Explain what can be learned about Mesopotamian beliefs from the ziggurat at Ur and the Royal Tombs of Ur

Question

Please provide the best answer for the statement.

Answer 1

1. The ziggurat at Ur was most likely designed to evoke the mountains to the north, which were the source of the water that flowed through the region’s two rivers and, so, the source of life. Topped by a sanctuary, the ziggurat might also have symbolized a bridge between heaven and earth. Members of the priesthood would climb to the temple on top and might bring an offering of food or an animal to be sacrificed to the resident god.
2. Some of the Royal Tombs of Ur contained more than one body, in some cases as many as 80, and show evidence of elaborate burial rituals, suggesting that members of a king’s or queen’s court accompanied the ruler to the grave. The mix of animal and human forms that decorate the lyres uncovered at the site are related thematically to events in the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, which suggests that virtually every element of the culture—from its music and literature to its religion and politics—was tied in some way to every other. The lyres’ placement in the tomb near the bodies of what we assume to be court musicians indicates that music was important in Mesopotamian society.