IV.

Topography

The topography of Babylon is best known from the occupation levels of the Neo-Babylonian dynasty, as excavated by Robert Koldewey and other German archaeologists before World War I. At that time the Euphrates divided the city into two unequal parts: the old quarter, with most of the palaces and temples, on the east bank; and the New City on the west bank. A prominent place near the centre of the city was occupied by Esagila, the temple of Marduk; just to the north of that was the temple-tower of Etemenanki (the ziggurat), an edifice seven storeys high, popularly associated with the Tower of Babel. A cluster of palaces and fortifications was found in the north-western corner of the old city; the German excavators identified one ruin in this area with the foundations of the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, which Nebuchadnezzar II built for his Median wife. Nearby was the Ishtar Gate, with its lions and dragons in brightly coloured glazed brick. The main Processional Way passed through this gate; it was the route followed by religious and political leaders during the New Year festival ceremonies. Nine more major gates pierced the massive inner fortification walls of the city, and from them led the roads to the principal settlements of Babylonia.