because
large, since 'largeness' and 'sacredness' are correlated ideas in the
popular phases of early religious thought. In the same way, it is
because seven was popularly sacred that the world was divided into seven
zones and that the planets were fixed at seven, not _vice versa_.

The opinion of some scholars[1339] that the zikkurats were used for
astronomical observations remains a pure conjecture, of which it cannot
even be said that it has probability in its favor. It is certain that
the astronomical observations, since they were conducted by the priests,
were made in the temple precincts; but a small room at the top of a
pyramid difficult of access seems hardly a spot adapted for the purpose.
Moreover, the sacred character of the zikkurat speaks against the
supposition that it should have been put to such constant use, and for
purposes not directly connected with the cult. In the numerous
astronomical reports that we have, there is not a single reference from
which one could conclude that the observations reported were made from
the top of a zikkurat.

But, on the other hand, it would appear that as the zikkurat developed
from a one-story edifice into a tower, and as the number of the stages
increased, the zikkurat assumed more of an ornamental character. While
the ascent of the tower continued to be regarded to the latest days as a
sacred duty, pleasing in the eyes of the deity, for the ordinary and
more practical purposes of the cult, other buildings were erected near
the tower. Within the temple area and bordering on it there were smaller
shrines, while in front of the zikkurat there was a large open place,
where the pilgrims who flocked to the sacred city, congregated. The
sacrifices which formed the essential feature of worship were brought,
not at the top of the zikkurat, but on altars that were erected at the
base.

The ideographic designation of the zikkurat as a 'conspicuous
house,'[1340] which accords admirably with the motive ascribed in the
eleventh chapter of Genesis to the builders of a zikkurat to erect an
edifice that "could be seen," supports the view here taken of the more
decorative position which the staged tower came to occupy,--an homage to
the gods rather than a place where they were to be worshipped, something
that suggested the dwelling-place of a god, to be visited only
occasionally by the worshipper--in short, a monument forming part of a
religious sanctuary, but not coextensive with