Ziggurats in ancient Mesopotamia served as temples for worship. They were built in the shape of mountains and were believed to be a link between the gods and humans.
The ziggurat’s design was distinctive, like a mountain composed of steps, with each level receding as it rose higher. The core was solid and robust, made of sun-baked mud bricks, and the outside levels were finished with burned bricks that gleamed in the sunlight. These bricks were occasionally glazed in different colors—rich blues, reds, and yellows—perhaps to mirror the stars or the sky that the ziggurat yearned for.
The Ziggurat of Ur, for example, was a high building constructed in approximately 2100 BCE by King Ur-Nammu. It was dedicated to Nanna, the moon deity, and the people of Ur saw it as Nanna’s watchful eye on their city.
However, not everyone had equal access to these heights. The ziggurats were sacred ground, and ordinary citizens would congregate beneath them, knowing that their prayers and offerings would be taken up by the priests. Only the most venerated, priests and monarchs, were allowed to enter—a zone where they served as middlemen between the people and the gods. The rest of the population would look up from below, hoping that their offerings would reach the shrine and, through the priests, be heard by the divine.