The Walls of Babylon. A New Interpretation of a Wonder of the Ancient World 

Authors

  • Juan-Luis Montero Fenollós Universidade da Coruña

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v6i12.342

Keywords:

babylon, Nebuchadrezzar II, military architecture, mud-brick, myth

Abstract

Babylon is one of the most famous cities of pre-classical Antiquity, whose memory has remained alive in Europe thanks to descriptions in the Old Testament and by Greco-Roman historians and geographers. The origin of the mythical and imagined Babylon lies on these ancient texts and on its later reading and interpretation. A good example of this is the city wall, recognized by Strabo and Philo of Byzantium as a wonder of the ancient world. However, facing this “dreamed eastern city” is the historical Babylon, which has been hidden under the myth. 

A century after the end of archaeological excavations in Babylon, led by Robert Koldewey (1899-1917), the city walls required a renewed study free of preconceived ideas. The main conditioning factor to overcome is our dependence on what German archaeologists did (with more or less success), which is almost absolute when it comes to interpreting and reconstructing urbanism and the defense system of a capital with almost two thousand years of history. The historical sequence of the walls of Babylonia is based on cuneiform texts and not on stratigraphic data. In general, these documents are late copies, lack provenance, do not have an accurate dating nor were they found in situ. 

Despite the limitations that affect the available documentation on the walls of Babylon, we are defending a new interpretative proposal of them. The three walls of the interior enclosure represented on the same plan by the German researchers have led to confusion, because they are not contemporary. The walls called in the cuneiform texts Imgur-Enlil and Nimetti-Enlil had to function as a single defensive wall of more than 17 m in total thickness, at least since the Kassite period (15th century BC), and not as two autonomous and independent walls. The third wall, the so-called moat wall, was later built, in Neo-Babylonian times (6th century BC), to reinforce and replace the old system.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

  • Juan-Luis Montero Fenollós, Universidade da Coruña

    Juan Luis Montero Fenollós (Lorca, 1968) es doctor en Historia por la Universidad de Barcelona (1996) y ha sido investigador del Instituto del Próximo Oriente Antiguo de la misma universidad (hasta 2001). En la actualidad es profesor de Historia Antigua en la Facultad de Humanidades e Documentación de la Universidade da Coruña. 

    Entre 2005 y 2011 ha dirigido el Proyecto Arqueológico Medio Éufrates Sirio en colaboración con la Dirección General de Antigüedades y Museos de Damasco. 

     Ha recibido, en 2004, el premio Concepción Arenal de investigación en Humanidades por el proyecto “Tras las huellas de la torre de Babel”. Este proyecto ha constituido la base de la exposición “Torre de Babel. Historia y mito”, organizada en 2010 en el Museo Arqueológico de Murcia, de la que ha sido el comisario. 

    En 2009 fue nombrado Caballero de la Orden de las Palmas Académicas, máxima condecoración que concede el Ministerio de Educación de la República Francesa. 

    Desde 2016 es director de la misión arqueológica de la UDC en Palestina.

References

Farouk N.H. AL-RAWI: “Nabopolassar’s Restoration Work on the Wall Imgur-Enlil at Babylon”, Iraq, 47 (1985), pp. 1-9.

Béatrice ANDRE-SALVINI, Babylone, París, PUF, 2001.

Laura BATTINI: “Un exemple de propagande nés-assyrienne: les défenses de Dûr-Sharrukin”, CMAO, 6 (1996), pp. 215-234.

Laura BATTINI: “Les systèmes défensifs à Babylone”, Akkadica, 104-105 (1997), pp. 24-57.

Laura BATTINI: “Quelques considérations sur la topographie de Babylone”, Akh Purattim, 2 (2007), pp. 281-298.

Laura BATTINI: “Des théories archéologiques : les cas du Proche-Orient ancien”, Syria, 87 (2010), pp. 3-19.

Paul Alain BEAULIEU: “Nabopolassar and the Antiquity of Babylon”, en Israel EPH’AL et al. (eds.), Eretz-Israel, Hayim and Miriam Tadmor volume, Jerusalén, IES, 2003, pp. 1-9.

Giovanni BERGAMINI: “Levels of Babylon Reconsidered”, Mesopotamia, 12 (1977), pp. 111-152.

Giovanni BERGAMINI: “Babilonia. L’immagine della metropoli da Hammurapi a Nabonido”, en Stefania MAZZONI (ed.), Nouve fondazioni nel Vicino Oriente antico: realtà e ideología, Pisa, Giardini, 1994, pp. 47-54.

Tom BOIY: Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Babylon, Leuven, Peeters Press, 2004.

Kai BRODERSEN: Las siete maravillas del mundo antiguo, Madrid, Alianza, 2010.

Paolo BRUSASCO: Babilonia all’origine del mito, Milán, Cortina Editore, 2012.

Marie Ange CALVET e Yves CALVET: “Babylone, merveille du monde”, en Roland ETIENNE et al. (eds.): Architecture et poésie dans le monde grec, Lyon, MOM, 1989, p. 91-106.

Stephany DALLEY, The Mystery of the Hanging Garden of Babylon, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2013.

Muayad S.B. DAMERJI: “Babylon, KA.DINGIR.RA, Gate of God”, Mesopotamia, 47 (2012), pp. 1- 102.

Patrice DOAT el al.: Construire en terre, París, CRATerre, 1985.

Jean Marie DURAND: Les documents épistolaires du palais de Mari, tome I, Les éditions du Cerf, París, 1997.

Jean Marie DURAND: Les documents épistolaires du palais de Mari, tome II, Les éditions du Cerf, París, 1998.

Douglas R. FRAYNE: The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia 2. Sargonic and Gutian Period, Toronto, 1993.

Andrew R. GEORGE: “The Topography of Babylon Reconsidered”, Sumer, 44 (1985-1986), pp. 7-24.

Andrew R. GEORGE: Babylonian Topographical Texts, Peeters Press, Leuven, 1992.

Andrew R. GEORGE: “La porte des dieux: la topographie cultuelle de Babylone d’après les textes cunéiformes”, en Béatrice ANDRÉ-SALVINI (ed.), La tour de Babylone, CNR-Louvre, Roma, 2013, pp. 20-42.

McGuire GIBSON: The City and Area of Kish, Miami, Field Research Projects, 1972.

Joan GOODNICK WESTENHOLZ: “The Theological Foundation of the City, the Capital City and Babylon”, en Joan GOODNICK WESTENHOLZ (ed.), Capital Cities. Urban Planning and Spiritual Dimensions, Jerusalén, Biblical Land Museum, 1998, pp. 43-54.

Hugo HOUBEN y Hubert GUILLAUD: Earth Construction. A Comprehensive Guide, Londres, Intermediate Technology Publications, 1989.

Liane JAKOB-ROST et al.: Das Vorderasiatische Museum Berlin. Kataloghandbuch, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1992.

Robert KOLDEWEY: The Excavations at Babylon, Londres, Macmillan and Co., 1914.

Robert KOLDEWEY: Das Ischtar-Tor in Babylon, Leipzig, Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung, 1918.

Carol KRAMER: “Estimating Prehistoric Populations: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach”, en Marie Thérèse BARRELET (ed.), L’archéologie de l’Iraq: perspectives et limites de l’interprétation anthropologique des documents, París, CNRS, 1980, pp. 315-327.

Pierre LECOQ, Les inscriptions de la Perse achéménide, París, Gallimard, 1997.

Wilfred G. LAMBERT: “Babylon: Origins”, en Eva CANCIK-KIRSCHBAUM, Margarete VAN ESS y Joachim MARZAHN (eds.), Babylon. Wissenskultur in Orient und Okzident, Berlín, De Gruyter, 2011, pp. 71-76.

Carlo LIPPOLIS, Bruno MONOPOLI, Paolo BAGGIO: “Babylon’s Urban Layout and Territory from Above”, Mesopotamia, 46 (2011), pp. 1-8.

Jean Claude MARGUERON “Babylone: la première mégapole?”, en Claude NICOLET et al. (eds.), Mégapoles méditerranéennes, géographie urbaine rétrospective, Roma, École Française de Rome, 2000, pp. 452-481.

Jean Claude MARGUERON: “Aux origines du plan de Babylone”, en Catherine BRENIQUET y Christine KEPINSKI (eds.): Études mésopotamiennes. Recueil de textes offert à Jean-Louis Huot, París, ERC, 2001, pp. 323-345.

Jean-Claude MARGUERON: “Aux origines de l’architecture militaire en Mésopotamie”, en Michel TERRASSE (ed.), Stratégies de défense, de conquête ou de victoire en Méditerranée, Tlemcen, Université Abou Bekr Belkaid, 2011, pp. 11-45.

Jean Claude MARGUERON: Cités invisibles. La naissance de l’urbanisme au Proche-Orient ancien, París, Geuthner, 2013.

Joachim MARZAHN: La puerta de Ishtar en Babilonia, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1993.

Dirk P. MIELKE: “Fortifications and Fortification Strategies of Mega-cities in the Ancient Near East”, en Roger MATTHEWS y John CURTIS (eds.), Proceedings of the 7th International Congress of the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, vol. 1. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz, 2012, pp. 73-91.

Juan Luis MONTERO FENOLLÓS: “La torre de Babel, Heródoto y los primeros viajeros europeos por tierras mesopotámicas”, Historiae, 5 (2008), pp. 27-50.

Olof PEDERSÉN: “Excavated and Unexcavated Libraries in Babylon”, en Eva CANCIK-KIRSCHBAUM, Margarete VAN ESS y Joachim MARZAHN (eds.), Babylon. Wissenskultur in Orient und Okzident, Berlín, De Gruyter, 2011, pp. 47-67.

Olof PEDERSÉN et al.: “Cities and Urban Landscapes in the Ancient Near East and Egypt with Special Focus on the City of Babylon”, en Paul J.J. SINCLAIR et al. (eds.), The Urban Mind, Uppsala, Uppsala University, 2010, pp. 113-147.

Giovanni PETTINATO, Semiramide, Milán, Rusconi, 1985.

Andrea POLCARO: “L’impero neo-babilonese”, en Davide NADALI y Andrea POLCARO (eds.), Archeologia della Mesopotamia antica, Roma, Carocci Editore, 2015, pp. 385-412.

Sébastien REY: Poliorcétique au Proche-Orient à l’âge du Bronze, Beirut, IFPO, 2012.

Inmaculada RODRÍGUEZ MOYA y Víctor MÍNGUEZ: The Seven Ancient Wonders in the Early Modern World, Londres-Nueva York, Routledge, 2017.

Edmon SOLLBERGER: “Babylon’s beginning”, Sumer, 41 (1981), p. 10-13.

Eva STROMMENGER: Habuba Kabira. Eine Stadt vor 5000 Jahren, Mainz am Rhein, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 1980.

Marc VAN DE MIEROOP: “Reading Babylon”, American Journal of Archaeology, 107 (2003), pp. 257-275.

Ralf B. WARTKE (ed.): Auf dem Wed nach Babylon, Mainz, Verlag Philipp von Zabern, 2008

Friedrich WETZEL: Stadtmauer von Babylon, Osnabrück, Otto Zeller, 1969.

Donald J. WISEMAN: Nebuchadrezzar and Babylon, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1985.

Downloads

Published

2017-12-30

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 12 (2017): Arquitectura e instituciones militares: política, cultura y sociedad

Section

Dossier

License

Copyright (c) 2018 University Journal of Military History

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License

By exercising the Licensed Rights (defined below), You accept and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License ("Public License"). To the extent this Public License may be interpreted as a contract, You are granted the Licensed Rights in consideration of Your acceptance of these terms and conditions, and the Licensor grants You such rights in consideration of benefits the Licensor receives from making the Licensed Material available under these terms and conditions.

Section 1 – Definitions.

  1. Adapted Material means material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights that is derived from or based upon the Licensed Material and in which the Licensed Material is translated, altered, arranged, transformed, or otherwise modified in a manner requiring permission under the Copyright and Similar Rights held by the Licensor. For purposes of this Public License, where the Licensed Material is a musical work, performance, or sound recording, Adapted Material is always produced where the Licensed Material is synched in timed relation with a moving image.
  2. Copyright and Similar Rights means copyright and/or similar rights closely related to copyright including, without limitation, performance, broadcast, sound recording, and Sui Generis Database Rights, without regard to how the rights are labeled or categorized. For purposes of this Public License, the rights specified in Section 2(b)(1)-(2) are not Copyright and Similar Rights.
  3. Effective Technological Measures means those measures that, in the absence of proper authority, may not be circumvented under laws fulfilling obligations under Article 11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty adopted on December 20, 1996, and/or similar international agreements.
  4. Exceptions and Limitations means fair use, fair dealing, and/or any other exception or limitation to Copyright and Similar Rights that applies to Your use of the Licensed Material.
  5. Licensed Material means the artistic or literary work, database, or other material to which the Licensor applied this Public License.
  6. Licensed Rights means the rights granted to You subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, which are limited to all Copyright and Similar Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material and that the Licensor has authority to license.
  7. Licensor means the individual(s) or entity(ies) granting rights under this Public License.
  8. NonCommercial means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation. For purposes of this Public License, the exchange of the Licensed Material for other material subject to Copyright and Similar Rights by digital file-sharing or similar means is NonCommercial provided there is no payment of monetary compensation in connection with the exchange.
  9. Share means to provide material to the public by any means or process that requires permission under the Licensed Rights, such as reproduction, public display, public performance, distribution, dissemination, communication, or importation, and to make material available to the public including in ways that members of the public may access the material from a place and at a time individually chosen by them.
  10. Sui Generis Database Rights means rights other than copyright resulting from Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 March 1996 on the legal protection of databases, as amended and/or succeeded, as well as other essentially equivalent rights anywhere in the world.
  11. You means the individual or entity exercising the Licensed Rights under this Public License. Your has a corresponding meaning.

Section 2 – Scope.

  1. License grant.
    1. Subject to the terms and conditions of this Public License, the Licensor hereby grants You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, irrevocable license to exercise the Licensed Rights in the Licensed Material to:
      1. reproduce and Share the Licensed Material, in whole or in part, for NonCommercial purposes only; and
      2. produce and reproduce, but not Share, Adapted Material for NonCommercial purposes only.
    2. Exceptions and Limitations. For the avoidance of doubt, where Exceptions and Limitations apply to Your use, this Public License does not apply, and You do not need to comply with its terms and conditions.
    3. Term. The term of this Public License is specified in Section 6(a).
    4. Media and formats; technical modifications allowed. The Licensor authorizes You to exercise the Licensed Rights in all media and formats whether now known or hereafter created, and to make technical modifications necessary to do so. The Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any right or authority to forbid You from making technical modifications necessary to exercise the Licensed Rights, including technical modifications necessary to circumvent Effective Technological Measures. For purposes of this Public License, simply making modifications authorized by this Section 2(a)(4) never produces Adapted Material.
    5. Downstream recipients.
      1. Offer from the Licensor – Licensed Material. Every recipient of the Licensed Material automatically receives an offer from the Licensor to exercise the Licensed Rights under the terms and conditions of this Public License.
      2. No downstream restrictions. You may not offer or impose any additional or different terms or conditions on, or apply any Effective Technological Measures to, the Licensed Material if doing so restricts exercise of the Licensed Rights by any recipient of the Licensed Material.
    6. No endorsement. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be construed as permission to assert or imply that You are, or that Your use of the Licensed Material is, connected with, or sponsored, endorsed, or granted official status by, the Licensor or others designated to receive attribution as provided in Section 3(a)(1)(A)(i).

  2. Other rights.

    1. Moral rights, such as the right of integrity, are not licensed under this Public License, nor are publicity, privacy, and/or other similar personality rights; however, to the extent possible, the Licensor waives and/or agrees not to assert any such rights held by the Licensor to the limited extent necessary to allow You to exercise the Licensed Rights, but not otherwise.
    2. Patent and trademark rights are not licensed under this Public License.
    3. To the extent possible, the Licensor waives any right to collect royalties from You for the exercise of the Licensed Rights, whether directly or through a collecting society under any voluntary or waivable statutory or compulsory licensing scheme. In all other cases the Licensor expressly reserves any right to collect such royalties, including when the Licensed Material is used other than for NonCommercial purposes.

Section 3 – License Conditions.

Your exercise of the Licensed Rights is expressly made subject to the following conditions.

  1. Attribution.

    1. If You Share the Licensed Material, You must:

      1. retain the following if it is supplied by the Licensor with the Licensed Material:
        1. identification of the creator(s) of the Licensed Material and any others designated to receive attribution, in any reasonable manner requested by the Licensor (including by pseudonym if designated);
        2. a copyright notice;
        3. a notice that refers to this Public License;
        4. a notice that refers to the disclaimer of warranties;
        5. a URI or hyperlink to the Licensed Material to the extent reasonably practicable;
      2. indicate if You modified the Licensed Material and retain an indication of any previous modifications; and
      3. indicate the Licensed Material is licensed under this Public License, and include the text of, or the URI or hyperlink to, this Public License.
      For the avoidance of doubt, You do not have permission under this Public License to Share Adapted Material.
    2. You may satisfy the conditions in Section 3(a)(1) in any reasonable manner based on the medium, means, and context in which You Share the Licensed Material. For example, it may be reasonable to satisfy the conditions by providing a URI or hyperlink to a resource that includes the required information.
    3. If requested by the Licensor, You must remove any of the information required by Section 3(a)(1)(A) to the extent reasonably practicable.

Section 4 – Sui Generis Database Rights.

Where the Licensed Rights include Sui Generis Database Rights that apply to Your use of the Licensed Material:

  1. for the avoidance of doubt, Section 2(a)(1) grants You the right to extract, reuse, reproduce, and Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database for NonCommercial purposes only and provided You do not Share Adapted Material;
  2. if You include all or a substantial portion of the database contents in a database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights, then the database in which You have Sui Generis Database Rights (but not its individual contents) is Adapted Material; and
  3. You must comply with the conditions in Section 3(a) if You Share all or a substantial portion of the contents of the database.

For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 4supplements and does not replace Your obligations under this Public License where the Licensed Rights include other Copyright and Similar Rights.

Section 5 – Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability.

  1. Unless otherwise separately undertaken by the Licensor, to the extent possible, the Licensor offers the Licensed Material as-is and as-available, and makes no representations or warranties of any kind concerning the Licensed Material, whether express, implied, statutory, or other. This includes, without limitation, warranties of title, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, absence of latent or other defects, accuracy, or the presence or absence of errors, whether or not known or discoverable. Where disclaimers of warranties are not allowed in full or in part, this disclaimer may not apply to You.
  2. To the extent possible, in no event will the Licensor be liable to You on any legal theory (including, without limitation, negligence) or otherwise for any direct, special, indirect, incidental, consequential, punitive, exemplary, or other losses, costs, expenses, or damages arising out of this Public License or use of the Licensed Material, even if the Licensor has been advised of the possibility of such losses, costs, expenses, or damages. Where a limitation of liability is not allowed in full or in part, this limitation may not apply to You.
  1. The disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability provided above shall be interpreted in a manner that, to the extent possible, most closely approximates an absolute disclaimer and waiver of all liability.

Section 6 – Term and Termination.

  1. This Public License applies for the term of the Copyright and Similar Rights licensed here. However, if You fail to comply with this Public License, then Your rights under this Public License terminate automatically.

  2. Where Your right to use the Licensed Material has terminated under Section 6(a), it reinstates:

    1. automatically as of the date the violation is cured, provided it is cured within 30 days of Your discovery of the violation; or
    2. upon express reinstatement by the Licensor.
    For the avoidance of doubt, this Section 6(b) does not affect any right the Licensor may have to seek remedies for Your violations of this Public License.
  3. For the avoidance of doubt, the Licensor may also offer the Licensed Material under separate terms or conditions or stop distributing the Licensed Material at any time; however, doing so will not terminate this Public License.
  4. Sections 1, 5, 6, 7, and 8 survive termination of this Public License.

Section 7 – Other Terms and Conditions.

  1. The Licensor shall not be bound by any additional or different terms or conditions communicated by You unless expressly agreed.
  2. Any arrangements, understandings, or agreements regarding the Licensed Material not stated herein are separate from and independent of the terms and conditions of this Public License.

Section 8 – Interpretation.

  1. For the avoidance of doubt, this Public License does not, and shall not be interpreted to, reduce, limit, restrict, or impose conditions on any use of the Licensed Material that could lawfully be made without permission under this Public License.
  2. To the extent possible, if any provision of this Public License is deemed unenforceable, it shall be automatically reformed to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable. If the provision cannot be reformed, it shall be severed from this Public License without affecting the enforceability of the remaining terms and conditions.
  3. No term or condition of this Public License will be waived and no failure to comply consented to unless expressly agreed to by the Licensor.
  4. Nothing in this Public License constitutes or may be interpreted as a limitation upon, or waiver of, any privileges and immunities that apply to the Licensor or You, including from the legal processes of any jurisdiction or authority.

Creative Commons is not a party to its public licenses. Notwithstanding, Creative Commons may elect to apply one of its public licenses to material it publishes and in those instances will be considered the “Licensor.” The text of the Creative Commons public licenses is dedicated to the public domain under the CC0 Public Domain Dedication. Except for the limited purpose of indicating that material is shared under a Creative Commons public license or as otherwise permitted by the Creative Commons policies published at creativecommons.org/policies, Creative Commons does not authorize the use of the trademark “Creative Commons” or any other trademark or logo of Creative Commons without its prior written consent including, without limitation, in connection with any unauthorized modifications to any of its public licenses or any other arrangements, understandings, or agreements concerning use of licensed material. For the avoidance of doubt, this paragraph does not form part of the public licenses.

Creative Commons may be contacted at creativecommons.org.

How to Cite

The Walls of Babylon. A New Interpretation of a Wonder of the Ancient World . (2017). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 6(12), 20-49. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v6i12.342

Similar Articles

31-40 of 59

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.