Babylon city

The ruins of Babylon sit along the Euphrates River about 90 kilometers south of Baghdad, marking the core of one of the ancient world's most consequential cities. At its peak under Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BC, Babylon was a planned metropolis of fired and sun-dried brick: the Processional Way, the Ishtar Gate — its glazed-tile facade now largely reconstructed in Berlin's Pergamon Museum — and the Esagila temple complex formed an urban environment unmatched in the ancient Near East. The city's cultural shadow stretches far beyond its ruins: the Tower of Babel, the Babylonian Captivity, and the legendary Hanging Gardens have shaped Western religion, literature, and myth for millennia. German archaeologist Robert Koldewey began systematic excavations in 1899, establishing Babylon as a foundational case study in Near Eastern archaeology. The site, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2019, is walkable today, with exposed mudbrick walls, reconstructed gate arches, and a small on-site museum.