Ziggurats are temple icons of ancient Mesopotamian architecture, usually constructed of baked clay brick. The ziggurat may be built over hundreds of years. Its main function is as a home to deities such as Inanna or Enlil.
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The ziggurat is only one part of a larger temple complex. It's a center for the living god(s). No tombs or burial sites are found here. Mesopotamian doctors, whose work is largely spiritual and related to that of the priest, associate their practice with a temple or ziggurat.
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The house or Mountain House of a deity typically refers to a ziggurat. The ziggurat symbolizes the theocracy of the region. The god or goddess is seen as the ruler. The monarch and government officials act on behalf of the god.
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In Uruk as early as c. 4000 BCE, the residents want the patronage of Goddess Inanna. They build a luxurious "mountain house" for the Goddess, equipped with priest/esses and staff. Pleased, she moves in, and becomes a tutelary deity of Uruk.
Part of a ziggurat might be below ground level taking advantage of the cool earth on hot arid days. Temple complex buildings might house offices of administration. Bureaucracy has its beginnings in the ziggurats and temples of Sumer.
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Between 4100 - 2900 BCE, every Mesopotamian city has its own ziggurat. Inside, the ziggurat has an open room or court for ritual purposes. As the ziggurat is associated with nourishment, community grain might be stored in special chambers of the building, as found in the Ziggurat of Ur.
Priests and those related to the ziggurat have quarters in the temple complex. The ziggurat is a special home of the God/dess and no human being lives there.
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A temple at the top is dedicated to a specific god, usually the city god or an older deity like the Sky Father. In Uruk, a white temple dedicated to Sky God An / Anu (built c. 3500 BCE) was at top of the ziggurat (built c. 4000 BCE). It's gone now but would have been visible to travelers for a long way, a beacon in the sunlight.
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The number of floors or levels of the ziggurat range from two to seven. Temples or shrines may be represented inside, usually related to the deific sphere of the prime god/dess, such as the sukkal or divine family members.
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Temples are also outside the building in the larger complex. Members of the public are forbidden to enter the ziggurat or certain parts of it.
Because the God or Goddess is considered to dwell in the structure, only priests and especially privileged people can enter the ziggurat or sacred buildings. Even the King has to respect the Gods of the Ziggurat.
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When the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I sacks Babylon and lays waste to temples he incurs the anger of priests of Assur, capital of Assyria. In response he builds a new capital city.
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