This building was originally a Sumerian building which was built high up for the worship of the Gods and can be seen in abundance in Mesopotamia.

Ontash ziggurat means peak, mountain peak, ridge, high place, high structure. “Durantash” is also derived from the combination of the word far (Dūr) which means place and house and Untash (Untash) the name of the Elamite king. The Lori compound word Choghaznabil means “basket-shaped hill.

In 1890, the famous geologist Jacques de Morgan reported that there were oil deposits in the Choghaznabil region. It appears that the Iranian Oil Company followed this report and was founded. Fifty years later, engineers engaged in oil operations in Choghaznabil found a brick with inscriptions on it.

The bricks were sent to archaeologists doing excavations in Susa, followed by a series of excavations in Choghaznabil which led to the discovery of the temple of Choghaznabil and other important artifacts.

Its initial height was 52 meters and 5 floors. Today it is 25 meters high and there are only 2 and a half floors left. The infrastructure of Choghaznabil is a square of 105/20 x 105/20 meters, that is to say the double of a football field.