How Did Mesopotamians Build Ziggurats

Through specialization, a large surge in cultural goods such as pottery, art, and architecture is seen across Neolithic societies (Bower, 1990). Mesopotamia is one of the earliest and most defined emergence of civilization, ancient Mesopotamians have contributed clay artwork and seals, decorative knives, and many monumental buildings to the archaeological record (Bower, 1990). Science and

Civilizations are radical states of human society that include a high level of culture, morals, knowledge, manufacturing, and government. Mesopotamia was one of the most astounding civilizations that anyone discovered. The location of this nation fell right in between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, where modern day Iraq is located. It was positioned right along “the fertile crescent”. Because of this, the soil was very rich which caused great agriculture. It was one of the first cultivations to roam the earth. Mesopotamia had many phases, which included the Ubaid, Uruk, Jemdat Nasr, Early Dynastic, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Persian period. Every stage had their own unique trait. Something new and exciting happened for each era. During 4300 BCE, the late Ubaid period in Mesopotamia began. Many events and actions took place during this time. Mesopotamia was an outstanding region and contained many treasures, including pottery, inventions, architecture, and Ziggurats.

This is proof of the Sumerian architectural abilities. The architecture in Mesopotamia are considered to have been contemporary with the founding of the Sumerian cities, but there was some complexity in the architectural design during this Protoliterate period (c. 3400-c. 2900 BC). This is shown in the design of many religious buildings. Typical temples of the Protoliterate period--both the platform type and the type built at ground level--are, however, much more elaborate both in planning and ornament. The interior was decorated with cones sunk into the wall, covered in bronze. Most cities were simple in structure, but the ziggurat was one of the world's first complex architectural structures.

Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt are both cradles of civilization. Both contributed greatly to human development through their achievements, failures, peoples, scientific accomplishments, philosophies, religions, and contributions.

Mesopotamians government had a set of laws. They did not write them down, however. If a citizen broke a rule. Their punishment was based on the crime that they committed. For example, if you killed someone, the government would kill you. Next, Mesopotamia worshipped many gods. This was called polytheism. The builders of Mesopotamia would build ziggurats, or temples, to worship the gods. They would kneel and pray to the gods. They worshipped 7 gods in total.They also built and created their own tools.

the tremendous structures, monumental artwork and over all architecture of the ancient civilizations are an extremely important part of their individual cultures. These monumental works are some of the last remnants of this civilization, proving evidence of their existence. The architecture in each ancient civilization is vastly different, helping to give archaeologists and historians some insight on these people and their history, culture, religious beliefs, wealth, economic capabilities, etc. Two monumental structures that show the unique characteristics of the civilization that created them are the Ancient Egyptian pyramids and the Mesopotamia ziggurats. Both of these ancient civilizations were large and prominent cultures that had many similar features that each great civilization had. But one of the most noteworthy features these two civilizations shared was their astounding architecture. The culture and the

The first civilizations and the rise of empires began with small groups or villages existing with the use of hunting, fishing, and foraging. (William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, World History, vol. 1, 1) Within a few thousand years, people learned how to cultivate food crops and this led to an increase in population. Increased food production resulted in larger communities. The cities began to expand their cultural and religious developments leading to the beginnings of civilization. (Duiker, World History, 1) The first civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia and Egypt during the fourth and third millennia B.C.E and had various components in common. Each of these civilizations was established in a river valley so they were able to provide and produce the agricultural resources needed to survive and uphold the population. (Duiker, World History, 1) Mesopotamia developed in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates River known as “the land between the rivers.” These rivers provided irregular and catastrophic flooding for the city-state. They created an intensive irrigation system to improve their agriculture. The first people to create Mesopotamian civilization were known as the Sumerians. These people were the first city builders and created the major city’s named Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, and Lagash. These cities were built with surrounding walls and defense towers. A six-mile-long wall enclosed the city of Uruk. Mesopotamia lacked

Mesopotamia, although a very fertile area, was not an ideal area for farming due to flash floods, extreme heat, and unpredictable weather. As time progressed villages formed, which later turned into cities led by “lugals” or kings; surpluses in food led to labor specialization and the trading of goods. Ancient Mesopotamia began to flourish into an urban civilization with social classes and the first ever written set of laws, The Code of Hammurabi. The ancient Mesopotamians worshiped many deities or gods, they did so in temples called ziggurats, they also made many advancements such as a writing system and a form of

Around 3500 and 3000 B.C.E., when the Sumerians ruled the southern area of the Mesopotamian region, the ziggurats were religious leaders who ruled the Sumerian people. Due to the fact that the people believed all property and objects belonged to the gods, they relied on the ziggurats to make decisions and uphold their godly duties. Because these priest-like figures were supposedly as close to the gods as any mortal human being could get, they ruled from the top of the temples that included shrines and were considered the powerful superiors of the people. Even though the ziggurats were influential rulers of the Sumerians, the architecture made during ca. 2500-2050 B.C.E. will be considered as the most influential artifacts from this time period.

The Mesopotamian people were the first stable civilization. The Mesopotamian people were polytheistic. Polytheistic means they believe in many gods. “The god can affect the fate of humans and they controlled the natural world” (Tuner, 2016). The Mesopotamian people would be afraid of the god since they had more control over them than what they had on themselves. The Mesopotamian people also followed the law very closely. The Code of Hammurabi which was named after a prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers…(King, 2008). The Mesopotamian people also looked up to their kings like Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh talked them about friendships and life. Gilgamesh and Enkidu were best of friends and equals. It was the death of Enkidu when Gilgamesh felt his heart breaking and was willing to do anything to bring his dear friend back to life. When Gilgamesh visits Shiduri she basically tells him to enjoy his life because no one knows when they are going to die. It better living your life being happy and being around the

The first monument in Mesopotamia, The Ziggurat at UR, is a temple that was built around 2100 B.C.E. by the King Ur-Nammu of the Third Dynasty of Ur. This monument was built for the moon god Nanna, he is the divine patron for the city. This structure is significant because it would have been the highest point in the city. This would be the place that the citizen would come to and bring their surplus and would then receive their food allotments. They would come and store harvested crops in honor of the Nanna.

Through the archeological discoveries, we can infer some details into the lives of the people who originated in the cities of Mesopotamia. The root word of Mesopotamia refers to ‘between rivers’, this infers to the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, figure 1. Because the environment influenced people to settle, we can see a change in their political, social, and economic structure as they begin to form a complex society. This is the period where we see a complex engineering system as people started to develop canals and other technologies for a more efficient agricultural development. An early culture to settle in the lowlands of Mesopotamia were the Hassuna culture, their civilization were characterized by “small settlements with a few hundred inhabitants, who lived in rectangular houses with several rooms” (Feuerbach, 2015). Another culture to settle in this area were the Samarran culture; even

Mesopotamia is the region between the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates, now making up modern Iraq. It is considered to be the first civilization, often referred to as the “Cradle of Life.” Mesopotamia is credited for developing the first written language, religion, agriculture, and investing the wheel (Cole, Sims, Coffin, and Stacey pg8). Many cultures adopted these developments that are still in use today.

Mesopotamia was the world's first civilization--the first time people settled down to live together in one place. They didn't have to rely only on hunting and gathering to get food because they knew how to farm and could save up food for the winter. Since they had so much extra time now (the time they used to spend hunting animals and gathering plants), this allowed them to begin creating objects and ideas to help them live a little easier.

Ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt are two of the earliest and greatest civilizations to ever exist. They both show the transition from a Paleolithic society into a settled civilization. Nevertheless, Mesopotamia has been a worldwide centre of awe and amazement . The first written language created by the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia became the first means of of written communication for humankind.The spread of agriculture created a new way of life and evolved man from nomadic hunters into civilized people . Most important of all, the creation of the wheel opened up a new way for transportation to be carried out. Between both civilizations, it ancient Mesopotamia left the greatest impact on posterity.