Ziggurats: Stairways from Heaven

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ZigguratsStairways from Heaven

• by Andrea Perry

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the ziggurat
A ziggurat is a large, solid mud brick tower
first constructed in Sumerian cities in the third
century B.C. Terraced steps led to the top where
there was a small temple.
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a little history

• The ziggurat evolved from an earlier placing of
  temples upon raised terraces.
• The ziggurats discovered were built over these
  earlier structures, therefore we have no remains
  of the older versions.
• In addition to Sumerian cities, they were built
  later in Assyrian and Babylonian cities.
• Other stepped constructions similar to
  ziggurats were found in Central America built by
  Aztecs about 3000 years later than the original
  ziggurats.

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the purpose
Ziggurats, a type of meeting place between
the heavens and the earth, were elevated temples
that ancient cultures used to contact and
worship their gods. The stairs leading up the
ziggurat were made so that people could actually
climb to the top, unlike the pyramids the
Egyptians would later build. Pyramids were
physically impossible to climb because they
served as more of a mental representation of a
stairway to heaven.
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It was the most prominent structure in the entire
city no other building was taller. A city
might have many temples to different gods, but
only one ziggurat was constructed specifically to
the city god. The ziggurat was not only a
religious structure, but a measure of a city and
kings pride and devotion to a god.
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Temples and priests quarters could sometimes be
found at the base of the ziggurat. Some were as
tall as 150 feet in Hammurabis time.
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Prominent ziggurats in history

•  Ziggurat of King Ur-nammu, Ur.
• White Temple, Uruk (Warka)
• Etemenaki, Babylon

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 Ziggurat of King Ur-nammu, Ur.
This ziggurat was built by King Ur-nammu in 2100
B.C. of mud bricks in Mesopotamia. It was
dedicated to the moon god Nanna and towered 70
feet over the entire city.
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White Temple, Uruk (Warka)
This was constructed in about 300 B.C. and stood
on a brick terrace. Measuring 22 by 17 meters,
this tall ziggurats top could be reached by
stairs. The temple had three entrances, the
main one being on the south side.
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Etemenaki, Babylon
Etemenaki, or House of the platform of Heaven
and Earth, was supposedly constructed in Babylon
during the time of Hammurabi but still existed
during the Reign of Nebuchadnezzar II.
Associated with the Tower of Babel in the Bible
due to dimensional evidence found on
Babylonian tablets, this massive ziggurat could
be seen by all deported Jews who were sent to
Babylon in 600 B.C. It appeared to reach up to
the heavens and was dedicated to the god Marduk.
The Building of the Tower of Babel, by Abel
Grimmer (1570-1619)
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Sources

• http//www.crystalinks.com/ziggurat.html
• http//www.wikipedia.org/wiki/ziggurat
• http//www.mesopotamia.co.uk/ziggurats/home_set.ht
  ml
• http//college.hmco.com/history/west/mosaic/chapte
  r1/image48.html
• http//www.bible-history.com/babylonia/BabyloniaTh
  e_Ziggurat.htm
• http//joseph_berrigan.tripod.com/ancientbabylon/i
  d18.html
• http//www.historyforkids.org/learn/westasia/archi
  tecture/ziggurats.htm
• http//www.sdyas.demon.co.uk/mikal/prints99-02/zig
  gurats.html
• http//lib.haifa.ac.il/www/art/list_ziggurat.html