Chapter 3 / 10 · 6th century BCE
Illustrative reconstruction, not a survey. Positions and sizes are approximate unless a dimension names its source.
Walk the city that Cyrus entered: its walls, its river and bridge, its sacred street, its temple tower and temple, and its houses.
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Scene 1 / 8 · 6th century BCE
Approaching from the north
A traveller from the north met the outer wall first, then the double wall of the inner city.
Explainer
Koldewey begins his account where a traveller from the north would stand, face to face with the outer wall. In his day it survived as a low earthen ridge, 4 to 5 kilometres long.
The drawing builds the city in layers: the plain and the river, the walls, the streets and temples, then the houses. It is a reconstruction to explain, not a survey.
How we know it
How we know it
The German excavations at Babylon began on 26 March 1899 and lasted many seasons. Koldewey’s book of 1914 describes what they found, section by section. It is the source of most measurements in this chapter.
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Introduction Verified
Sources: R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified · UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Babylon, World Heritage List entry 278, 2019 To verify
Narration script
We approach Babylon from the north, as a traveller in the time of Nebuchadnezzar would. First comes the plain and the river Euphrates. Then the walls rise, one ring after another. Inside them are streets, temples and thousands of houses. Everything here comes from the excavation reports, or is marked as illustrative where the record is silent.
Scene 2 / 8 · 7th to 6th century BCE
The outer wall
Three walls in one: mud brick 7 metres thick, baked brick 7.8 metres, and a moat wall 3.3 metres.
Explainer
The outer wall was a massive wall of mud brick, 7 metres thick. About 12 metres in front of it stood a wall of baked brick, 7.8 metres thick. At its foot ran the moat wall, 3.3 metres thick.
Towers 8.37 metres wide stood astride the mud wall, 52.5 metres apart, centre to centre. The space between the walls was filled with rubble, and a road ran on top.
The heights are not preserved. The drawing shows every crest dashed.
Measurements
Measurements
| Wall of mud brick | 7 m thick R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified |
|---|---|
| Space between the walls | about 12 m R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified |
| Wall of baked brick | 7.8 m thick R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified |
| Moat wall of baked brick | 3.3 m thick R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified |
| Towers | 8.37 m wide, 52.5 m apart R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified |
| North-east front | 4400 m long R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified |
| Heights | not preserved R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified |
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified
Debate
How long was the circuit?
The excavators traced a circuit of about 18 kilometres. Herodotus gives about 86 kilometres and Ctesias about 65. Koldewey thinks an error lies behind the difference.
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified · Herodotus, Histories 1.188 to 1.191, 430 BCE, 1.178 To verify Ancient narrative, not a record
Sources: R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The outer city walls Verified
Narration script
The outer wall was not one wall but three. A wall of mud brick, seven metres thick. Twelve metres in front of it, a wall of baked brick, almost eight metres thick. At its foot, a moat wall. The space between them was filled with rubble, and a road ran along the top. Towers stood every fifty-two and a half metres.
Scene 3 / 8 · 7th to 6th century BCE
The inner double wall
Two walls with a space of 7.2 metres between them, measured on a stretch east of the mound Homera.
Explainer
A low embankment east of the mound Homera hides the inner city wall for 1700 metres. It is a double wall, with a space of 7.2 metres between the two.
The western wall is 6.5 metres thick. Its towers stand every 18.1 metres. Large towers 11.4 metres deep alternate with smaller ones 8.06 metres deep. The eastern wall is 3.72 metres thick, with smaller towers every 20.5 metres.
Koldewey identified this wall by its inscriptions as Nimitti-Bel, now read Nemetti-Enlil. The Cyrus Cylinder names the great wall Imgur-Enlil.
Measurements
Measurements
| Space between the walls | 7.2 m R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The inner city wall Verified |
|---|---|
| Western wall | 6.5 m thick R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The inner city wall Verified |
| Western towers | 9.4 to 9.7 m wide, every 18.1 m; 11.4 m and 8.06 m deep R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The inner city wall Verified |
| Eastern wall | 3.72 m thick R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The inner city wall Verified |
| Eastern towers | 5.1 m wide, 5.8 m deep, every 20.5 m R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The inner city wall Verified |
| Mud bricks | 32 cm square (west), 33 cm (east) R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The inner city wall Verified |
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The inner city wall Verified
Materials and techniques
Materials and techniques
Both walls are of mud brick. Gutters of baked brick, 30 to 32 centimetres square, carried rainwater away, through the smaller towers on the western wall and through the curtains on the eastern wall.
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The inner city wall Verified
Sources: R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The inner city wall Verified · M. Cogan (translation), adapted to H. Schaudig’s edition, The Cyrus Cylinder, lines 1 to 45, The Context of Scripture, vol. II, 2003, line 38 (Livius.org edition) Secondary source
Narration script
Inside the outer wall stood the double wall of the inner city. Two walls, seven point two metres apart. The western wall is six and a half metres thick, with towers every eighteen metres. The eastern wall is thinner. These numbers come from one measured stretch, east of the mound called Homera.
Scene 4 / 8 · 7th to 6th century BCE
The Euphrates and its bridge
A bridge of baked brick crossed the river on piers shaped like ships, pointed against the current.
Explainer
The Euphrates ran through the city. Its course has changed since antiquity, so the river here is illustrative.
Seven river piers of a bridge were excavated. They are 9 metres wide, 9 metres apart and 21 metres long. Each is pointed upstream, to the north, like a ship’s waterline. As far as it was traced, the bridge was 123 metres long.
The bricks are small and unstamped. Koldewey dates the bridge to Nabopolassar or the first years of Nebuchadnezzar.
Measurements
Measurements
| Length, as far as traced | 123 m R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Euphrates bridge Verified |
|---|---|
| Piers | 9 m wide, 9 m apart, 21 m long R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Euphrates bridge Verified |
| Bricks | 31 by 31 cm, unstamped R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Euphrates bridge Verified |
| Roadway width | not known R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Euphrates bridge Verified |
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Euphrates bridge Verified
Materials and techniques
Materials and techniques
The piers are of baked brick laid in asphalt, built with a marked batter. Rectangular cavities held strengthening baulks of wood, about 50 centimetres apart, with a second course of wood 2 metres above.
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Euphrates bridge Verified
Sources: R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Euphrates bridge Verified · R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Euphrates and its course Verified
Narration script
The Euphrates divided the city. A bridge of baked brick crossed it. Seven of its piers have been excavated. Each is nine metres wide and twenty-one metres long, pointed to the north against the current, like the bow of a ship. As far as it was traced, the bridge ran a hundred and twenty-three metres.
Scene 5 / 8 · 6th century BCE
The Processional Way
North of the Ishtar Gate the street ran between two walls lined with about 120 glazed lions.
Explainer
The Procession Street came from the north to the Ishtar Gate. It ran between two walls with towers. Each wall carried a frieze of lions, 180 metres long.
The lions are about 2 metres long. Koldewey estimates 60 on each side, 120 in all, which agrees with the number of fragments found. Some lions were white with yellow manes, others yellow with red manes, on a light or dark blue ground.
The street was paved with limestone flags in the middle and breccia slabs at the sides.
Measurements
Measurements
| Friezes | two, each 180 m long R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Kasr. The ascent and Procession Street Verified |
|---|---|
| Lions | about 2 m long R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Kasr. The ascent and Procession Street Verified |
| Number of lions | about 120, an estimate R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Kasr. The ascent and Procession Street Verified |
Materials and techniques
Materials and techniques
The lions are moulded brick reliefs, glazed. Each brick was struck in a mould. Marks in rough glaze on the upper side told the builders where each brick belonged.
Sources: R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The Kasr. The ascent and Procession Street Verified
Narration script
From the north, the Processional Way led to the Ishtar Gate. It ran between two walls, and each wall carried a frieze of lions in glazed brick, a hundred and eighty metres long. The excavators estimate a hundred and twenty lions in all. Some were white with yellow manes, others yellow with red manes, on a blue ground.
Scene 6 / 8 · 7th to 6th century BCE
Etemenanki, the temple tower
How tall was it? A tablet gives about 91 metres. The excavator says the height is not known.
Explainer
Etemenanki stood in its own walled precinct. It is drawn here after the Esagila tablet, as George Smith read it in 1876: a base 15 gar square, seven stages, and a total height equal to the base.
Koldewey quotes that reading and warns against relying on it. He knew of no safe ground for stepped terraces. From the length of the stair’s foundations he estimated the stair’s height at about 50 metres. He writes that the complete height is not known.
Both readings are shown. The dashed outline marks about 50 metres.
The Esagila tablet
Stages of 15, 13, 10, 8.5, 7 and 5.5 gar, and a temple on top. Total height 15 gar, about 91 metres, equal to the base.
G. Smith (reading quoted in Koldewey 1914, Appendix), The Esagila tablet, as read by George Smith in 1876, 1876, as quoted in Koldewey 1914, Appendix Secondary sourceA. R. George, The Tower of Babel: Archaeology, History and Cuneiform Texts, Archiv für Orientforschung 51, 2005 To verify
The excavator
The stage figures fit the ruins only with great difficulty. The stair suggests about 50 metres. The complete height is not known.
Herodotus
Eight towers one above another, with a great temple on top. A narrative written long after, not a survey.
Herodotus, Histories 1.188 to 1.191, 430 BCE, 1.181 To verify Ancient narrative, not a record
Measurements
Measurements
| Base, by the tablet | 15 gar, about 91 m G. Smith (reading quoted in Koldewey 1914, Appendix), The Esagila tablet, as read by George Smith in 1876, 1876, first stage Secondary source |
|---|---|
| Height, by the tablet | 15 gar, equal to the base G. Smith (reading quoted in Koldewey 1914, Appendix), The Esagila tablet, as read by George Smith in 1876, 1876, total Secondary source |
| Stair height, from its foundations | about 50 m R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The peribolos of Etemenanki. The tower of Babel Verified |
| Complete height | not known R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The peribolos of Etemenanki. The tower of Babel Verified |
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The peribolos of Etemenanki. The tower of Babel Verified · G. Smith (reading quoted in Koldewey 1914, Appendix), The Esagila tablet, as read by George Smith in 1876, 1876 Secondary source
Sources: R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, The peribolos of Etemenanki. The tower of Babel Verified · G. Smith (reading quoted in Koldewey 1914, Appendix), The Esagila tablet, as read by George Smith in 1876, 1876, the stages Secondary source · A. R. George, The Tower of Babel: Archaeology, History and Cuneiform Texts, Archiv für Orientforschung 51, 2005 To verify
Narration script
In its own precinct stood Etemenanki, the temple tower. A cuneiform tablet gives its size: a base of fifteen gar, about ninety-one metres, and a height equal to the base. The excavator, Robert Koldewey, was more careful. He estimated the great stair at about fifty metres high, and wrote that the full height is not known. We show both.
Scene 7 / 8 · 6th century BCE
Esagila, the temple of Marduk
A temple almost square, 79.3 by 85.8 metres, with a court of 31.3 by 37.6 metres, found deep under a hill.
Explainer
Esagila, the temple of Marduk, lies under the hill of Amran ibn Ali, up to 21 metres below its top. The excavators reached it with deep shafts and galleries.
The main building is almost square. Its northern front measures 79.3 metres and its western front 85.8 metres. Inside is a court, 31.3 by 37.6 metres. The chief shrine, that of Marduk, lay on the west side of the court.
In 539 BCE, the chronicle notes, the rites of Esagila were not interrupted.
Measurements
Measurements
| Northern front | 79.3 m R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Esagila, the temple of Marduk Verified |
|---|---|
| Western front | 85.8 m R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Esagila, the temple of Marduk Verified |
| Court | 31.3 by 37.6 m R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Esagila, the temple of Marduk Verified |
| Depth below the hill | up to 21 m R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Esagila, the temple of Marduk Verified |
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Esagila, the temple of Marduk Verified
How we know it
How we know it
The plan was traced through shafts and galleries, not in an open trench. The rooms of the chief shrine were not yet excavated when Koldewey wrote.
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Esagila, the temple of Marduk Verified
Sources: R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Esagila, the temple of Marduk Verified · A. K. Grayson (translation), The Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7), Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, 1975, col. iii 17 to 18 (Livius.org edition of Grayson’s translation, with later corrections) Secondary source
Narration script
South of the tower stood Esagila, the temple of Marduk, the god of Babylon. Today it lies deep under a hill. The excavators reached it through shafts and tunnels, and measured its plan: almost square, about eighty by eighty six metres, around a central court. In the autumn of 539 before the common era, the chronicle says, its rites went on.
Scene 8 / 8 · 6th century BCE
The houses of the city
Most of Babylon was houses round courtyards. Here they are generated, to show density, not records.
Explainer
In the quarter called Merkes the excavators uncovered streets and private houses built round courtyards. It was the main work of the seasons of 1908 and 1909.
The houses in this drawing are generated by a procedure. They show how densely the city was built. No single house here is a record of an excavated house.
This is the city that Cyrus entered in 539 BCE. The next chapter goes through its northern gate.
How we know it
How the houses are drawn
Blocks between streets are split into houses round courtyards by a seeded procedure. The same seed always gives the same houses. The procedure is in the story library, model courtyard-house.
R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Merkes Verified
Sources: R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Merkes Verified · R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914, Introduction Verified
Narration script
Most of Babylon was not temples and walls, but houses. In the quarter called Merkes, the excavators found streets and homes built round courtyards. The houses you see are generated, to show how dense the city was. None of them is a record of one real house. This is the city Cyrus entered, in the autumn of 539 before the common era.
Sources
- A. K. Grayson (translation), The Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7), Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, 1975 (Livius.org edition of Grayson’s translation, with later corrections) Secondary source
- M. Cogan (translation), adapted to H. Schaudig’s edition, The Cyrus Cylinder, lines 1 to 45, The Context of Scripture, vol. II, 2003 (Livius.org edition) Secondary source
- I. Finkel (ed.), The Cyrus Cylinder: The King of Persia’s Proclamation from Ancient Babylon, 2013 To verify
- The British Museum, The Cyrus Cylinder, museum number 1880,0617.1941 (BM 90920), collection record, 2026 To verify
- P. Briant, trans. P. T. Daniels, From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire, 2002 To verify
- D. Stronach, Pasargadae: A Report on the Excavations Conducted by the British Institute of Persian Studies from 1961 to 1963, 1978 To verify
- R. Koldewey, trans. A. S. Johns, The Excavations at Babylon, 1914 Verified
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Babylon, World Heritage List entry 278, 2019 To verify
- Herodotus, Histories 1.188 to 1.191, 430 BCE To verify Ancient narrative, not a record
- G. Smith (reading quoted in Koldewey 1914, Appendix), The Esagila tablet, as read by George Smith in 1876, 1876 Secondary source
- A. R. George, The Tower of Babel: Archaeology, History and Cuneiform Texts, Archiv für Orientforschung 51, 2005 To verify