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[[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 a variety of 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 the city of Ur. <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 a 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.

After the decline of the Sumerians, the cultural focus of Mesopotamia shifted northward to the region around the city of Babylon, which was known as Babylonia. It was in and around Babylon where kings of the Amorite and Kassite ethnic groups built their ziggurats to honor their gods and to express their political legitimacy to the people. One of the more impressive ziggurats was built by a Kassite king named Kurigalzu I (reigned sometime in the early fourteenth century BC) in a newly founded city. The name of the city was Dur-Kurigalzu (“Kurigalzuville”), which was located in the northern area of Babylonia. The ziggurat formed the center piece in a large palace and temple complex, much like its predecessors in southern Mesopotamia. <ref> Mieroop, p. 176</ref> The construction of the city of Dur-Kurigalzu on virgin soil and the accompanying ziggurat were meant to appease the Babylonian god Marduk, no doubt, but also to legitimize the reign of the enigmatic and poorly documented Kurigalzu I. As time went on in ancient Mesopotamia, the political importance of ziggurats continued to increase – kings continued to build bigger and more impressive ziggurats as testaments to their greatness.

The culmination of centuries of ziggurat construction took place during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (ruled 604-562 BC). Nebuchadnezar II is known to many as a “bad guy” from the Old Testament book of Daniel, but he was actually a very active king who led a new dynasty, referred to as the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, to prominence in the Near East. The crowning achievement of Nebuchadnezzar II’s reign was the construction of the Etemenanki Ziggurat in Babylon. Etemenanki is translated from ancient Akkadian as the “House of the Frontier between Heaven and Earth,”<ref> Kuhrt, p. 593</ref> which again demonstrates the connection between ziggurats and the heavens. The ziggurat was dedicated to Marduk, who was the patron god of the city of Babylon. <ref> Frankfort, p. 203</ref>

===Conclusion===

Ziggurats enjoyed a long history and an important place in ancient Mesopotamian religion and culture. From their inception in southern Mesopotamia during the Uruk Period, until the collapse of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty in the sixth century BC, ziggurats provided an important focal point for the religious activities of the various ethnic groups of Mesopotamia. Ziggurats were also vital in the early urbanization of Mesopotamia as communities formed around the important religious buildings. Perhaps just as important as the religious aspects, and possibly even more so, was the political legitimacy and gravitas a king or a dynasty could gain by building a ziggurat.

===References===

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