The ancient Egyptians built pyramids, and the Mesopotamians erected the so-called ziggurats - giant brick structures on a high foundation with successively decreasing levels. Until now, no one knows what they were intended for, but it is assumed that the inside housed the shrines of the gods and living quarters for priests. The great Ziggurat Dur Untash in Iraq is a perfect example of this structure. It is one of the few ziggurats outside Mesopotamia, as well as the largest surviving one.
Dur Untash is located on the site of the ancient city of Elam in the Khuzestan province in southwestern Iran.
Archaeologists today argue about whether to consider what the Elamite king Untash-Napirish built a temple in the city of Dur-Untash or a city at the temple. One way or another, but the ziggurat erected at his command - the temple of the supreme god Inshushinak - is a structure that overwhelms with its majesty. Everything about it amazes - from size to shape. God Inshushinak is the supreme ruler of the kingdom of the dead, and the whole life of a person, according to the ancient belief, was considered just a preparation for a journey to the afterlife. Therefore, the temple had to correspond to the idea of the Elamite about the gate to another world.
The king wanted to build a great city. But according to some indications, archaeologists have guessed that there never was a large population. This is probably due to the fact that during the life of the king, the city was constantly being built, and after the death of the ruler, no one needed the city.
Dur-Untash is an ancient city and temple complex of the state of Elam, which existed from the 3rd millennium to the middle of the 6th century. BC e. in the territory where the present provinces of Iran Khuzestan and Lorestan lie.
The city was founded by the king Untash-Napirish. He already had the administrative capital of Susa ("Atlas" No. 342). But when Elam reached the peak of his reign, the king wished to immortalize his name with the construction of a city-temple and gave it the name Dur-Untash, or the Fortress of Untash. In modern Persian, its name sounds like Choga-Zanbil and is not translated so sublimely: "basket-hill", which indicates its shape before archaeological excavations.
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Dur-Untash is known primarily for its ziggurat: this is one of the few structures of this type outside Mesopotamia, where they began to be built. It is also the largest such structure outside Mesopotamia.
The ziggurat is only part of the complex, which also included eleven temples in honor of less significant gods. Researchers claim that King Untash-Napirisha originally wanted to build more than two dozen temples in an attempt to create a new religious center instead of Susa.
The ziggurat originally reached one hundred meters on each side and about fifty meters in height with five floors, and a temple was located at the top. Today, the surviving complex is 24 meters high, which is half the original level. The lavishly decorated façade was once covered in blue and green terracotta, and the interior is adorned with glass and ivory mosaics. Statues of bulls and winged griffins guarded the entrances to the interior of the ziggurat.
Gradually, the buildings were covered with sand, and for 2500 years no one knew what was hidden under them. And in 1979 Dur-Untash became the first site included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in Iran.
Behind the second "temple wall" were the royal palaces and city buildings. The ruins of two palaces were discovered: one was intended for the king himself, the second, apparently, was a harem. They could rival the ziggurat in size. Under the palaces there were stone staircases that led to cellars at a depth of 6 m. Archaeologists assume that they were intended for royal tombs.
The palaces and the city were surrounded by a long outer wall. The tsar conceived it as a kind of "stand" for the story of his own achievements, instructions for descendants and threats to all kinds of enemies. Many bricks were found, on which the corresponding inscriptions were applied, ornate in the oriental: “Whoever steals the inscribed bricks and opens the gates to the approaching enemy, let him be struck by the punishment of Humpan, Inshushinak and Kiririshi! May he not keep his descendants under the sun!"
The desire of the Mesopotamian kings to build cities in the wilderness, away from any enemy, created great difficulties in supplying the inhabitants with fresh water. Untash-Napirish, who had just plundered Babylonia and drove its inhabitants into slavery, had the means and enough labor to dig a 50-kilometer canal from the Kerhe River to the city. Its water was used for drinking, and for irrigating fields, and for livestock.
It was a complex hydraulic structure, since Dur-Untash is located several meters above the water level in the canal. Residents received water through a system of interconnected reservoirs. The king, proud of his creation, left another inscription: “I, Untash-Napirish, in the name of my life and my well-being, took advantage of the right of royal power and, at the behest of my heart, built the channel“Glory to my name”for many days and many years.”
The city existed until the Assyrian conquest, when it was destroyed at the behest of King Ashurbanipal in 640 BC. e. By that time, the water supply canal had already fallen into disrepair, and life in the city had stopped.
Although the decor has long been removed from the façade, the ziggurat is generally in fairly good condition. In 1979, Dur-Untash became the first Iranian landmark to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.