Babylon is the name of an ancient city in Mesopotamia located on the Euphrates about 200 kilometers southeast of present-day Baghdad (Iraq), near the modern city of Hilla. The name "Babylon" is sometimes used to refer to the entire Babylonian Empire.
Etymology
The name of the city of Babylon undoubtedly comes from the pre-Sumerian name Babulu, which the Akkadians explained etymologically as bab-ili(m), "the Gate of the God", later becoming bab-ilāni, "the Gate of the Gods ". This name has been translated into Sumerian according to the same meaning as KA.DINGIR.RA. The Greeks translated this name into Babylon, which was later taken over by the Europeans.
Phases in the history of Babylon and its urban development
Babylon is mentioned for the first time in the 24th century BC. J.-C., under the name of Babil, in a cuneiform text, at the time of the reign of Shar-kali-sharri, king of the empire of Akkad of which it is a part. But the oldest traces of settlement on the site date back to the Neolithic, and levels from the Obeid and Uruk periods have been identified.
The city is a secondary administrative center of the Empire of Ur III. The city does not have the prestige of its neighbors to the south, such as Nippur. It only became an important political center with the installation of an Amorite dynasty at the beginning of the 2nd millennium.
Babylon under the Amorite dynasty
The Amorite dynasty of Babylon was founded around 1894 BC. AD by Sumu-abum (1894-1881 BC)[1]. His successor Sumu-la-El (1880-1845 BC) was the true founder of the Babylonian kingdom, which took on a certain importance under his reign. His successors enlarged the kingdom, and under Sîn-Muballit (1812-1793 BC) Babylon became a power capable of competing with the great neighboring Amorite kingdoms of Larsa, Eshnounna, Isin and Uruk. His son Hammurabi (-1793 - -1750) knew how to intelligently play his role in the international concert of his time and this first Babylonian dynasty only became powerful under his reign. After an unsuccessful first part of his reign, he managed to subjugate the kingdoms around him:Larsa, Eshnunna, then Mari. He also disengaged from the tutelage of Elam. Babylon then becomes the greatest political power in Mesopotamia. It was at this time that the city also emerged as a leading religious and cultural center.
The site of the city is a little out of the way compared to the other ancient and future capitals of Mesopotamia Agade (Akkad), Eshnunna, Seleucia, Ctesiphon and Baghdad. However, it is close to where the Tigris and Euphrates are not far apart. This brings the presence of a strong network of irrigation channels and hence a high productivity of agricultural land. Finally, after the time of Hammurabi, the south of Mesopotamia saw a sharp deterioration in its demographic and economic situation, for reasons that are still difficult to elucidate. It was then that large metropolises such as Ur, Nippur, Uruk or Larsa were abandoned for long periods in favor of other cities, notably Babylon, in the heart of a prosperous agricultural area. Babylon thus recovers the vital forces of these cities and integrates their cultural and religious traditions.
The urban landscape of Babylon of the 2nd millennium is known only from texts, the old levels being still covered by those of Babylon of the 1st millennium, and often drowned by the water table. From its foundation, the city extended from both banks of the Arahtu, a then secondary arm of the Euphrates before becoming its main bed in the 1st millennium. On the right bank stretched a park, called "the garden of abundance". The eastern part of the city, on the left bank, is much larger. To the north of this part of the city were the royal quarters with the royal palace in the center, built by Sumu-la-El. During the reign of Hammurabi, the population of the palace increased sharply because the Amorite kings had a tradition in the event of victory of taking the female population from the harem of the defeated sovereign. That said, this population close to the sovereign remains little known. From the records of Mari, we know that the palace of Babylon in the Amorite period is designed with a single large door to filter the entrances and has several buildings distributed around a large tree-lined courtyard. It is also known that Samsu-iluna, successor of Hammurabi, built a new palace.
In the center of the eastern part of Babylon is the temple of Marduk, the Esagil, which is already bordered by its ziggurat, Etemenanki. The other great temple in Amorite Babylon was dedicated to the goddess Ishtar. To the south were the commercial districts which serve as residential quarters for notables and merchants, the only Paleo-Babylonian levels of the city to have been excavated, where private archives have been found, dating from the reigns of Samsu-iluna and his successors[2].
The reign of Samsu-iluna (1749-1712 BC) was marked by numerous revolts which weakened his kingdom. The following kings saw their territory disintegrate under the effect of revolts, attacks by enemy peoples, first and foremost the Kassites but also the Hurrians, all in a climate of agrarian crisis. Samsu-ditana (1625-1595 BC), whose kingdom only included the immediate vicinity of Babylon, finally entered into a conflict against the Hittite king Mursili I, who succeeded in 1595 BC. a raid on Babylon. The city is sacked and the Amorite dynasty disappears.
The Kassite period
After the surge of the Hittites on Babylon, the Kassites, coming from the North, North-East, settled in Babylon and founded their dynasty by Agum. The exact date and conditions of this seizure of power are unknown to us, the first decades of the Kassite dynasty being unknown to us. Around 1500 BC. J.-C., Burna-Buriash I ensures his domination over all of lower Mesopotamia, then takes the name of Karduniash (Babylonia).
Virtually nothing is known of the city of Babylon under the Kassite kings. It was perhaps during this period that the definitive plan of the city was fixed, with its quadrangular plan, divided into ten districts. The Esagil receives many lands in donations, as evidenced by the kudurrus (engraved stelae) found for this period. Babylon loses its role as a political capital for a time in favor of a new foundation, Dûr-Kurigalzu (“Fort Kurigalzu”, named after its founder). But it asserts itself as the cultural and religious capital of Lower Mesopotamia, and acquires great prestige throughout the Near East. The Babylonian clergy increasingly sought to make Marduk the greatest of the Mesopotamian gods.
In the 14th century, the Kassite kings faced the emergence of a formidable enemy, Assyria, which dominated upper Mesopotamia. Thus begins a centuries-old struggle between the North and the South of the country of the two rivers. These conflicts lead at the end of the 13th century to the capture and looting of Babylon by the Assyrian Tukulti-Ninurta I, who would have knocked down the walls of the city, and who in turn removes the statue of Marduk, as well as texts literature, and had a large text written celebrating his victory (known today as the Epic of Tukulti-Ninurta). But he could not sustain his domination over the region, which was then plunged into a very troubled period, which began to benefit another neighbor of Babylon, located to the east, Elam.
After a restoration of power by the Kassites, it was finally the Elamite armies which in turn invested Babylonia in the middle of the 12th century. Their king Shutruk-Nahhunte seizes the capital, pillages it, and in turn takes away the statue of Marduk, as well as many prestigious monuments of the cities of lower Mesopotamia. His son Kutir-Nahhunte III is responsible for maintaining Elamite power in Babylonia.
The second dynasty of Isin and the period of weakening of Babylonia
Shutruk-Nahhunte and his son disappeared shortly after their conquest, and their successor Shilhak-Inshushinak failed to maintain a foothold in Babylonia. He was driven out of the country by the king of Isin (a local dynasty) Ninurta-nadin-shumi (1132-1127), who took power in Babylon around 1130 BC. His successor Nebuchadnezzar I succeeded in invading Elam a few years later and brought the statue of Marduk back from Susa.
The period of the dynasty of Isin is crucial for the history of Babylon, since it sees the culmination of the process which gives primacy to Marduk over the other Mesopotamian gods, with the writing of the Epic of Creation (Enūma eliš), who narrates how he became king of the gods. This story makes Babylon a city built by the gods, and located in the center of the World, in contact with Heaven and Earth (materialized by its ziggurat, whose name means "House-link of Heaven and Earth").
From this period also dates an exceptional document, named TINTIR (one of the alternative names of Babylon)[3], which is a topographical text describing the location of the great temples of the city, but also more modest places of worship (chapels, altars), as well as all places marked by religion:gates and walls named after gods, rivers (deified), streets traversed by processions. This text therefore participates in the consecration of Babylon as a holy city.
From 1050 BC. J.-C., Babylonia is overwhelmed by the incursions of the Aramaeans, to which are added later the Chaldeans. The two constitute rival political entities of Babylonian power. The end of the reign of Nabû-shum-libur (1032-1025 BC) marks for Babylon the beginning of a certain chaos and frequent dynastic changes, the sources concerning Assyria and Babylonia dry up.
Babylon facing Assyrian domination
The end of the 10th century is marked by the restoration of the Assyrian monarchy by Adad-Nirari II. This one becomes threatening for Babylon, but it is pushed back by Nabû-shum-ukin (880-860 av. J. - C.), who succeeds in temporarily improving the situation of his kingdom. After his death, a succession crisis shook Babylon, which benefited the Assyrian kings. The rest of the 9th century was marked by dynastic struggles in Babylon and Assyria, which in turn took advantage of one or the other of the two kingdoms to establish its supremacy over its neighbour. The Assyrians eventually prevail around 800 BC. BC, and Babylonia again falls into chaos, with Chaldean kings attempting to establish themselves in Babylon. These internal struggles end up benefiting the Assyrian kingdom, which became a real Empire under the reign of Teglath-Phalasar III. After several years of struggle, he succeeded in taking Babylon in 728 BC. J.-C., and he proclaimed himself king there.
Assyrian domination is not assured, however, and the new ruler Sargon II (who restored temples and the ramparts of Babylon) must face a tough opponent in Babylonia, Merodach-baladan, who succeeds in reigning over the city twice. Sennacherib, the successor of Sargon II, facing new revolts in Babylonia, places one of his sons on the throne of the city. The latter holds a short time, a new Babylonian revolt occurring. The plotters capture him and hand him over to their Elamite allies who execute him. Sennacherib's reply is terrible, and the story he leaves of it is full of hatred against Babylon, which he wishes to annihilate, boasting of having razed it, and apparently the statue of Marduk is not removed, but destroyed . His son Esarhaddon chose the path of appeasement, and undertook to restore the city, a long and costly undertaking (partly paid for with the spoils of a campaign in Egypt), which only ended in the following reign, that of Assurbanipal.
Assurbanipal represented as a builder, on a stele commemorating the restoration of the Esagil.
Assurbanipal represented as a builder, on a stele commemorating the restoration of the Esagil.
The succession of Esarhaddon, in 668, had in fact given rise to a special political organization:Ashurbanipal reigned from Assyria, while his brother Shamash-shum-ukin was placed on the throne of Babylon, in the position of vassal. The latter finally revolted in 652, but ended up being defeated after a bitter four-year war. He died during the siege of Babylon, burned (perhaps voluntarily), a story that gave birth to the Greek myth of Sardanapale. Ashurbanipal proves to be less brutal than his grandfather, and restores Babylon, bringing back or redoing a statue of Marduk, a very symbolic act of reconciliation.
Even under foreign domination, the literate and merchant elites of Babylon fought vigorously to maintain the status of a great religious city, whose inhabitants were exempt from any tax burden. A pro-Babylonian text from that time, the Prince's Mirror, argues that royal taxation cannot concern Babylon, as well as Nippur and Sippar.
The Chaldean dynasty and the heyday of Babylon
This succession of revolts in Babylonia undoubtedly weakened Assyria, while in Babylon the spirit of resistance was increasingly strong, and the resistance fighters increasingly active and united. When Ashurbanipal died in 627 BC. J.-C., his successors enter into a quarrel of succession which is fatal to their kingdom. Nabopolassar, probably the governor of the Sea Country region, and probably of Chaldean origin, took advantage of the troubles in Assyria to seize power in Babylon in 625 BC. He claims to support one of the Assyrian pretenders, Sin-shar-ishkun, who gives him authority over Babylon in exchange for his military support. After a few years of conflict, he finally succeeded in bringing down the Assyrian Empire, with the help of the king of the Medes, Cyaxares, between 614 BC. AD and 610 BC. His son Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562) succeeded him. With him, Babylon knows its apogee. He founded the so-called Neo-Babylonian empire which covers a large part of the Near East from the borders of Egypt to the Anatolian Taurus and the outskirts of Persia.
The reigns of Nabopolossar and Nebuchadnezzar II correspond to a period of profound transformations of the city, initiated by the first and completed by the second, known by numerous foundation inscriptions[4]. It is these works that will contribute to the legendary image reproduced by Herodotus of a city surrounded by walls 25 meters high. In reality, Nebuchadnezzar had the two traditional enclosures of Nimit-Enlil and Imgur-Enlil completely restored over a length of about 8 kilometers, which surround the built-up area of the city. Then he built a second outer wall of about 11 kilometers which starts from the hill of Babil 300 meters north of the city and joins the Euphrates to the south. It surrounds an agricultural area that could help supply Babylon in the event of a siege. The main monuments of the city are restored:royal palace, temples, ziggurat, main arteries, including the "Processional Way" starting from the Ishtar Gate.
Some archival corpora are dated to this period. From the royal palace come the lists of rations, which have the particularity of mentioning the king of Judah Joaquin and his sons, deported by Nebuchadnezzar and lodged in the palace. The temples also delivered temple school tablets of Ninmah and Nabû). Lots of private archives, found in the residential areas to the south of the city, near the temple of Ninurta, inform us about the family activities of notables, the Nappahu, Nur-Sîn and especially the Egibi, who constitute an important landed property in the city and in the surrounding countryside.
The successors of Nebuchadnezzar II managed to hold their kingdom as well as they could, but they did not have the caliber of the founders of the dynasty. The last king of Babylon, Nabonidus (556-539 BC), is an enigmatic character who managed to alienate many of the nobles of his kingdom.
Babylon under foreign domination
When the Persian King Cyrus II attacked Babylon in 539 with a surprise attack on the Enlil Gate northwest of the city, the fight was cut short and the city and the entire Empire fell into his hands. Therefore, Babylon loses its independence. The new master of the city nevertheless proclaims his wish to preserve the city, and secures the favors of the local clergy by proclaiming a decree very favorable towards them, which was found inscribed on a clay cylinder found in Babylon.
The fall of the Babylonian kingdom and the end of political independence did not mean the decline of the Mesopotamian metropolis. Admittedly, the city revolted twice against Darius I (in 520-519 BC then in 514 BC) and he ended up dismantling part of the fortifications. But under the domination of the Achaemenids, Babylon remains the most economically developed city in the region and the most populated, even the eastern parts (the Transeuphratene) of the province it ruled at the start, from its former empire, are removed from it. In addition, it has the rank of imperial city and offers Persian rulers a winter residence. It is possible that this time saw a change in the course of the Euphrates, which would then have cut off the royal palace from the rest of the eastern part of the city by flowing along its southern corner, separating it from the sacred quarter.
In 331, the Achaemenid Empire fell into the hands of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great after the victory of Gaugamela[6]. Negotiations open between Alexander and the aristocracy of Babylon. The city surrenders without fighting three weeks later and a satrap, rallied to the Macedonian sovereign Mazaios, becomes its governor. Babylon seems welcoming to the new victors, according to the Greek chroniclers. Alexander shows skill in ordering the restoration of the Esagil, thus rallying the priests of the cult of Marduk. Does he want to make his new conquest his capital? This is plausible because nowhere, according to Quinte-Curce, does he reside so long in Asia[7]. The last months of his reign seem devoted to administration and work in the surroundings of the city. He also established a minting workshop for monetary issues of his own type, the "Alexandres". It was finally in Babylon that he died of illness on June 10, 323 BC. J-C., in the palace that Nebuchadnezzar II had built and lived in, and that he had perhaps undertaken to restore.
The new master of Mesopotamia, Seleucus I seized Babylon in 312 BC. J-C. but prefers to build a new capital, Seleucia of the Tigris and does not hesitate to use building materials taken from Babylon. But the Seleucid kings are always respectful of the prestigious city, and they restore some of its monuments, and leave it the status of provincial capital, which does not prevent it from declining. Babylon is promoted to the rank of city, probably under Antiochos IV (around 170), and the cuneiform texts then speak of puliṭē or puliṭānu ("citizens", politai), but it remains very little Hellenized, despite the construction of a theater (called in Akkadian bīt tamartu, “house/place where one sees”).
The Esagil retains a significant weight. It is headed by a šatammu (administrator) and a kiništu (council) who manage a still important land domain, and are in charge of the organization of the worship of the other temples of the city. Its cuneiform archives remain quite large in number compared to the other cities of Babylonia where they are gradually drying up, and provide information on its religious and economic activities[8]. It was from this temple that Berose, a priest who tried to make known the ancient Mesopotamian civilization to the Greeks, in his Babyloniaka.
The end of ancient Babylon
The Arsacid Parthians took power in Babylonia between 141 and 122. Babylon continued its decline, but remained the repository of ancient Mesopotamian civilization, and it was from the Esagil that the last document written in cuneiform came, an astrological tablet from 67 ap. J.-C. Pliny the Elder writes around the same time that the temple continues to be active, although the city is in ruins. It seems that the urban population definitively abandoned the site in the second century of the Christian era. At the location of the city farmers settled using the bricks of the ziggurat to enrich their land and planted palm groves in the heart of the old commercial district. From now on, Babylon is relegated to the rank of myth, which will ensure its survival in memories before it is brought to light by archaeologists of the contemporary era, a privilege shared by few other cities of ancient Mesopotamia.
The Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar II
As mentioned above, the ancient levels of Babylon could not be excavated, with the exception of a few Paleo-Babylonian residences. Most of the excavated levels date back to the Neo-Babylonian period (624-539) and the beginning of the Achaemenid period (539-331). This state of the city is nevertheless for a large part a legacy of previous periods, as indicated by the topographic text TINTIR. Major developments were however carried out by Nabopolassar and especially Nebuchadnezzar II, which gave the city its final appearance.
The ramparts
The outer enclosure encompasses the city on the east bank of the Euphrates. Its contours are triangular in shape. It encompasses the eastern part of the inner city. It consists of a succession of three walls, the middle one being the strongest, separated by a ditch. In front of them, a 50-meter-long ditch filled with water had been dug. On the fortifications, 120 defensive towers were distributed every 50 meters. The wall does not appear to have encompassed the entire part of the city east of the Euphrates, and was cut off in places.
The outer wall was composed of two walls delimiting a rectangular space of about 3 kilometers by 2. The first wall was named Imgur-Enlil ("Enlil showed his favor"), and the second Nimit-Enlil ("Rampart of Enlil "). In front of them, three other less imposing walls followed the course of a 50-meter wide ditch, filled with water. These walls were also defended by guard towers, and even by two fortresses, one near the South Palace, the other north of the wall, near the North Palace.
The walls of Babylon were pierced by eight monumental gates, known by TINTIR, which gives their name, which is except in one case that of a divinity (which has a protective function), as well as a "sacred name" putting the emphasis on their defensive role:
* Gate of Urash, "The enemy is repugnant to him";
* Door of Zababa, "She hates her attackers";
* Gate of Marduk, "His Lord is Shepherd";
* Gate of Ishtar, "Ishtar defeats his assailant";
* Gate of Enlil, "Enlil makes it shine";
* Porte du Roi, “May its founder prosper! »;
* Gate of Adad, “O Adad, protect the lives of the troops! »;
* Gate of Shamash, “O Shamash, support the troops! .
The most famous is the Ishtar Gate, whose blue or green glazed brick decoration panels depicted lions, bulls or dragons. It bordered the royal palaces, and opened onto the main processional way of the city (each door opening onto one of these avenues).
Plan and urban planning of the inner city
The heart of Babylon is the inner city, surrounded by the inner wall, covering almost 500 hectares. There were all the monuments that made the city great, and that amazed so many travellers.
The inner city is divided into ten districts. The most important are Eridu, Shuanna and KA.DINGIRRA, located side by side along the eastern bank of the Euphrates. Eridu takes its name from the Sumerian city of Eridu, a great religious center, city of Enki/Ea, father of Marduk. It is the sacred area of the city, where the Esagil, the temple of the national god Marduk, is located, as well as the Etemenanki ziggurat, the “Tower of Babel”, and other temples. To the north of Eridu, the KA.DINGIRRA district, where there are a few temples, but above all the two palaces of Nebuchadnezzar II, the South Palace and the North Palace, as well as the area now called Merkès, a residential district. Shuanna was another residential district, where the Egibi family of businessmen resided.
To the old town, close to the river and made up of winding and narrow streets, are added, to the northeast of the city opposite KA.DINGIRRA and Eridu, neighborhoods characterized by large avenues intersecting at right angles, in a sort of checkerboard pattern. The contracts for the sale of the houses located on these circulation axes call them “way of passage of the king and the gods” (mutaq šarri u ilāni). These are great processional routes. The most famous is nicknamed “May the arrogant enemy not succeed” (Ay-ibur-šabu) and goes from the Ishtar Gate to the outer enclosure of the Esagil. The slabs that pave the ground of this street are in the name of Nebuchadnezzar. To the south-east are the districts of Kullab (taking the name of a large district of Uruk) and TE.EKI.
Along the left bank, a brick quay and a wall protect the two king's palaces as well as the temple district and the commercial district. In addition, a solid bridge (wood and fired bricks), one of the only ones in the Middle East, connects the two banks near the Esagil and the Etemenanki. In order to avoid flooding and to protect the city, Nebuchadnezzar had a huge brick pit built to break the force of the current and force the river to make a bend.
Excavations in the Shuanna district show that some houses sometimes reach 400 m². However, the density of buildings is variable and the further one moves away from the river, the more the urban fabric is discontinuous, with real cropping areas within it. It is therefore particularly difficult to know the precise number of inhabitants of the Babylonian metropolis because, in addition to the strong inequalities between districts, it is necessary to take into account the staff of the palaces and temples, which is difficult to assess, as well as the presence of many deportees as a result of the wars. Babylonian rulers. In addition, the presence of foreign traders has been proven without it being possible to make a quantified estimate.
By taking the bridge that Nebuchadnezzar had built over the Euphrates, one reached the western part of the inner city, the districts of Bab-Lugalgirra, Kumar, Tuba, a last one with an illegible name since the text TINTIR, giving the name parts of the city is cracked at this place. Little is known about the quarters other than the first three, since they have not been excavated due to their low archaeological appeal.
The Sacred Quarter
TINTIR gives the names of 43 temples located inside Babylon, including 13 for the "sacred quarter" alone, Eridu. Those excavated and identified, outside the Marduk complex, were found to be the temples of:
* Ninmah, the É.MAH (“Exalted House”);
* Nabû ša hare, the É.NIG.GIDAR.KALAM.MA.SUM.MA (“House which grants the scepter of the Earth”);
* Ashratum, the E.HI.LI.KALAM.MA (“House of Earth’s Abundance”);
* the Lady of Akkad (a hypostasis of Ishtar), É.MAŠ.DA.RI (“House of animal offerings”);
* Ishkhara, É.ŠÀ.SUR.RA (“House of the Womb”);
* Ninurta, É.HUR.SAG.TIL.LA (“House that destroys the mountains”).
They are all built according to the same plan, around a central courtyard opening onto the chapel housing the statue of the divinity.
The main cult complex of Babylon is that dedicated to the god of the city, Marduk, the É.SAG.ÍL (something like “House with the head held high”). Its dimensions are approximately 180 m by 125 m, which makes it a large complex, but according to data collected on a metrological tablet it would include buildings in addition to those identified by archaeologists. The main wing of the building measured approximately 85 x 79 m, and was organized around a central courtyard opening onto interior rooms. The cellae of Marduk, as well as that of his consort Zarpanitum and their son Nabû were in the rooms located to the west. It was accessed through four large doors. Another court bordered its eastern side, which no doubt served as the place for the great assembly of the gods, and another court was to the south of the building. The temple, organized around these three courtyards, was to have an “L” shape.
To the north of the Esagil was the ziggurat É.TEMEN.AN.KI, "House-foundation of Heaven and Earth", passed down to posterity as the Tower of Babel. She was in an enclosure of more than 400 m side. Its base was square, about 91 m on a side, and a monumental staircase led to its summit from the south side, of which traces of the advance of 52 m have been found. La ziggurat était décrite dans un texte métrologique, la Tablette de l’Esagil, dont on a retrouvé une copie du IIIe siècle, mais dont l’original datait sans doute de la période néo-babylonienne. On a pu estimer que la ziggurat s’élevait sur 90 mètres de haut, et comprenait sept étages. Le temple haut abritait les dieux de Babylone (Marduk, sa parèdre et leur fils), ainsi que la grande « triade » mésopotamienne, Anu, Enlil et Ea. Diverses tentatives de reconstitution de son apparence ont été faites.
Les palais royaux
Trois principaux palais royaux fonctionnaient à Babylone à l’époque de Nabuchodonosor II :le Palais Nord, le Palais Sud et le Palais d’Été.
Le Palais Sud, « Palais de l’émerveillement du peuple », est encastré dans la muraille Imgur-Enlil. C’est un vaste bâtiment de forme trapézoïdale, mesurant 322 x 190 m, dans lequel on accédait par une porte monumentale située à l’est. Il était organisé autour de cinq grandes cours se succédant d’est en ouest. Les deux premières desservaient les salles destinées aux affaires administratives et économiques, et la troisième cour, au centre de l’édifice, qui est la plus vaste de toutes (66 x 55 m), ouvrait sur son côté sud vers la salle du trône, mesurant 52 x 17 m. Ses murs étaient décorés de briques glaçurées. La partie occidentale devait constituer la partie « privée » du palais. L’édifice comptait au moins un étage supérieur. Il s’agissait du lieu de résidence privilégié du roi. Nabuchodonosor y avait adjoint à l’ouest un « bastion » de forme rectangulaire (230 x 110 m), qui débordait sur le fleuve dont il obstrua le cours, obligeant à un réaménagement du quai.
Le Palais Nord, ou Palais principal, « Grand Palais », est construit à l’époque de Nabuchodonosor à cheval sur les remparts, juste au nord du Palais Sud. Seule sa partie nord-est a été fouillée. Il avait une forme rectangulaire, d’environ 180 x 120 m, et était organisé autour de deux grandes cours. Un « bastion » aux murs très épais avait été construit en même temps que le palais, sur son côté nord.
Le Palais d’Été (« Vive Nabuchodonosor ! Longue vie à celui qui protège l’Esagil ! ») est une autre construction de Nabuchodonosor II, datant de la fin de son règne. Il est situé près de l’enceinte extérieure, 2 km au nord des deux autres. Il ne reste que ses soubassements. Cet édifice de forme carrée (250 m de côté) a été plus tard fortifié par les Parthes.
Les « Jardins suspendus »
Dès les premières campagnes de fouilles, on chercha la « merveille du monde » de Babylone :les Jardins suspendus que Nabuchodonosor aurait fait construire pour son épouse mède, nostalgique de son verdoyant pays natal. Ces efforts furent vains, au point qu’on se demanda s’il ne fallait pas y voir une affabulation de plus des auteurs grecs à propos de la Mésopotamie, d’autant que leurs récits concordent fort peu (mais pour une fois Hérodote n’y est pour rien, vu qu’il n’en parle pas). Ces jardins ne sont mentionnés dans aucun texte babylonien, et on a pu proposer qu’il y avait eu confusion avec ceux dont parlent les sources des capitales assyriennes. Le mystère demeure ...
Heurs et malheurs de Babylone à l’époque contemporaine
Plan du site actuel
Le site actuel de Babylone est divisé en plusieurs secteurs, la plupart coïncidant à des tells distincts. Babil est situé à l’emplacement de l’ancien Palais Nord, donc à l’entrée septentrionale du site. Le Qasr comprend entre autres le palais royal et la Porte d’Ishtar. Les ruines du sanctuaire de Marduk se trouvent à Amran Ibn ‘Ali, à côté du Sahn, le trou laissé par les ruines de la ziggurat, et bordé par le Merkès à l’est, où se trouvent les ruine d’un quartier résidentiel. Les pierres destinées à la reconstruction de la ziggurat constituent le tell de Humra (comprenant aussi les ruines du théâtre hellénistique). Ishin Aswad se trouve à l’emplacement de l’ancien quartier de Shuanna.
Redécouverte et fouilles
L’emplacement du site de Babylone ne fut jamais réellement perdu, et, de tout temps, les explorateurs ayant visité la région se sont attardés sur le site, certains relevant des inscriptions et les ramenant dans leur pays. Lors des premières fouilles effectuées en Mésopotamie, la ville ne fut que peu visitée, puisqu’on se concentrait alors surtout sur l’Assyrie. Le dégagement de la ville, de par son immense prestige, paraissait de plus d’avance une tache harassante, que peu envisageaient d’entreprendre.
Le français Jules Oppert fut le premier à s’aventurer sur le site en 1852. Mais il n’effectua que des fouilles superficielles. Il en fut de même pour l’anglais Henry Rawlinson et son associé l’irakien Hormuzd Rassam, qui visitèrent le site en 1854 et 1876.
C’est finalement l’allemand Robert Johann Koldewey qui décida de fouiller la ville, avec ses nouvelles méthodes scientifiques totalement novatrices par leur rigueur et leurs résultats, très portée vers le dégagement de restes architecturaux, plutôt que d’œuvres d’art (Koldewey ayant une formation d’architecte). Il arriva sur le site en 1899 avec son collaborateur Walter Andrae. Aidé des repérages effectués par ses prédécesseurs, ainsi que des ouvrages classiques (qui se révélèrent peu fiables), il se concentra sur les quartiers principaux de la ville, Eridu, Ka-dingirra et Shuanna, dégagea les principaux monuments de la ville, et dressa les plans de celle-ci. Il ne put fouiller que les monuments de l’époque néo-babylonienne, ceux des époques précédentes ayant été anéantis pour diverses raisons. Il repartit en 1917, après avoir effectué un travail remarquable, cette fouille ayant longtemps servi de référence.
D’autres expéditions furent menées plus tard par des allemands (années 1960), des italiens (1974 et 1987), et des irakiens (depuis 1958).
La reconstruction sous Saddam Hussein
Babylone, tout comme le passé préislamique de l’Iraq en général, n’a pas fait l’objet de récupération politique avant la prise du pouvoir par Saddam Hussein. Ce dernier change cette situation, en se rattachant à ce passé illustre pour des besoins de propagande nationaliste, en se présentant comme successeur de Hammurabi, de Nabuchodonosor II (et également de souverains assyriens). Cela entraîne le début de programmes de reconstruction de monuments antiques, dont Babylone, qui faisait déjà l’objet d’une restauration auparavant. Les murs de certains monuments sont restaurés, une partie des murailles, avec la porte d’Ishtar, et certains bâtiments sont intégralement reconstruits (comme le temple de Ninmah), Saddam Hussein laissant même des inscriptions de fondation comme le faisaient les anciens souverains babyloniens. Il se fait également construire un palais à proximité du palais de Babylone. Cette entreprise assure le succès touristique de Babylone, mais est fortement critiquée par les archéologues, parce qu’elle empêche les fouilles sur une grande partie du site, et dégrade les monuments anciens. En conséquence, le site est déclassé du patrimoine mondial de l’Unesco.
« Camp Alpha »
Mais les dégradations du site de Babylone ont empiré à la suite de l’invasion de l’Irak de 2003 par les armées américaines. En effet, le site de Babylone est choisi pour établir une base militaire, nommée « Camp alpha », comprenant notamment un héliport militaire. Ces activités ont endommagé certains édifices, dus à la présence de véhicules militaires (hélicoptères, blindés à chenilles), d’une population conséquente, et surtout à d’importants travaux de terrassement. Des tranchées sont creusées sur des sites archéologiques, le pavement de la Voie processionelle est endommagé pas les véhicules. Le site est ensuite transféré sous la responsabilité de l’armée polonaise, sans que les dégradations ne s’arrêtent. Certaines œuvres antiques ont ainsi été enlevées, sans doute pour être revendues sur le marché des antiquités qui est en plein essor depuis la chute de Saddam Hussein[17].
Babylone et l’eschatologie chrétienne
Babylone représente symboliquement, dans le livre de l’Apocalypse, la société occidentale mercantile, décadente, déshumanisée et pervertie, le système répressif, toute forme d’autorité oppressive (police, armée, pouvoir financier, pouvoir politique, etc.). Néanmoins, la Bible, qui en fera le symbole de la corruption et de la décadence, nous en transmettra le souvenir et le prestige qui survécurent à sa chute.
La cité païenne antique de Babylone combattit les Hébreux et ces derniers y furent déportés et réduits à l’esclavage de force après leur défaite, car ils avaient désobéi aux dieux babyloniens et plus précisément à Mardouk.