The reconstructed facade of the Neo-Sumerian 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 period[1] 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.