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69-500: The word ziggurat comes from ziqqurratum (height, pinnacle), in ancient Assyrian. From zaqārum , to be high up. The Ziggurat of Ur is a Neo-Sumerian ziggurat built by King Ur-Nammu , who dedicated it in honor of Nanna/Sîn in approximately the 21st century BC during the Third Dynasty of Ur . Ziggurats were built by ancient Sumerians , Akkadians , Elamites , Eblaites and Babylonians for local religions. Each ziggurat

138-565: A "barbarian" (being unable to speak Greek). Men, women, and even slaves were allowed initiation. To participate in these mysteries one had to swear a vow of secrecy. Four categories of people participated in the Eleusinian Mysteries: The priesthood officiating at the Eleusinian Mysteries and in the sanctuary was divided into several offices with different tasks. Six categories of priests officiated in

207-574: A great sacrifice, and an all-night feast ( pannykhís ). The procession to Eleusis began at Kerameikos (the Athenian cemetery) on the 18th, and from there the people walked to Eleusis, along the Sacred Way (Ἱερὰ Ὁδός, Hierá Hodós ), swinging branches called bacchoi . At a certain spot along the way, they shouted obscenities in commemoration of Iambe (or Baubo ), an old woman who, by cracking dirty jokes, had made Demeter smile as she mourned

276-545: A high place on which priests could escape rising water that annually inundated lowlands and occasionally flooded for hundreds of kilometres. They also offered security; since the shrine was accessible only by way of three stairways, a small number of guards could prevent non-priests from spying on the rituals at the shrine on top of the ziggurat, such as initiation rituals like the Eleusinian mysteries , cooking of sacrificial food and burning of sacrificial animals. Each ziggurat

345-554: A state of civilization; and as the rites are called "initiations," so in very truth we have learned from them the beginnings of life, and have gained the power not only to live happily, but also to die with a better hope. Cicero, Laws II, xiv, 36 The Greater Mysteries took place in Boedromion – the third month of the Attic calendar , falling in late summer around September or October – and lasted ten days. The first act (on

414-539: A temple dedicated to the two Eleusinian goddesses excavated at the Mas Castellar site (Girona, Spain) provided legitimacy for this theory. Ergot fragments were found inside a vase and within the dental calculus (plaque) of a 25-year-old man, providing evidence of ergot being consumed (Juan-Stresserras, 2002). This finding seems to support the hypothesis of ergot as an ingredient of the Eleusinian kykeon . On

483-449: A temple of exquisite proportions. The temple is thought to have been painted and maintained an indigo color, matching the tops of the tiers. It is known that there were three staircases leading to the temple, two of which (side flanked) were thought to have only ascended half the ziggurat's height. According to Herodotus , at the top of each ziggurat was a shrine, although none of these shrines has survived. Functionally, ziggurats offered

552-537: A temple sat, to marvels of mathematics and construction which spanned several terraced stories and were topped with a temple. An example of a simple ziggurat is the White Temple of Uruk , in ancient Sumer . The ziggurat itself is the base on which the White Temple is set. Its purpose is to get the temple closer to the heavens, and provide access from the ground to it via steps. The Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. In fact,

621-437: A terrible drought in which the people suffered and starved, depriving the gods of sacrifice and worship. As a result, Zeus relented and allowed Persephone to return to her mother. According to the myth, during her search Demeter traveled long distances and had many minor adventures along the way. In one she taught the secrets of agriculture to Triptolemus . Finally, by consulting Zeus, Demeter reunited with her daughter and

690-541: A three-layered solid mass of mud brick faced with burnt bricks set in bitumen. The lowest layer corresponds to the original construction of Ur-Nammu, while the two upper layers are part of the Neo-Babylonian restorations. The façade of the lowest level and the monumental staircase were rebuilt under the orders of Saddam Hussein . The rebuilt ziggurat was damaged in the Gulf War in 1991 by small arms fire, and

759-482: Is Pre-Greek, and may be related with the name of the goddess Eileithyia . Her name Ἐλυσία ( Elysia ) in Laconia and Messene probably relates her with the month Eleusinios and Eleusis, but this is debated. The ancient Greek word from which English mystery derives, mystḗrion ( μυστήριον ), means "mystery or secret rite" and is related with the verb myéō ( μυέω ), which means "(I) teach, initiate into

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828-547: Is a Neo-Sumerian ziggurat in what was the city of Ur near Nasiriyah , in present-day Dhi Qar Province , Iraq . The structure was built during the Early Bronze Age (21st century BC) but had crumbled to ruins by the 6th century BC of the Neo-Babylonian period, when it was restored by King Nabonidus . Its remains were excavated in the 1920s and 1930s by Sir Leonard Woolley . Under Saddam Hussein in

897-638: Is a United States government building in Laguna Niguel , California , built between 1968 and 1971. Further examples include The Ziggurat in West Sacramento , California, and the SIS Building in London. Ziggurat of Ur The Ziggurat (or Great Ziggurat ) of Ur ( Sumerian : 𒂍𒋼𒅎𒅍 é -temen-ní-gùru "Etemenniguru", meaning "temple whose foundation creates aura")

966-467: Is located inside the archaeological site of Eleusis . The Ninnion Tablet , found in the same museum, depicts Demeter, followed by Persephone and Iacchus, and then the procession of initiates. Then, Demeter is sitting on the kiste inside the Telesterion, with Persephone holding a torch and introducing the initiates. The initiates each hold a bacchoi. The second row of initiates were led by Iakchos ,

1035-402: Is non-existent ... The likelihood of such a shrine ever being found is remote. Erosion has usually reduced the surviving ziggurats to a fraction of their original height, but textual evidence may yet provide more facts about the purpose of these shrines. In the present state of our knowledge it seems reasonable to adopt as a working hypothesis the suggestion that the ziggurats developed out of

1104-563: Is related with the annual birth of the divine child, and she is connected with Enesidaon (The Earth Shaker), who is the chthonic aspect of Poseidon . At Eleusis inscriptions refer to "the Goddesses" accompanied by the agricultural god Triptolemus (probably son of Ge and Oceanus ), and "the God and the Goddess" ( Persephone and Plouton ) accompanied by Eubuleus who probably led

1173-453: The calathus (open basket). It is widely supposed that the rites inside the Telesterion comprised three elements: Combined, these three elements were known as the aporrheta (unrepeatables); the penalty for divulging them was death. Athenagoras of Athens , Cicero , and other ancient writers cite that it was for this crime (among others) that Diagoras was condemned to death in Athens;

1242-575: The cult of Demeter and Persephone based at the Panhellenic Sanctuary of Eleusis in ancient Greece . They are considered the "most famous of the secret religious rites of ancient Greece". Their basis was a Bronze Age agrarian cult, and there is some evidence that they were derived from the religious practices of the Mycenean period . The Mysteries represented the myth of the abduction of Persephone from her mother Demeter by

1311-503: The last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in the 6th century BCE, after "finding little left but the last stage and nothing to guide him as to the monument's original appearance", had it restored in seven stages rather than three. The remains of the ziggurat were rediscovered by William Loftus in 1850. The first excavations at the site were conducted by John George Taylor (mistakenly credited as "J. E. Taylor") in

1380-656: The 14th of Boedromion) was the bringing of the sacred objects from Eleusis to the Eleusinion , a temple at the base of the Acropolis of Athens . On the 15th of Boedromion, a day called the Gathering ( Agyrmos ), the priests ( hierophantes , those who show the sacred ones) declared the start of the rites ( prorrhesis ), and carried out the sacrifice ( hiereía deúro, hither the victims). The seawards initiates ( halade mystai ) started out in Athens on 16th Boedromion with

1449-602: The 1850s, leading to the identification of the site as Ur. After World War I , preliminary excavations were performed by Reginald Campbell Thompson and Henry Hall . The site was extensively excavated in the 1920s by Sir Leonard Woolley by appointment of the University Museum of the University of Pennsylvania and the British Museum in the period of 1922 to 1934. The remains of the ziggurat consist of

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1518-634: The 1980s, they were encased by a partial reconstruction of the façade and the monumental staircase. The Ziggurat of Ur is the best-preserved of those known from Mesopotamia , besides the ziggurat of Dur Untash ( Chogha Zanbil ). It is one of three well-preserved structures of the Neo-Sumerian city of Ur, along with the Royal Mausolea and the Palace of Ur-Nammu (the E-hursag ). The ziggurat

1587-491: The 19th of Boedromion, initiates entered a great hall called Telesterion ; in the center stood the Palace ( Anaktoron ), built of ruins dating back to the Mycenaean Age, which only the hierophants could enter, where sacred objects were stored. Before mystai could enter the Telesterion, they would recite, "I have fasted, I have drunk the kykeon , I have taken from the kiste (box) and after working it have put it back in

1656-612: The 23rd of Boedromion, the mysteries ended and everyone returned home. In 170 AD, the Temple of Demeter was sacked by the Sarmatians but was rebuilt by Marcus Aurelius . Aurelius was then allowed to become the only lay person ever to enter the anaktoron. As Christianity gained in popularity in the 4th and 5th centuries, Eleusis's prestige began to fade. The last pagan emperor of Rome, Julian , reigned from 361 to 363 after about fifty years of Christian rule. Julian attempted to restore

1725-504: The 4th, 5th and 6th centuries BC, depict Triptolemus holding an ear of corn, sitting on a winged throne or chariot, surrounded by Persephone and Demeter with pine torches. The monumental Protoattic amphora from the middle of the 7th century BC, with the depiction of Medusa's beheading by Perseus and the blinding of Polyphemos by Odysseus and his companions on its neck, is kept in the Archaeological Museum of Eleusis which

1794-548: The Eleusinian Mysteries and was the last emperor to be initiated into them. The closing of the Eleusinian Mysteries in 392 AD by the emperor Theodosius I is reported by Eunapius , a historian and biographer of the Greek philosophers. Eunapius had been initiated by the last legitimate Hierophant , who had been commissioned by the emperor Julian to restore the Mysteries, which had by then fallen into decay. According to Eunapius,

1863-534: The Eleusinian Mysteries became pan-Hellenic , and pilgrims flocked from Greece and beyond to participate. Around 300 BC, the state took over control of the mysteries; they were controlled by two families, the Eumolpidae and the Kerykes . This led to a vast increase in the number of initiates. The only requirements for membership were freedom from "blood guilt", meaning never having committed murder, and not being

1932-414: The Eleusinian Mysteries, a consistent set of rites, ceremonies and experiences that spanned two millennia, came from psychedelic drugs . The name of the town, Eleusis, seems to be pre-Greek, and is likely a counterpart with Elysium and the goddess Eileithyia . Eleusinian Mysteries ( Greek : Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια ) was the name of the mysteries of the city Eleusis . The name of the city Eleusis

2001-581: The Eleusinian Mysteries: The offices of Hierophant, High Priestess, and Dadouchousa priestess were all inherited within the Phileidae or Eumolpidae families, and the Hierophant and the High Priestess were of equal rank. It was the task of the High Priestess to impersonate the roles of the goddesses Demeter and Persephone in the enactment during the mysteries, and at Eleusis events were dated by

2070-596: The Eleusinian rites, likewise display to those who are being admitted to the highest grade at these mysteries, the mighty, and marvellous, and most perfect secret suitable for one initiated into the highest mystic truths: an ear of grain in silence reaped ." There were two Eleusinian Mysteries, the Greater and the Lesser. According to Thomas Taylor , "the dramatic shows of the Lesser Mysteries occultly signified

2139-487: The Mysteries was an all-night feast ( Pannychis ) accompanied by dancing and merriment. This portion of the festivities was open to the public. The dances took place in the Rharian Field , rumored to be the first spot where grain grew. A bull sacrifice also took place late that night or early the next morning. That day (22nd Boedromion), the initiates honoured the dead by pouring libations from special vessels. On

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2208-468: The Mysteries were intended "to elevate man above the human sphere into the divine and to assure his redemption by making him a god and so conferring immortality upon him". Some scholars argued that the Eleusinian cult was a continuation of a Minoan cult, and that Demeter was a poppy goddess who brought the poppy from Crete to Eleusis. Some useful information from the Mycenean period can be taken from

2277-579: The Tower of Babel Stele describing its restoration by Nebuchadnezzar II . According to some historians the design of Egyptian pyramids , especially the stepped designs of the oldest pyramids ( Pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara , 2600 BCE), may have been an evolution from the ziggurats built in Mesopotamia. Others say the Pyramid of Zoser and the earliest Egyptian pyramids may have been derived locally from

2346-426: The agricultural god Triptolemus. The goddess of nature survived in the mysteries where the following words were uttered: "Mighty Potnia bore a great son". Potnia ( Linear B po-ti-ni-ja  : lady or mistress), is a Mycenaean title applied to goddesses, and probably the translation of a similar title of pre-Greek origin. The high point of the celebration was "an ear of grain cut in silence", which represented

2415-612: The bench-shaped mastaba tomb. The shape of the ziggurat experienced a revival in modern architecture and Brutalist architecture starting in the 1970s. The Al Zaqura Building is a government building situated in Baghdad . It serves the office of the prime minister of Iraq . The Babylon Hotel in Baghdad also is inspired by the ziggurat. The Chet Holifield Federal Building is colloquially known as "the Ziggurat" due to its form. It

2484-520: The celebrants washing themselves in the sea at Phaleron . On the 17th, the participants began the Epidauria , a festival for Asklepios named after his main sanctuary at Epidauros . This "festival within a festival" celebrated the healer's arrival at Athens with his daughter Hygieia , and consisted of a procession leading to the Eleusinion, during which the mystai apparently stayed at home,

2553-423: The earlier temples on platforms and that small shrines stood on the highest stages ... Access to the shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for public worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be dwelling places for the gods , and each city had its own patron god. Only priests were permitted on

2622-536: The earth again. In the central foundation document of the mystery, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter line 415, Persephone is said to stay in Hades during winter and return to her mother in the spring of the year: "This was the day [of Persephone's return], at the very beginning of bountiful springtime." Persephone's rebirth is symbolic of the rebirth of all plant life and the symbol of eternity of life that flows from

2691-610: The earth returned to its former verdure and prosperity: the first spring. Zeus, pressed by the cries of the hungry people and by the other deities who also heard their anguish, forced Hades to return Persephone. However, it was a rule of the Fates that whoever consumed food or drink in the Underworld was doomed to spend eternity there. Before Persephone was released to Hermes, who had been sent to retrieve her, Hades tricked her into eating pomegranate seeds (either six or four according to

2760-439: The force of the new life. The idea of immortality did not exist in the mysteries at the beginning, but the initiated believed that they would have a better fate in the underworld. Death remained a reality, but at the same time a new beginning like the plant which grows from the buried seed. A depiction from the old palace of Phaistos is very close to the image of the anodos of Persephone. An armless and legless deity grows out of

2829-464: The generations that spring from each other. However, a scholar has proposed a different version, according to which the four months during which Persephone is with Hades correspond to the dry Greek summer, a period during which plants are threatened with drought. The Eleusinian Mysteries are believed to have ancient origins. Some findings in the temple Eleusinion in Attica suggest that their basis

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2898-570: The ground, and her head turns to a large flower. According to George Mylonas , the lesser mysteries were held "as a rule once a year in the early spring in the month of flowers, the Anthesterion," while "the Greater Mysteries were held once a year and every fourth year they were celebrated with special splendor in what was known as the penteteris . Kerényi concurs with this assessment: "The Lesser Mysteries were held at Agrai in

2967-426: The hymn, Demeter's daughter Persephone (also referred to as Kore , "maiden") was assigned the task of painting all the flowers of the earth. Before completion, she was seized by Hades , the god of the underworld , who took her to his underworld kingdom. Distraught, Demeter searched high and low for her daughter. Because of her distress, and in an effort to coerce Zeus to allow the return of her daughter, she caused

3036-402: The initiated, the rebirth of Persephone symbolized the eternity of life which flows from generation to generation, and they believed that they would have a reward in the afterlife . There are many paintings and pieces of pottery that depict various aspects of the Mysteries. Since the Mysteries involved visions and conjuring of an afterlife, some scholars believe that the power and longevity of

3105-675: The king of the underworld Hades , in a cycle with three phases: the descent (loss), the search , and the ascent , with the main theme being the ascent ( ἄνοδος ) of Persephone and the reunion with her mother. It was a major festival during the Hellenic era , and later spread to Rome . Similar religious rites appear in the agricultural societies of the Near East and in Minoan Crete . The rites, ceremonies, and beliefs were kept secret and consistently preserved from antiquity. For

3174-638: The last Hierophant was a usurper, "the man from Thespiae who held the rank of Father in the mysteries of Mithras ". According to Eunapius, in 396 , during his raiding campaign in Attica , the king of the Goths Alaric I looted the remains of the shrines. According to historian Hans Kloft, despite the destruction of the Eleusinian Mysteries, elements of the cult survived in the Greek countryside. There, local peasants and shepherds partially transferred Demeter's rites and religious duties onto Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki , who gradually became

3243-619: The local patron of agriculture and "heir" to the pagan mother goddess. There are many paintings and pieces of pottery that depict various aspects of the Mysteries. The Eleusinian Relief , from the late 5th century BC, displayed in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens is a representative example. Triptolemus is depicted receiving seeds from Demeter and teaching mankind how to work the fields to grow crops, with Persephone holding her hand over his head to protect him. Vases and other works of relief sculpture, from

3312-635: The loss of her daughter. The procession also shouted "Íakch', O Íakche!", possibly an epithet for Dionysus , or a separate deity Iacchus , son of Persephone or Demeter. Upon reaching Eleusis, there was an all-night vigil ( pannychis ) according to Mylonas and Kerényi . perhaps commemorating Demeter's search for Persephone. At some point, initiates had a special drink ( kykeon ), of barley and pennyroyal , which has led to speculation about its chemicals perhaps having psychotropic effects from ergot (a fungus that grows on barley, containing psychedelic alkaloids similar to LSD). Discovery of fragments of ergot in

3381-403: The miseries of the soul while in subjection to the body, so those of the Greater obscurely intimated, by mystic and splendid visions, the felicity of the soul both here and hereafter, when purified from the defilements of a material nature and constantly elevated to the realities of intellectual [spiritual] vision." According to Plato, "the ultimate design of the Mysteries ... was to lead us back to

3450-698: The month of Anthesterion, our February... The initiates were not even admitted to the epopteia [Greater Mysteries] in the same year, but only in September of the following year." This cycle continued for about two millennia. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, King Celeus is said to have been one of the first people to learn the secret rites and mysteries of her cult. He was also one of her original priests, along with Diocles , Eumolpos , Polyxeinus , and Triptolemus, Celeus' son, who had supposedly learned agriculture from Demeter. Under Peisistratos of Athens,

3519-579: The mysteries", and the noun mýstēs ( μύστης ), which means "one initiated". The word mystikós ( μυστικός ), source of the English mystic , means "connected with the mysteries", or "private, secret" (as in Modern Greek ). The Mysteries are related to a myth concerning Demeter , the goddess of agriculture and fertility as recounted in one of the Homeric Hymns (c. 650 BC). According to

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3588-653: The name of the reigning High Priestess. The outline below is only a capsule summary; much of the concrete information about the Eleusinian Mysteries was never written down. For example, only initiates knew what the kiste , a sacred chest, and the calathus , a lidded basket, contained. Hippolytus of Rome , one of the Church Fathers writing in the early 3rd century AD, discloses in Refutation of All Heresies that "the Athenians, while initiating people into

3657-450: The principles from which we descended, ... a perfect enjoyment of intellectual [spiritual] good." The Lesser Mysteries took place in the month of Anthesterion – the eighth month of the Attic calendar , falling in mid winter around February or March – under the direction of Athens' archon basileus . In order to qualify for initiation, participants would sacrifice a piglet to Demeter and Persephone, and then ritually purify themselves in

3726-444: The river Illisos. Upon completion of the Lesser Mysteries, participants were deemed mystai (initiates) worthy of witnessing the Greater Mysteries. For among the many excellent and indeed divine institutions which your Athens has brought forth and contributed to human life, none, in my opinion, is better than those mysteries. For by their means we have been brought out of our barbarous and savage mode of life and educated and refined to

3795-470: The structure was shaken by explosions. Four bomb craters can be seen nearby, and the walls of the ziggurat are marred by over 400 bullet holes. As of 2008, the site was under the supervision of curator Dief Mohssein Naiif al-Gizzy . Eleusinian mysteries The Eleusinian Mysteries ( Greek : Ἐλευσίνια Μυστήρια , romanized :  Eleusínia Mystḗria ) were initiations held every year for

3864-459: The study of the cult of Despoina (the precursor goddess of Persephone ) and the cult of Eileithyia , who was the goddess of childbirth. The megaron of Despoina at Lycosura is quite similar to the Telesterion of Eleusis, and Demeter is united with the god Poseidon , bearing a daughter, the unnamable Despoina (the mistress). In the cave of Amnisos at Crete , the goddess Eileithyia

3933-429: The telling), which forced her to return to the underworld for some months each year. She was obliged to remain with Hades for six or four months (one month per seed) and lived above ground with her mother for the rest of the year. This left a long period of time when Demeter was unhappy due to Persephone's absence, neglecting to cultivate the earth. When Persephone returned to the surface, Demeter became joyful and cared for

4002-414: The tragic playwright Aeschylus was allegedly tried for revealing secrets of the mysteries in some of his plays, but was acquitted. The ban on divulging the core ritual of the mysteries was thus absolute, which is probably why almost nothing is known about what transpired there. Climax As to the climax of the mysteries, there are two modern theories. Some hold that the priests were the ones to reveal

4071-434: The visions of the holy night, consisting of a fire that represented the possibility of life after death, and various sacred objects. Others hold this explanation to be insufficient to account for the power and longevity of the mysteries, and that the experiences must have been internal and mediated by a powerful psychoactive ingredient contained in the kykeon drink (see Entheogenic theories below). Following this section of

4140-428: The way back from the underworld. The myth was represented in a cycle with three phases: the "descent", the "search", and the "ascent" (Greek anodos ) with contrasted emotions from sorrow to joy which roused the mystae to exultation. The main theme was the ascent of Persephone and the reunion with her mother Demeter. At the beginning of the feast, the priests filled two special vessels and poured them out, one towards

4209-456: The west and the other towards the east. The people looking both to the sky and the earth shouted in a magical rhyme "rain and conceive". In a ritual, a child was initiated from the hearth (the divine fire). The name pais (child) appears in the Mycenean inscriptions, it was the ritual of the "divine child" who originally was Ploutos . In the Homeric hymn the ritual is connected with the myth of

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4278-557: The ziggurat at Babylon was known as Etemenanki , which means "House of the foundation of heaven and earth" in Sumerian . The date of its original construction is unknown, with suggested dates ranging from the fourteenth to the ninth century BC, with textual evidence suggesting it existed in the second millennium. Unfortunately, not much of even the base is left of this massive structure, yet archeological findings and historical accounts put this tower at seven multicolored tiers, topped with

4347-501: The ziggurat or in the rooms at its base, and it was their responsibility to care for the gods and attend to their needs. The priests were very powerful members of Sumerian and Assyro-Babylonian society. One of the best-preserved ziggurats is Chogha Zanbil in western Iran . The Sialk ziggurat, in Kashan , Iran , is the oldest known ziggurat, dating to the early 3rd millennium BCE. Ziggurat designs ranged from simple bases upon which

4416-454: Was a piece in a temple complex that served as an administrative center for the city, and which was a shrine of the moon god Nanna , the patron deity of Ur . The construction of the ziggurat was finished in the 21st century BC by King Shulgi , who, in order to win the allegiance of cities, proclaimed himself a god. During his 48-year reign, the city of Ur grew to be the capital of a state controlling much of Mesopotamia . King Nabonidus ,

4485-646: Was an old agrarian cult. Some practices of the mysteries seem to have been influenced by the religious practices of the Mycenaean period, thus predating the Greek Dark Ages . Excavations showed that a private building existed under the Telesterion in the Mycenean period, and it seems that originally the cult of Demeter was private. In the Homeric Hymn is mentioned the palace of the king Keleos . One line of thought by modern scholars has been that

4554-475: Was built by King Ur-Nammu , who dedicated it in honour of Nanna/Sîn in approximately the 21st century BCE ( short chronology ) during the Third Dynasty of Ur . 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 height is speculative, as only the foundations of the Sumerian ziggurat have survived. The ziggurat

4623-552: Was part of a temple complex that included a courtyard, storage rooms, bathrooms, and living quarters, around which a city spread, as well as a place for the people to worship. It was also a sacred structure. The biblical account of the Tower of Babel has been associated by modern scholars to the massive construction undertakings of the ziggurats of Mesopotamia , and in particular to the ziggurat of Etemenanki in Babylon in light of

4692-463: Was part of a temple complex with other buildings. Before the ziggurats there were raised platforms that date from the Ubaid period during the sixth millennium BCE. The ziggurats began as platforms (usually oval, rectangular or square). The ziggurat was a mastaba -like structure with a flat top. The sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside. Each step

4761-444: Was slightly smaller than the step below it. 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 floors ranged from two to seven. According to archaeologist Harriet Crawford , It is usually assumed that the ziggurats supported a shrine, though the only evidence for this comes from Herodotus , and physical evidence

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