Here is a scan of the ziggurat on top of
the original creative vortex on the earth described in this thread:
http://www.donebydooney.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=62
The real reason for this thread is explained at donebydooney listed above, but here is some general info on the subject.
The ziggurat of Choga-Zambil is the most important monument remainning from the middle period of Elamite art(1500 to 1000 B.C.). Choga-Zambil still standing today in the Susa region is a great storied tower, one of the many found in the Mesopotemia, but the most outstanding among those, the most well preserved and the most impressive. The Anglo-Iranian oil company was the first to find it and then the expediters came and expeditions took place circa 1936. Further excavations were done between years 1951 and 1962.
The ziggurat was dedicated to Inshushinak , the guardian god of Susa. It was built by Untash-Huban the Elamite king according to brick inscriptions. A group of palaces and temples were found beside the ziggurat.
The ziggurat of Chogha Zanbil was fittingly the first (of many) Iranian sites to be inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Dating back to 1250BC, it is not the oldest, that title goes to the Konar Sandal ziggurat in Jiroft, which has foundations going back to 2200BC, predating even the ziggurat in Ur. The Elamites who constructed this ziggurat were very close to the Babylonians, raising the importance of realizing that whilst being located in modern day Iran, this ziggurat stands in Mesopotamia, which is largely modern day Iraq
A nice photo stream of the ziggurat: http://www.flickr.com/photos/youngrobv/ … 156513572/
Age of the city of Susa, now known as Shush:
this web site has the city Susa at around 10,000 years old with Damascus 12,000 years old [http://weburbanist.com/2009/07/09/senio
this web site has city Susa at 6,200 years old with Jericho the oldest at 11,000 years old. [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/pictu
Here is the location:
the image below shows the location of the city of Shush above and to the west of the red star. the pale yellow line is the border of Iraq.