Description

Ancient Babylon was an important trading center because of its location on the Euphrates and its nearness to the Tigris River. The city collected taxes from passing caravans and from subject towns. Prosperous, it was able to develop a high culture. The building material was sun-dried brick, but decorative facings were made of glass-like tiles or painted plaster.

Ancient writers marveled at the wonders of Babylon. They described a city surrounded by a brick wall 300 feet (90 m) high and 85 feet (26 m) thick, with 250 towers and with 100 bronze gates. A moat ran along the outside of the wall. The Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Babylon in the fifth century B.C ., wrote that it was laid out in the form of a square, each side about 14 miles (23 km) long.

Modern scholars have found that the figures given in ancient accounts are exaggerated. For example, excavation has shown that the area within the walls of the city was no more than 12 square miles (31 km 2 ), far less than the 196 square miles (507 km 2 ) it would have had to occupy if Herodotus's account had been correct.

The buildings uncovered by excavation are from the Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century B.C. , but the walls of two older cities have been found. The mound of Babil at the north may have been the site of the Hanging Gardens. This structure was a pyramid of brick and earth rising about 75 feet (23 m) high. It consisted of a series of five levels or terraces. Trees, shrubs, and flowers covered each terrace. It is said that Nebuchadnezzar built this wonder for his wife, who longed for the scenery of her mountain homeland.

South of Babil is another mound, which contains the ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's palace. Here were the Ishtar Gate and the Procession Street, which were decorated with sculptured figures of bulls, dragons, and lions. Farther south are other mounds, covering what was probably the section where most of the people lived. Archeologists have uncovered what they believe was the great temple of Marduk, the chief god of Babylonia. This temple, like other Babylonian shrines, was built at the top of a ziggurat (a lofty pyramid rising in successive stages). Across the street there was another ziggurat, the Etemenanki, which some scholars identify with the Biblical Tower of Babel. The suburb of Borsippa was on the west side of the Euphrates. A stone bridge spanned the river. The city was surrounded by orchards and gardens watered by canals from the Euphrates.