ancient babylon: from gradual demise to archaeological rediscovery

7/28/2019 ANCIENT BABYLON: FROM GRADUAL DEMISE TO ARCHAEOLOGICAL REDISCOVERY

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A}ICIENT BABYLON: FROM GRADUAL DEMISETO ARCHAEOLOGICAL REDISCOVERY

J. Paul TannerJordanEvangelicalTheologicalSeminaryAmman Jordan

INTRODUCTIONThe Neo-Batlylonian Empire was founded underthe rule of Nabopolassar (Nabt-apla-usur), whoreigned from 626-605 B.C. For severalhundredyears

prior to his rule, Babylon had been a vassal stateunder the rule of the Assyrians to the north, and hadsuffered destruction by Assyrian king Sennacherib in689 B.C.1 Following the death of the Ashurbanipal in627 8.C., the Assy'ian Empire rapidly decreased npower until finally in 612 B.C. the great city ofNineveh was defeatedby the combined forces of theBabylonians, Medesand Scythians.

Under the rule of Nabopolassar's son,Nebuchadnezzar Il (Nab0-kudurri-usur, 605-562B.C.), the Neo-Babylonian Empire reached he zenithof its power. However,by 539 B.C., the Babylonianswere defeated by the armies of Cynrs the Great, kingof the Medesand Persians. The city of Babylon itselfwas not destroyed n 539 B.C., but continued o thriveand remained a key city of the Persian Empire formany years. It even becamepart of the richest satrapyin the empire and was regarded by Herodotus(Histoies 1.178) as the world's most splendid city.Under the PersianKing Darius, it even receivedsomeimprovements including an arsenal, a palace for thecrown prince and an apadana, .e. a hall supportedbycolumns, in the Persian style (Roux 1992: 409).

ln 482 B.C., Babylon revolted against Xemes.This led to the destruction of Babylon's fortificationsand temples, as well as the melting down of the gold-en image of Marduk, Babylon's primary deity. Fromclassical authors,2we know that Xerxes captured herebellious city after a siege of several months. Afterbeing sacked, ts fortifications were demolished, thegreat temple of Marduk and others were burnt to theground, and the statueof Marduk was caried away asa spoil of war (Oates 1986: 138). Xerxes dealt withthe Babylonians quite severely. He abolished the

sampy and incorporated t with that of Assyria,though westernportionswere madea separate nit.Some arge andedestates ere confiscated, nd hecountry n generalwasheavily taxed. n terms of itstemples,t is probablehatsomeof them ell intoruinthrough lack of maintenance n the following cen-turiesratherthanthrough violent destruction,n thatEsagilaand other sancfuaries re mentioned n latertexts Roux1992:409).Despite hissetback estruction, abylon ontin-ued o flourish until Alexander he GreatdefeatedhePersians. is victory at the battle of Gaugamela,nOctober, 331 B.C.,openedhe road o Persia ndBabylon. Alexanderwas warmly welcomedby thecitizens of Babylon, and after making sacrifice toMarduk he orderedthe restoration of Esagila andresolved o make Babylonhis eastern apital.3Hisplanswere cut shortby his death n Babylonn 323B.C. n the ancient alace fNebuchadnezzx.By thetime of hisdeath,he hadactuallybegun ebuilding hegreatziggurat,but was only in the initial stages f itsrestoration.a s a result of Alexander'sdeath,Babyloneffectivelysaw he end of its role as a capi-tal city.FollowingAlexander's eath,his generals trug-gled for control of his empire, and eventuallySeleucusa former satrapof Babylon)gainedcontrolof the Asian province that contained he city. Theprestigeof Babylonwas significantly educedwhenSeleucusrderedhe oundingofa newcity, Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, about 90 km north of Babylon.sAntiochus I (281-261 B.C.), the successor oSeleucus,made Seleucia he royal city, and thenordered hat the civilian populationof Babylonbemoved there. Seleucia-on-the-TigrisTell'Umar,probably on the site of Upd (Opis) oppositeCtesiphon), as he argest ity of thewholeSeleucidkingdom,with a populationof about600,000 Roux1992:415).HadBabylon emainedheSeleucid ap-

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t2ital city, herprestigewould havehadagreaterchanceof survival.Althougharemnant fpeople still inhab-ited the ancient site, the city's importanceneverrecovered.Nevertheless,omeeffortsweremadebythe Macedonian ulersto revive its half-ruinedstate.A royal nscription f Antiochus (281-260B.C.)hasbeen ound on which he calls himself "provider ofEsagilaandBzida,"and ike the Chaldean ings,alsoclaims to havebrought he first bricks of these em-ples rom "Hatti" (Syna).A tabletdatedn the reignof SeleucusII (225-223B.C.) further ndicates hatregular offerings were made to a number ofBabyloniangods n their own shrines Roux 1992:416, 420). Archaeologistshave discovered heremainsof Hellenistic architectureon the mound ofBdbil as well as hesiteof Nebuchadnezzar'salace.During hereignof theAntiochusV (175-164B.C.),Babylon receiveda gymnasiumand a splendidGreektheater which was later enlarged by the Parthians(Witzel,Schmidt ndMallwist 1957:3-21).The eli-gious rrnctions f Esagila nda college f priests the'Anu-Enlil priesthood) ere still in operationate nthe Seleucid eriod Oates1986:142).After the Parthians onqueredBabylonia n 126B.C., he Seleucid ingdomwasgreatly educed.Atthat time. Artabanus II assumedcontrol over theTigris-Euphratesalley, andBabylonremainedunderParthianconhol for quite some ime, except or twobrief periods of Romanoccupationunder Trajan(A.D.98-ll7) andSeptimius everusA.D.193-2ll).The repressionollowing the revolt of Hymeros n127B.C. and hecivil war betweenMithridates I andOrodes n 52 B.C. may havebroughtabout rrepara-ble damageo Babylon, erhaps venmoreso hanatthehands f Xerxes Roux1992: 21).The Greek geographerand historian Strabo(Geography16.5)describedBabylon as emptyanddesolateor the mostpart. In the first centuryB.C.,DiodorusSiculus BibliothecaHistorica 2.9) indicat-edthatEsagilaalongwith the royal palaceshadsunkinto ruins and that only a small area of the city wasstill inhabited. There was some continuanceof aBabyloniancity andpeopleevenuntil the first centu-ry A.D., though of very little importance. Pliny(NaturalisHistoria 6.30) suggestshat Esagilawasstill in existence.In A.D. 115or 116, he RomanEmperor rajanwintered n Babylon during his campaignagainst he

NEASB47Parthians, though he found little there except formounds, stones and ruins (Dio Roman History68.30.1) However, Pausanias Descriptio Grseciae8.33.3)wrote that the temple of Bel (Marduk) and thecity walls were still standing, though most of the citywas abandoned. According to Septimius Severus(A.D. 193-2ll), the site was deserted y A.D. 200.The Parthian kingdom finally fell under Sassaniandomination in A.D. 227. But traces of Parthianoccu-pation havebeen ound in the excavationsofBabylon,as well as numerous other sites in southern Iraq.Subsequently, the site of Babylon remained virtuallylost until the seventeenth centurv.Early Explorers

Ibn Hawkal, a tenth-century A.D. Islamic geog-rapher, was one of the first to rediscover the ancientsite of Babylon and describe its remains. He notedthat Babel was a small village, yet one of the mostancient n all lraq. He says hat the'Vhole region isdenominatedBabel from this place," and he "kings ofCanaan [sic Chaldea]resided here; and ruins of greatedifices still remain" (Maurice l8l6: 6).

Benjamin Bar Joanna,a learned Jewish merchantof Tudela (in the kingdom of Aragon in Spain), trav-eled to the Ancient Near East in A.D. l160 and madesignificant notes on Nineveh and Babylon. Heappears to have confused the site of Babylon withBorsippa, which is slightly to the south, seeing theTower of Babel in the massive uins of the ziggurat ofBorsippa. His interest was more with the Jews in thevicinity and their synagogues than with Babylonitself. Neverthelesshe made two important observa-tions. He reported hat ten thousandJews ived in thevillage of Al Hillah, six miles from Babylon, andnoted that they had an active synagogue in Babylon,one mile from the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's emple,probably the temple of Marduk (Adler 1905:514-30).

A German physician and explorer namedLeonhard Rauwolff traveled to Baghdad about 1575and claimed to have seen he ruins of Babylon, thoughfrom his remarks it appears that he was confusedregarding the true location (Wellard 1973: 2l). In1583 the English merchant John Eldred also traveledto the region ofBabylonia, though he appears o havemistaken the Tower of Babel for another located at theKassite city of 'Aqar Quf (ancient Dur Kurigalzu)

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2002 ANCIENT BABYLON 13(Haklu,'t1965).Pietro della VaIe was an Italian noblemanwhovisitedBabylonn 1616andUr in I625. Several ar-lier travelers had attempted o jdenti$' the site ofBabylon, but thought it lay elsewhere. Pietro dollaValle correctly dentified thesite ofBabil in 1616. Hnoted that villagen were mining and sellingBabylon's iln-firedbricks. He brought ack somebricks to Europeon which wer inscdbedwritng mcertain unkno*n chamcters.6He was apparontly hefirst to scndcopiesof cutreifolm hscriptions back oEu'opeand he firsr o engaeen limrrcd urnmagiDgamong he ruins of Babylonwith the aid of a pick(Vos1979:263). His chief nterest as n theancientwritingofth region.Saggs1995: -10) eports,lna lctter n 1521he gavecopies f somcofthe signs,composed f groups f wedges. nd n 1625he wascomrnentingon wedge-shapednscriptionson bdckshe had collectediom nins at a site dentified en-turies aterasanient r." Thrcwasaiready wodused o expresshesense fwedge-shaped,heLatin-derivedword "cuneiform"usedby the science fAnatomy,and from 1700 onward this word wasadopted s hestandarderm n English or this kindof w'iling.Karsten icbuhr 1733-1815)lsoequated abiiwith Babylon, shadEmmanul allyet n l?55. In1761,Mebuhr fig. l) hadbeen entout by the kingof DenmarlgFrcderickV on a scientific mission rogatlcr as much nformaLion s possible n \arioussubjch, including archaeology. When he foundnumerous nscribcd bricks lying around the greatmohds at Hillahon the Euphrates,e deduccdhatrhc sitc wasprobablyBabylon r,elf. Howcvcr. c,lil,cothcrs elorehim. mttakenlybelrevcdhe ruin.jn Borsip r were tbose of th Babylonian towcr(Klengel-L,ndr lqq-: 251). \everthclcss,henumerous nscriptions that bis team copied fromPersepoliswerc made available to philologists tostudy.

loscph dc Beauhamp,a distinguished Frcnchabb6 and astronomcrwas thc papal vicar-generalatBaghdad.During hc years1780and ?90, h rnadevisits to the ruinsofBabylon and conductedwhatarebelieved o be th fiIst minor excavations fthe site.He cut the tust archaologicalrenchcsn the mourdsof Hillah and El Ka$ (theCastle), hc latterbeing hemound on wbich Robrt Koldewey would later make

some of his greatestdiscoveries. He collectdinscribed ricks and othersmall artifacts hat werebrought back to France. He also made detailed andaccumte ccounts fBabylon, andnoted heexistenceofmassivenscribedylindershougb c wasunableto obtain one. Unfortunately, he interest n inscribdbricks may have causedgreater discoveries o beoverlooked. Workmen we.e mployed to dig forbricksn thcHillahmound. n thecourse fdoingso,howcvcr, hey found argc, hick walls and oomscon-tainingclay vessels, ngavedmarbles, nd bronzestatues. On room was said o be decoratedwith fig-mes of cows on vamishedbdcks(reference videntlyro the enamled ulls later found by Koldewey alongthe ength ofthe ProcessionalWay). According o the

Fig. 1. KarstenNiebubrPope1999: s).


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t4 TANNER NEASB4?

worknen,otherbriok showediohues f lions, hesun. hemoon.andso forth, Yet all theseatifactswere hrcwn asideasworthlesso the buildgrs,whosimplywatrtedhe hard,kiln-baked ricks(Wellard1973t 3\.Neverthel$s,his rporb led to an interest nantiquities y theBritish East odia Company irclesof London. The atrerauthorizedepresentadvesnBaghdado conduct rohaeologicalrGpecting.ARCEAEOLOGYAT BASYLON

Claudiu8amesich l?87-l821) ewed s esi-dentof the British East ndia Companyn Baghdadftom 1808 ntil his deathabout heyear 82l (fromcholera).Hewas luent n sevenlorientalanguagesitrcluding Turkish and Anbic, aBd wmte someinformativememoi$otr Babylon,NhevehandotherMesopotandanites.Hemrdesurface xplorationsfBabylon 1811-12d agai! n 1817,roducingheflrst accuratelanof the site of Babylon,whichwaspublishedn 1815.Through im, he irst antiquitiesincluding ome ylinder ealsfrg.2) foundhet wayto Europe, !o both the Louvre and the BritishMuseum.ThomasMaudce 1816:30), a contempo-raryof Rich lamentedhat he amous ncientwallsof Babylonrill emainedmyslery. ewrole,. . .although e havedoubd$sascertainedhesite,andftomevidenceothextemal ndnlsmal,manyofthepublicedifices fBabylon; et heactual xteftofthecircumferencef lhal Feat city. from lhe varyineaccounts f the ancied historians,emains til dis-putable, nd nust verdo so,unlesshevestiges f its

vast walls shall hereafterbe acculately r.ced by stillmorc assiduousocal rcsgarch."Minor Explorrtiotrs

Following the work of Rich, there werc severalminor explorationsat lhe site of Babylon in the firsth4lfofthe nircteedth cenfrry. Robert Ker Porter,anEnglishpainter,mapped heruins ofBabylon, record-ed his imprssions, nd llustrated themwith rom&l-tic views of the ruios in 1818. Yet he identified theTower ofBabel with Bhs Nimrud. In 1827JamesS.BuckinghamandMellino made uther sudaceexplo-rations of the site. tn 1828 Robert Mignan madesoundings.He cut a shaft and removeda nmbet atclay tablets,aswell as an inscribedclay cylinder In1841, Coste and Flandin made lhrther mapr of theruns.Hetrry reswickeawliffon1810-1895)s notnoted for archaeological o* at Babylon,but hemade ome ignificant onflbutionso thedecipher-ment of the Alkadian languageutilized by xheBabylonians, n achievement hich would proveiflvaluable or archaeologisbfter him who wouldunddake horough xcavationndstudyofxhesite.Rawlinso! f19.3) himselfwasan excellentinguist.

Flg.2. Sealound y Rich Saggs995: 2).

Fig. 3,HenryRawli'rsotrPope 999:110).


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2002 ANCIENT BABYLON l 5Having sefled a,san intelligence offrcer in the EastIndia Compatry n Indis, he waspostedas a militaryadvtuero Penia n 1835.BytheendoflS43,hewassppohted British Residentand CoDsul n Baghdad,atrd iD the ensuingyearsplayeda major role in thedeoiphement of the famous trilingual Bhistuninscdptiod. By the autumnof 1846,he rras able tomsl(essnse ut ofmany ofthe cuneiform nscriptionson bdcks ftom Nebucbsdnezzar'sBabylotr (withaboux50% accuraoy). By 1850 with the help of aKurdish boy he was able to publish his decodingof$e cueiform scripx. Rawlinaon ctumed o Englandin 1855,and there devotadhihselfto the translationaodpublicationof coneiform exts.HeDryAuotsnLayard 1817-1894) as famousfor his archaeological work at Nimdd (biblicalCalah) and NiDeveh. He wad commissioded y aheBriibh Mweum to direct their work itr Mesopogmia.Itr I 847,he removedwo ofthe mostspectacularindsftom Nirnrud, a colossalbull and ion, for display nthe British Museum. In thesame ear,he managedopublishaa accountofhis excavations! the form ofatravel joumal that quickly becames best-sellr Healso published a volume oontoining the principalcueiform txts ao well !s drawingsof his finds. Aseco[d a\pedition to M$opotamia was conductedduringthe years | 848-5L Duritrg this time heatter-natdbetweendigs at Calah and Nineveh and con-centrated n SeDnaoheribt alace6t Nineveh and hezigguratof Cal.h, His wolk at Kuyunjik (Nineveh)was particularly rewarding, and ncludeda groupofted colossalbulls which formed hegraDdentrance oa pabce, as well aB some ine bas-reliefs depictingbattle scenes,among them the siege of biblicaiLachish y Sennacherib$cribd n 2 Kings I8i 13-l? (Saggs1995; 5). Morc impo.ta4 however,wasthediscoveryofa major archiveofcuneiform hblets,pad of a library collectedby Asslrian kirys, chieflyAshurbaripal in the seventhcentury B.C. La)rdhsuccesso(Homuzd Rassam.went on to excavatehesite in 1853. The tablets tom Kuyunjik, trow in theBritish Museum,rcmain one of the most impofiantsources or cuneiform studies.In 1850, nyard (fig. 4) was able !o take sound-ings at Babylon. He dug into thrce momds (includ-ing the mou ofBabel and he hill ofKasr) but sootrconcludedhal heplacewasnotwo4hhis ime.A French counseland oriedalist by the nameof

Ftg.4, Austen aysrd Saggs 995:14).FulgenceF esnel,along wid| the CnnatrAsslriolo-gist Jules Oppert aDd an architect mmed FelixThomas, made the first rystematio exoavafionsofBabylon in July-November ofl852. Basedon tbeirworlq Oppert (1859) published the first relativelydetailed map ol Babylon. They found numerousinscriptions, though unforhmately their finds (41dates) were lost when a boat contrining themfounderedat Qurnaon the Tigris in May | 855. By1869,howevr,Oppefi recognized lat the third lar-guageofthe Behishm nscription was Elamito.Homuzd Rassarn1826-1910), native ftomMosul, had been he assistant o Layard during thetime oftheir work in Assyria,and succeeded im dur-ing the 1850s. He was the kother ofthe locally bomBritish Consular cEsentative n Mosul and evenhr-ally became ho Supervisor of Excavations or theBritish Museum. Rassam fig.5) became amorls nhis own dght for his work at Nimrud, and was com-mhsioned o rcopen excavationsn Babylon n 18?6.In drc courseofhis wo*. he uneart]'eda larse collec-


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1 6

Fig. 5. HormuzdRassamRoaf1996:152).tion ofbusiDessooumontsfthe house fEgibi andthe famousCfus CylinderDuring the latterpan of the i 800s, he site con-tinuedo be damagdKlengel-Brandt997:252). naddition o the continualplundringol the bakedbricks from the ruins, the local populationalso tookstonemonuments,which they bumed or glpsum. Asa result, many mpotant buildings were so horough-ly destroyed hat it was later impossible o identirytheir groundplans.

THE EXCAVATIONS OFROEERT KOLDEWEV

Following ihc work of E, Sachauminor cxcava-tions in | 897-98), h nwly-formedGermanOrintalSociety (Deutsche Orienlceseilschaft) took overrespotrsibility or thc excavationsof Babylon(Margueron 9921 63). RobertKoldewcy 1855-1925)wasthenput in chargeand caried out scientif-ic excavationshroughouthe years1899-1917. isgoals includcd the uncoveringof the city plan, thinvstigationof Babylonianarchitectue, and adefm-itive identification of the Tower of Babel. Althoughthe high ground-water evels prvnted hem fiomreaching he Old Babylonian strata, hey wcrc suc-cesstul n exposingayers iom rhe Neo-Babylonianperiod.Koldewey (fig. 6) began his careeras a fieldarchaeologistn Assusof westemTurkey n 1882. lnI88?, be worked with Robert Moritz at Sulgul and al-Hiba n soulhemraq. Therebcgained xperiencenprepariDg urveys,maps,drawings,and refined ech-

NEASB 47niques or folowing mudbrickwalls, following foun-dation trenchesand observing soil colors and otheradvarcedmethodologies or the time. After a teach-ing stint in Gitrlitz, Gematry, he chose he site ofBabylon n 1897 or a najor excavationandwasableto obtain he backing ofth Geman Orie al Society(Fasatr 997:303). ornearly 8 yearc ecaniedouthis archaeologicalwork at Babylon with very littleif,terruption, until forced in March of 1917 to closedown his excavations y the apFoachof the BdtishExpeditionaryForce under Genel Maude, ihoughhis projecxedaborswere far irom finished.Koldewey startedwork at the sile on March 26,1899, when his Xeam ut an exploratory senh n theeast side of KasL a mound of 1,6 km near theEuphmtes iverCanot 1958:21).By 1900, is eamhad worked otr the Processioml Way, he lemple ofNinmach(a goddess fthe dead), hepalaces, nd hecenter f themoundAmran bn Ali, wherebe siteofthe fahed Esagila (Templeof Marduk) was found.Theexcavationfthe Ninurta emplen 1901and heIshtar gare n 1902 soon followcd. Orher majoreffo.ts werc directed at the Persian buildings(1906/07),Merkes 1908),and hc rest of the Kasr(1911-12). hc outerwalls of th empleof Esagilawere dcntified n iate 1910and earlv 9l l. In th

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Fig.6. RobertKoldeweyHanis199s:100).


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2002 ANCIENT BAB'I'LON t 7

Fig. 7. st r Gate Oates 986:145.)cou$e of his excavations, Koldewey discoveredcuneiform inscdptions, statues, stela! tna-cottarliefs, cylindo seals, ottery,glassware, ndcwelryKoldewey was abl to locatemost of the eightmajor city gates,eachof which was dedicated o oneofrhepnncipaldeiLiesorsbiped y !hBabylotriaDs.The namesof thesegatesarc known by virtue ofdescdptionsof the city found on cunciform docu-ments Oates 986:152). To theeastwere heGatesofMarduk andNinurt4 godofhunting and ofwar; tothe south was the Gate of Urash, an old Atkadiandeity of the holy city of Dilbat not far south ofBabylonCampdor 958:145).H wasabl o iden-

tify four othergateswith reasonable ertainty. To thnorlh was the Gate of Sin, the rnoongod, with thGatsofEnlil, the skygod,andShamash,he sungodto the south.Or the west was $e Gate ofAdad, theStom god. The most fmnousof thesewas the IshtarGate (fig. 7), locatedon the north side of the city,which he excavated long with threeothers.Excavation of the site posedseveml challengesfor Koldewen not th eastofwhich was he weather.Working yom-roundproveda gruelingtask, as sum-me^rslEde tempcratrres often rached as high as50 C. The river andwater evelsalsocomplicated istask. The Dresent ourse of the EuDlrates River is


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l 8different than hatof ancient imes. It presently lowsfartherwest of its original location,whichdivided theinnercity into two sectors.Thebulk of theexcavationwork was largely concentrated n the older eastemsector, where most of the principal buildings werelocated. Much less s knownof the area hatoriginal-ly lay west of the river, and which is now partlybeneath ts bed. Because f theproximity to the river,theexcavatonencounterederious imitations o theirwork. Campdor 1958:125) notes hat at forty feetdown lay ruinsdating to the time of Hammurabiandthe First Dynastyof Babylon. However,due to therise n thewater evel t was mpossibleo investigatebelow these uins. In addition o thesediffrculties,therewas also the immensityof the ancientcity thathad to be considered, nd the mounds hemselveswere widely scatteredParrot1958:22-23).TheruinsofBabylon extend ver an areaof some850 hectaresand constitute the largest ancient settlement nMesopotamiaOates1986:144).By wayof compar-ison,greaterNineveh s about750 hectares, nd hemoundof Ur only 55hectares.When approaching he site from the north, theBdbil mound alsocalledMujelibe) s the first to beencountered. isingaboat22m above he eveloftheplain, it is roughly squarewith sides approximately248 m long. A great quantity of the bricks hadalreadybeen emoved or building materialelsewherebefore the archaeologists ven arrived. Fortunately,due to inscriptions,t was possible o identify theremainsof the summer alaceof NebuchadnezzarI(605-562B.C.). This had beenprotected y a wall,partsof which still remainedon the northand east.About a mile or more to the southon the sitenowknown as he Kasr, heprimary gatewayo theancientcity is located.From here he city extendsor morethan a kilometeralong he bankof the river.The famousProcessionalWay (about250 m.long and20-24m. wide) ed o the shtarGate.Fromthe Ishtar Gate, it ran to the southerncorner ofEtemenanki.From here, t curvedn thedirectionofthe Euphrates,where a large bridge (spanningover120m.) crossedhe river.The complexesof Esagila and Etemenankiformed he heartof the ancientcitv of Babvlon. Of

NEASB 47primary importancewas the temple precinct ofEsagila, ying under he moundof Amran ibn Ali, inwhich stood he cult roomsof the chief godMarduk,of Ea(godof waterandwisdorn), f Nabu godof thescribal craft), and of other gods and goddesses(Klengel-Brandt 1997: 254). Just to the north ofEsagilawas he empleprecinctof Etemenanki,whichhoused he remainsofthe fabledBabylonianziggurat.It consisted f six tiers of steps,eachone set backfrom the one below it. At the top, as he seventhier,stooda high temple o the cult of Marduk.Despite the interferencebrought on by WorldWar , Koldewey'sexcavationstBabylonwerenev-erthelessighly successfulcf. Koldewey1914),andstandas one ofthe greatarchaeological chievementsof all time.

SI]MMARY OF NEWER EXCAVATIONSFrom 1955 to 1968, the Iraq DepartmentofAntiquities carried out further clearances. UnderHeinrich J. Lenzen, the German ArchaeologicalInstituteconductedurtherbrief excavationsn 1956at the Greek heater. In 1958, hey beganwork onrestoring he Emakhtemple,part of the IshtarGate,the Processional ay and hepalace omplex.Theyalsobuilt a hallsize model of the complete shtar

Gate fig. 8) at the enfance o the site. Much of thevast, extraordinary alaceof Nebuchadnezzar ith itsmassive hrone oom(ca.54.86m x 60 m), locatedjust southwest fthe IshtarGate,hasnowbeen econ-structedwith financial support rom the Iraqi govern-ment. In 1966,H. J. Schmidt arriedout excavationsat the site of Etemenanki. n 1978, he templeofNabu-sa-hare, hich borderedon the Etemenankiprecinctandcontained arge ibrary wasuncovered.A museum nd esthouse avebeenbuilt on the site,which is also partially coveredby the village ofDjumdjummah t the southern nd. n May of 2001,when the presentwriter last visited the site ofBabylon, he Iraqi govemmentwas working diligent-ly to reconstructmanyof thewalls and ancientbuild-ings,and n otherways o make he site accessibleovisitors.

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19002 ANCIENT BAXIT-ON

NOTES

Ftg.8.IshtarGateReconstructioophoto yJ. P Taorer).

lKlengel-Brardt (199?:251)points out that fie earti-efl mntionof the ower(or ziggunD in a hiebncal irucrip-tion com6 from tbe record! of Senn&cherib,tr which hcclanns m have desboyed Esagila and fie temple !ow.rSennacheribson,Lsarhaddo, 680-669B.C.), ffcindedhis tuther'spolioy andudertook the rebuilding of Babylon,though relaining the iruge of Marduk itr Asslria thatSennacherib ad Emovea,Herodotu! (Itirro"g, 1.183)saw that Xenes look theoolossalgold$ stalue of Mardut fion Beagila. ArriE(Ahabarix |.11.2), Cre6iasPercrkEptt 52-53) and Strabo(Geograpnr 16.r.5')e'uggesth8r the city warb were dis-mmiled ed the temples azed o rheSround.3Inth first centuryA.D., Quint6 Cutiu RufiB wotea hisrory of Alexuder rlrc Grc r (Ei!tuna AlerotdnMagrt. This accoul itrcluded Alexuder's exploits inBabylon and h6 lnonunenlal ntentioa that heplan ed .raThetowe. ibelf had been om down in th6 time ofAlexm.le. lh Gr$l wiih the idention of rebuildhs it(Klmgel-Brudr 1997:254).sReSddinSSeteuci4 rsor (19881 85)notes. it wa!

buih lsrEelv wtb materi&l brouclt Aom BalvloD and il6foundi.Ds-niark he end ofBabvl-on Dolrlical orncecc.Seleucia-wasDoDulated ith Macedoiiars and creok andalso ircluded- niaDy Jewsud Slnans. Avidius Cassiusbumed Slcucia DA.D. 164. ed \r,ho SeDtiDiusSeveruslass.d tl'rousl fE rcgion on lis Panhiar campaigr of 198tll sit was cornplerelyabardoEd."6By the time of C. J. Rich (rcus y 200 )m aftqdellaVaIe), lhis pEcli@ of cani,g otr f'e tricks had ate,a hea'y loll oD the archaologi&l site. Regardirg themoud ofAM which includEdEsagila,Rich Mot,". . . thegreatest upllies havebeenand are now coNtantlydEM fion it, fiey appearstill to be abundant. But the

oDemtiooof exbactirE $e bids bls caused reat @blu-sid dd cotrtribured uh lo incEse the dt fiitltv of deci-phering the onsinal design of tf isnoun4 as in 3eirch ofrhem hewmktneDise inlo ! i! everydiFctim,tollow-ineoutdeepElirs od prLs, d thowing up the ubbrsbin hearsoD he surfa@. n someDla@shev havebored ntothe soiid ms, fomiDs windins cavetr Ald subteEueupassases.hrcb- from fie; beins efi witlour adequre sup-Don. teqGnrlvbw rheworkmenn be rubbish fquored; rho.is MaGcd 1816,22). '


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1965 The Principal Navigations, Yoyages,Trffiques and Discoveies of the EnglishNation. London; eprint, I. R. Blacker. NewYork: Viking.Harris,R. L.1995 Exploing the World of the Bible Lands.London:Thamesand Husdon.Klengel-Brandt,E.1997 Babylon.h. 251-56 n vol. I of TheOxfordEncyclopediaof Archaeologt in the NearEast, ed,.E. M. Meyers. Oxford: OxfordUniversity,Koldewey,R.1914 The Excavationsat Babylon Translated y

AgnesS. Johns.London:Macmillan.LaSor.W. S.1988 Seleucia.Pp. 384-85 in vol. 4 of TheInternational StandardBible Encyclopedia,ed. Geoftey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids,MI: Eerdmans.Margueron,.1992 Babylon. Pp. 563-65 n vol. 1 of AnchorBible Dictionary. New York Doubleday.Maurice,T.1816 Observatiowon the Ruins of Babylon,AsRecentlyWsitedandDescnbedby ClaudiusJamesRich.London.

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Oates. .1986 Babylon, rev. ed. London: ThamesandHudson.Oppert,J.1859 Expidition scientifque en Mdsopotamie xi-cutiepar ordredu gouvernemente 1851I 854. Paris: mprimerie mp6riale.Parrot,A.1958 Babylonand the Old TestamentNew York:PhilosophicalLibrary.Pope,M.1999 The Story of Decipherment:tom Egtptian

Hieroglyphs to Maya Script, rcv. ed.London: Thamesand Hudson.Roaf,M.1996 Cultural Atlas of Mesopotamiaand theAncientNear Easl.New York: Facts n File.Roux,G.1992 Ancient raq,3rd ed. London: Penguin.Saggs, . W F.1995 Babylonians.Norman,OK: University ofOklahoma.Vos.H. F.1979 Archaeology f Mesopotamia.Pp. 263-70in vol. I ofTheInternationalStandard ible

Encyclopedia, ed. Geoftey W. Bromiley.GrandRapids,MI: Eerdmans.Wellard, . H.1973 By The Watersof Babylon. Newton Abbot,England: ReadersUnion.Wetzel,F.; Schmidt,E.; andMallwist, A.1957 Das Babylon der Spiitzeit. Berlin: Gebr.Mann.

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ancient babylon: from gradual demise to archaeological rediscovery

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