Bellah G.
asked • 10/29/20how does ziggurats show that religion was important to the sumerians?
what im asking is how does ziggurats a.k.a a large & tall temple, show that religion is important to sumerians.
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1 Expert Answer
Given that constructing any large structure would have required a significant commitment of resources, the fact that the Sumerians saw fit to build so many ziggurats emphasizes how much time, labor, and materials they were willing to devote to building and maintaining their monumental places of worship, as opposed to other projects and priorities.
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Sorita D.
The archaeologists report that the temple’s structure and configuration are very reminiscent of the ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia. Professor Ichiro Kominami, of the University of Kyoto, stated that “it is possible that [Szechwan] was the cradle of a unique ancient Chinese civilization that had close links with those of the Indus and of Mesopotamia.”The Hebrew name of the city, Babel, means “confusion,” while the Sumerian and Akkadian names for it mean “Gate of God.” Both meanings tie Babylon in with its religion. Some scholars believe that the Babylonian god Marduk (Merodach in the Bible) may have been Nimrod deified. The Babylonian religion also acknowledged a number of triads of gods. One such was composed of Sin (the moon god), Shamash (the sun god), and Ishtar (goddess of love and fertility).“Its top shall reach the heavens.” King Nebuchadnezzar is reported to have said, “I raised the summit of the Tower of stages at Etemenanki so that its top rivalled the heavens.” One fragment relates the fall of such a ziggurat in these words: “The building of this temple offended the gods. In a night they threw down what had been built. They scattered them abroad, and made strange their speech. The progress they impeded.”*Why did Sumerians build ziggurats so high? At the top of the ziggurat was a shrine to the god. The priests would perform sacrifices and other rituals here. They built them high because they wanted the shrine to be as close to the heavens as possible.08/28/21