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The ziggurat was a piece in a temple complex that served as an administrative center for the city, and which was a shrine of the moon god Nanna, the patron deity of Ur. [ 6 ] The construction of the ziggurat was finished in the 21st century BC by King Shulgi , who, in order to win the allegiance of cities, proclaimed himself a god.
A ziggurat (/ ˈ z ɪ ɡ ʊ ˌ r æ t /; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ziqqurratum, [2] D-stem of zaqārum 'to protrude, to build high', [3] cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew zaqar (זָקַר) 'protrude' [4] [5]) is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has the form of a terraced compound of ...
The top of the ziggurat was flat, unlike many pyramids. The step pyramid style began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period. [21] Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside.
The ziggurat was given a facing of baked bricks, a number of which have cuneiform characters giving the names of deities in the Elamite and Akkadian languages. Though the ziggurat now stands only 24.75 metres (81.2 ft) high, less than half its estimated original height, its state of preservation is unsurpassed.
The Great Ziggurat itself has far more graffiti, mostly lightly carved into the bricks. The graves are completely empty. A small number of the tombs are accessible. Most of them have been cordoned off. The whole site is covered with pottery debris, to the extent that it is virtually impossible to set foot anywhere without stepping on some.
The ziggurat of the temple of Anu, which was rebuilt in this period, was the largest ever built in Mesopotamia. [22] When the Seleucids lost Mesopotamia to the Parthians in 141 BC, Uruk continued in use. [23] The decline of Uruk after the Parthians may have been in part caused by a shift in the Euphrates River.
The Ziggurat of Dur-Kurigalzu (1915).. The Ziggurat of Dur-Kurigalzu, built in the early 14th century BC by Kurigalzu I, is located in the city's western area and is devoted to the chief Babylonian God Enlil, who Sumerians believed to govern over wind, air, earth, and storm.
Articles relating to the ziggurats, a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia.It has the form of a terraced compound of successively receding stories or levels.