Ziggurat ar

Mesopotamia, the land between two rivers is the cradle of human civilization. Euphrates and Tigris flowed smoothly five thousand years ago. One of the massive heritages left by the Sumerians is the Ziggurat of Ur. It was located in the Dhi Qar Province Pr ovince in present day Iraq and was  built around 2100 BC. Today, oday, after four thousand years later, later, it is still standing in the middle of the desert. This building is older than The Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. The Ziggurat of Ur is the oldest standing monument on earth. It was  built by Ur - Nammu  Nammu in the 3rd dynasty of Ur. Ur. The ziggurat of Ur is a temple complex to the god of Nanna, the moon god and the patron deity of city Ur. Nanna is depicted as a wise man with four horns and long  beards. He lived in the shrine on the top of the ziggurat. Inside the shrine, there is a bedchamber where the chosen lady to be the god’s companion will be occupied. On the northwestern part of the ziggurat, the kitchen of the moon god was situated.

In early Sumer it was made of rectangular mud bricks  because they didn’t have stone or timber. It was decorated with clay cones which were dipped into red, black or  buff paint and then inserted into the plaster to form zigzags or geometric designs . Weep holes were square or rectangular shaped holes placed at different levels in the temple to provide drainage.

General Appearance This was the largest and most important building located in the center of each Sumerian city. Sumerians believed it was the home of the city’s patron god. It was built on a platform  called a  parraku, designed to dominate the horizon  and also to provide protection from floods . Most temples were built on the remnants of older temples that were destroyed or expanded with the city’s population or wealth. Each king would add on to the temple with numerous stairways leading to different levels. Ziggurat of Ur is a step pyramid which is 64m in length, 46m in width and approximately 30m in height.

Ziggurat in the ancient Sumerian’s belief was the meeting place between heaven and earth, or  otherwise between god and human. The staircases on the

front, left and right side are built for the priests to ascend to the temple to present their offering the god Nanna.  Nonetheless, this elegant monument of Sumerian has stands out of time. With the excavation and restoration, this ziggurat can provide more information about the Sumerian and their culture, beliefs, and social structure. Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization has giving us the first written system, the first wheel, the first legislative system, the Hanging Garden of the Babylon, and the Great Ziggurat of Ur. The ziggurat is indeed a gemstone of the history and presented by the Sumerian to all human races on earth.