On Friday, 31 August, I was fortunate enough to be one of the few soldiers in my company to visit the Ziggurat of Ur. It is an ancient temple that was built over 4,000 years ago. Over the last 90 years it has undergone some reconstruction. There was no tour guide on this trip, so it was a challenge to try and distinguish between the original structure and the parts that were repaired. Myself and another educated soldier from my company were as close to tours guides as we could get. By the standards of most Americans it's not much to look at. This was easily seen as many other soldiers walked around looking bored, lost, and confused about all the hype. Many soldiers had no clue that they were walking on top of one of the oldest man made structures on earth.
For me it was quite the opposite. I am amazed that I was privileged to experience this world wonder. I could have spent all afternoon out there. I sacrificed 4 hours of sleep to see it, and I would have given up 4 more. I knew it would probably be my only chance to see this ancient temple. It was surrounded by ruins of the ancient city, but they were off limits. I would give away my air conditioner for one month to have a day in those ruins with an archaeologist!
It was difficult to find a lot of background info on the ziggurat. The online sources are limited, and have inadequate citations. This site http://www.islamonline.net/english/In_Depth/Iraq_Aftermath/2003/07/article_02.shtml seems to cover all the main points. It isn't well written, and I am sure most of it is plagiarized, but it will give you some of the basic facts about the Ziggurat of Ur.
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