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ziggurat

ziggurat

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

ziggurat , form of temple common to the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians. The earliest examples date from the end of the 3d millenium BC, the latest from the 6th cent. BC The ziggurat was a pyramidal structure, built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, with a shrine at the summit. The core of the ziggurat was of sun-baked bricks, and the facings were of fired bricks, often glazed in different colors, which are thought to have had cosmological significance. Access to the summit shrine was provided by a series of ramps on one side or by a continuous spiral ramp from base to summit. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven. Notable examples are the ruins at Ur and Khorsabad in Mesopotamia. Similar structures were built by the Mayan people of Central America.

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ziggurat

A Dictionary of the Bible | 1997 | | Copyright

ziggurat A temple built on a series of stages from a square base on which there was a sanctuary. The god was supposed to reside at the top. There were ziggurats at Nineveh, Babylon (built between 1900 and 1600 bce), and Ur, and it is thought that the narrative of the tower of Babel (Gen. 11: 1–9) may have been inspired by a neighbouring ziggurat in Mesopotamia. Jacob's dream of a staircase (Gen. 28: 12–15) may have been triggered by seeing such a building.
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W. R. F. BROWNING. "ziggurat." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

W. R. F. BROWNING. "ziggurat." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-ziggurat.html

W. R. F. BROWNING. "ziggurat." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved May 26, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-ziggurat.html

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ziggurat

A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture | 2000 | | Copyright

ziggurat. Ancient Mesopotamian staged temple-tower of pyramidal form in which each successive stage is smaller than that below it, leaving a terrace all around it. Each stage was connected by formal ramps. The form was first evolved by the Sumerians in what is now southern Iraq c.2600 bc.

Bibliography

Cruickshank (ed.) (1996);
Lloyd & and Müller (1986);
Jane Turner (1996);
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JAMES STEVENS CURL. "ziggurat." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JAMES STEVENS CURL. "ziggurat." A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 26, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O1-ziggurat.html

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ziggurat

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

zig·gu·rat / ˈzigəˌrat/ • n. (in ancient Mesopotamia) a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple. Ziggurats are first attested in the late 3rd millennium bc and probably inspired the biblical story of the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1–9).

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ziggurat

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

ziggurat Religious monument originating in Babylon and Assyria. It was constructed as a truncated, stepped pyramid, rising in diminishing tiers, usually square or rectangular. The shrine at the top was reached by a series of ramps. Ziggurats date from 3000 to 600 bc, and the one at Ur still stands.
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ziggurat

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

ziggurat in ancient Mesopotamia, a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple. Ziggurats are first attested in the late 3rd millennium bc and probably inspired the biblical story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1–9).
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "ziggurat." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 26 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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ziggurat

Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes | 2007 | Copyright

ziggurat •Eurocrat • ziggurat • muskrat •theocrat • jurat • Ballarat • democrat •technocrat • bureaucrat • aristocrat •autocrat • plutocrat • babysat •Comsat • Randstad • Darmstadt •diktat • habitat • Eisenstadt •Kronstadt • cryostat • aerostat •aegrotat • rheostat • haemostat •thermostat • photostat

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ziggurat. (Image by Shauni, GFDL)

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