History Of The Ziggurat

Ziggurats were built by the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites, Akkadians, and Assyrians for local religions.  Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex which included other buildings.  The precursors of the ziggurat were raised platforms that date from the Ubaid period during the fourth millennium BCE.  The earliest ziggurats began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period (2900–2350 BCE).  The latest Mesopotamian ziggurats date from the 6th century BCE.  Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside.  The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance.  Kings sometimes had their names engraved on these glazed bricks.  The number of tiers ranged from two to seven.