well that's easy to explain. A ziggurat is a temple were many Sumerians went to pray to their gods.
They where built as temples
The first Ziggurat at Ur was built by King Ur-Nammu, a ruler of the ancient city-state of Ur in Mesopotamia around 2100 BC. He constructed the Great Ziggurat of Ur as a temple dedicated to the moon god Nanna.
The Sumerians built ziggurats primarily as religious structures dedicated to their gods. These massive, terraced temples served as a bridge between the earth and the heavens, reflecting the belief in the divine presence in daily life. Ziggurats also functioned as administrative centers, symbolizing the power and authority of the city-state. Their monumental architecture showcased the Sumerians' engineering skills and their commitment to worship and community.
Ziggurats were built by the ancient Mesopotamians, particularly by the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. These massive stepped structures served as temples dedicated to their gods and were often located in the center of city-states. The ziggurats symbolized the connection between the earth and the divine, functioning as places of worship and ceremonies.
They were called Ziggurats. Each city in Mesopotamia had one.
Ziggurats were built in the center of each city as a religious structure to honor and worship the gods. They were believed to be a connection point between the heavens and the earth, symbolizing the city's link to the divine. Additionally, they served as a focal point for communal and religious activities, as well as administrative functions in ancient Mesopotamian societies.
Ziggurats were temples.Like many ancient people, the ancient Sumerians believed that powerful gods lived in the sky. They built huge structures, called ziggurats, with steps climbing up to the top. Religious ceremonies were held at the very top. People left offerings of food and wine. The priests enjoyed these offerings, as the gods could not eat for themselves.The Ziggurat was built in the center of town. It was the center of daily life. Except for festivals, which, for the most part, were gloomy things, the Ziggurat courtyard was gay and lively. You might see an artist painting, a boy racing by on his way to school, someone milking a cow or making a basket.From the top of the Ziggurat, you could see the protective wall built about the entire town, and over the wall to the farmlands beyond.
Babylon, under the Chaldeans, had a king,Hammerabi,built ziggurats, and had a powerful army
The Code of Hammurabi and ziggurats are associated with the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia. The Code of Hammurabi was a set of laws created by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, while ziggurats were pyramid-like structures built as religious temples in Mesopotamian city-states.
Originally the temples at the center of each city-state were built on a platform. As time passed, these platform temples evolved into temple-towers calledziggurats. The ziggurat was the first major building structure of the Sumerians. Constructed of sun-baked mud bricks, the ziggurats were usually colorfully decorated with glazed fired bricks.
Ziggurats were built high to elevate them closer to the heavens, reflecting the belief that they were sacred spaces connecting the earth with the divine. Their towering structures symbolized a bridge between humans and gods, allowing priests to conduct rituals and ceremonies at a higher spiritual level. Additionally, the height of ziggurats made them more visible in the landscape, reinforcing their significance within the city.
Ziggurats were huge "stepped" structures with, on their summit, far above the ground, a temple. This Temple would have been to the city god. The city ziggurat would easily be the most conspicuous building in the city, towering above any visitors coming to their city. Therefore the ziggurat was not just a religious center but also a center of civic pride. Any visitor could not but see the ziggurat. The ziggurats were built on an immense scale: in the time of Hammurapi they would sometimes reach the height of 150 feet. Around the base there might be more temples or in some case accommodation for priests. Some of the earliest proper ziggurats were built by Ur-Nammu (2112-2095), a late Sumerian king of Ur. These were with three "steps" but later Ziggurats had as many as seven "steps". Similar structures to ziggurats have been discovered at the other side of the world, in Central America. The Aztecs and other people inhabiting the area built huge "stepped" structures for worshipping their gods. These however were some 3000 years after the early Mesopotamian ziggurats.