The Great Ziggurat of Ur, near Nasiriya, Iraq. Ziggurats were built by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites, Acadians, and Assyrians for local religions. Each ziggurat was part of a temple complex which included other buildings. The precursors of the ziggurat were raised platforms that date from the Ubaid period1 during the fourth millennium BC. The earliest ziggurats began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period.2 The latest Mesopotamian ziggurats date from the 6th century BC.