They, in fact, provided much of the impetus for early urban development in Mesopotamia. Modern archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia have determined that ziggurats were often the first buildings constructed in a settlement. It was also during this early period when the secular and the religious importance of ziggurats were first solidified. Later, true ziggurats would dwarf these early ones in size, but the meaning, style, and construction methods used to make them were established during this early period by the Sumerians. The Great Wall of China in Cinematic Video (Drone Aerial View) One of the first proto-ziggurats was known as the “White Temple,” which towered forty feet aboveUruk'se the city. Essentially, the first of these ziggurats comprised a simple tower built on top of a platform. 3500-2900 BC) – named for the city where civilization first began in Mesopotamia – when temples began to be built that can be considered “archaic” or proto-ziggurats. It was during what is known as the Uruk Period (ca. They were also the first people to build ziggurats in the southern portion of that land, generally known as Sumer. The Sumerians were the first ethnic group to bring civilization to Mesopotamia. Still, based on references to the structures in Sumerian and Akkadian language texts, modern scholars have determined that the ancient Mesopotamians believed they were their many deities' earthly homes. Unfortunately, there is no known extant text that explains precisely what ziggurats were intended to symbolize.
Like the most monumental building in the ancient world, ziggurats' development was a long process that took hundreds of years to reach its maturity. Map Depicting the Distribution of Known Ziggurats in Ancient Mesopotamia: Note that Most Are in the Fertile area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Any king worth his salt in ancient Mesopotamia had to build a ziggurat that could be seen for miles around, which would ultimately serve to immortalize him for posterity. An examination of the various dynasties that came to rule Mesopotamia shows that ziggurats were important for several reasons: they served as a way for the people to connect to their most important gods, they provided a focal point for the secular community, and they also acted as a visible and tangible sign of a king’s power. The fact that ziggurat construction took place over such a long period – from the third millennium until the sixth century BC and is an indicator of the importance of these colossal structures. Still, they all followed a similar religion and built ziggurats to appease their gods and assign temporal power.
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Mesopotamia, unlike Egypt, was full of disparate and, at times, warring ethnic groups. Ziggurats were also built over a much longer period than Egyptian pyramids, and most importantly, ziggurats were built by a plethora of different people who inhabited ancient Mesopotamia. Although both pyramids and ziggurats were constructed during the same time period, they served different functions and were built using different methods and from different materials. Today, many people like to compare ziggurats derived from the ancient Akkadian word for the structures, ziggurratu – with their counterparts, the pyramids in Egypt. The physical focal point of their religion was the monumental, triangular structures known as ziggurats.
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