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[[File: Sargon_II.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Reflief of King Sargon II]]

As noted above, the earliest ziggurats were built by the Sumerians in the southern region of Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. At that time, Mesopotamia was essentially divided into several independent and often competing city-states until the Third Dynasty of Ur – named for the home city of the dynasty – was established by Ur-Nammu (ruled ca. 2112-2095 BC). <ref> Mieroop, p. 75</ref> Ur-Nammu unified the region through force, but then set about to legitimize his rule, and that of his dynasty, through a variety of measures, one of which was the construction of the Ziggurat of Ur. The ziggurat was dedicated to the moon-god and stood at the center of a massive temple complex that dominated the city of Ur. <ref> Frankfort, p. 104</ref> The size of the Ziggurat of Ur was so much more massive than any of its predecessors – its base measures 190 by 130 feet and although only two levels remain today, scholars believe that there was once a third level. <ref> Frankfort, p. 104</ref> When the Third Dynasty of Ur collapsed, the Sumerians disappeared as a people by assimilating with their other Mesopotamian neighbors, but the importance of ziggurat building continued with other ethnic groups that came to rule Mesopotamia.

After the decline of the Sumerians, the cultural focus of Mesopotamia shifted northward to the region around the city of Babylon, which was known as Babylonia. It was in and around Babylon where kings of the Amorite and Kassite ethnic groups built their ziggurats to honor their gods and to express their political legitimacy to the people. One of the more impressive ziggurats was built by a Kassite king named Kurigalzu I (reigned sometime in the early fourteenth century BC) in a newly founded city. The name of the city was Dur-Kurigalzu (“Kurigalzuville”), which was located in the northern area of Babylonia. The ziggurat formed the center piece in a large palace and temple complex, much like its predecessors in southern Mesopotamia. <ref> Mieroop, p. 176</ref> The construction of the city of Dur-Kurigalzu on virgin soil and the accompanying ziggurat were meant to appease the Babylonian god Marduk, no doubt, but also to legitimize the reign of the enigmatic and poorly documented Kurigalzu I. As time went on in ancient Mesopotamia, the political importance of ziggurats continued to increase – kings continued to build bigger and more impressive ziggurats as testaments to their greatness.