- A Ziggurat is a Terraced Monument resembling a stepped Pyramid with a flat top.
- They are to be found in Mesopotamia (Iraq) and Western Iran.
Description
- They were built on a rectangular, oval or square raised platform, with two to seven receding tiers on top.
- The centre was made of sun-baked bricks, whilst the outside was faced with fired bricks. They were often glazed with colours and sometimes had the names of Kings written on the bricks.
- Access to the upper levels was via a series of ramps, or one spiral ramp from base to summit.
Purpose
- They were built as part of a Temple Complex by the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians and Elamites between c. 4,000-c.500 BCE.
- Only the Priests were permitted to access the complex. The Ziggurat was believed to be the Residence of a God or Patron Deity of that City, and to be a connection between Heaven and Earth.
- The City was then built around the Ziggurat which may have provided a place of Refuge in the event of the City being attacked.
Examples
- Iraq:
- Great Ziggurat of Ur, Nasiriyah, Iraq. Reconstructed facade. c.2000 BCE.
- Ziggurat of Aqar Quf, Baghdad, Iraq.
- Great Ziggurat of Babylon, also known as the Marduk Ziggurat, Etemenanki, Babylon, Hillah, Iraq. c. 610 BCE.
- Built by the Sumerians, it was supposedly, the Biblical Tower of Babel. The mortar used in its construction was Bitumen. The Ziggurat has now been destroyed.
- White Temple of Uruk, Warka, Iraq. This is a basic Ziggurat.
- Iran:
- Sardinia
- Near Portotorres is ‘Monte d’Accoddi’, a huge terraced altar with an inclined ramp resembling a Ziggurat.
Sources
- Herodotus
- He describes a Shrine on top of each Ziggurat, but this cannot be proven.
Great Ziggurat of Ur, Iraq