Kibi+Ziggurats

Ziggurats This is a picture of aZiggurat. T Ziggurats were built in ancient Mesopotamia period. The first Ziggurats were built in 2112 BCE. Ziggurats were used as a temple and for other purpose also. media type="youtube" key="IuEzWcMa7mo" height="315" width="420" This is a video of pictures of Ziggurats and models of Ziggurats.

What is a Ziggurat? Ziggurats were built from layers of mud bricks. The Ziggurats were built with baked mud bricks on the outside and reed matting that held the bricks together. There were breaks in the reed matting to allow drainage, smartly. The Ziggurats rose in square or rectangular platforms and each platform was smaller then the one bellow it similar to a pyramid. According to Herodotus there was a shrine on top of each Ziggurat however none of the shrines survived so this theory it is not proven. There were many practical functions to the Ziggurat. For example, its height could have allowed a safe place for priests during floods. Ziggurats were also very secure because there only three entrances and these were staircases that could be easily guarded by few guards. They were not used as public worship places but rather for dwelling places for Gods. No one was permitted to go to the part of the Ziggurat that the God was in except for priests to attend the Gods needs. Ziggurats were used for other purposes for example The Ziggurat of Ur was used as an administrative center for the city. I think these buildings were brilliant and very cleverly built. I am curious to know why the Pyramids are so much more famous then the Ziggurats. This is a picture of the Ziggurat of Ur. The Ziggurat of Ur  The Ziggurat of Ur was built over 4000 years ago. This Ziggurat measured 64m in length, 46m in width and over 30m in height. However there is no way of knowing for certain how tall the Ziggurat was because only the foundations remain so the archeologist’s who studied the Ziggurat of Ur had to speculate. It served as an administrative center for the city and a shrine for what the people believed to be the Moon God “Nana”. Even though the Ziggurat of Ur is extremely old, and was recently damaged in in the Gulf war in 1991, it is still one of the best-preserved Ziggurats. It was excavated in the 1920’s and 1930’s and partial reconstruction of the façade and staircase took place during the rule Saddam Hussein. I would most really like to visit the Ziggurat of Ur some day. This is a picture of Neo-Sumerian Great Ziggurat.

Critical Thinking The Ziggurats are one of the ancient and most amazing buildings of all time, however they are not as well known as some other ancient structures such as the Pyramids. I admit that I did not know what a Ziggurat was until I started this project on Mesopotamia and I am interested in ancient structures. I have always wondered why the Pyramids are so famous when there are many other great ancient edifices. For example an edifice in Ireland called Newgrange was built long before pyramids in 3200 BCE, and in my opinion is just as impressive as the Pyramids, yet Newgrange is not as well renowned. It is interesting learn how much effort went into building temples back. These days worship places our no where near as big and beutiful as the Ziggurats. I have noticed that all the old church's are much bigger then modern church's. However I believe that is becaue now a days we can not afford to make such big buildings. The Ziggurats were built after the pyramids so perhaps that is why they are not as famous. The pyramids might also be more famous because they are more accessible and are better preserved. I think that the people who built the Ziggurats might have been inspired Pyramids.The people who built the Ziggurats might have used the techniques that were used to built the Pyramids to build the Ziggurats. I have no doubt that the Pyramids are great but there are other ancient monuments in existence that are just as impressive.

BibliographyInternet Ziggurats crystalinks [] Internet Wikimapia [] Intenet Wikipedia Ziggurat []

Internet Wikipedia Ziggurat of ur []

Book ancient mesopotamia