Ziggurat of Mesopotamia and Mesoamerican temple-pyramid

Ziggurat was the principle form of religious edifice in Mesopotamia. The Great ziggurat tower was situated at Ur-of-the-Chaldees. It was built by Ur-Nammu and Shulgi, two Sumerian kings of the 3rd dynasty, 2113-2048 B.C.E. Mesoamericans built temple-pyramids to perform their religious obligations, also. The temple pyramid was built in the end of 12th century AD by Toltecs. There are several similarities as well as differences in the architecture of Ziggurat of Mesopotamia and the Mesoamerican temple-pyramid.
The Great ziggurat tower was built, when the Sumerians reestablished themselves after the fall of Akkadian Empire. Ziggurat was a pyramidal structure, built in slopped levels on a rectangular or square platform with a place of worship at the top. Ziggurat rose in stepped stages to a small temple or sanctuary at the highest level. A triple stairway with heavy bastions leads to the summit of the first stage, where one passed through a portal, perhaps covered by a dome. A fourth stairway gave access to the second and third stages. It was a religious monument made of baked and unbaked brick. The core of the ziggurat was sun-baked bricks, and the facing were of fired bricks that were glazed in different colors. The mud-bricks in the construction of Ziggurat was reinforced with thick layers of matting and cables of twisted reeds.
The Mesoamericans built similar structures. El Castillo is the most impressive monument of the Toltec-Maya city of Chichen Itza, in Yucatan. The Toltecs built this temple pyramid when they migrated there from their capital Tula, near Mexico City, in the 10th century. Stone and sun-baked bricks were used in the construction of this monument, similar to the construction of ziggurat in Mesopotamia. The temple pyramid had also similar religious significance. The motif of serpent appeared continuously on the balustrades of the stairways and on the temple columns. The staircases are richly carved and rise from all four sides of the temple pyramid. The temple is dedicated to the god Kukulcan (or Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent-god). The facade is carved with figures of Tula warriors. Facade is a deceptive outward appearance of the monument. The temple pyramid was used to perform the religious rituals of sacrifice and other important ceremonies.
In conclusion, the structure of Ziggurat of Mesopotamia and Mesoamerican temple pyramid have several similarities as well as differences. Both are made up of similar material and both had probably similar purpose for their construction. Also, both monuments used similar architectural design of stepped pyramid. In contrast, the temple pyramid had no interior opening except for on the top but ziggurat had several floors.