Mesopotamian Gods and Ziggurats

1. Mesopotamian Gods &
Ziggurats
1˚ ESO Social Studies
Fall 2014

2. Ziggurat
 What do you think a ziggurat is?
 Describe what you see in the pictures.

3. ZIGGURAT

4. ZIGGURAT

5. Ziggurats
 Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Akkadians,
and Assyrians for local religions.
 Each Ziggurat was part of a temple complex which included other
buildings.
 Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the
ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top.
 Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired
bricks on the outside.
 The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have
had astrological significance.
 Kings sometimes had their names engraved on these glazed bricks.
 The number of tiers ranged from two to seven.
 It is assumed they had shrines at the top.

6. Ziggurats
 Access to the shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one side of
the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit.
 The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for public worship or
ceremonies.
 They were believed to be dwelling places for the gods and each city had
its own patron god.
 Only priests were permitted on the ziggurat or in the rooms at its base, and
it was their responsibility to care for the gods and attend to their needs.
 Ziggurats are not Egyptian Pyramids.
 According to Herodotus, at the top of each ziggurat was a shrine, although
none of these shrines have survived.

7. Ziggurats
 One practical function of the Ziggurats was a high place on which the
priests could escape rising water that annually flooded the lowlands.
 Another practical function of the ziggurat was for security. Since the shrine
was accessible only by way of three stairways, a small number of guards
could prevent non-priests from spying on the rituals at the shrine on top of
the ziggurat, such as cooking of sacrificial food and burning of carcasses of
sacrificial animals.
 Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex that included a courtyard,
storage rooms, bathrooms, and living quarters, around which a city was
built

8. Ziggurat Review
 Who can tell me something about ziggurats?

9. Ziggurat Review
 What is unusual about this building?

10. Ziggurat Review
 What might it have been like to see a Ziggurat without knowing what they
were or who the Mesopotamians were?

11. Mesopotamian Religion
 Why do you think gods and goddesses are important?
 How do you think religion influences humans and history?
 Have you heard of any Mesopotamian gods and goddesses?

12. Mesopotamian Religion
 Mesopotamian’s had several gods and goddesses.
 Each had a different purpose.

13. Mesopotamian Religion
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_0N7E7nScc

14. Adad or Ishkur
 God of weather, hurricanes,
storms, thunder, and rain.
 The supreme power.

15. Enlil or Ashur
 God of the wind.

16. Ninlil
 Goddess of the air.
 Consort of Enlil.

17. Anu or An
 God of heaven and the sky.
 Lord of constellations.
 Father of gods.

18. Enki or Ea
 God of the Abzu (the holy water
that all water came from).
 God of crafts, water, intelligence,
mischief, and creation.
 Divine ruler of the Earth and all of
it’s inhabitants.

19. Ereshkigal
 Goddess of Irkalla (the
Underworld/Hell).

20. Inanna or Ishtar
 Goddess of fertility, love, war, and
lust.

21. Marduk
 Patron deity of Babylon.
 Became head of the Babylonian
pantheon.

22. Nabu
 God of wisdom and writing.

23. Nanshe
 Goddess of social justice,
prophecy, fertility, and fishing.

24. Nergal
 God of plague, war, and the sun
and it’s destructive capacity.

25. Ninhursag or Mami
 Also known as Belet-Ili, Ki, Ninmah,
Nintu, and Aruru.
 Goddess of the earth.
 Mother goddess.

26. Ninurta
 Champion of the gods.
 The epitome of youthful vigor.
 God of Agriculture.

27. Shamash or Utu
 God of the sun.
 Arbiter of justice.
 Patron of travelers.

28. Sin or Nanna
 God of the moon.

29. Tammuz or Dumuzi
 God of food and vegetation.

30. Mesopotamian Religion
 What are they wearing?
 What are they doing?
 How can you (or can you?) tell they are a god or goddess?

31. Mesopotamian Religion
 Take into consideration that there was a god for many different aspects of
life.
 Imagine that you are an inhabitant of Mesopotamia. What kind of holiday
do you imagine you may have created around the time of current-day
Halloween? Write about a ritual or holiday and specify a god or gods that
you would be worshipping.