Ancient Babylon archaeological site

3D Model

Ancient Babylon is one of the most important and ancient cities of the Near East and the capital of the ancient Babylonian state, in southern Mesopotamia, 85 km south of present day Baghdad. It was the center of Akkadian language and Babylonian power and flourished until the end of the Hellenistic period. Babylon was founded by the ancient Babylonian Empire in the 19th-16th centuries BC. The oldest reference to Babylon dates back to an Akkadian city inscription in the 21st century BC. The city has seen the rule of several powers such as Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Sassanian, Islamic. Babylon was the busiest city in the world during the height of the ancient and modern Babylonian empires, with an estimated population of more than 200,000. In 2019 it was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List which covers an area of more than 1,000 hectares, close to the Euphrates River. The history of excavations dates back to 1811 and has since been excavated numerous times by universities and local teams.