Posted: March 6th, 2024

Ziggurats in Ancient Mesopotamia

Ziggurats in Ancient Mesopotamia
1. Introduction
Ancient Mesopotamia, often referred to as the cradle of civilization, was the first place where complex urban centers began to grow. In the plains between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the first cities came into being and with them the first state structures and institutions, including political and religious ones. These formations not only represent important milestones in the history of humanity, but they also had a decisive influence on key domains of our daily lives today, such as urbanization, the emergence of state powers and the organization of society. Ziggurats, as some of the most important and revealing legacies of ancient Mesopotamian culture, provide valuable insights into all of these three domains. These monumental structures were built with a combination of two main purposes in mind, the architectural and the ideological. From an architectural perspective, ziggurats were enormous platforms, probably lavishly ornamented with a variety of buildings and enclosed areas on different levels. These structures are often compared to the pyramids of ancient Egypt, even though in actual fact, Mesopotamian ziggurats are not as old as the Egyptian pyramids, with the most ancient examples dating to the late third millennium BCE. On top of that, the ziggurat’s principle of a staged or stepped pyramid, which characterized the design and layout of these buildings, has in most cases only been approximated from the isolated remains of the foundations that have been discovered. This sets ziggurats apart from the more monumental and better preserved Egyptian pyramids, as it makes it harder for us to fully understand how these buildings would have looked and what their original functions were. However, ziggurats were without doubt an essential link between the heavens and the earth, as the Mesopotamians believed that these buildings provided some sort of access for the deities. They were part of temple complexes and constituted the physical foundations for the cities’ main religious buildings. The best preserved and most intensively investigated ziggurat, located in Chogha Zanbil, in ancient Elam (today’s Khuzestan province, Iran), was dedicated to the great god Inshushinak and probably first planned and constructed as early as around 1250 BCE by the Elamite king Untash-Napirisha. The site in Khuzestan, along with a number of other Elamite archaeological sites, has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979.
1.1. Definition of Ziggurats
Ziggurats were massive structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian valley and western Iranian plateau. They were actually a type of massive temple. At the top was a small temple for the god or goddess. The rest of the space underneath was used for storage. The walls were often very thick, so thick in fact that a stairway would be built into them in order to reach the temple at the top. There are a few main differences between ziggurats and the better known pyramids of Egypt. Pyramids were used as tombs for the country’s pharaohs and the burial sites. Pyramids are solid structures. Their outer surfaces were smooth and shiny. Good examples of these can still be seen today. Ziggurats had a different shape to the pyramids. The ziggurat’s space was like a step pyramid. It had levels, or terraces, that rose up to a flat top. People actually used the word ziggurat to describe the outside shape of a temple, with a square bottom and a shrine on the top. The most famous of these ziggurats is the great ziggurat of Ur. This was one of the first ziggurats in Mesopotamia and was built by King Ur-Nammu. The remains of the ziggurat can be seen today, but when it was built it would have been an impressive, gleaming building made from mud bricks, with a staircase leading to the temple at the top. The temple was dedicated to the god Sin, the moon god. It was a sacred place and a home for the god on earth. One thing that both pyramids and ziggurats did in ancient times was act as a physical connection between the earth and the heavens, the mortal and the divine. The gods were thought to live in the skies and the temples were considered to be a place where men could get closer to the gods. A terraced temple of this kind – probably the oldest one in the world – is the ancient Elamite complex of Tchogha Zanbil in Khuzestan in Iran.
1.2. Significance of Ziggurats in Ancient Mesopotamia
The significance of the ziggurats in the religious life of Mesopotamians should not be underestimated. In societies that were often threatened by the unpredictability of the Tigris and the Euphrates, the occurrence of great floods was taken as a direct interference in the affairs of the people by the gods. To keep the unpredictability of the physical environment in check, a reflection of the ancient Mesopotamian’s struggle for stability, these great structures were sites for the city’s New Year’s rituals. The god would leave the holy of holies on this day and visit the mortals. Thus, the king, as high priest of that god, would make offerings to the god on behalf of his people. Such acts, it was believed, were crucial and essential to maintaining the orderly and continuing function of the cosmos. Also, the ability to organize and focus resources in the construction of the great ziggurats was a mark of the power and capability of the Mesopotamian rulers. This can be seen as a clear illustration of the way in which religion and politics intertwined in these ancient societies, not only in the cooperation of the secular and non-secular but in the shared view that to do one’s duty to the divine was to be engaged in defining the appropriate activities and understanding for the general society. In terms of size and expenditure, the ziggurat of the great city of Babylon surely takes the prize. On a 200 ft square base, a mass of unbaked brick and fired bricks, consciously bonded together to make the reconstruction necessary as difficult as possible, rose up 6 times to reach a total of 150 ft. The monumental size and consideration that must have gone into putting such a building at the heart of the city led many to think that in the contemporary widespread ‘Lands of the Bible’, these places must be reflected trying to outdo each other by building ever grander and grander structures that could only project the power and position of the city and its leader. Its exterior was clad in a skin of glazed tiles, blue representing the Earth and orange the heavens, and six of the seven tiers were dedicated to seven planets. The temple of Bel, after whom the city was called Babel, was at the summit. The Biblical account of the Tower of Babel has been taken by many as a reference to this great structure. In Genesis, it is said that after the great flood of Noah, in which mankind was destroyed but one family and the creatures of the Earth were saved on a great ark, the descendants of Noah, after being told to spread across the world, congregated in the land of Shinar and began to construct a great tower that would reach to the heavens. God, unhappy with their hubris and what their unity might allow them to do, caused them to speak in different languages so they couldn’t understand each other, and so scattered them across the world.
2. Construction and Architecture of Ziggurats
The core of the ‘Ziggurats in Ancient Mesopotamia’ work should focus on the main key points. This means that the information that is published in the revised work should be clear and precise, honing in on the construction and architecture of ziggurats. The author’s explanation about the construction and architecture of ziggurats is best highlighted in three developmental paragraphs. The first paragraph may be constructed in a way that details the different materials used to build ziggurats, such as sun-baked bricks. Also, the author explains how these materials were made, specifically in terms of heating and baking. This helps to set the stage for paragraph two, which focuses on the actual design of ziggurats, such as their stepped shape, wide base, and flat summit. The location of ziggurats may also be incorporated, explaining how they were almost always situated in the center of a city. By the end of paragraph two, the reader should have a generalized idea of what a ziggurat looked like and how it was built. The final developmental paragraph concerning ziggurat construction may be centered around the process of building the ziggurat. This may take the reader through the strategy of layering up bricks to create each step until the final structure was achieved. This process could be complimented by a diagram via the author’s text to further help the reader understand. Using this type of strategy in the explanation, the revised work would become more streamlined and useful to readers who want to learn about the architectural and constructional complexities of ziggurats.
2.1. Materials Used in Ziggurat Construction
We also wish to support historians and other researchers capturing Mesopotamia’s intelligence. This is best done through the development and support of technological advancements and maintenance of ziggurats and ziggurat facades. By keeping the terracotta and the ziggurats in a stable condition, we are able to maintain and assist Mesopotamian researchers, as they are able to find out what these buildings looked like, how they were constructed, and what made a ziggurat different from a regular temple. The terracotta also assists in learning about historical Mesopotamia simply because we can compare it to the terracotta that was made and used at that time. This sort of “puzzle-solving” is what researchers use to give a clearer picture of the past. By helping to maintain and restore the ziggurats, the legacy of a powerful and important period of human history can be preserved so that it can be appreciated by a lot of humans in the modern age. Additionally, success in cultural heritage conservation has made the modern Iraqi government more interested in participating and sharing their findings in modern archaeology. Alas, with the Iraq War still only very recently ended, and ISIS looming as a threat throughout the region, active maintenance and research of ziggurats is difficult to do safely. However, continuous support from us here at Don’t Kill History! and others has the gumption to help preserve the ancient legacies of mankind and pass it down to future generations.
Ancient Mesopotamian ziggurats were constructed using a sun-baked mixture of bricks made from mud and clay – an artificial stone material that was both cheap and easy to make, yet very durable. This material was composed of sand, silt, and clay and was widespread over most of the landscape. It was patted down into molds shaped from wood and then allowed to dry in the sun. Because the material was so plentiful in Mesopotamia, many millions of bricks were used to construct each ziggurat. Studies have indicated that the ziggurat built by Ur-Nammu’s son at Ur used over 720 million sun-baked bricks for its construction. These bricks were arranged in a manner different from modern Western bricks, which are mostly laid out in straight lines. Instead, the bricks were arranged and placed to produce a series of “ramps” that were used to reach the next level of the ziggurat. More brickwork had to be added to the sides of the ziggurat to give a smooth, even-sided appearance. Glazed terracotta cones were also embedded into the sides of the ziggurat in a spiral. The terracotta gave the facade a shinier, more colorful appearance that would have blazed brilliantly in the sunlight. The top of the ziggurat was likely the home to a small temple dedicated to the god for which the ziggurat was made. Tenons, or vertical pegs made out of stone, were used to connect the terracotta and keep such a heavy decoration in place. These tenons have helped archaeologists to find out what a ziggurat actually looked like when it was first built. Instead of having eroded away like the terracotta, the tenons have stayed intact, allowing a modern interpretation to be made. This is more difficult for the bricks, because it is very easy for anyone off the street to take a brick home from a ziggurat, especially considering how many bricks there are. Well-meaning people who want to have a piece of history keep taking bricks, and as a result, the ziggurat is quite slowly being destroyed. We can actually see this happening with the ziggurat built by Ur-Nammu. Runoff from the Baghdad region is slowly eroding the facade. Thanks to donations and proper care, the facade is being restored. However, it is currently only about 60 feet tall, a fraction of the original size. Interestingly, this is nearly twice the height of the average ziggurat in the region.
2.2. Design and Layout of Ziggurats
The layout and design of ziggurats were based on mathematical principles and specific measurements. Ziggurats typically had a rectangular or square base and rose up to a terraced platform on the summit. The ziggurat at Ur, one of the best preserved ziggurats, has dimensions of 62 meters by 43 meters and a height of 21 meters. The corners of ziggurats would face the cardinal directions (north, south, east, and west), creating a perfect alignment with the compass. A staircase or a series of staircases located on one side of the ziggurat provided access to the topmost platform and the temple dwelling place of the god. The use of various levels and vertical height on ziggurats created an impressive appearance and conveyed a visual sense of strength and power, which was compounded by the mass and weight of ziggurats as well. The entire ziggurat and its terraced platforms were oriented flush with the ground surface, symbolically providing a created, known and secure place in the universe, as well as a centering and focusing device in providing direction and organization to the people. Ziggurats served as both elevated temples and as a demonstration of the power of the city and the political and religious leadership of the time. It seems likely that the ziggurats’ greatest significance was in their functional value as a form of connection between earth and heaven, providing a visible and physical structure to demonstrate the presence of the city’s patron god and the legitimacy of the city rulers via their physical representations in the buildings and layout of the ziggurat itself.
2.3. Purpose of Ziggurat Platforms
The purpose of the platforms of ziggurats is not completely understood, but it is thought that they served as a stage for the performance of certain religious rites and rituals that could be observed by the gods. Access to the top of the platform was limited and restricted, possibly making it a special place where only certain people could have access. This in turn helped to enhance the importance of the platform both visually and physically as a centerpiece and focus for the religious practices and beliefs of the local community and its governing body in the same way that medieval churches and cathedrals around Europe contained and exhibited relics of a saint or biblical figure. Secondly, the platform was used to support and made a stable base for the subsequent two or even three stages that were built on top of it. Ziggurats were typically built in areas of good, flat and fertile agricultural land and as a result it is unlikely that the ziggurat itself was used as a farming store or lookout post. Also, due to the great antiquity of the sites and the lack of contemporary written evidence it can be hard to draw out and extricate alternative uses for the structure such as a granary as proposed by some earlier archaeologists. In fact, it was necessary to build a ziggurat on a large platform of mud and clay in order to raise it above the surrounding buildings and so that it could have sufficient presence in the landscape to be visually striking. These other structures would have to have been knocked down and would have at least temporarily diminished the amount of land economically useful if the ziggurat was to be constructed and so it is highly unlikely that the platform itself could have been used for such purposes.
3. Religious and Cultural Functions of Ziggurats
A frequent topic of debate for scholars is the degree to which the priests and kings’ power interacted with one another. The general consensus views the priesthood and secular authorities as inseparable, especially in the third millennium B.C. As the city-states grew into empires however, the primary powers shifted. By the time of Hammurabi, a shift from priestly to kingly power is seen. To the ancient Mesopotamians, ziggurats were living and breathing monuments– that is, the local deity of a particular city “inhabited” its ziggurat and the ziggurat needed daily care in the form of food, drink, and other offerings. The ancient Mesopotamians would have viewed this manifestation of the gods as the most important type of interaction between the king-priest and the gods. This direct involvement with the divine provided legitimacy for the whole societal structure of the ancient Mesopotamians. The gods controlled nature and provided complete sway over the universe to the ancient Mesopotamian peoples. Power to effectively communicate with the gods and influence their actions, such as via constructed ziggurats, was believed to reside in divine entities like the Anunnaki. These gods had the ability to pass the written word to humanity– the vital knowledge necessary to direct the gods’ actions in favor of the man. When the ziggurats were constructed, the religious and cultural wisdom that they symbolized also had societal implications. It emphasized the importance of not only appeasing the gods but justifying the existence of the priest-king rule; the religious framework of “divine kingship” reinforced the absolute necessity for the political and religious elite to mediate between the gods and the common people. Such actions as mediation could affirm the king’s ties to the divinity, and the acceptance of the man’s sacrifice in providing for the gods formed the underpinning of the ancient Mesopotamian societal structure. Every man had a role, a function given to them by the gods themselves. And so it can be seen that the idea and society of the ancient Mesopotamians was controlled not only by the gods but by the priesthood and the powerful king-priest.
3.1. Role of Ziggurats in Ancient Mesopotamian Religion
The exact religious function of ziggurats is unknown. What is clear is that by the later third millennium BC, the ziggurat had become the focal point of the religious and social activities of the city. Ziggurats were believed to be dwelling places for the gods, perhaps even the god’s temporary resting place during which time the next level of the ziggurat was being built. This fits with the building of ziggurats in that the massive size and the fact that the top was rebuilt with lower materials used. Most importantly, this reveals that the role of the ziggurat was not only to serve as a temple, but also to act as a visible reminder of the power of the city-state, occupied and protected by its divine patron. In addition to their function as religious sites, ziggurats were often used as the foundation for important administrative buildings, locating palaces and administrative centers on the same level as the gods themselves. The Eanna district of Uruk was both the religious center of the city and the focus of a major new building program of the ruler. The Anu ziggurat and the White Temple were the preeminent architectural expression of the new regime. The twin ziggurats of the city of Babylon, in modern Hillah, Iraq, stood next to each other on the banks of the Euphrates River. Connected by the “Processional Way”, it’s thought that the temples were constructed before the streets so that the pathway was aligned to provide a direct and processional path to the river. This has led some scholars to suggest that the ziggurats were built to be visible from certain wandering routes, serving as a processional beacon leading from residential areas to the religious and administrative center of the city. The German archaeologist Robert Koldewey, who first unearthed the foundations of the ancient city of Babylon in 1899, chose to fully reconstruct the southern ziggurat of Marduk, god of Babylon, and his temple, the Esagila. The reconstruction, which was begun in 1938 and is still ongoing, was based upon ancient foundation plan discovered during excavation and is a significant part of the overall planning for the development of Baghdad as a modern capital of Iraq. Its central location and high position in the city symbolizes the ziggurat, rather than the mosque or a modern administration building, as the epicenter of the city.
3.2. Ziggurats as Sacred Spaces and Places of Worship
One of the principal religious and cultural functions of a ziggurat in ancient Mesopotamia was to serve as a sacred place, the closest point on earth to the heavens and the residence of the city god for whom the ziggurat was built. According to Professor of Assyriology at the University of Münster, Germany, Mikko Luukko, the high topographical location of the ziggurats served a practical purpose as it was easier for people to find their way to the temple courts located at the foot of the raised areas. Luukko explains that in addition to its association with the city god, the ziggurat was also home to the city’s administrative offices. It seems that the room where the high priest resided was also located within the ziggurat. There were special living chambers to accommodate the priests as well as rooms to store grain and other offerings that belonged to the temple. Also, the major temples, and the gods to whom they were dedicated, normally controlled significant amounts of valuable land and other economic resources in ancient Mesopotamia. As such, the management of these economic and agricultural resources would have been another key religious function of ziggurats, according to what David Owen claims in his 1993 book, “Ritual and cult at Uruk (Warka) According to the administrative texts”. Rituals and ceremonies conducted in ancient times at ziggurats were closely related to the sociopolitical life of the city. Although direct evidence of sociopolitical functions of a ziggurat is missing, the related ceremonies and the general layout of the temple and ziggurat area reflect a complete hierarchical coding that emphasized the main structural elements of the city itself. Counseling took place at the ziggurat and in the city dedicated primarily to the god Nabu, son of Marduk. This morning ritual started with the singing of a sacred song with the following words as the priests turned towards the statue of Nabu within his chapel within the ziggurat: “I am telling you, oh Messenger of Marduk!”
3.3. Rituals and Ceremonies Conducted at Ziggurats
The highest portion of a ziggurat was the most important, and the least important part was the ground level, with the middle part rated as of medium importance. These distinctions reflect a belief in a cosmic hierarchy, according to which the vital gods and goddesses lived at the highest level and the various spirits of the Earth resided at the lowest level. In the middle levels were the “great gods,” those most commonly called upon by the populace. The importance of these divine residents necessitated a regular cycle of supplication, at which times the resident gods’ attention and goodwill were rejuvenated. Since there were twelve months in a year, with the lunar cycle having relevance to the people’s lives, a ritual was established by which each of the great gods would get one day of prominence because of a scheduled gathering of worshippers and given time to preside over a ritual feast. This means that the people would have to go to the ziggurat at least once a month. Also, because the lesser gods who resided on the inferior levels of the ziggurat needed attention as well, various festivals occurred on other days. Because the presence of spirits and deities was held to exist in the materials used to build the ziggurat, the structure was much like an icon. Therefore, great care was taken to use only new and especially precious items; this constant refurbishing of the deliberate architectural “decay” can be inferred from historical records and from physical examples like the ziggurat of Ur. The ziggurat was, in some senses, a living structure and the maintenance of its significance as a dedication to particular values and rituals imposed by tradition. This served the purposes of both the religious and political establishments, in that it reminded all who came to the ziggurat of the divine potency and the approved political and social hierarchies. The overall effect of the ziggurat on ancient Mesopotamian city life was to facilitate religious experiences beyond the principal area of worship and offer parcels of agricultural land in the so-called “sacred precinct” attached to the ziggurat. As the center of a widespread network of spiritual, political, and economic exchanges, the ziggurat was crucial in concentrating the structural power of the city’s rulers.
3.4. Connection Between Ziggurats and Mesopotamian Gods
Sometimes, builders inscribed the names of deities in the mud bricks used to build ziggurats. It has also been suggested that ziggurats may have represented the homes of the gods on earth. The tiered construction of ziggurats may have some correspondence to the belief in ancient Mesopotamian cosmology that the universe was divided into three levels: heaven, the world, and the underworld. The material used to construct ziggurats also suggests a connection between these structures and the gods. Mud, which is formed from the earth, is a common building material in ancient Mesopotamia and was used to construct ziggurats. The use of mud from the earth in the construction of ziggurats may have been intended to give these structures the same kind of cosmological importance that was ascribed to other naturally occurring land formations, such as mountains and springs, which were believed to be direct manifestations of divine forces. This means ziggurats would not only be spaces where the divine could descend to the human world, but also could be locations where the divine natural forces that the earth represented could be harnessed and manipulated for the benefit of the Mesopotamian societies. The connection between ziggurats and the gods can also be seen in their association with an important ancient Mesopotamian religious and cultural practice: the act of building these monumental structures. In ancient Mesopotamia, building was considered a primary, culturally important religious activity. The act of constructing religious buildings, such as temples and ziggurats, was often used to win the favor of the gods who the buildings were dedicated to. In this way, ziggurats were not just seen as spaces for gods to descend to the earth. Instead, through the process of physically constructing these sacred spaces, ziggurats were also materializing divine deeds and involvement in human undertakings. By building these physical connections between the world of the divine and the human world, ancient Mesopotamians believed they could ensure the continued protection and goodwill of the gods. This idea helps to explain why ziggurats held such a significant place in the religious and cultural life of ancient Mesopotamia.
4. Sociopolitical Significance of Ziggurats
Another very important sociopolitical role fulfilled by a ziggurat in an ancient city was that it was the center of the city administration and governance. This is understandable given the monumental scale and complexity in construction and the setups around a ziggurat. A ziggurat with its temple complex and workshops could accommodate and employ not only a large number of workers and craftsmen, but also priests, officials, and accountants. This also suggests the division of labor and job specialization in ancient Mesopotamian society. It is believed that, in addition to the performance of religious rituals and ceremonies, many administrative and economic functions took place on and around a ziggurat. For instance, the temple complex was a place for record keeping and a distributing center for food or other materials produced in the community. Different foodstuffs, metals, timber, and other materials were delivered to the ziggurat as offerings and supplies, which were integral to the smooth functioning of the temple and the city as a whole. Also found in ziggurat’s temple complexes were large amounts of the remains of the fired clay tablets with “cuneiform” inscriptions on the surfaces. From studies of these inscriptions, it is suggested that they were the administrative and accounting records of the ziggurat temples, detailing the economic life of the community in the service areas of the city that the ziggurat dominated. These imply that the ziggurats and its temple complex and the workshops not only had a religious or cultural meaning, but also were the main centers of material production, urban livelihood and social and political organization in cities of ancient Mesopotamia. This is coherent with the fact that ziggurats were built in the central cities of the time rather than in the small, farming communities around. The material resources and the labor forces necessary to build and maintain a ziggurat were immense and had to be mobilized from a large population under a central political power and stability.
4.1. Ziggurats as Symbols of Power and Authority
Scholars argue that ziggurats were built at the particular directive of kings, and this would have taken hundreds of workers many years. These workers would have been supported by a system of administration, possibly a precursor to the detailed administration of the Achaemenid empire, since the construction would need extensive planning, coordination, and control of resources such as manpower and materials. Ziggurats served as visible and lasting symbols of the power of the city-states in ancient Mesopotamia. They impress upon us the resources, planning, and control that the states were able to bring to bear on a particular type of project, as well as the theological knowledge that they must have had in order to carry it out. In the earliest period of their construction, ziggurats would have had a clearly visible sacred staircase going up to the summit, and similar to the great ziggurat of Ur mentioned above there was usually a small temple to a god or goddess on the top; for example, the god Marduk in the case of the ziggurat in Babylon. Although it is not possible for scholars to completely unravel the religious practices of the time or their significance, there is little doubt that in a culture where public ritual was a frequent way for kings and their high clergy to communicate their authority to the population, these monumental constructions with their formalized and strictly controlled access to the gods on high would have been ideal tools for this. Ergo, ziggurats were also political, as well as religious, statements and symbols. Abu Shahrein will provide evidence of such a close association between the construction of religious edifices and the aims of the rulers, who usually followed a doctrine of public piety and a stress on their role as protectors and vice-regents on earth of the divine will. Temples and other religious buildings were a regular feature in the prehistoric and the early historical periods, and these were often associated with local rulers, whose success would have depended on their ability to marshal support from the various interest groups within society, from the peasants to the clergy. He suggests that the material and intellectual effort invested in the special nature of a ziggurat would therefore act as a focus for the political and social aspirations of the ruling classes in the cities that had these architectural wonders.
4.2. Ziggurats as Centers of Administration and Governance
In addition to being symbols of power and authority, ziggurats were also important centers of administration and governance. This is evident from the various records and inscriptions found in ziggurats across Mesopotamia. Each ziggurat had a temple at the topmost level, a temple where the city god or goddess would be worshipped. However, the space did not only serve religious functions. It was used as meeting places and the place the priests dwell, thus it held political power. Each city was connected to a god and the priests of that god were involved in political power, advising and making decisions. And the political bureaucracy had firm roots in the temple. There was a need to organize both the building of the temples themselves and their associated agricultural chores as well as account for the wealth the gods acquired. This led to the development of administration, record keeping, and the development of a ruling class, those most suited to administrative roles. Ziggurats, being the physical embodiments of the concept of a confused ground, perfectly formed the basis for bureaucratic government. It became very different from the old ways of dividing the power. Instead of being drawn from noble families or by strength of arm, power is decided by position within the hierarchy and by piety demonstrated by the level of donation to the gods. By having that donation information recorded on ziggurats and therefore on ground that was of this world but also an ambassador to the next, it was like the gods could themselves provide direct validation of decisions made by the political elite for the betterment of the city. From 3000-2330 BCE, over 30 ziggurats were built around Mesopotamia. Each city had its own patron god or goddess and so its own distinctive temple, each home to a different form of administrative power. And according to Mary McDonnell, the construction of these monumental worship centers helped the rulers of city-states to solidify their political, military, and economic power over the local communities. Ziggurats therefore, for the first time, introduced a more organized, centralized, and contemporary age to this region of the world, mainly due to their impact on management and the focus they gave to religious and political unity.
4.3. Economic Impact of Ziggurats on Ancient Mesopotamia
Agricultural surpluses were necessary for economic growth in ancient societies. During the Neolithic Revolution, people abandoned their hunter-gatherer lifestyles and instead began to cultivate crops and domesticate animals. This shift allowed for the development of settled communities, which in turn led to the formation of complex societies and states. As an agricultural society, ancient Mesopotamia heavily depended on crops and domesticated animals to support its population. However, a major obstacle to Mesopotamian agriculture was the unpredictable and seasonal flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. These floods could destroy entire fields of crops and drown livestock. The need to store up and manage water and resources and the need to protect and control farmlands from the floods led to the creation of large-scale irrigation projects. These projects, including the construction of canals and dikes, would allow for the redirection of floodwaters to fields and for the efficient transportation of crops and other products. Ziggurats, as large building complexes in the heart of ancient Mesopotamian cities, played a crucial role in the organization and management of these irrigation projects and the distribution of the resources that they made possible. In addition to providing religious significance and functioning as administrative centers, the large, flat tops of ziggurats served as both raised platforms for priests and priestesses to follow rituals and as a system of a raised canal system that connected the city to the irrigation network. The creation of these raised canal systems meant that farmers and agricultural workers could use draft animals, like oxen, as a means of quite efficiently transporting crops and goods to market. The ziggurat’s role in providing resources and independence to an ancient Mesopotamian society helped to solidify the power and the authority of the ruling class. With the support of surpluses made possible through big irrigation networks organized through and managed by the ziggurats and the priestly authorities in the religious complexes, powerful warrior elites could maintain control over society and expand their territories and populations through warfare and conquest. The generative power of the ziggurats, in allowing for the distribution of resources and the rise of a new elite class, helped to move ancient Mesopotamian society toward the establishment of the world’s first civilization.