The Ziggurat of Ur, which was dedicated to the moon god Nanna, was a three-stage tower of monolithic masonry made of mud brick. The majestic lower terrace has survived to this day. In the 60s of the XX century it was restored. Initially, the ziggurat rose up with three monumental ledges, laconic in volume and clear in silhouette. On the top of the terraces there was a small temple - “the dwelling of the deity.”
The mass of the lower terrace was painted black with bitumen, the second was lined with burnt reddish brick, the third terrace was whitewashed, and the walls of the temple were perhaps covered on the outside with a layer of blue glazed brick. Obviously, the colors had a symbolic meaning. Three staircases lead to the first terrace, along its front side, meeting at a height of 15 m, where there is a small platform. Two of them are adjacent to the side plane of the platform. The measured rhythm of the steps of the third middle staircase, perpendicular to the body of the ziggurat, then continues in the flights of stairs to the second and third terraces, creating a visual sensation of an endless path to heavenly heights. This upward aspiration is reinforced by the vertical blades, evenly distributed over the surface of the platform, as well as a slight inclination of the side planes.
In plan, the ziggurat has the shape of a rectangle, the sides and back of which are slightly curved outward to give the structure even greater massiveness. Its rectangular plan is in organic connection with the architecture of earlier platform temples. However, the majestic ziggurat at Ur expresses even more clearly the idea of the power of the gods and the deified king. It is no coincidence that the architectural composition of the ziggurat remained unchanged in the culture of Mesopotamia and even Iran for many subsequent centuries: it embodied the fundamental principle of all ancient Eastern despotism.
65. Complexes of the palaces of Sargon II and Ashurbanipal.
The most typical example of Assyrian palace architecture is the palace of the late 8th century. BC. King Sargon II (Shappu-ken). His residence was in the city of Dur Sharruken (modern Khorsabad). The palace, like the entire city, was built according to a clear plan in five years. Between 712 and 705 BC. The palace was built on the edge of the city, on an artificial terrace, fourteen meters high, made of raw brick, lined with stone blocks. Part of the palace, asymmetrically located in the city citadel, protruded beyond the city defensive wall and was also protected by fortress towers that stood at equal distances from each other. The palace complex, the total area of which was ten hectares, included about two hundred rooms - ceremonial, reception, service, residential, utility, distributed according to the Sumerian tradition around open courtyards. The rooms were narrow, long and high. There were also three temples with one ziggurat of seven ledges. Wooden columns with stone bases served as load-bearing supports. The entrances were blocked by arches, and below, on the sides of the passages, two monumental sculptural figures “shedu” were placed - images of the gods - guardians of the palace in the form of lions and bulls with human heads and wings. They are made using the technique of high relief, which turns into a round sculpture on the front parts of the figures. The construction and shape of these sculptures are subordinated to the shape of the stone block and the wall masonry system (on their backs lay the blocks of the next row of masonry of the entrance arches).
The Library of Ashurbanipal is the largest surviving library of the ancient world and generally the oldest of all known libraries. It was compiled over 25 years in the Assyrian capital of Nineveh by order of King Ashurbanipal (VII century BC). It also served as a state archive. After the death of the king, the funds were scattered among various palaces. The part of the library discovered by archaeologists consists of 25,000 clay tablets with cuneiform texts. The discovery of the library in the mid-19th century was of great importance for understanding the cultures of Mesopotamia and for deciphering cuneiform writing.
Subsequently, it was rebuilt more than once and was significantly expanded by the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus.
Story
The construction of the ziggurat was carried out by the third dynasty of Ur, which restored local statehood after the invasions of the Akkadians and Gutians. The ziggurat was intended to serve not only as a temple, but also as a public institution, archive and royal palace. From its top one could contemplate the entire city at a glance.
The ziggurat was a 20-meter high brick building, which was located on platforms of varying widths, with a base of 64 by 46 meters, with three floors. The foundation was made of mud brick, the outer walls were lined with stone slabs.
The entire surface of the building was lined with bricks, which had previously been treated with bitumen.
Three ascents like ladders (a steep central one and two side ones connected at the top) led to the first platform, from where steps led to a brick superstructure where the main sanctuary-temple of the moon god Nannar was located. The upper platform also served the priests for observing the stars. Inside the walls supporting the platforms were many rooms where priests and temple workers lived.
The ziggurat at Ur served as a revered model for the architects of Ancient Mesopotamia. It is possible that either the Etemenniguru ziggurat itself, or the ziggurat in Babylon built on its model, served as a prototype for the Tower of Babel described in the Bible.
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Notes
Literature
- Woolley L. Ur of the Chaldeans. - M.: Publishing House of Oriental Literature, 1961. - 254 p. - (In the footsteps of the disappeared cultures of the East). - 25,000 copies.
- Mitchell T.C. Biblical Archaeology: Documents from the British Museum. Cambridge University Press, 1988. P. 25.
- Leick G. A Dictionary of Ancient Near Eastern Architecture. ISBN 0-415-00240-0. P. 230.
Coordinates: 30°57′45″ n. w. 46°06′11″ E. d. / 30.96250° N. w. 46.10306° E. d. / 30.96250; 46.10306(G) (I)
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Excerpt describing the Ziggurat of Ur
- Very interesting..The Countess exchanged glances with Anna Mikhailovna. Anna Mikhailovna realized that she was being asked to occupy this young man, and, sitting down next to him, began to talk about her father; but just like the countess, he answered her only in monosyllables. The guests were all busy with each other. Les Razoumovsky... ca a ete charmant... Vous etes bien bonne... La comtesse Apraksine... [The Razoumovskys... It was amazing... You are very kind... Countess Apraksina...] was heard from all sides. The Countess got up and went into the hall.
- Marya Dmitrievna? – her voice was heard from the hall.
“She’s the one,” a rough female voice was heard in response, and after that Marya Dmitrievna entered the room.
All the young ladies and even the ladies, with the exception of the oldest ones, stood up. Marya Dmitrievna stopped at the door and, from the height of her corpulent body, holding high her fifty-year-old head with gray curls, looked around at the guests and, as if rolling up, slowly straightened the wide sleeves of her dress. Marya Dmitrievna always spoke Russian.
“Dear birthday girl with the children,” she said in her loud, thick voice, suppressing all other sounds. “What, you old sinner,” she turned to the count, who was kissing her hand, “tea, are you bored in Moscow?” Is there anywhere to run the dogs? What should we do, father, this is how these birds will grow up...” She pointed to the girls. - Whether you want it or not, you have to look for suitors.
- Well, what, my Cossack? (Marya Dmitrievna called Natasha a Cossack) - she said, caressing Natasha with her hand, who approached her hand without fear and cheerfully. - I know that the potion is a girl, but I love her.
She took out pear-shaped yakhon earrings from her huge reticule and, giving them to Natasha, who was beaming and blushing for her birthday, immediately turned away from her and turned to Pierre.
- Eh, eh! kind! “Come here,” she said in a feignedly quiet and thin voice. - Come on, my dear...
And she menacingly rolled up her sleeves even higher.
Pierre approached, naively looking at her through his glasses.
- Come, come, my dear! I was the only one who told your father the truth when he had a chance, but God commands it to you.
She paused. Everyone was silent, waiting for what would happen, and feeling that there was only a preface.
- Good, nothing to say! good boy!... The father is lying on his bed, and he is amusing himself, putting the policeman on a bear. It's a shame, father, it's a shame! It would be better to go to war.
She turned away and offered her hand to the count, who could hardly restrain himself from laughing.
- Well, come to the table, I have tea, is it time? - said Marya Dmitrievna.
The count walked ahead with Marya Dmitrievna; then the countess, who was led by a hussar colonel, the right person with whom Nikolai was supposed to catch up with the regiment. Anna Mikhailovna - with Shinshin. Berg shook hands with Vera. A smiling Julie Karagina went with Nikolai to the table. Behind them came other couples, stretching across the entire hall, and behind them, one by one, were children, tutors and governesses. The waiters began to stir, the chairs rattled, music began to play in the choir, and the guests took their seats. The sounds of the count's home music were replaced by the sounds of knives and forks, the chatter of guests, and the quiet steps of waiters.
At one end of the table the Countess sat at the head. On the right is Marya Dmitrievna, on the left is Anna Mikhailovna and other guests. At the other end sat the count, on the left the hussar colonel, on the right Shinshin and other male guests. On one side of the long table are older young people: Vera next to Berg, Pierre next to Boris; on the other hand - children, tutors and governesses. From behind the crystal, bottles and vases of fruit, the Count looked at his wife and her tall cap with blue ribbons and diligently poured wine for his neighbors, not forgetting himself. The countess also, from behind the pineapples, not forgetting her duties as a housewife, cast significant glances at her husband, whose bald head and face, it seemed to her, were more sharply different from his gray hair in their redness. There was a steady babble on the ladies' end; in the men's room, voices were heard louder and louder, especially the hussar colonel, who ate and drank so much, blushing more and more, that the count was already setting him up as an example to the other guests. Berg, with a gentle smile, spoke to Vera that love is not an earthly, but a heavenly feeling. Boris named his new friend Pierre the guests at the table and exchanged glances with Natasha, who was sitting opposite him. Pierre spoke little, looked at new faces and ate a lot. Starting from two soups, from which he chose a la tortue, [turtle,] and kulebyaki and to hazel grouse, he did not miss a single dish and not a single wine, which the butler mysteriously stuck out in a bottle wrapped in a napkin from behind his neighbor’s shoulder, saying or “drey Madeira", or "Hungarian", or "Rhine wine". He placed the first of the four crystal glasses with the count's monogram that stood in front of each device, and drank with pleasure, looking at the guests with an increasingly pleasant expression. Natasha, sitting opposite him, looked at Boris the way thirteen-year-old girls look at a boy with whom they had just kissed for the first time and with whom they are in love. This same look of hers sometimes turned to Pierre, and under the gaze of this funny, lively girl he wanted to laugh himself, not knowing why.
The first agricultural settlements in Mesopotamia appeared in the 18th-15th centuries. Initially, the inhabitants of these places built small rectangular houses and sanctuaries from raw bricks. This building material became the main material for the cities of Mesopotamia for many centuries. The inhabitants of Mesopotamia also built their temples from clay. The temple, built of raw brick, towered in the center of any Sumerian city. The huts of the inhabitants were located around it, and the entire settlement was surrounded by a fortress wall.
Sumerian temples were built on stone platforms, which later turned into high stepped temple towers - ziggurats. A ziggurat is a tall tower surrounded by protruding terraces and giving the impression of several towers, decreasing in volume ledge by ledge. Ziggurats were built in three or four ledges, or even more - up to seven. This alternation was often emphasized by coloring: for example, a ledge painted black was followed by another of natural brick color, and after that a whitewashed one. The landscaping of the terraces, along with the coloring, added brightness and picturesqueness to the entire structure. The upper tower, to which a wide staircase led, was sometimes crowned with a gilded dome sparkling in the sun.
Ziggurats look like stairs leading to the sky. At the same time, their ascent is gradual and measured. In this they differ sharply from the Egyptian pyramids rapidly soaring into the heavenly heights.
At the top of the ziggurat, the outer walls of which were sometimes covered with blue glazed brick, there was a sanctuary. No people were allowed there, and there was nothing there except a bed and sometimes a gilded table: the sanctuary was the “dwelling of God,” who rested in it at night, sometimes in the company of a chaste woman. At night, priests climbed to the top of the ziggurat for astronomical observations, often related to the calendar dates of agricultural work. It is believed that the signs of the zodiac, astrology, the names of many constellations - all this originates from here, from the tops of the Sumerian ziggurats.
One of the most famous and largest ziggurats of Mesopotamia that has survived to this day is the ziggurat at Ur - an ancient city known as “Ur of the Chaldeans”, or “Ur of the Chaldeans”. According to legend, the legendary biblical forefather Abraham was a native of Ur. This Sumerian city began to play an important role in the 3rd millennium BC.
The peak of Ur's power occurred between 2112 and 2015 BC, when the city was ruled by the kings of the Third Dynasty. The founder of this dynasty, King Urnammu, became famous as a great builder. He did everything possible to ensure that the palaces and temples acquired an appearance corresponding to the power and grandeur of the city.
The patron saint of Ur was the moon god Nanna (the Babylonians called him Sin). In his honor, King Urnammu at the turn of the 22nd-21st centuries BC. built the famous ziggurat, not much different in size from the famous Tower of Babel.
The three-stage ziggurat in Ur has survived to this day better than other similar structures in Mesopotamia. Its huge hill was first explored in the mid-19th century by the British consul in Basra, D.E. Taylor. In the brickwork at the corners of the tower site, Taylor found baked clay cylinders with cuneiform inscriptions telling the history of this structure. These texts dated back to the reign of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon (550s BC). They said that the tower founded by King Urnammu and his son Shulgi remained unfinished. None of the subsequent kings completed the job, and only Nabonidus restored the ziggurat and completed its construction.
By 1933, archaeologists managed to create the final version of the reconstruction of the ziggurat. It was shaped like a three-tiered pyramid. Its base was made of raw brick (inside the masonry, apparently, there were ruins of an older ziggurat from the time of the 1st dynasty of the kings of Ur). The outside of the building was faced with baked bricks held together with bitumen mortar. The surviving cladding reaches a thickness of 2.5 m. The lower tier has dimensions of 60 ? 45 m and reaches 15 m in height. The upper tiers rested on it, each of which was smaller than the lower one, so that they stood, as it were, on extensive terraces with wider passages along the longitudinal walls and narrower ones along the transverse ones. On the upper tier there was a small temple with an altar of the moon god Nanna, in whose name this huge structure was erected.
Three wide and long staircases of one hundred steps each led to the top of the ziggurat on the eastern side, along which ritual processions moved during religious festivals. One staircase was located at right angles to the building, and the other two ran along the walls. Side staircases made it possible to go down to all the terraces on both sides of the main one. The ziggurat terraces had different colors: the lower one was black, the middle one was red, and the upper one was white. In the corners formed by the stairs stood massive towers with flat roofs.
When archaeologists began to draw up a plan and measure the walls of the ziggurat, it suddenly turned out that for some reason the measurements did not match. Only later it was discovered that there was not a single straight line in the entire building! What scientists initially thought were straight lines were actually carefully calculated curves. The walls weren't just slanted inward: the entire line from the top to the ground was slightly convex. And the line from corner to corner in the plan also protrudes noticeably forward, so that if you look along the wall, you see no further than its middle. The ancient architect took advantage of the law of optical illusion, which many centuries later was brilliantly applied by the Greek builders of the Athenian Parthenon. The curvatures are very slight, almost imperceptible, but at the same time quite sufficient to create the impression of power where a straight line, in contrast to the mass of the entire building, would seem weak and even uneven. Knowledge of such subtleties testifies to the high skill of the Sumerian builders.
Indeed, the ziggurat at Ur is a true architectural masterpiece! How much easier it would be to stack brick rectangles on top of each other, but then the building would look ugly and unstable. Instead, the builders carefully calculated the heights of the various floors and angled the walls so that the eye was immediately drawn upward and towards the center of the structure. The sharper lines of the triple staircase emphasize the slope of the walls and, crossing the horizontal planes of the terraces, draw attention to the temple located at the top - the focal point of the entire building.
There are high and narrow slots in the brickwork of the walls. They are located in several rows at equal distances from each other. The slots go deep into the thickness of the walls, made of raw brick. On the outside, where they go through the baked brick lining, the slots are not filled with anything, but are deeper filled with clay shards. These are drainage holes designed to drain the interior of the structure. But how did the dampness penetrate into the foundation of the building? During its construction? Of course, there was enough moisture in the clay mortar on which the raw brick was laid, but during the work, due to the huge construction area, it had to evaporate: by the time the builders began laying the next layer of bricks, the previous one had completely dried out. In addition, the terraces were paved in several layers with baked bricks and bitumen mortar. There was no way water could seep through it and damage the underlying masonry. So the drainage holes were clearly superfluous. Why were they needed?
While studying the ruins of the ziggurat, archaeologists noticed that on each edge of the tower in the brickwork of one of the buttresses there was a deep groove, starting at the top and ending at the very ground with a special device, which in construction technology is called an “apron.” It is a brick slope covered with bitumen for water resistance and designed in such a way that water falling from above flows down silently and without splashing. Therefore, there was water on the terrace! But where?
At the entrance to one of the rooms located at the back wall of the tower, scientists found a large diorite slab with an inscription from the time of King Nabonidus. It reported that the king had restored the building and cleared the Gigpark from the blockage of branches. "Gigparku" was part of a temple ensemble dedicated to the moon goddess. It was located at the southeastern wall of the ziggurat. How did this building end up littered with branches? Trees could also grow in Gigpark itself, but since most of the building was covered, this is unlikely. The only place where the branches could have fallen here is the ziggurat.
This explains the need for drainage holes. The terraces of the stepped tower of King Urnammu were not covered with brickwork - they were covered with earth on which trees grew. This is where the idea of the famous “Hanging Gardens” of Babylon came from! Long gutters in the buttresses were intended to drain rain flows, but at the same time they could also serve to irrigate the terraces. It was due to the need for irrigation that moisture penetrated into the base of the building and was removed through drainage holes. The water used to water the trees seeped through the soil, dampening the unbaked bricks, and if the moisture was not drained away, it could seriously threaten the entire building.
If we imagine these terraces, completely covered with trees, these green hanging gardens, then we will clearly understand where the original idea of the ziggurat as the mountain of God comes from. The sloped walls of the terraces rose up like the slopes of a forested cliff.
The total height of the “Mountain of God”, on the top of which the temple of Nanna stood, exceeded 53 m. During the time of King Nabonidus, the ziggurat was rebuilt; instead of three, it became seven-tiered and was very similar to the Tower of Babel described by Herodotus of the same period. However, it has not survived to this day, so today, to imagine it, it is enough to remember the appearance of the ziggurat in Ur. Despite the fact that the ziggurat has crumbled and suffered from time, its high hill still makes a great impression on tourists today.
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All structures in Mesopotamia were built on a stone platform. Gradually this practice developed into the creation of ziggurats. The most famous of them are in Ur and Babylon. They are a tower, at the base of which there are multi-stage terraces. Due to the gradual reduction of the terraces, visually they can be compared to several towers superimposed on each other. As a rule, the number of tiers was 4, but there were also seven-tiered ziggurats. It was customary to paint each tier in natural colors. In addition, plants were planted around the terraces, which greatly distinguished the structure from the surrounding buildings.
Sometimes the topmost tower was painted gold. At the top of the tower was the entrance to the sanctuary. Naturally, it was closed to the average person. Oddly enough, the interior decoration of the sanctuary was quite poor. The entire furnishings were limited to a bed and a golden table.
Often, astronomical observations were carried out at the top of the tower. Based on them, a forecast of weather changes was developed that affected the economic situation of the state. There is even an assumption that these observations became the beginning of the science of astrology.
Ziggurat at Ur
Etemenniguru is the most famous ziggurat located in Ur and survived to modern times. The city of Ur has been known for a long time. According to legend, Abraham was born here. From 2112 BC Ur reaches the pinnacle of his omnipotence. At this time, King Urnammu began to create the magnificent appearance of the city. According to his idea, a ziggurat is created in honor of God Nanna. Its dimensions are comparable to the tower of Babylon. It has survived to this day in almost unchanged condition. In the 19th century, this place began to be actively studied. The first person to explore the ziggurat was the English scientist Basre Taylor. During the excavations, he found cuneiform writing about the creation of the ziggurat. From the cuneiform writing it turned out that construction ended only under the last Babylonian king Nabonidus. And it was he who ordered the number of tiers to be increased to seven.
For a long time, scientists tried to create the most probable reconstruction of the ziggurat. Finally they succeeded. The tower consisted of three tiers and was a kind of pyramid. The inside of the ziggurat was built of clay, and the outside was lined with baked bricks.
At its base, the ziggurat has a quadrangular shape with sides measuring 60 by 45 meters. The uppermost tiers are smaller in size. Each tier was painted in its own color: white, brown and others. The total height of the ziggurat is 53 meters. Three long staircases were used to ascend to the sanctuary.
Interesting Facts
When scientists carried out calculations, very often the results did not converge. It turned out that the craftsmen deliberately created uneven walls in order to create an imitation of the grandeur and power of the structure. This speaks of the high professionalism of the craftsmen of that time.
Deep, narrow spaces in the wall attract particular attention. Inside they are filled with numerous shards. It turned out that this was a kind of drainage system. For a long time, scientists puzzled over where the water could have gotten into the ziggurat. Archaeologists came to the conclusion that moisture entered the terraces to water the plants growing there.
The Ziggurat at Ur suffered greatly over time. It reached us in a dilapidated state. But what remains of it delights and surprises many tourists.
- DATE 2125-2025 BC. e.
- PERIOD Sumerian
- MATERIAL Clay brick
- BUILT by order of the ruler of Ur-Nammu
- Ziggurats are reminiscent of the biblical story of the Tower of Babel and are located throughout Iraq
More than 5,000 years ago, on the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, there lived a civilization that made extraordinary and decisive discoveries for history - they invented writing and the wheel, laid the foundations of law, medicine, astronomy and architecture, and built the first cities.
The civilization was created by the Sumerians from Mesopotamia, and impressive remains of their city-states survive to this day. They can be seen in the territory of modern Iraq.
Little remains of the first urban civilization, but the best preserved is probably the partially restored large ziggurat in the ancient city of Ur. This is a temple dedicated to the moon god Nanna, and it was built between 2125 and 2025 BC. e. by order of the ruler of Ur-Nammu - reformer, legislator and architect. Each city had several temples, but the most important was the one dedicated to the patron god of the city and connecting heaven and earth. There was the spiritual, economic, administrative and political center of the city, and there were other temples and palaces around it.
sacred mountain
At first, the main temple was built on a hill, accessible by a wide ramp. Over time, others were built on top of one elevation, and stepped towers were obtained, which were called ziggurats, or “sacred mountains.” The great ziggurat at Ur is three-tiered. Although only the first tier has survived to this day, the structure is still amazing.
The height of the ziggurat reached approximately 21 meters, the dimensions of its rectangular base were 60 by 45 meters. Along three huge staircases, people climbed to a wide platform, from where only a select few could go up to the temple - including the ruler, who was also a priest and intermediary between the Sumerian people and countless gods.
The temple is the most important place in the ziggurat; services dedicated to Nanna were held there, gifts and human sacrifices were made. We can only imagine what this temple was like, because it no longer exists. Sir Leonard Woolley, an English archaeologist who excavated the ziggurat in the 1920s, proposed a reconstruction of three tiers. This reconstruction most accurately conveys what this structure was like.
Unlike the great Egyptian pyramids, all ziggurats were built not by slaves, but by Sumerian peasants. They worked on construction sites between the planting season and harvest.
The huge base of the ziggurat is made of millions of clay bricks; clay was the most common building material in these lands. The sun-dried bricks were strong but porous, so a thick layer (2.5 m) of stronger kiln-fired bricks was placed on top of them to provide protection from water. The whole thing was then covered with glazed terracotta tiles.
The ziggurat and the main public buildings around it were considered a closed area in Ure; there were double walls around it. Outside the walls, nearby, stood a large tomb, now called the “Royal Tomb,” where 1,840 burials were found containing astonishingly rich posthumous gifts (weapons, vessels of gold and silver, objects decorated with shells and lapis lazuli) and the remains of slave victims.
Like other Sumerian cities on the sandy plains of Mesopotamia, it stood on a high earthen mound, behind a well-fortified wall that not every enemy could overcome. The wall and the city are no longer there, everything around has changed, the river has changed its course, but the remains of a huge ziggurat still surprise us with the power of Mesopotamian civilization.
