, originally built by
Ur-Nammu, circa 2100 BC Ziggurat (model). Circa 1300 BC Ziggurats were built by ancient
Sumerians,
Akkadians,
Elamites,
Eblaites and
Babylonians for local religions. Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex with other buildings. Before the ziggurats there were raised platforms that date from the
Ubaid period during the sixth
millennium BCE. The ziggurats began as 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, 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. ite Ziggurat of Dur Untash in Persian
Choqa Zanbil in
Khuzestan,
Iran, circa 1300 BC 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 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, 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 BC, 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==