Work of Arte: The Nana Ziggurat

We talked briefly about the Nanna Ziggurat and I was captivated by it in a way. I am interested in places of worship and places were people hold religious ceremonies and traditions. In ancient times they were very much one of the central places of which a community surrounded. The ziggurat is pretty massive in size. It is made out of sun-dried mud brick. This place was also intriguing because it was a center for administrative activities in the city. This place obviously had political and religious significance and was the supposed place where the mood god had chosen to dwell. As far as aesthetics go it was a very solid structure with a sturdy and strong look to it. The walls are slanted upward so that the rain does not pool on the brick and become eroded and damaged quickly. From the appearance it almost looks like a war fort or something of the like. What is interesting is that the foundation has been built upon many times. Over time due to erosion the community would rebuild right on top of the foundation giving it a layered effect. The last time it was built upon was to reconstruct what it would have looked like back when it first existed. I found this aspect of the ziggurat very interesting because when I went to Israel this summer that is what they would do to the stone buildings and community structures there also, they would build upon the foundation after the top part had eroded away. I find that aspect to be quite symbolic of old structures. There is a foundation which is never taken away or destroyed but built upon year after year, which is sort of how history goes, as well as art, there are foundations and principals which will never leave and will always remain, but one part of history or art may fade away or crumble overtime, or even perhaps get lost but it is build upon nonetheless.