ziggurat

ziggurat \ZIG-oo-rat\, noun:

(among the ancient Babylonians and Assyrians) a temple of Sumerian origin in the form of a pyramidal tower, consisting of a number of stories and having about the outside a broad ascent winding round the structure, presenting the appearance of a series of terraces.

The social structure of our summer world was as fixed and hard of climbing as a ziggurat.

-- John Banville, The Sea

After talking for a moment about the new strawberry bed, a kind of earthen ziggurat in the middle of the garden, Alice hung up, unable to tell them after all.

-- Jane Smiley, Duplicate Keys

Born in 1877, ziggurat is derived from the Assyrian ziqquratu meaning "height," or "pinnacle."