Etemenanki ziggurat

E68809

religious building temple tower ziggurat

The Etemenanki ziggurat was a massive stepped temple tower in ancient Babylon, traditionally associated with the biblical Tower of Babel and dedicated to the god Marduk.

Aliases (2)

Etemenanki ×52
Tower of Babel ×3

Statements (50)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	religious building → temple tower → ziggurat →
architecturalStyle	Mesopotamian ziggurat →
associatedDeity	Marduk →
associatedMyth	Tower of Babel narrative →
associatedWith	Tower of Babel →
associatedWithConcept	axis mundi → link between heaven and earth →
builtFor	Marduk →
cityRole	central monument of Babylon →
culture	Babylonian →
currentCondition	ruins →
dedicatedInCity	Babylon →
dedicatedTo	Marduk →
destroyed	yes →
excavatedBy	Robert Koldewey →
excavationCentury	19th century → 20th century →
function	religious center → temple →
hasSacredFunction	true →
hasStairways	true →
hasStepDesign	true →
hasTerraces	true →
heightClaimedInAncientSources	about 90 meters →
influenced	later interpretations of the Tower of Babel →
knownFrom	archaeological remains → classical sources → cuneiform texts →
languageOfName	Sumerian →
locatedIn	Babylon →
locatedInPresentDay	Iraq →
locatedInRegion	Mesopotamia →
locatedNear	Euphrates River →
material	baked brick → mudbrick →
mentionedBy	Berosus → Herodotus →
nameMeaning	House of the foundation of heaven and earth →
numberOfLevelsClaimed	seven →
partOf	Esagila temple complex →
period	Neo-Babylonian period →
rebuiltBy	Nebuchadnezzar II →
religion	Mesopotamian religion →
religiousAffiliation	Babylonian cult of Marduk →
significance	major cult center of Marduk → symbol of Babylonian religious architecture →
structureType	stepped tower →
UNESCOWorldHeritageContext	part of the archaeological site of Babylon →

Referenced by (6)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Etemenanki ("Tower of Babel") →	associatedWith
Babylon ("Tower of Babel") →	associatedWithMyth
Book of Genesis ("Tower of Babel") →	containsNarrative
Babylon ("Etemenanki") →	hasZiggurat
Marduk ("Etemenanki") →	majorTemple
Neo-Babylonian Empire →	notableWork