BORSIPPA
![](borsippa.jpg)
Borsippa,
Iraq
![](Borsippa_-_Babel_-_Birs-Nimrud.jpg)
The
mountain of Borsippa (in antiquity Babel). Drawn by Faucher-Gudin
Borsippa
(Sumerian: BAD.SI.(A).AB.BAKI; Akkadian: Barsip and Til-Barsip)
or Birs Nimrud (having been identified with Nimrod) is an archeological
site in Babylon Province, Iraq. The ziggurat is today one of the
most vividly identifiable surviving ones, identified in the later
Arabic culture with the Tower of Babel. However, modern scholarship
concludes that the Sumero-Akkadian builders of the Ziggurat in reality
erected it as a religious edifice in honour of the local god Nabu,
called the "son" of Babylon's Marduk, as would be appropriate
for Babylon's lesser sister-city.
Borsippa
was an important ancient city of Sumer, built on both sides of a
lake about 17.7 km (11.0 mi) southwest of Babylon on the east bank
of the Euphrates.
History
:
Borsippa is mentioned, usually in connection with Babylon, in texts
from the Ur III period through the Seleucid period and even in early
Islamic texts. It is also mentioned in the Babylonian Talmud (Shabbat
36a, Avodah Zarah 11b) and other Rabbinic literature. Borsippa was
dependent upon Babylon and was never the seat of a regional power.
From the 9th century BC, Borsippa was on the borderland south of
which lay the tribal "houses" of Chaldea.
The
Jewish historian, Josephus, mentions the city in relation to the
war between Cyrus the Great and Nabonnedus. The temple to Nabu at
Borsippa was destroyed in 484 BC during the suppression of a revolt
against the Achaemenid king Xerxes.
Archaeology
:
![](640px-Ruins_of_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Babylonia,_Iraq.jpg)
Ruins
of the ziggurat and temple of Nabu at Borsippa, Babylonia, Iraq
In 1854, work at Borsippa was conducted under the direction of Henry
Creswicke Rawlinson, with most of the actual digging done by his
subordinates. Rawlinson personally uncovered the foundation prisms
from Nebuchadnezzar II's restoration on the Nabu temple. Between
1879 and 1881 the site was excavated by Hormuzd Rassam for the British
Museum. He concentrated primarily on Ezida, the temple of Nabu.
In 1902, Robert Koldewey worked at Borsippa during his main effort
at Babylon also mainly on the Nabu temple.
Since
1980, the Austrian team from the Leopold-Franzens-Universität
Innsbruck led by Helga Piesl-Trenkwalder and Wilfred Allinger-Csollich
excavated for sixteen seasons at the site. Early work concentrated
on the large ziggurat E-ur-imin-an-ki and later on the Nabu temple.
Excavations can currently not be carried out due to political events.
The elaboration of the results of excavations within the project
"Comparative studies of Borsippa - Babylon" are conducted.
Many
legal administrative and astronomical texts on cuneiform tablets
have originated at Borsippa and have turned up on the black market.
Archives began to be published in the 1980s. An inscription of Nebuchadnezzar
II, the "Borsippa inscription," tells how he restored
the temple of Nabu, "the temple of the seven spheres,"
with "bricks of noble lapis lazuli." that must have been
covered with a rich blue glaze, surely a memorable sight. The Austrian
archeologists have determined that Nebuchadnezzar's ziggurat encased
the ruins of a smaller tower from the second millennium BC. When
it was completed it reached a height of 70 meters, in seven terraces;
even in ruin it still stands a striking 52 meters over the perfectly
flat plain. Some tablets have been recovered, but archeologists
still hope to uncover a temple archive of cuneiform tablets, of
which there were some copies in ancient Assyrian libraries. An inscribed
foundation stone has been recovered, which details Nebuchadnezzar's
plan to have the Borsippa ziggurat built on the same design as that
at Babylon, of which only the foundation survives. Nebuchadnezzar
declared that Nabu's tower would reach the skies, another inscription
states. The reconstruction under the patronage of Bel-Marduk is
summarized on a cylinder in Akkadian of Antiochus I, an example
of the region's remarkable cultural continuity.
Gallery
:
![](640px-The_original_ancient_gypsum_plaster_between_mud-bricks,_Borsippa,_Babel,_Iraq.jpg)
The
original ancient gypsum plaster between mud-bricks, Borsippa, Babel,
Iraq
![](640px-Stamped_mud-brick_from_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Iraq,_6th_century_BC.jpg)
Stamped
mud-brick from the ziggurat and temple of Nabu at Borsippa, Iraq,
6th century BC
![](640px-Ruins_around_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_the_god_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Babel_Governorate,_Iraq.jpg)
Ruins
around the ziggurat and temple of the god Nabu at Borsippa, Babel
Governorate, Iraq
![](640px-Original_tiles_at_the_upper_surface_of_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Iraq.jpg)
Original
tiles at the upper surface of the ziggurat and temple of Nabu at
Borsippa, Iraq
![](640px-The_upper_surface_of_the_ruins_of_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Iraq.jpg)
The
upper surface of the ruins of the ziggurat and temple of Nabu at
Borsippa, Iraq
![](640px-Modern_cement_covering_ancient_bricks_at_the_upper_surface_of_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_Nabu,_Borsippa,_Iraq.jpg)
Modern
cement covering ancient bricks at the upper surface of the ziggurat
and temple of Nabu, Borsippa, Iraq
![](640px-Ruins_of_the_lower_part_of_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Babel_Governorate,_Iraq.jpg)
Ruins
of the lower part of the ziggurat and temple of Nabu at Borsippa,
Babel Governorate, Iraq
![](640px-Stamped_mud-brick_from_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_Nabu,_Borsippa,_Iraq.jpg)
Stamped
mud-brick from the ziggurat and temple of Nabu, Borsippa, Iraq
![](640px-The_upper_part_of_the_Tongue_Tower_of_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Iraq.jpg)
The
upper part of the Tongue Tower of the ziggurat and temple of Nabu
at Borsippa, Iraq
![](399px-The_ruins_of_the_so-called_Tongue_Tower_of_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_the_god_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Babel_Governorate,_Iraq._6th_century_BC.jpg)
The
ruins of the so-called Tongue Tower of the ziggurat and temple of
the god Nabu at Borsippa, Babel Governorate, Iraq. 6th century BC
![](399px-The_ruins_of_the_so-called_Tongue_Tower_of_the_ziggurat_of_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Babel_Governorate,_Iraq._6th_century_BC.jpg)
The
ruins of the so-called Tongue Tower of the ziggurat of Nabu at Borsippa,
Babel Governorate, Iraq. 6th century BC
![](399px-The_ruins_of_the_so-called_Tongue_Tower_of_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Iraq.jpg)
The
ruins of the so-called Tongue Tower of the ziggurat and temple of
Nabu at Borsippa, Iraq
![](640px-Ruins_of_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_god_Nabu,_Borsippa,_Babel_Governorate,_Iraq,_sixth_century_BC.jpg)
Ruins
of the ziggurat and temple of god Nabu, Borsippa, Babel Governorate,
Iraq, sixth century BC
![](640px-Ruins_of_the_ziggurat_and_temple_of_god_Nabu_at_Borsippa,_Babel_Governorate,_Iraq.jpg)
Ruins
of the ziggurat and temple of god Nabu at Borsippa, Babel Governorate,
Iraq
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Borsippa