The Ziggurat

 
 
Since very ancient
times , man has
tried to get as
close as possible
to his gods .
 
WHAT THE BIBLE SAY
ABOUT ZIGGURAT?

GENESIS 11
3 They said to each other ,
" Come , let's make bricks and
bake them thoroughly ." They
used brick instead of stone ,
and tar for mortar . 4 Then they
said , " Come , let us build
ourselves a city , with a tower
that reaches to the heavens , so
that we may make a name for
ourselves and not be scattered
over the face of the whole
earth ."
IS KORAN AND BIBLE
HAD THE SAME VIEWS
OVER THIS?

KORAN
28 : 38 . Pharaoh said : " O Chiefs !
no god do I know for you but
myself : therefore , O Haman !
light me a (kiln to bake
bricks ) out of clay , and
build me a lofty palace , that I
may mount up to the god of
Moses : but as far as I am
concerned , I think ( Moses ) is a
liar !" ( Yusuf Ali's Quran
Translation )
 { The Pyramids of Egypt
are Tombs  not Temples }.

THOUGH HUMAN BODIES ARE

ALMOST ALWAYS FOUND
BURIED BENEATH
Here we will trace the
history of the great
Ziggurat of Ur .
Beginning at about
5200 B . C . the first Ur
Ziggurat was built .

It is believed to have
resembled the later
Eridu Ziggurat which was
built in 4100 B . C .
Over the many
thousands of years ,
successive kings added
to the Ziggurat , so
that by the time of
king Ur - Nammu , thirteen
layers of temples had
been added ; with
material from each
previous addition , used
as a platform for the
next ; one on top of the
other .
Ur - Nammu , wishing to
build the greatest
Ziggurat yet built ,
directed that previous
construction be dug
away to form the
platform for his new
ziggurat .
 
Construction Note :
• The core of a Ziggurat is
solid and made of mud brick ,
the sides and tops ( or
terraces ) is made of
waterproof baked brick .

• The Temples on the top of

the Ziggurat had colorful
glazed bricks and tiles .
Construction Note :
• The terraces were often
decorated with trees and
other flora planted in
containers .
• Each king who
built an addition ,
had each and
every brick
stamped with an
inscription
identifying
himself as the
builder of the
addition .
In 1854 the British Consul at Basrah, 
J.E. Taylor began an excavation o f the 
ziggurat area. Taylor found four clay 
cylinders, one at each corner of the 
ziggurat, which identified the site as 
Ur. 

These cylinders were written for the 
Babylonian king Nabonidus who 
reigned from about 555 B.C. to 539 B.C. 
The text on these cylinders revealed 
that the ziggurat had been rebuilt by 
Nabonidus. 
The cylinder reads; 
I am Nabonidus, king of Babylon, patron of Esagila and Ezida, devotee 
of the great gods. E­lugal­galga­sisa, the ziggurat of E­gish­nu­gal in Ur, 
which Ur­Nammu, a former king, built but did not finish it (and) his 
son Shulgi finished its building. On the inscriptions of Ur­Nammu and 
his son Shulgi I read that Ur­Nammu built that ziggurat but did not 
finish it (and) his son Shulgi finished its building. 

Now that ziggurat had become old, and I undertook the construction of 
that ziggurat on the foundations which Ur­Nammu and his son Shulgi 
built, following the original plan with bitumen and baked brick. I 
rebuilt it for Sin, the lord of the gods of heaven and underworld, the 
god of gods, who lives in the great heavens, the lord of E­gish­nu­gal in 
Ur, my lord. 

Sin, lord of the gods, king of the gods of heaven and underworld, god of 
gods, who lives in the great heavens, when you enter with joy into this 
temple may the welfare of Esagila, Ezida and Egishshirgal, the temples 
of your great divinity, be always on your lips. And let the fear of your 
great divinity be in the heart of your people so that they will not sin 
against your great divinity. 

Let their foundations be established as the heavens. As for me, 
Nabonidus, king of Babylon, save me from sin against your great 
divinity, and give me life until distant days. And as for Belshazzar my 
firstborn son, my own child, let the fear of your great divinity be in his 
heart, and may he commit no sin; may he enjoy happiness in life.
 
It cannot be discounted that the Hebrew myth of the Tower of Babel 
was inspired by Nabonidus's additions to the Ur­Nammu Ziggurat, 
rather than the Ziggurat of Eridu, as suggested by David Robl. Upon 
 ZIGGURAT
AND
TOWER OF BABEL
 
The city of
babylon 
babylon
ZIGGURAT
OF
E - TEMEN - AN - KI
 etemenanki 
etemenanki
( House of the platform of Heaven and

The main structure of  

the)  ziggurat was trodden
Earth
clay but there was a layer of bricks on the
outside. The top of the ziggurat was reached by
a broad stairway going up the side. This
stairway was said to be thirty feet wide. Around
the base of the ziggurat was a line of
buildings. These were storerooms, accommodation
for priests and others connected with the
temple.
 50’ 70’ X 80’
20’
20’ 140’ X 140’
20’ 170’ X 170’
20’ 200’ X 200’
350’

260’ X 260’
60’
110’

300’ X 300’