Ziggurat

Imagine you are playing with building blocks, and you stack them up one on top of the other. That's kind of what a ziggurat is like!

A ziggurat is a big, tall building that people made a long time ago in places like Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica. It was usually made of bricks or stones and looked like a giant stepped pyramid with different levels. Each level was a little bit smaller than the one below it.

People built ziggurats to show how powerful their gods were. They believed that their gods lived in the sky, so they built the ziggurats really tall to get closer to the gods. People would climb up the steps to the top and pray or offer sacrifices to their gods.

Ziggurats were really important buildings in ancient times because they were both a temple where people worshipped and a place where people could see the world around them. They could see the faraway mountains, valleys and rivers, and the bustling cities and farms that surrounded them.

Nowadays, ziggurats are mostly in ruins because they are so old, but some parts of them are still standing so people can visit and learn about them.