B.O’KANE/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
One hundred twenty-five years ago, on March 26, 1899, German architect and archaeologist Robert Johann Koldewey (1855–1925) began excavating the site of ancient Babylon (about 50 miles south of Baghdad in modern Iraq). Following minor probes by various earlier expeditions, this was the first large-scale excavation of the Babylonian capital. From 1899 to 1917, Koldewey uncovered the city’s plan and excavated several major monuments, including the splendid Ishtar Gate (see photo), Nebuchadnezzar II’s summer palace, and a ziggurat dedicated to the god Marduk that he identified with the biblical Tower of Babel.
Babylon—the heart of a great empire that ended the kingdom of Judah (2 Kings 25) and consequently became an enduring symbol of wickedness and evil (Revelation 17:5)—appears throughout both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. It was this biblical context as well as fantastic accounts of the city found in the ancient Greek historian Herodotus that fueled Koldewey’s excavations.
Since Koldewey conducted his explorations on behalf of the Berlin Royal Museums and the German Oriental Society, many artifacts excavated at Babylon, including the façade of its famous gate, are now in the National Museums in Berlin. His gravestone at the Park Cemetery in Berlin is in the shape of a ziggurat.
One hundred twenty-five years ago, on March 26, 1899, German architect and archaeologist Robert Johann Koldewey (1855–1925) began excavating the site of ancient Babylon (about 50 miles south of Baghdad in modern Iraq). Following minor probes by various earlier expeditions, this was the first large-scale excavation of the Babylonian capital. From 1899 to 1917, Koldewey uncovered the city’s plan and excavated several major monuments, including the splendid Ishtar Gate (see photo), Nebuchadnezzar II’s summer palace, and a ziggurat dedicated to the god Marduk that he identified with the biblical Tower of Babel. Babylon—the heart of a great empire that ended […]
