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
by R. Russell
2 Kin 24:13-14 "And Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon carried out from there all the treasures of the
house of the LORD and the treasures of the king's house, and he cut in pieces
all the articles of gold which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of
the LORD, as the LORD had said. Also he carried into captivity all Jerusalem: all the captains and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand
captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths. None remained except the poorest
people of the land."
Also see: Ancient Babylonia Map
The Amorites,
Isin and Larsa,
Hammurapi of Babylon,
Classical Period,
The Language,
Religion Law Science
and the Arts, Babylon,
The Kassites,
The People of the Sealand,
The Hittite Kingdom
The Kassite Dynasty,
Kadashman-Enlil I
and Burnaburiash II, Kurigalzu II,
Elam and Assyria,
Dur Kurigalzu a New
Capital, The Kudurru,
Nebuchadnezzar I,
The Aramaeans,
The Culture
Assyria,
Nabu-nasir,
Tiglath pileser III,
The Babylonian
Chronicles, The Chaldeans,
Sennacherib,
Ashurbanipal,
Nabopolassar,
Nebuchadnezzar II,
The Fall of Babylon
Sumerian Origins,
Schools of Scribes,
Numbering Tablets,
Aramaic and Greek,
Poetry, Music,
Myths,
The Gilgamesh Epic,
The Babylonian Flood
Myth, Biblical Flood,
Prayers and Hymns,
Wisdom Literature,
Prophecy,
Cuneiform
Marduk and his son Nabu,
Babylonian Gods,
Temples and Rituals,
Priests,
Personal Idols,
Divination,
Astrology,
Extispicy,
The New Year's Festival,
Morality,
Prayers and Hymns,
Prophecy
Shamash the Sun God,
Civil Law,
Law Codes,
Hammurapi and
Retaliation, Code of
Hammurapi Text, Legal Disputes,
Labor,
Criminal Law, Prisons
Slaves and Women, Legal Documents
Monarchy,
The King's Palace,
The King's Harem,
Communication,
Roads,
Scribes,
Nebuchadnezzar II
Houses and Farms,
Irrigation,
Artisans,
Manufacturing,
Trade,
Social Hierarchy,
Family and Tribe,
Domestic Relations,
Schools
Scientific Knowledge,
Astronomy,
The Calendar,
Mathematics,
Medicine,
Nature
Gilgamesh Tablet,
The Hammurapi Stele,
Ancient Map,
Clay Model of a Sheep's
Liver, Mathematics Tablet,
Sheeps Liver Cuneiform,
Seal Impression,
Israelite Seal to Pedaiah,
Clay Cylinder of
Nabopolassar, The Striding Lion,
The Ishtar Gate,
The Dragon of Marduk,
Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon,
The Babylonian
Chronicles, Basalt Block
Inscription, The Ziggurats,
Nabonidus Stele,
Cyrus Cylinder
David Anoints Solomon,
Solomon's Choice,
Solomon's Temple,
God's Ideal King,
The Divided Kingdom,
The Northern Kingdom
Israel, The Southern
Kingdom Judah, Judah's
Kings, Hezekiah,
The Destruction of
Jerusalem, The
Babylonian Captivity,
Daniel and the Prophets,
Nebuchadnezzar, The
Return from Babylon
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Ancient Babylonia
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