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Unfortunately, despite being constructed with sound methods and mathematical precision, the core material of clay and mud-brick led to the demise of nearly every ziggurat in Mesopotamia. Today, only the ziggurats that have been preserved by modern antiquities services have survived, and oftentimes only the parts made of stone. With that said, the ephemeral nature of ziggurat building material was not enough to stop numerous kings from several dynasties from constructing ziggurats and improving their predecessors' techniques.

[[File: Sargon_II.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Reflief of King Sargon II]]

As noted above, the earliest ziggurats were built by the Sumerians in the southern region of Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. At that time, Mesopotamia was essentially divided into several independent and often competing city-states until the Third Dynasty of Ur – named for the home city of the dynasty – was established by Ur-Nammu (ruled ca. 2112-2095 BC). <ref> Mieroop, p. 75</ref> Ur-Nammu unified the region through force, but then set about to legitimize his rule, and that of his dynasty through various measures, one of which was the construction of the Ziggurat of Ur. The ziggurat was dedicated to the moon-god and stood at the center of a massive temple complex that dominated Ur's city. <ref> Frankfort, p. 104</ref> The size of the Ziggurat of Ur was so much more massive than any of its predecessors – its base measures 190 by 130 feet, and although only two levels remain today, scholars believe that there was once the third level. <ref> Frankfort, p. 104</ref> When the Third Dynasty of Ur collapsed, the Sumerians disappeared as a people by assimilating with their other Mesopotamian neighbors, but the importance of ziggurat building continued with other ethnic groups that came to rule Mesopotamia.