White Temple and its ziggurat. Uruk (modern Warka, Iraq). Sumerian. c. 3500–3000 B.C.E. Mud brick.
Rooms for different functions. Cella (highest room) for high class priests and nobles.Very geometric (4 corners of structure facing in cardinal directions) Platform stair stepped up.
Content:
White temple:
- bright white
- high above the town (40 feet tall)
- 17.5 by 22.3 meters
- tri-partite plan
- long rectangular central hall with rooms on either side
- three entrances (none face ramp)
- walk around the temple once exiting the ramp to be able to enter
- turn 90 degrees once entering the temple to face the altar
Inside the White temple:
- north, east and west chambers have staircases
- chambers in middle of northeast room had wooden shelves and (possibly) a solid door
- north end of central hall had a podium (accessible through a staircase)
- north end of central hall had altar with fire-stained surface
Ziggurat
- raised platform with 4 sloping sides
- sides are broad but broken up by recessed bands from top to bottom
- steep stairway from bottom to ramp
- ramp wrapped around the north end
White temple:
- bright white
- high above the town (40 feet tall)
- 17.5 by 22.3 meters
- tri-partite plan
- long rectangular central hall with rooms on either side
- three entrances (none face ramp)
- walk around the temple once exiting the ramp to be able to enter
- turn 90 degrees once entering the temple to face the altar
Inside the White temple:
- north, east and west chambers have staircases
- chambers in middle of northeast room had wooden shelves and (possibly) a solid door
- north end of central hall had a podium (accessible through a staircase)
- north end of central hall had altar with fire-stained surface
Ziggurat
- raised platform with 4 sloping sides
- sides are broad but broken up by recessed bands from top to bottom
- steep stairway from bottom to ramp
- ramp wrapped around the north end
Form:
- Ziggurat is made from mud bricks
- flat top of ziggurat is coated with bitumen (asphalt)
- bitumen overlaid with brick to create protection from water
- temple itself was whitewashed
- Ziggurat is made from mud bricks
- flat top of ziggurat is coated with bitumen (asphalt)
- bitumen overlaid with brick to create protection from water
- temple itself was whitewashed
Context:
- located in Uruk (modern Iraq)
- this is where the first written story is from (where writing first emerged)
- most ziggurats had religious connotation
- located in Uruk (modern Iraq)
- this is where the first written story is from (where writing first emerged)
- most ziggurats had religious connotation
Function:
- Used for both government and religion (theocratic)
- used for rituals and sacrifices (leopard and lion bones)
- fire pit
- altar
- scribes found / tablets found
- signifies centralized authority
- both god and government in one building
- Dedicated to the sky god Anu
- Used for both government and religion (theocratic)
- used for rituals and sacrifices (leopard and lion bones)
- fire pit
- altar
- scribes found / tablets found
- signifies centralized authority
- both god and government in one building
- Dedicated to the sky god Anu
Cross-Cultural Comparisons
Yaxchilán Structure
Templo Mayor, Tenochtitlan
Acropolis
