ziggurats

The Amazing Ziggurats The topic of my essay is Ziggurats, which were towers made out of mud brick, which the brick was separated by reeds to help allow the water to drain1. The word Ziggurat originated from Assyrian, which means “high” or “raised up”2, this describes Ziggurats perfectly because they were normally seven stories high. Ziggurats ,most of the time, had temples at the top that were built as a place of worship. Ziggurats were founded in Mesopotamia and were significant because they were believed to be a place for gods. Ziggurats were the most distinctive architectural of the ancient east.3The first Ziggurats started in Mesopotamia by the Sumerians in 4000 B.C.4. There were many different societies that built Ziggurats the Babylonians and Assyrians are two others. The Ziggurats that the Sumerians built were believed to be a passage way from earth to heaven and from earth to the underworld. The Sumerians believed that the gods came from mountains thats why they wanted to build the Ziggurats up high so they would be similar to the mountains.5 The temples were built on seven levels which represented seven heavens and the seven planets6,or thats what the Sumerians believed. The Babylonians would give offerings to the gods and would have temples where they could worship their city god. Only a city god got a Ziggurat temple, there were other gods but they only had temples.7 The most known Ziggurat is in Babylon and is two hundred and seventy feet above the streets this tower is called “The Tower of Babel”8. The name Ziggurat came for the the Assyrians. All these societies have Ziggurats in their cities that they have built to use to worship and praise their gods. Ziggurats were built until the persian time, which was when other religious temples were being built.9 Ziggurats were mainly made to worship and praise gods in cities. These towers were made for the gods to have a place to get worshiped. The people of Mesopotamia wanted their