EARTH ARCHITECTURE

One of the most intriguing monuments still standing in Iraq is the Ziggurat at Ur. A ziggurat is a colossal stepped platform; and it is thought that ziggurats supported temples at their tops. These ziggurats were built during the third millennium B.C. Archaeologists don’t know for certain what the purpose of these ziggurats was; however, it is speculated that they had some connection with religion. There are several ziggurats visible throughout Iraq, the most famous of which is the ziggurat at Ur in the south of Iraq. The core of the ziggurat at Ur was constructed using mud bricks which were then covered with baked bricks. The mud bricks were made out of mud and reed; the reed was pressed into moulds that had been left to dry in the sun. Each brick measured around 25 x 16 x 7 centimeters and weighed around 4.5 kilograms.

The Ctesiphon arch is considered as one of the many architectural wonders of Mesopotamia. This arch was built in 400 A.D. by the Parthian Persians to be the largest single-span vault of un-reinforced brickwork in the world. The arch has a span of seventy-five feet and is about 110 feet high.It stands in the ancient city of Ctesiphon. Ctesiphon is a historically significant city that lies on the east bank of the Tigris River just south of Baghdad. The Ctesiphon arch is a pointed ovoid peculiar to Mesopotamian architecture; it was built using unfired, thin mud bricks which were laid on a slant.