How many ziggurats are there

Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex which included other buildings. The precursors of the ziggurat were raised platforms that date from the Ubaid period during the sixth millennium.

Ancient ziggurats were massive temple structures built in Ancient Mesopotamia to honor a deity. Ziggurats were built for hundreds of years in various regions of the ancient Middle East. Ziggurats were a form of ancient Mesopotamian mud-brick temple: were common to the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians from approximately until BCE. Some of these architectural marvels still stand today. The ancients considered mountains to be the link between the heavens and earth; for instance, Mount Olympus was home to the Greek pantheon.

Their function as celestial mountains is manifested in the names given to these ancient religious structures. Partially reconstructed facade and the access staircase of the ziggurat. The actual remains of the Neo-Babylonian structure can be seen at the top.

Sumerian temples were believed to have had astrological significance. They were thought to be a vertical bond between heaven and earth, the earth and the underworld, and a horizontal bond between the lands.

While their actual function still remains obscure, it has been suggested that ziggurats symbolized the primeval mound which the universe was thought to have been created upon, heavenly mountains, bridges between heaven and earth or celestial stairways between the gods and humans. Mesopotamians considered mud to be the purest of substances; therefore, it was employed in the construction of these stepped structures which ascended toward heaven, bringing man closer to the gods and facilitating his worship.

Considered the temporal dwelling of a deity or the meeting place of gods and humans, ziggurats had a high temple, a low temple and no internal chambers. They were not used as places for performing public religious rites and rituals, but rather as the earthly house of god.

Built in receding tiers upon rectangular, oval, or square platforms, ziggurats were pyramidal structures with sun-baked brick cores and multicolored glazed-brick exteriors. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven, with a shrine or temple at the summit. The legendary Kingdom of Kush, with its capitals in what is now northern Sudan, helped define the political and cultural landscape of northeastern Africa for more than a thousand years.

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Text Text on this page is printable and can be used according to our Terms of Service. Interactives Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. Related Resources. View Collection. View Article. Mircea Eliade argued that man tried to live in the presence of the sacred because he desired access to the ultimate reality and to the power of the sacred.

The axis mundi, the vertical feature, was seen as the center of the world and as linking together all three cosmic levels. Instead of a pole, pillar or tree, the axis mundi might be, say, a ladder or a mountain. Beliefs in cosmic mountains included the idea that 'our world' is holy because it is the place closest to heaven.

Eliade notes that temples might be seen as equivalents of sacred mountains. Indeed, some, such as the Babylonian ziggurat, were built to be artificial sacred mountains. Today, about 25 remain, found in an area from southern Babylonia all the way north to Assyria. The temple had an inner and outer court, both of which were nearly square, the latter being somewhat smaller than the former.

The prominent feature of the temple architecture was the ziggurat, or storied-tower, which occupied nearly onethird of the area of the inner court. In close proximity to the tower stood the temple proper, where the sacrifices were offered. The ziggurat co'nsisted of quadrangular platforms, one superimposed upon the other, on the top of which was to be found the shrine. The number of platforms varied according to the period and ability of the builder.