The Ziggurat of Ur is a Neo-Sumerian ziggurat in what was the city of Ur near Nasiriyah, in present-day Dhi Qar Province, Iraq. The structure was built during the Early Bronze Age but had crumbled to ruins by the 6th century BC of the Neo-Babylonian period, when it was restored by King Nabonidus.
Partially reconstructed facade and the access staircase of the ziggurat. The actual remains of the Neo-Babylonian structure can be seen at the top.
Drawing of the Ziggurat of Ur, Iraq, by Marjorie V. Duffell for Leonard Woolley, 1937
William Loftus's sketch of his discovery of the ziggurat
U.S. Soldiers from the 17th Fires Brigade make their way up the reconstructed stairs of the Ziggurat of Ur, 2010.
A step pyramid or stepped pyramid is an architectural structure that uses flat platforms, or steps, receding from the ground up, to achieve a completed shape similar to a geometric pyramid. Step pyramids are structures which characterized several cultures throughout history, in several locations throughout the world. These pyramids typically are large and made of several layers of stone. The term refers to pyramids of similar design that emerged separately from one another, as there are no firmly established connections between the different civilizations that built them.
Stepped pyramids in Teotihuacan, Mexico
The 4100-year-old Great Ziggurat of Ur in southern Iraq
Pyramid of Djoser in 2010