The pyramids of Egypt had smooth, inclined sides, but not all pyramids built in antiquity were like them. Some had sides that resembled a ladder system, so they were called staggered pyramids or ziggurats.
The largest ziggurat in the ancient world was erected in Ur of Sumeria, a city that flourished in the Middle East around 2100 BC. This structure was made of baked bricks stacked on seven levels, each smaller than that built below, so that the ziggurat looked like a giant wedding cake!
The Ur ziggurat was about 50 meters high, and covered an area of more than 30,000 square feet. At the top of the structure were a chair and a table for the god of the Moon, Nannar, who was supposed to visit the top of the ziggurat every time he came down to Earth.
Each step on the three main stairs of the ziggurat of Ur was engraved with the name of the Babylonian king.
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