“ Ebla in the Third Millennium B.C.” (October 2002)ĭepartment of Ancient Near Eastern Art. “ Uruk: The First City.” (October 2003)ĭepartment of Ancient Near Eastern Art. “ Ur: The Royal Graves.” (October 2003)ĭepartment of Ancient Near Eastern Art. “ The Ubaid Period (5500–4000 B.C.).” (October 2003)ĭepartment of Ancient Near Eastern Art. “ The Halaf Period (6500–5500 B.C.).” (October 2003)ĭepartment of Ancient Near Eastern Art. “ The Hittites.” (October 2002)ĭepartment of Ancient Near Eastern Art. Additional Essays by Department of Ancient Near Eastern Artĭepartment of Ancient Near Eastern Art. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1982. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. “Ur: The Ziggurat.” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. The Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities has since restored its lower stages.ĭepartment of Ancient Near Eastern Art. Although the upper stages had not survived, Woolley used ancient descriptions and representations of ziggurats to reconstruct Ur-Nammu’s building. In the autumn of 1923, the excavation team began to clear away the rubble around the ziggurat. By 1922, an excavation jointly sponsored by the British Museum and the University of Pennsylvania Museum under the direction of C. However, their tradition survived through such stories as the Tower of Babel. Gradually the ziggurats decayed and the bricks were robbed for other buildings. 500 B.C.), when new religious ideas emerged. Ziggurats continued to be built throughout Mesopotamia until Persian times (ca. In the tradition of earlier kings, Ur-Nammu built many temples, including ziggurats at Ur, Eridu, Uruk, and Nippur. Around 2100 B.C., southern Mesopotamian cities came under the control of Ur-Nammu, ruler of the city of Ur. While the actual significance of these structures is unknown, Mesopotamian gods were often linked with the eastern mountains, and ziggurats may have represented their lofty homes. These are called ziggurats in cuneiform texts. By the mid-third millennium B.C., some temples were being built on huge stepped platforms. It is presumed that they originally supported important buildings, especially temples. Can you think of any structures that perform similar functions in modern America? Explain.At the end of the fourth millennium B.C., enormous mud-brick platforms had been built at a number of sites in Mesopotamia.What was the significance of the Ziggurat in Sumerian culture?.Show your math – and be creative in following these directions to build the MOST impressive one in your class!Īfter all, a impressive ziggurat will inspire your followers – and unimpressive one will result in a complete collapse of your society… In Writing/For DiscussionĮach group member must provide the dimensions of their model ziggurat in inches and answer the accompanying questions in paragraph form: Make sure it matches the approximate proportions of the Great Ziggurat – 64 m (210 ft) in length, 45 m (148 ft) in width, and 30 m (98 ft) in height. You should work in cooperation with your peers, in a group the size of your choosing. Using supplies found in your classroom (and approved by your teacher) – build a scale model of the Great Ziggurat of Ur. The god Nanna, god of the moon, who granted heavenly power to the king – and worshiped in the Great Ziggurat of Ur – is seen above in the form of a crescent moon. The king of Ur is seated on his throne, bestowing power on governors who will rule beneath him. During his 48-year reign, the city of Ur grew to be the capital of a state controlling much of Mesopotamia. The construction of the ziggurat was finished in the 21st century BCE by King Shulgi, who, in order to win the allegiance of cities, proclaimed himself a god. The ziggurat served as an administrative center for the city, and which was a shrine of the moon god Nanna, the patron deity of Ur. Computer reconstruction of Ur-Nammu’s ziggurat. This construction technique is relatively effective in a drier climate over the short term, but has resulted in the ziggurat’s collapse over many millennia of rain. Like most ziggurats, the Great Ziggurat was made by stacking sun-baked mud-bricks and using additional mud to seal them together. The height measurement is only speculative, as just the foundations of the Sumerian ziggurat have survived. The massive step pyramid measured 64 m (210 ft) in length, 45 m (148 ft) in width and over 30 m (98 ft) in height. The actual remains of the Neo-Babylonian structure can be seen at the top. Construction started circa 2050-2030 BC and was completed circa 2030-1980 BC Partially reconstructed facade and the access staircase of the ziggurat. The Great Ziggurat of Ur (Sumerian: □□□□ or “Etemenniguru,” meaning “temple whose foundation creates aura”) is a Sumerian ziggurat – or step pyramid – built in the city of Ur in the 21st Century BCE – or about 4000 years ago.
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