Ancient Babylonia - Robert Koldewey
German architect and archaeologist who revealed the semilegendary Babylon of
the Bible as a geographic and historical reality.
Koldewey's activities as a field archaeologist began with visits to ancient
Assus (Assos) in western Turkey (1882) and the nearby island of Lesbos (1885).
Subsequent expeditions took him to Iraq (1887) and Zincirli Höyük, Turkey, site
of the Hittite city of Samal (1888-92), where he prepared surveys, maps,
drawings, and site reconstructions. He also participated in an extensive study of the
Greek temples of southern Italy and Sicily and during 1887-97 taught
architecture at Görlitz, Ger.
In 1897 he chose the site of Babylon in southern Iraq for a major excavation
under the auspices of the German Orient Society. He began digging on March 26,
1899, and continued to work there with little interruption for the next 18
years. One of Koldewey's most dramatic discoveries was the foundation of the temple
of Marduk, a ziggurat, or terraced structure surmounted by an astronomical
observatory. He believed he had found the remains of the Hanging Gardens of
Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, when he uncovered an arched structure
with a remarkably engineered well nearby. He also uncovered the great fortress
wall of the city, evidence of the famed Ishtar Gate, and the processional
avenue to the temple of Marduk. Results of the excavation were published in segments
over a period of years; an English translation of one part, The Excavations at
Babylon, appeared in 1914.
Ancient Babylonia
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