Meet world best preserved ziggurat

Archeological site of Chogha Zanbil embraces the ruins of a holy city of the ancient Kingdom of Elam.

The city, founded c. 1250 B.C. was never finished due to being invaded by Assyrians.

There are still thousands of unused bricks at the site that shows the construction process was never completed.

Chogha Zanbil, located in ancient Elam (today Khuzestan province in southwest of Iran), was built as the religious center of Elam and was dedicated to Elamite divinities.

The ziggurat is originally measured 105.2 meters on each side and about 53 meters in height. The monument was built in five levels on top of which there was a temple.

The material used for the ziggurat is mostly backed brick and a number of the bricks have cuneiform inscriptions.

Now the height of the ziggurat is only 24.75 meters.

All the information we have about the Elamite period (1400-1100 BCE) is based on the data we gathered from the ruins of Chogha Zanbil and the city of Susa that is 38 kilometers to the northwest of the temple.

According to the UNESCO website, “the ziggurat at Chogha Zanbil remains to this day the best preserved monument of this type and the largest outside of Mesopotamia”.

PR/MG