Babylon (city)

Partial view of the ruins of Babylon from the palace of Saddam Hussein.

The cities of the ancient Mesopotamia. The city of Babylon is one of the most western.

Babylonia was an ancient city of Lower Mesopotamia located near the modern city of Hilla (Iraq). It was the capital of the ancient Babylonian Kingdom, and for several centuries it was considered an important center of commerce, art, and learning.

Its ruins, partially rebuilt at the turn of the xx century, are located in the Iraqi province of Babil, in the vicinity from the city of Hilla

Etymology

Originally this city was called Ka₂.dingir, a romanized transcription of Sumerian cuneiform Ka-kjoñk(k), occasionally also spelled Ka₂.dingir.ra and K₂.dingir.ma, meaning ' Gate of the Gods' or 'Gate of the god'. Some authors have related this place name to Bãbil, also spelled Ba(b)bal, pre-Akkadian forms. Later Ká.dingir was translated into Akkadian, and the result was the form Bãb-ilim, which evolved in its Assyrian and Babylonian dialects, from the Kassite dynasty, into a wide variety of forms, such as Bab-ilu and Bab-ilani, from which the ancient Greek form Βαβυλών (Bab-ilu-on or Bab-il-on, depending on the texts), genesis of the current western forms, such as Babilonia (in Spanish), Babylon (in English) and Babylone (in French).

The historic city

The use of glaze-painted, polychrome-painted bricks were very popular techniques in the city of Babylon. Perhaps the most famous were those of the Ishtar Gate, which present reliefs of animals and mythological beings on blue tones. Over time they became the most striking feature of the city of the centuryVIIa. C., when the use of glazed ceramic to coat the exteriors of the buildings became common.

The technique was older and had been employed by the houses by the year 2000 a. C. and Assyria, although not so widely. Ya Sargon IIVIIIa. C.) had decorated three doors of the walls of Dur Sharrukin with reliefs and stained bricks.

In general, due to the remoteness of the quarries, the material most used in the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar II was the adobe (cooked brick), with which most of the buildings were built, including the Etemenanki zigurat. This turned into a heavy architecture of loading walls and few lights.

City planning scheme. Well differentiated inner and outer enclosures.

Ruins of Babylon in 1975.

Hypothetical reconstruction of the Etemenanki zigurat.

Urban plan

From provincial town to imperial capital

The oldest city was destroyed by Sennacherib, so we don't know its shape. Although it is particularly difficult to study the pre-Hammurabi city because it is below the ground water table, it seems to have been a provincial city without architectural or urban originality. It is known that as early as the First Babylonian dynasty the city of walls.

The Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar II

In the VII century B.C. C., with an extension close to 850 hectares (about 400 of them protected by the inner perimeter of walls), Babylon became the largest city in Mesopotamia, surpassing the Assyrian capital Nineveh, which occupied about 750 hectares.

Archaeology has allowed us to know the city as it was designed in the time of Nebuchadnezzar II. Then it was rebuilt on its almost rectangular shape (about 2400 × 1600 m) possibly influenced by the orthogonality with which the Sumerians they had built their canals to expand the arable territory. Strongly walled and divided into two zones of unequal area by the Euphrates River, this planimetry dates from 2000 BC. In turn, Nebuchadnezzar protected the enclosure described with a second walled belt, much wider and with a geometry tending to form a triangle, to which Nabonidus added an inner wall between the city and the river, creating a new gate for the passage through the bridge to the west side of the city; this had already been attempted by Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar, who protected that flank with smaller walls. In essence, Babylon was a succession of walled enclosures, one inside the other, geometrically regulated by right angles and in which even the houses reproduced in small, with their staggered walls and their interior patios, the shapes of the temples and palaces. inhabitants in the VII century B.C. C., focused almost exclusively on the capital, while the rest of the empire was mired in a process of deurbanization.

Defense

The wall of the inner enclosure consisted of a double defensive belt 7 m wide, to which was added a moat connected to the river that surrounded it. The space between the two walls, about 12 m, was filled with earth to its full height. There was a tower every more or less 50 m, with which it is estimated that there were about 350. The defense was completed with iron bars submerged in the Euphrates, where the walls ended, to prevent the enemy from fording the river. for its shallower areas. The walls, at that point, were protected from the effect of water by smearing them with tar.

The Euphrates River played an important role in the defense since, in addition to using its waters to create the moats, it constituted a natural barrier to the outer enclosure, bordering one of its sides.

Road plot

The city was crossed by canals and a road network in which the Avenida de las Procesiones stood out, a road parallel to the river that left between it and itself the main military, palatial and religious spaces of the city, including the gardens pendants, the enclosure dedicated to Marduk and the royal palace. To the north, around the Ishtar Gate, stood a motley defensive and palace complex that included the gate itself, actually more of a fortification in itself than a simple gate, the north and south palaces, and the eastern and southern fortresses. from West. The other streets of the inner enclosure took parallel or orthogonal directions to the river, creating a strange regular mesh in lower Mesopotamia. Several of them received the name of divinities, and some were accompanied by legends or slogans.

Residential fabric

Dwellings were typically Mesopotamian. With two or three floors, they were focused on interior patios, with few exterior windows and flat roofs. Like the rest of the city, the most used material in its construction was painted adobe for the walls, with interior pillars made of palm wood. The large dimensions of many of them are exceptional, which gives an idea of the prosperity of the Neo-Babylonian city, although its architecture is not particularly relevant.

Areas

The inner city was divided into ten large blocks, neighborhoods or quarters that received proper names. Five of them appear in Hellenic sources: Shuanna, Eridu, and Te.e (or Te.e^ki) to the east of the Euphrates and Tuba and Komar (or Kumar) to the west. The others are Kadingira (or Kadingirra), Kuliab and the New City to the east, and Bãb-Lugalirra and Nu[...] to the west. The outer enclosure was divided into districts, of which four have been distinguished. There were also suburbs located inside and outside the outer wall. The necropolis was located to the west of the city, outside of it.

Doors

The gates of the inner walled perimeter from the time of Nebuchadnezzar II, with one exception, were named after gods. The entrances were called Ishtar, Marduk, Shamash, Adad, Enlil, Zababa, Urash and Royal. In the time of Nabonidus, with the construction of the river wall, the Bridge Gate was added.

Monuments

Religion

According to the texts, there were 43 sanctuaries in Babylonia. Nabopolassar timidly and Nebuchadnezzar II on a large scale undertook an ambitious reconstruction and beautification of the temples, work continued on some buildings by Nabonidus. The important ones were the following:

• Etemenanki: Zigurat of the city, located north of Esagila, next to the geometric center of the city, with what dominated it; this is interpreted as a preponderance of religious power. He possessed his own defenses and anejos. Dedicated to Marduk, the local deity, has been repeatedly identified as the Biblical Tower of Babel. In 323 B.C., Alexander the Great ordered to demolish him to rebuild him entirely. His death, however, weakened his reconstruction. Its plant and remains of three broad stairs are preserved. Protected by a walled perimeter within which there were other buildings, highlighted in this the call Sacred Gate or Closed doorwhich gave directly to Avenida de las Procesiones and opened only for two months a year, on the occasion of the processions in honour of Marduk.
• Esagila: Religious complex dedicated to Marduk. The Babylonians thought it was built in the place where life had been born in the creation of the world, and on the apsûThe Watery Underworld, and it was a connection to the world of the Anu god. Destroyed by Senaquerib and ruinous at the Neo-Babylonian era, it was carefully reconstructed by the order of Nabopolasar and especially by Nebuchadnezzar II, who also ordered the restoration of a famous golden statue of the god.
• Temple of the New Year: It was located north of the inner enclosure, between the avenue of the Processions and the river. He was celebrating the party Akituequivalent to the beginning of the year, in honor of Marduk. The feast, which lasted several days and in which the king himself participated, was considered of utmost importance, so that his non-conception was recorded with fear in the annals. Even in the year 205 B.C. Antíoco III the Great, Seleucid king, participated in the New Year's celebrations of Babylon.
• Temple of Ishtar of Agadé: One of the temples dedicated to Ishtar of the city, located in the middle of a residential area.
• Temple of Nabu: Located in the inner enclosure, near the Ishtar gate and west of the Avenue of Processions, it was built in adobe. The floors and the courtyard were covered with bitumen, while the walls of the altar were decorated with geometric motifs. Based on the analysis of your plant it is thought possible to function as a school or seminar.

Palaces and fortresses

In ancient Mesopotamia there were two great institutional powers, royalty and religion, reflected in two building complexes, the palace and the temple. While the temple occupied the highest place, the palace used to be located near the center of the city, and functioned both as a residence and as a throne room and administration. It was normally heavily guarded, making it difficult to distinguish between a palace and a fortress.

• Ishtar Gate: vaulted and heavily fortified cast that served north entrance to the walled inner enclosure of Babylon. It was supposed to start the famous Avenue of Processions, which would go through the monumental part of the city. It was decorated with the characteristic blue glazed bricks that showed images of lions and taps. It shows an accused refinement regarding the Assyrian art in its decoration, both in figurative and abstract motives.
• North Palace: Part of the citadel created in times of Nebuchadnezzar II contained a kind of museum, an inventory of antiquities collected by the kings Nabopolassar (debated affirmation), Nebuchadnezzar II, Nabónido and Darius I.
• South Palace, Palace of the East, Royal palace or Palace of Nebuchadnezzar II: Inmenso complex, as a citadel, located between the gate of Ishtar, the Avenue of Processions, the river Euphrates and the Jardines Colgantes. It had three large interior patios and two other minors. It was subsequently extended by Nebuchadnezzar II, who installed his throne room there, which was accessed by the last of the courtyards. Its plant, a rectangle of about 275 x 183 m, contained a labyrinth space that contrasted with the urban regularity of the city. In addition to the throne room of about 52 x 17 m and decorated with polychrome tiles and bas-reliefs, it contained administrative offices, royal harem, barracks and rooms for the king and his service.
  • Palace of Darius or Persian palace: The palace or south citadel, residence and throne of the neo-Babylonian rulers, also served the Persians, who added another palace to the complex, built during the reign of Darius I, between the years 498 and 496 BC. It was Jerjes's royal residence.
• Eastern Fortress: Symmetrically fortified cast to the North Palace regarding the Ishtar gate.
• West Fortress: Palace-fortress commanded to build by Neriglisar on the shore of the Euphrates. According to the Greek historian Diodoro Sículo stood out for its decoration, as it was ornamented with impressive paintings and sculptures.
• Summer Palace: Second royal palace built by Nebuchadnezzar II, located on the north end of the city, next to the river and the exterior wall. The mound that has formed the time receives the name of Babil. It was still in use in Hellenistic times.

Others

• Gardens Pendants of Babylon: Although the Greek-Latin tradition attributes to Babylon these gardens, excavations and textual sources do not show any proof of their existence, a fact that Dalley attributes to the fact that the gardens are not really found in Babylon but in Ninive, Assyrian capital. The reason why classical literature placed these gardens in Babylon is probably the confusion due to the little knowledge of these civilizations.
• Bridge over the Euphrates River: Connected the two parts of the city. Its seven pine trees were stone, something very rare in the Babylonian construction, where the architecture was based on the use of the adobe. Through it, commercial transactions were carried out with ships dating back the Euphrates. There is an eighth pylone, but it is accepted that it rested on land and not on the river; without counting that distance is presumed the length of the bridge in 123 m. The Greek historian Ctesias wrote that the stones were attached with iron hooks and that on this structure the construction was made of wood. Probably the bridge we know was commanded to build by Nebuchadnezzar, replacing an earlier one of Nabopolasar. At least in the time of Darius I the ships could tie themselves to the pine trees by paying a toll in a house located at the head of the bridge.
• Greek amphitheater: No documents have been found to cite it. Archaeologically, it has been dated in different periods, following the phases of its construction: at the end of the centuryIVa. C., during the reign of Antiochus IV (principles of the centuryIIa. C.), Mitrídates II (finals of II and principles Ia. C.) and the centuryIId. C.
• Agora: There is a passage from Diodore Shield that mentions the destruction of the Babylonian agora during the government of the arsed Himero, who among other atrocities ordered to set fire on him. Agora is not mentioned in any other text. A possible interpretation of the platform found by Robert Koldewey in the mound called Homera is that this was related to the Greek agora.

Panoramic of some consolidated and partially reconstructed archaeological remains.

Saddam Hussein's City

This map compares the state of the course of the Mesopotamian rivers and the Persian Gulf of the paleobabilonic period (2004-1595 BC) with the current one. The flows have varied throughout the centuries and the waters of the sea have been withdrawing, causing a decontextualization of Mesopotamian cities. In the case of Babylon the Euphrates has moved to the left, crossing the neighborhoods of the west half.

The Euphrates Palace in 2003, built by Saddam Hussein on the ruins of the city.

The archaeological site at the end of the centuryXIXwith its new surrounding towns, canals and roads.

Reconstruction of Etemenanki in the CenturyXX..

In the last decades of the 20th century, from 1978 until the Iraq War, Iraqi ruler Saddam Hussein began the rebuilding of ancient Babylon on its very foundations. Opinions about it are mixed. Some say that it is a meritorious work, although not accurate, while others speak of a tourist circus and theme park. Regardless of opinion, and with the temporary hiatus of the Iraq war, Babylon, part of a government plan similar to that of Nineveh during Saddam Hussein's rule, it became a tourist center. The reconstruction also gave Iraqis a sense of their immense pre-Islamic heritage.

In general, the reconstruction of the city is usually based on Saddam's desire to legitimize his government in the history of the territory occupied by Iraq, using architecture as a means of power and propaganda, as others before him had tried in governments tending towards autarky. In this sense, the plans for Berlin ordered to be drawn up by Hitler and Stalin's Moscow are especially well known. For this reason, not only he rebuilt Babylon, he also did the same with other settlements, such as Nineveh and Ur, with rather modern materials, destroying or modifying the original ruins in the process.

Babylon was recovered as a place not only in its architecture. In 1987 the first Babylon International Festival was held there, repeated in September 1988.

New buildings and controversial reconstructions

• Ishtar Gate: It was partially recreated at half of its original scale, as was the Etemenanki.
• Etemenanki: The zigurat had been destroyed by Alexander the Great and there was only the foundation. A partial reconstruction of the first level was carried out, with its corresponding ramps.
• Gardens HangingSaddam Hussein promised a million and a half dollars to the architect who was able to recreate the gardens.
• Tombs: In 1989 new graves were built in the lands of Babylon.
• Temple of Ishtar of Agadé: Completely rebuilt, with relatively pretty careful.
• Greek amphitheater: It was rebuilt freely interpreting the original planimetry, avoiding the deformed geometry of the adjacent courtyard and adding dependencies that did not exist.
• South Palace: Consolidated and partly reconstructed rubbers.
• Euphrates Palace: Building built in an artificially elevated place next to the river. Presumably, he tries to evoke the real power of Nebuchadnezzar II in the figure of Saddam Hussein.

The legendary city

Artistic reconstruction of Babylon, with the Hanging Gardens in the foreground, performed in a painting of the painter of the century XIX Martin Hackenbruch.

Until the Germans began excavating Babylon at the turn of the 20th century, it was a misty, almost mythological city, which in Western culture served as an allegory of lust under the influence of some Greek and Roman historians, and even of evil under the influence of the Bible. In the New Testament Babylon's imprint is so strong that its name is used to refer to any great and powerful city.

Babylon is a legend that still resonates in our time, despite the fact that in the year 539 a. C. had already lost its empire, and that many centuries ago it was abandoned. Long mentioned in the Book of Isaiah and in the Apocalypse, Babylon was identified as a source of lewdness and pride, coming to be described as "The Great Harlot". However, Babylon long shone for its high cultural level, which was kept alive while it was part of Assyria. The myth of her beauty and her power, carved since Hammurabi, reached the ears of Alexander the Great, where he lived for a time and where he died.

Historically, the name of Babylon has served as inspiration for multiple writings and also for other cities and city projects, such as the well-known New Babylon, and for the Iraqi province of Babil. Miguel de Cervantes himself referred to Babylon in the biblical sense of chaos.

Some of its buildings have also been mythologized by Western religion, literature, painting and historiography; Thus, both the Tower of Babel and the Hanging Gardens have been the subject of innumerable conjectures, and to a lesser extent the South Palace of Nebuchadnezzar II. The king of the city himself inspired the opera Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi.

History

Foundation and first centuries

Opinions differ about the founding of Babylon. Formerly it was considered that the city had been founded or rebuilt by Sargon of Acad. The oldest known source that mentions the city is dated to the time of the Akkadian Empire formed by Sargon of Akkad in the 18th century xxiv to. The Weidner Chronicle establishes that it was Sargon himself who built Babylon "in front of Agade". Another chronicle establishes, in the same sense, that "Sargon dug the dust from the pit of Babylon, and made a counterpart of Babylon near Agade" (ABC 20:18-19). More recently, however, it has been argued that these sources actually refer to Sargon II of Assyria (VIII BC) and not Sargon of Akkad. This would coincide with the revival and embellishment of the city during the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

Some scholars, including linguist Ignace Gelb, have suggested that the name Babylon reflects that of an earlier city. According to Ranajites Pallmin, this city was located to the east. Herzfeld has written about Baver in Iran, the founding of which is attributed to Jamshid: the name Babil could be an echo of Baver. David Rohl argues that the original Babylon must be identified with Eridu. According to the Bible, Babylon was founded by Nimrod (Genesis, 10).

The second half of the XXI century a. C., Semitic nomads from the Arabian desert (Amorites and Tidnum) expropriated Amar-Sin, king of Sumer and Acad, part of the territories of central Mesopotamia (Acad), wanting to penetrate Kish; but they were expelled from this last city, being confined to the banks of the Euphrates, that is, to Babylon. Because it was their only important possession for a long time, the martu took charge of enlarging and embellishing it. In the year 2004 B.C. C. the empire of Ur, known as the Ur III period, fell to a coalition of nomadic peoples from the Zagros Mountains: Elamites, the city of Isin, and the Amorites or Martu. The latter settled in Middle and Lower Mesopotamia, seizing the cities and founding Amorite dynasties there.

Early Imperial Period

Map of the Empire of Hammurabi

The First Babylonian Dynasty was founded around 1894 B.C. C. (middle chronology) by the Amorite Sumu-Abum, who established a small independent city-state. Their sixth king, Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE) would colossally enlarge their borders and extend their domains, dominating all of Mesopotamia—Isin, Larsa, Ur, Uruk, Nippur, Lagash, Eridu, Kish, Adab, Eshnunna, Akshak, Akkad, Shurupak, Bad-tibira, Sippar and Ngirsu. Since then it has acquired great relevance as the true metropolis of the region. However, the empire did not last long. After Hammurabi's death, several revolts and conflicts began, especially on the part of the first Kassite warlords (Indo-European and nomadic Aryan tribe) and some invaders of the so-called "Country of the Sea". The empire was not solid, and after Hammurabi's death he had to face different problems: mainly Sumerian nationalism to the south, the advance of the Cassites to the east and the growing power of the Hurrians to the north, who at that time created an empire called Mitanni. Finally, in 1595 B.C. C., unable to resist the pressures of the southern Cassites, Samsu-Ditana, the last king of the First Babylonian Empire, was deposed by the Cassite chieftain, Agum II. In 1531 B.C. C. the Hittite king Mursili II sacked the city of Babylon and on its ruins the Kassite dynasty was established.

Period of crisis and Assyrian rule

After the fall of the Cassites around 1155 B.C. C., Babylon was ruled by the II Dynasty of Isin; it was the first time that a native Lower Mesopotamian dynasty had seized power. However, Babylon remained weak and subject to Assyrian rule. Its ineffectual kings were unable to prevent further waves of Western invasions, including by Aramaeans in the 11th century BCE. C. and Chaldeans in the IX century BC. C., entered and appropriated areas of Babylon for themselves. In 713, after several decades of instability, the city was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

The Assyrian government of the city of Babylon was marked by rebellions by the local nobility, strongly nationalistic. The city of Babylon was then a minor province, though culturally strong, maintaining its own kings dependent on the Assyrian monarchs. The Assyrian king Ashur-uballit II attempted to improve relations with the city by marrying one of his daughters to his king Karakhardash and placing his grandson as king of the Cassites. However, the assassination of the latter marked a military reprisal that ignited Babylonian nationalism, already entrenched until the city's new independence.

With Shalmaneser III (859-824 BC) Babylon, like other provinces, took advantage of internal Assyrian revolts to try to gain independence. By then the Chaldeans, who had arrived one or two centuries before, were already installed in it. Babylon was again well controlled by the Assyrians during the reign of the Assyrian usurper Tiglathpileser III (745-727 BC), who took advantage of the end of the Babylonian dynasty to assert his power there more strongly. New rebellions occurred in Babylon again during the reign of Sennacherib, who was forced to intervene militarily in the city and deport part of its population. Later, before the rebellions continue, he completely destroys the city. Asarhaddon (681-669 BC), son of Sennacherib who succeeded to the throne after a civil war, married a Babylonian woman and founded a double monarchy in the empire, one in Nineveh, the capital of his father's, and another in Babylon. Upon his death, he divided the empire between two sons, giving one Assyria and the other Babylon, but Ashurbanipal, the heir of Assyria, soon returned to control Babylon, this time through a peaceful pact, signed only after a long series of incidents. warfare that followed the division of the empire. This pact only lasted a few years; later, Babylon and Assyria again at war, the Babylonian king ended up committing suicide in the year 648 a. C. and Ashurbanipal conquered the city, ordering the assassination of its inhabitants.

Embellishment of Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar II

Ishtar Gate. Museum of Pergam, Berlin.

It was under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 B.C.) that Babylon became one of the most splendid cities of the ancient world. Nebuchadnezzar ordered the complete rebuilding of the imperial lands, including the rebuilding of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world), said to have been built for his wistful wife Amytis. The existence of the gardens is a matter of dispute: although the excavations of the German archaeologist Robert Koldewey seem to confirm their existence, many historians disagree about their location, and some believe that they may have been confused with the gardens of Nineveh.

Babylon under the Persians

Babylon permanently lost its independence in the VI century BCE. C., when it was conquered by the Persians. After going through various vicissitudes, the city fell in 539 BC. C. under the command of Cyrus the Great, king of Persia. Under Cyrus and his heir, Darius I the Great, Babylon became a center of learning and scientific advancement. Babylonian scholars completed constellation maps, and created the foundations of modern astronomy and mathematics. However, under the reign of Darius III Codomano, Babylon began to stagnate progressively.

Hellenic Babylonia

In the Hellenistic period—subjected to foreign empires and disgraced by cities like Persepolis—Alexander the Great wanted to make it his capital. The Hellenic city was basically the same as the Neo-Babylonian and Achaemenid cities. The tallest buildings were still the Etemenanki ziggurat and the royal South Palace. The dwellings did not even vary significantly. The only undoubtedly Greek trace in the city was the construction of a theater in the eastern hinterland. Alexander the Great attempted a restoration of the city that was cut short by his death and whose greatest effect was the demolition of the ziggurat to build a new one that never came to fruition. From then on the decline of the city accelerated until it was abandoned.

Babylon after the Hellenistic period

After the Parthian conquest of Babylon in 141 B.C. C. became the capital of the Parthian Empire and later the Sassanid Empire. Its population had been considerably reduced to 20,000 to 30,000 people in the Parthian period. Until about 500 AD it was a religious center of the Amoraim, Jewish sages who commented on the Oral Torah based on the Mishnah.

In the mid-7th century century, Mesopotamia was invaded and colonized by the expanding Muslim Empire, and a period of islamization. Babylon was dissolved as a province and Aramaic and Church of the East Christianity was eventually sidelined. Ibn Hawqal (X century) and the Arab scholar, al-Qazwini (XIII), describe Babylon (Babil) as a small village. The latter described a well known as "Daniel's dungeon" which was visited by Christians and Jews during the holidays. The shrine of Amran ibn Ali's tomb was visited by Muslims. Excavated coins from the Parthian, Sasanian and Arabian periods show that Babylonia was continuously populated. In the 17th century, Pietro della Valle he traveled to a Babylonian town. Captain Robert Mignan explored the site briefly in 1827 and in 1829 completed a map of Babylon including the locations of several villages. The village of Qwaresh grew in response to the need for laborers during excavations by Robert Koldewey (1899-1917) and subsequent generations also worked on archaeological excavations.

Babylon during the presidency of Saddam Hussein

On February 14, 1978, the Baathist government of Iraq led by Saddam Hussein launched the "Babylon Archaeological Restoration Project" to rebuild the features of the ancient city on its ruins. In the 1980s, he wiped out the town of Qwaresh entirely, displacing its residents, later building a modern palace in that area called Saddam Hill on top of some of the ancient ruins, in the pyramidal ziggurat style.

Iraq War

In 2003, during the Iraq war, the US military established a military camp in the ruins of Babylon. Their presence caused extensive damage; dumping, passage of heavy vehicles and helicopters, destruction of the avenue of Processions due to the passage of tanks, extraction of bricks from the Ishtar Gate rebuilt by Saddam Hussein, vehicle cemetery, trench digging around the Etemenanki, graffiti and soil contamination, among others. On the other hand, several artifacts found in the city and exhibited in the local museums and the one in Baghdad were stolen and sold on an auction website. These actions, in addition to damaging the monuments, have also been able to alter unexplored areas.

Post-war to present day

The new Iraqi government, with advice and financial support from the US-based private organization World Monuments Fund, developed a comprehensive management plan for the site and submitted its candidacy for UNESCO World Heritage status. This program was supported by the United States Department of State. The Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage is the main authority responsible for the conservation of the archaeological site, assisted by the Antiquities and Heritage Police, its offices are located within the perimeter of the old inner city walls and a number of staff and their families reside in subsidized housing in this area.

Thousands of people currently live within the perimeter of the city's ancient outer walls, and the communities in and around it are developing rapidly despite laws restricting construction.

In 2017, when it was reopened to the public, more than 35,000 people visited the archaeological site in Babylon and on July 5, 2019, it was finally inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Babylonian Archeology

History of the excavations

State of the excavations in 1829 and locations of the villages inside Babylon.

State of the ruins in 1932.

Historical knowledge of the topography of Babylon has derived from classical writers, the inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II, and excavations by the Deutsche Orientgesellschaft (German Oriental Society), begun in 1899. The topography practically corresponds to the Babylon of the mentioned monarch, since the oldest city was destroyed by Sennacherib without leaving hardly a trace. The aforementioned German excavations were the ones that truly began to discover the city, although the British Indian Company had given rise to excavations by Layard in 1850, Rawlinson in 1854 and Rassam in 1880; however, these raids served more to loot objects now on display in the British Museum than to truly discover and understand the city. The Germans found in Kasar, the name of one of the mounds that grew on the ruins, the remains of the palaces and fortresses and royals, and in Amram, another of the mounds, the foundations of the ziggurat. The excavation teams of the German East Society they were made up entirely of architects since the Robert Koldewey expedition, whose primary interest was locating buildings and making accurate plans, for which they had developed a method that made it easier to find mud walls. Although we owe them knowledge of Nebuchadnezzar II's Babylon, his interest in the city's architecture made them pay little attention to inscriptions, ceramics, bones, and other remains.

By 1900, Robert Koldewey had already found the Ishtar Gate and cleared part of the Processional Avenue and briefly surveyed the entire area, which included, in addition to the mounds of Amram and Kasar (or Kasr), those of Babil, Merkez and Homera, in all about 18 km². The last three correspond to the areas of the summer palace, the residential area of large houses around the temple of Ishtar in Agadé, and the area of the Greek amphitheatre. Focused on the first two and with the idea After moving tablets and other remains to Germany, Koldewey requested the construction of a railway line and hired between 200 and 250 men. Helped by other architects, he began a systematic study of the site that led him to dissect the different historical layers up to the second millennium BC; although his intention was to continue, it was not possible due to the groundwater level at the site.In 1924 Koldewey reviewed the recently published excavation reports. He died in 1925.

Other important excavations, although not as revealing, were also German in 1970 and Iraqi in 1978-1989, carried out by the Iraqi State Organization for Antiquities and Heritage, whose main interest was the reconstruction of various architectural monuments.

• Archaeological remains

In addition to the ruins themselves and the reconstructions carried out in the XX century, there are a number of archaeological remains that were moved from their place of origin and are currently on display in different parts of the world.

Architectural remains

• Berlin: Museum of Pergam. Numbered and reconstructed remains of the Ishtar Gate and the facade of the throne room of the royal palace of the inner city.

Other artistic remains

• Istanbul: İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzesi. Glassed brick panels with relief and painted figures.

Cuneiform tablets

• Berlin: Staadliche Museum and Vorderasiatisches Museum. Stools collected in the German excavations of 1899-1917.
• London: British Museum. Tablets collected mainly between 1879 and 1882.

Cultural Significance

Prior to modern excavations in Mesopotamia, the appearance of Babylon was a mystery variously depicted by Western artists as a hybrid between ancient Egypt, classical Greek, and contemporary Ottoman culture.

Due to the historical importance of Babylon, as well as references to it in the Bible, the word "Babylon" in several languages it has acquired a generic meaning of a large, bustling and diverse city.

Biblical narrative

According to the Bible, Nimrod founded Babel (Babylon). Later the Bible recounts the construction of the Tower of Babel by people who spoke only one language. In order to prevent the development of the building, God caused the builders to start speaking different languages and disperse all over the Earth.

After Hezekiah, the king of Judah, fell ill, Berodach-baladan, the king of Babylon, sent him letters and a gift. Hezekiah showed all his treasures to the delegation. Then Isaiah said to him, 'Hear the word of the Lord Almighty: 'Surely the days will come when all that is in your palace, and all that your ancestors treasured up to this day, will be brought to Babylon. Nothing will be left.'' About 200 years later, Babylon's king Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah, besieged Jerusalem, and deported the Jews to Babylon.

The prophet Daniel was in Babylon for much of his life. The king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, appointed Daniel governor of the entire province of Babylon and chief of all his wise men for having interpreted the dream about the huge statue. Years later, the king of Babylon, Belshazzar, had a great banquet and they appeared the fingers of a human hand and wrote on a wall. They called Daniel to give the interpretation of those writings. Daniel explained to the king that God has put an end to his kingdom. That same night they killed Belshazzar, and Darius of Media took over the kingdom.

Then the king of Persia, Cyrus, had a decree issued throughout his kingdom allowing the exiled Jews to return to Jerusalem to build the temple. As a result, thousands of Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylon.

The book of Isaiah says the following regarding Babylon: "It will become like Sodom and Gomorrah, cities that God destroyed. It will never be inhabited again. It will forever remain uninhabited. No nomad will ever again pitch his tent there, nor will any shepherd feed his flock there.& # 34; The book of Jeremiah says about Babylon: "No one will ever inhabit it again," the place will be "completely uninhabited" and it will be "land through which no one will pass and in which no human being will live". The Bible predicts that the territories of Babylon, Edom, Bosrah, Moab, Tyre, Hazor and the children of Ammon will come be like Sodom and Gomorrah, or forever uninhabited.