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Ziggurat
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Infographic of a stepped brick ziggurat with a broad central staircase and a blue temple at its summit. Labels explain mud-brick cores with baked-brick exteriors, terraced platforms for rituals, and stairways or ramps leading to the gods' temple. The ancient brick ziggurat of Choqa Zanbil in Iran rises in stepped layers from a flat, sandy landscape under a blue sky. The Great Ziggurat of Ur in Iraq, a massive ancient brick structure with broad staircases and terraced levels, stands alone in a barren landscape. Ziggurat at Choghā Zanbīl, near Susa, Iran. Mari: ziggurat Hanging Gardens of Babylon
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Infographic of a stepped brick ziggurat with a broad central staircase and a blue temple at its summit. Labels explain mud-brick cores with baked-brick exteriors, terraced platforms for rituals, and stairways or ramps leading to the gods' temple.
Ziggurat architecture and structure infographic Architecture of a stepped brick ziggurat, featuring mud-brick cores, baked-brick exteriors, terraced ritual platforms, and a summit temple.

Ziggurat

stepped tower
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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

Ziggurat, pyramidal stepped tower consisting of several levels, the uppermost of which may have supported a temple. It is one of the most distinctive architectural forms from ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest ziggurats appeared in southern Mesopotamia about 2600 bce, developing from the elevated temple platforms of earlier centuries, and continued to be constructed and renovated for nearly 2,000 years, with examples from about 500 bce. Archaeologists have identified approximately 25 to 30 ziggurats, most of...

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