Ancient site · Temple
Etemenanki, the ziggurat of Babylon
Also known as E-temen-anki
The great stepped temple tower of the god Marduk in Babylon, whose name means 'Temple of the Foundation of Heaven and Earth'. Damaged when Sennacherib sacked Babylon in 689 BCE, it was rebuilt by Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar II.
A later tablet claims it was 91 m high and wide, a figure modern scholars doubt. Alexander the Great had it pulled down in 323 BCE to rebuild it, but died first. Today only a water-filled square marks its base.
- Dates
- origins perhaps 18th century BCE; rebuilt 7th–6th century BCE; demolished 323 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- UNESCO World Heritage
- Yes
- Location
- 32.54° N, 44.42° E
How we know
The ziggurat is described in Babylonian inscriptions and a tablet giving its size; only its foundation outline survives.
Nearby sites
- Tower of Babel (legend) Legend; no date can be given
- Babylon c. 2300 BCE – c. 1000 CE; first mentioned c. 2200 BCE
- Uruk (Eanna and the White Temple) c. 5000 BCE – c. 700 CE; Eanna and White Temple c. 3500–3100 BCE
- Ur (ziggurat and Royal Cemetery) c. 3800–500 BCE; Royal Cemetery c. 2600 BCE; ziggurat 21st century BCE
- Eridu c. 5400–600 BCE
- Jarmo c. 7090–4950 BCE