Ziggurat; A Symbolic Structure
Subject Areas : Epistemological and methodological researcher of historical research
1 - استادیار دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی شوشتر
Keywords: Iranian, Myth, symbol, gods, Egypt, mesopotamia, Ziggurat, mountain, Indian, Ilamy, Greece,
Abstract :
It has long been known to human being that mountains play an important role in producing water and rain , and that water sources can be found there. Water has been closely associated with the formation of civilizations. For this reason, the starting point for civilizations can be traced in mountains. Moreover, inhabited caves and stony shelters found are all in mountains. It should be kept that the raw material for prehistoric man, i.e. stone, was found in mountains. Mountain in mythology is the place of gods. In Greece the highest mountain was Olympus where Zeus was worshipped. It can be said that the settlement and reproduction of gods in mountains showed the importance of mountains. In Sumer and the south of Mesopotamia, however, there is not a high mountain; therefore, they build their temples mountain-like. Among these was the Tower of Babel built like a mountain. In fact, multi-story temples and pyramids symbolized mountain. This can be supported by the fact that no picture on pottery, seals and mountain cliffs were used for entertainment, as no symbol of writing systems was used without a purpose
