Ziggurat
A ziggurat (
History
The word ziggurat comes from ziqqurratum (height, pinnacle), in ancient Assyrian. From zaqārum, to be high up. The
Description
Ziggurats were built by ancient
According to archaeologist Harriet Crawford,
It is usually assumed that the ziggurats supported a shrine, though the only evidence for this comes from Herodotus, and physical evidence is non-existent ... The likelihood of such a shrine ever being found is remote. Erosion has usually reduced the surviving ziggurats to a fraction of their original height, but textual evidence may yet provide more facts about the purpose of these shrines. In the present state of our knowledge it seems reasonable to adopt as a working hypothesis the suggestion that the ziggurats developed out of the earlier temples on platforms and that small shrines stood on the highest stages ...[8]
Access to the shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for public worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be dwelling places for the
One of the best-preserved ziggurats is
An example of a simple ziggurat is the White Temple of Uruk, in ancient Sumer. The ziggurat itself is the base on which the White Temple is set. Its purpose is to get the temple closer to the heavens,[citation needed] and provide access from the ground to it via steps. The Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. In fact, the ziggurat at Babylon was known as Etemenanki, which means "House of the foundation of heaven and earth" in Sumerian.
The date of its original construction is unknown, with suggested dates ranging from the fourteenth to the ninth century BC, with textual evidence suggesting it existed in the second millennium.[12] Unfortunately, not much of even the base is left of this massive structure, yet archeological findings and historical accounts put this tower at seven multicolored tiers, topped with a temple of exquisite proportions. The temple is thought to have been painted and maintained an indigo color, matching the tops of the tiers. It is known that there were three staircases leading to the temple, two of which (side flanked) were thought to have only ascended half the ziggurat's height.
Interpretation and significance
According to
Influence
The biblical account of the
According to some historians the design of
The shape of the ziggurat experienced a revival in modern architecture and
See also
- Category:Ziggurat style modern architecture
- Minoan palace
- Mound
- Pyramid
- Stupa
References
Citations
- ISBN 978-1-60606-444-3.
- ^ "Search Entry". www.assyrianlanguages.org. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
- ^ "Search Entry". www.assyrianlanguages.org. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
- ^ "מילון מורפיקס | זקר באנגלית | פירוש זקר בעברית". www.morfix.co.il. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
- ^ see also Akkadian zaqru 'protruding, high', corresponding to Hebrew zaqur (זָקוּר) 'protruding out, upwards'
- ^ "The Ziggurat of Ur". British Museum. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
- ^ a b Crawford 1993, p. 73.
- ^ Crawford 1993, p. 85.
- ^ "Tchogha Zanbil". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved July 15, 2017.
It is the largest ziggurat outside of Mesopotamia and the best preserved of this type of stepped pyramidal monument.
- ^ Matthews, R; Nashli, H. F., eds. (2013). The Neolithisation of Iran: the formation of new societies. Oxford: British Association for Near Eastern Archaeology and Oxbow Books. p. 272.
- ^ Fazeli, H.; Beshkani A.; Markosian A.; Ilkani H.; Young R. L. (2010). "The Neolithic to Chalcolithic Transition in the Qazvin Plain, Iran: Chronology and Subsistence Strategies". Archäologische Mitteilungen aus Iran and Turan (41): 1–17.
- ^ George, Andrew R. (2007). "The Tower of Babel: Archaeology, history, and cuneiform texts" (PDF). Archiv für Orientforschung. 2005/2006 (51): 75–95.
- ^ Aramco World Magazine, March–April 1968, pp. 32–33
- ^ Crawford 1993, p. 75.
- ^ Oppenheim 1977, pp. 112, 326–328.
- ISBN 9780767429160.
- ^ "MS 2063 - The Schoyen Collection". www.schoyencollection.com. Retrieved 2020-07-30.
- ISBN 978-0-429-96199-1. Archivedfrom the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 17 March 2021.
- ^ How the Great Pyramid Was Built By Craig B. Smith
- ISBN 978-1-5267-5352-6.
Sources
- Oppenheim, A. Leo (1977). Ancient Mesopotamia. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-63187-7.
- Tillison, Malachi (1993). Sumer and the Sumerians. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-38850-3.
- ISBN 0-521-38850-3.
Further reading
- Black, J.A.; Green, A. "Ziggurat". In Bienkowski, P.; Millard, A. (eds.). Dictionary of the Ancient Near East. London: British Museum. pp. 327–328.
- Beck, Roger B.; Black, Linda; Krieger, Larry S.; Naylor, Phillip C.; Dahia Ibo Shabaka (1999). World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell. ISBN 0-395-87274-X.
- Busink, T. (1970). "L´origine et évolution de la ziggurat babylonienne". Jaarbericht van het Vooraziatisch-Egyptisch Genootschap Ex Oriente Lux. 21: 91–141.
- Chadwick, R. (November 1992). "Calendars, Ziggurats, and the Stars". The Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies Bulletin. Toronto. 24: 7–24.
- Killick, R.G. "Ziggurat". In Turner, J. (ed.). The Dictionary of Art. Vol. 33. New York & London: Macmillan. pp. 675–676.
- Leick, Gwendolyn (2002). Mesopotamia: The Invention of the City. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-026574-0.
- Lenzen, H.J. (1942). Die Entwicklung der Zikurrat von ihren Anfängen bis zur Zeit der III. Dynastie von Ur. Leipzig.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Roaf, M. (1990). Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamia and the Ancient Near East. New York. pp. 104–107.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Stone, E.C. (1997). "Ziggurat". In Meyers, E.M. (ed.). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East. Vol. 5. New York & Oxford: Oxford. pp. 390–391.