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[[File: Ancient_ziggurat.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|The Ziggurat of Ur]]__NOTOC__

The people of ancient Mesopotamia practiced a religion that modern scholars are only just beginning to understand. The physical focal point of their religion was the monumental, triangular structures known as ziggurats. Today, many people like to compare ziggurats derived from the ancient Akkadian word for the structures, <i>ziggurratu</i> – with their counterparts, the pyramids in Egypt. 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. 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. Mesopotamia, unlike Egypt, was full of disparate and, at times, warring ethnic groups. Still, they all followed a similar religion and built ziggurats to appease their gods and assign temporal power.

== How were the Ziggurats Built? ==

Like the most monumental building in the ancient world, ziggurats' development was a long process that took hundreds of years to reach its maturity. Unfortunately, there is no known extant text that explains precisely what ziggurats were intended to symbolize. 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. <ref> Mieroop, Marc van de. <i>A History of the Ancient Near East: ca. 3000-323 BC.</i> 2nd ed. (London: Blackwell, 2007), p. 182</ref>

== When was The Last Ziggurat built? ==

The culmination of centuries of ziggurat construction took place during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (ruled 604-562 BC). Nebuchadnezzar II is known to many as a “bad guy” from the Old Testament book of Daniel. Still, he was actually a very active king who led a new dynasty, referred to as the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, to prominence in the Near East. The crowning achievement of Nebuchadnezzar II’s reign was the construction of the Etemenanki Ziggurat in Babylon. Etemenanki is translated from ancient Akkadian as the “House of the Frontier between Heaven and Earth,”<ref> Kuhrt, p. 593</ref> which again demonstrates the connection between ziggurats and the heavens. The ziggurat was dedicated to Marduk, who was the patron god of the city of Babylon. <ref> Frankfort, p. 203</ref>

Although nothing remains of the Etemenanki Ziggurat, its greatness inspired awe in people from far outside Mesopotamia. The fifth century BC Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote of it stating, “on the summit of the topmost tower stands a great temple with a fine large couch in it”<ref> Herodotus. <i> The Histories.</i> Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt. (London: Penguin Books, 2003), The book I, 181</ref>, was more than likely the inspiration for the legendary “Tower of Babel” described in Genesis 11:1-9. After Achaemenid Persians conquered Babylons in 539 BC, the era of ziggurat building came to an end. Despite controlling Mesopotamia for over 200 years, the Persians did not carry on ziggurat building tradition, although they left most of the extant ziggurats intact. Eventually, all of the ziggurats fell into disuse during the Seleucid Dynasty, and the desert claimed most as casualties.

Ziggurats enjoyed a long history and an important place in ancient Mesopotamian religion and culture. From their inception in southern Mesopotamia during the Uruk Period until the collapse of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty in the sixth century BC, ziggurats provided an important focal point for the religious activities the various ethnic groups of Mesopotamia. Ziggurats were also vital in the early urbanization of Mesopotamia as communities formed around the important religious buildings. Perhaps just as important as the religious aspects, and possibly even more so, was the political legitimacy and gravitas a king or a dynasty could gain by building a ziggurat.

{{Mediawiki: Religious History}}

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