Ziggurat Research Paper

Ziggurats were concrete, man made religious towers. Ziggurats name means “stairway to heaven or the point where heaven and earth met.” According to our introductory reading. Ziggurats were know for the shrine at the top, not as much the base beneath it. The
7 story base main purpose is to get the shrine as high as possible, to be able to be as close to the city-states god or goddess. I can infer that compared to present day, the architectural plans of the Ziggurat were fairly simple. Early Mesopotamians took the easy route with the difficult problems they faced. For example, just making Ziggurats solid instead of finding a way to make them stand up on their own. Lastly, based on my research I know that early Mesopotamian Ziggurats were not colorful or diverse. Buildings where shades of brown with small engravings. They looked mostly the same, with small designs, trying to make the certain city-state stand out. That is what I have learned about the architecture and design of early Mesopotamian Ziggurat.

And how did this impact the religion and the purpose of
Ziggurats in Mesopotamia (2)?
The people of Mesopotamia were very religious and most of their life was made to serve god(s), using Ziggurats.
Ziggurats served a highly religious purpose, and almost nothing else to the community of Mesopotamian city-states. They have strict rules made to respect the gods. From my research I know that Ziggurats were a private place used to worship the gods, only used by the priest. Normal people (peasants) only went to the Ziggurat during celebrations, while people higher up the the social pyramid went and prayed more often. Kings and Queens of Mesopotamia were also very close to god (along with the priests), they were one of the most religious people in the city-state. They would often got to the Ziggurat and pray to the gods, on behalf of the whole city (with the city-state preist). That is what I learned based on by findings for the impact of the religion and purpose of Ziggurats in early
Mesopotamia.

AND Art and architecture reflect the values and beliefs of a people. (3)
Ziggurats were one of the most important landmarks to the city-states of Mesopotamia Ziggurats would show the wealth and importance of the city or city-state. In other words the more extravagant (size, color, engravings, and design) the more respected your city (city-state) would be. Next, I learned from my research that Ziggurats were not only for a religious purpose, but over time they became a larger part of Mesopotamians’ community and culture. Religion was a big part of the community in early Mesopotamia and it expanded ( the purpose) as time went on. Many people tried and wanted to be close to god in any way possible. This need to be close and to respect god reflected the importance and wealth of the entire city. That is what I learned from all my research on the art and architecture and how it impacted the beliefs of early Mesopotamians.