Question

Uruk had walls 20 ft high and 6 miles in length surrounding the city and in the city's center, visible for miles around, was a stepped pyramid (__), topped with a temple.

a) Ziggurat
b) Mausoleum
c) Obelisk
d) Colosseum

Answer 1

The stepped pyramid surrounded by the 6-mile wall of Uruk is a ziggurat, specifically the Anu Ziggurat with the White Temple atop it, dedicated to the sky god Anu.

Step-by-step explanation:

The stepped pyramid mentioned in the context of the city of Uruk is a ziggurat. This is a terraced step pyramid with receding stories or levels, featuring a temple or shrine at the summit. The Anu Ziggurat in Uruk specifically had the White Temple built on top of it, dedicated to the sky god Anu, dating back to the late 4th millennium BCE. Ziggurats like the one in Uruk were significant both visually and symbolically, representing the connection to the deity honored there and the deity's political authority in the theocratic system.

In Mesopotamian architecture, the ziggurat was a remarkable achievement, serving not only as a focal point of the city but also as a religious and administrative center. The construction of these massive structures used mud-bricks due to the scarcity of stone in the Near East. One of the most renowned ziggurats is the Ziggurat of Ur, built by King Ur-Nammu, which stood nearly 30 meters tall and was used as a shrine to the moon god Nanna as well as for city administration.