The amazing structures in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt truly showed their values ​​in society and their outstanding capabilities as a civilization. In ancient Mesopotamia, ziggurats were built by kings to show their devotion to the city-state's god. A ziggurat is a huge rectangular stepped tower that is sometimes surrounded by a temple. They were built in ancient Mesopotamia, starting in 2000 BC (Cape). One of the most famous ziggurats is the Ziggurat of Ur built in the Sumerian city-state of Ur. The Ziggurat of Ur and the temple at the top were built around 2100 BC by King Ur-Nammu. He reigned for eighteen years, he was the king of the Third Dynasty of Ur. The ziggurat was also built with the help of Ur-Nammu's son Shulgi. He completed the construction of the ziggurat, which was one of his greatest achievements, when his father, Ur-Nammu, died (Head). An equally important structure was the pyramid. They were built in ancient Egypt to serve as a tomb for the pharaoh. A pyramid is a monumental structure with a square or triangular base and sloping sides that meet at a point at the top. Most of the pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom of Egypt. One of these pyramids was the Great Pyramid of Giza built in the Giza Necropolis. A necropolis is a large, cemetery-like area designed with elaborate tomb monuments. Pharaoh Kufu began building the Great Pyramid of Giza around 2550 BC and completed this pyramid around 2560 BC Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty, preceded by Sneferu, and reigned for approximately twenty-three years. Hemiunu was the vizier during the reign of Khufu. As vizier, he was one of the most important members of the court and was responsible for all royal works. He served as the architect for the Great Pyramid, so he designed, planned and developed this pyramid from scratch. While both the ziggurats of Mesopotamia and the pyramids of Egypt attest to the incredible wealth, power, and intelligence present in ancient societies, they were built and used for very different reasons. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians had very different societies that were clearly visible in their architecture. The Mesopotamians were polytheists. They worshiped several major gods and thousands of minor gods while each Mesopotamian city had its own patron god or goddess (Woolley). The king and nobility constituted the highest class, followed by the priests and priestesses. Next was the upper class, the lower class, and then the slaves. The Sumerian government was ruled by kings who ruled only a single city, rather than the entire civilization. This government was a combination of monarchy and democracy; composed of a king and nobles who made laws, declared war and decided how to honor the gods. Furthermore, there was an assembly of wise men, elected by the people, who could prevail over the king. Each city-state had its own king and its own assembly. Similar to that of Mesopotamia, the religion of ancient Egypt was a complex system of polytheistic beliefs and rituals that were an integral part of their society. It centered on the gods related to the forces and elements of nature. Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, Upper and Lower Egypt. Lower Egypt lies to the north and is where the Nile Delta flows into the Mediterranean Sea. While Upper Egypt lies to the south, from the Libyan Desert to just beyond Nubia. The pharaoh ruled all this land and stood at the top of the social hierarchy, followed by government officials, nobles and priests, soldiers, scribes, merchants, artisans and farmers, and slaves. Their government was a theocratic monarchy. The Pharaohhe ruled by mandate of the gods and was supposed to represent the will of the gods through passed laws and approved policies. They owned all the land, made laws, collected taxes, and defended Egypt from foreigners. Although Egypt and Sumer were different from each other, they both represented aspects of their societies through architecture. The Great Pyramid of Giza or Pyramid of Khufu is a huge piece of architecture that still amazes scholars today in relation to its construction methods. It was completed during the 4th Dynasty (2560 BC) in the Giza Necropolis, located in modern Cairo, Egypt. The Great Pyramid of Giza has more than five million limestone blocks that were cast with agglomerated limestone concrete. At its largest point it was 481.4 feet tall and 755.55 feet wide. These pyramids were built for the pharaohs who reigned at the time, to serve as their tombs when they died. Furthermore, Egyptian pharaohs were expected to become gods in the afterlife. To prepare for the next world they built huge pyramid tombs for themselves. These were filled with all the things any ruler would need to guide and support him in the afterlife. The pyramid was built by moving huge stones from a quarry, dragging and lifting them into place. Building a pyramid required thousands of workers (20,000 to 30,000). The Egyptians built a giant ramp against each pyramid and workers used this ramp to lift the stones and used levers that helped position the stones. They transported the stone by boat from the quarry to the construction site via canals and also used sleds. A sleigh was unearthed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Egyptian expedition. It was made around 1961-1917 BC during the Middle Kingdom under Senwosret I. The sleigh was used to build the pyramids and shows the tools used during this period. Sleds were first used in the Old Kingdom to build pyramids, such as the Pyramid of Giza, and used during the Middle Kingdom, as demonstrated by this sled. The stone blocks rested on sleds (like modern sleds), and their skates were designed to run on wet mud spread on tracks constructed of wooden frames. A wooden lever beam was also used which allowed the user to lift heavy weights attached to the shorter arm with relatively little force by moving the longer lever arm. Stones were transported from one layer of blocks to the next via ramps that became taller as the building increased in height. To build the pyramids they needed precise plans, sophisticated infrastructure, production of adequate material, and finding sites to ship the material and build the pyramid. All these tasks required an experienced and well-organized team. They had a leader whose job was to design the pyramid and give orders to the workers. The most common type of worker out of three, who were miners, stone haulers and builders, were haulers. The hauler's job was to transport the stone from the quarry or port using sleds. Another popular job was scribes. They recorded the materials used, the days it took to build certain parts of the pyramid, and wrote down the pharaoh's orders. The construction techniques of the Great Pyramid of Giza are still quite unknown today. But scholars are aware that this pyramid required enormous planning, skilled workers and complicated techniques to be the spectacle it is today. The Great Ziggurat of Ur has a rather simple design, but required extensive preparation and meticulous construction procedures. The ziggurat and the temple on its summit were built around 2100 BCin the city of Ur near Nasiriyah, in present-day Iraq, by the king of the time, Ur-Nammu. Kings built ziggurats to demonstrate their religious dedication to the community and the gods. The entire building was made of sun-dried bricks in all internal areas, with fire-dried vitrified bricks facing outwards and each step was slightly smaller than the step below (Head). A ziggurat would have two to seven levels and a series of level stairs led to the top of the ziggurat which only priests could access. The mud bricks were stacked using wet mud and bitumen to seal them together. Bitumen is a black liquid material that is obtained naturally or as a residue from the distillation of petroleum. It is similar to modern asphalt. If the bricks had been stacked with only mud between them, they would not have lasted long. They used tools such as copper axes, chisels, knife blades, early hammers and ax heads. They also used the tin material for saws, goads, axes and daggers. Goads were nailed sticks traditionally used to drive livestock, but were also used to stack bricks in the construction of ziggurats. Ziggurats began as a platform usually oval, rectangular, or square. It began to resemble a mastaba-like structure with a flat top as it was being built. Mastaba refers to a type of Ancient Egyptian tomb that is rectangular in shape with sloping sides and a flat roof. Mastabas were built around 3000 BC, while ziggurats were built around 2000 BC, so mastabas were created first. When fully constructed, the Ziggurat of Ur measured 210 feet long, 150 feet wide, and over 100 feet high. The ziggurats built in Mesopotamia truly displayed their capabilities as builders and as a society, as well as their cultural values. The ancient Egyptians built pyramids as tombs for the afterlife of their pharaohs and queens, while the ancient Mesopotamians built ziggurats to honor their local god. The Egyptians were one of the first civilizations to believe in an afterlife. They believed that their soul, or ka, enjoyed eternal life after the death of their physical body. They had to pass a test, called the Judgment of Osiris, which allowed them to live comfortably in the underworld or be brutally eaten by a monster. To successfully pass the test the Book of the Dead was needed. It contained spells that allowed the person to successfully enter the western paradise of Osiris, or the underworld. The Book of the Dead could only be purchased by royalty or wealthy nobles due to its high cost. Along with this book, pharaohs and queens were buried with their most precious possessions in their tombs. This is because the ka could enjoy these items in the afterlife. Each pyramid was built for a specific pharaoh or queen. The Great Pyramid of Giza was built as a tomb for King Khufu. The king's chamber was located in the center of the pyramid with the queen's chamber just below it, accessible via ascending passages. In the tunnel leading to the king's chamber was the great gallery, large in height but rather small in width. All efforts to build this pyramid were aimed at creating a great tomb for the king who, as a mediator between the gods and the people, was thought to deserve the most beautiful of tombs. The culture that produced this monument would have considered it a tomb or eternal home for the king. Ziggurats in Mesopotamia were built to honor the city's main god. Each Mesopotamian city-state had a specific God. The Ziggurats were meant to directly connect the community to their God. They were a stepped tower with a temple located at the top. The ziggurat itself.