It appears that the development of stoneworking may have been spurred by the desire to construct some of Civilization's earliest buildings - temples to the gods. As early as 3000 BC, Egyptians built royal temples into cliffs and used massive stones in the construction of pyramids continuing through the third millennium BC. In Sumeria, where stone was scarce, building with bricks began around 3000 BC, culminating in the massive ziggurats of Mesopotamia.