King Kafre & Nana Ziggurat

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De Los Santos 1 Art History 1380 February 3, 2013 Costello Paper 1 Compare and contrast the Nanna Ziggurat and King Khafre’s Pyramid Many architectural structures have been built over time. They each have many different purposes and functions. Aside from their many differences, they have similarities as well. The Nanna Ziggurat and King Kahfre’s pyramid are somewhat similar in structure and form, but they also differ in many ways in purpose and context. Ultimately, they were both built with a specific purpose to each society that they were built in. There is some interesting history behind the Ziggurat of Ur. Around 2180 BCE, the Akkadian empire lost control of the Mesopotamian plain to the Guti mountain people. In 2112 BCE the Sumerians take over and run the Guti out of Mesopotamia. The Sumerian king, Urnammu of Ur, reintroduced the Sumerian language and decided to build a famous Ziggurat dedicated to Nanna, believed to be the moon god. (Stokstad and Cothren 2011, p. 36) De Los Santos 2 The time of the Old Kingdom in Egypt was 2575 to 2150. It was a period of wealth and stability, especially among the ruling families. This is reflected in the elaborateness of tomb buildings and complexes that rulers had built for themselves (Stokstad and Cothren 2011, p. 55). world’s most famous pyramids are the three great pyramid tombs at Giza in Egypt. They were built around 589 to 2503 by the three fourth-dynasty kings: Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure. Ziggurats are much like Ancient Egyptian pyramids in the way they are built. They both have four sides which are meant to raise up towards the gods. However, unlike Egyptian pyramids, Ziggurats are not smooth on their exteriors. They were built with tiered sides to help accommodate the work conditions of the

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