Toronto) 24 (Nov. 1992), 7-24.• R.G. Killick, "Ziggurat". The Dictionary of Art (ed. J. Turner, New York & London: Macmillan), vol. 33,

675-676.•• H.J. Lenzen, Die Entwicklung der Zikurrat von ihren Anfängen bis zur Zeit der III. Dynastie von Ur (Leipzig

1942).•• M. Roaf, Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East (New York 1990), 104-107.• E.C. Stone, "Ziggurat". The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East (ed. E.M. Meyers, New York

& Oxford 1997), vol. 5, 390-391.• J.A. Black & A. Green, "Ziggurat". Dictionary of the Ancient Near East (eds. P. Bienkowski & A. Millard,

London: British Museum), 327-328.• Harriet Crawford, Sumer and the Sumerians, Cambridge University Press, (New York 1993), ISBN

0-521-38850-3.• A. Leo Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia, University of Chicago Press, (Chicago 1977), ISBN 0-226-63187-7.

Ziggurat 3

• Beck, Roger B.; Linda Black, Larry S. Krieger, Phillip C. Naylor, Dahia Ibo Shabaka, (1999). World History:Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell. ISBN 0-395-87274-X.

• Leick, Gwendolyn (2002). Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-026574-0.

External links• Website of Choqa Zanbil ziggurat, Iran. (http:/ / www. chogha-zanbil. com/ )• Article on status of Sialk ziggurat, Iran. (http:/ / www. iranian. com/ History/ 2004/ April/ Sialk/ index. html)

Article Sources and Contributors 4

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Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Ancient ziggurat at Ali Air Base Iraq 2005.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ancient_ziggurat_at_Ali_Air_Base_Iraq_2005.jpg  License: Creative CommonsAttribution 3.0  Contributors: en:User:HardnfastFile:SialkCAD.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:SialkCAD.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Bontenbal, Denniss, JMCC1, Lotje, Mmcannis, Shauni,Yonatanh, 1 anonymous edits

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