Philadelphiaâs building-related codes regulate the construction industry and set forth the legal responsibilities that come with property ownership.
The ziggurat evolved out of the platform temples of the Ubaid culture (5000 to 3800 BCE). These platforms were intended to raise the shrine of the god closer to heaven. The White Temple at Uruk (about 3150 BCE) appears to be part of an early predecessor of the ziggurat.
The civilizations that emerged around these rivers are among the earliest known non-nomadic agrarian societies. Because Ubaid, Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylon civilizations all emerged around the Tigris-Euphrates, the theory that Mesopotamia is the cradle of civilization has enjoyed some credence.