ABSTRACT

This volume presents Babylon as it has been passed down through Western culture: through the Bible, classical texts, in Medieval travel accounts, and through depictions of the Tower motif in art. It then details the discovery of the material culture remains of Babylon from the middle of the 19th century and through the great excavation of 1899-1917, and focuses on the encounter between the Babylon of tradition and the Babylon unearthed by the archaeologists. This book is unique in its multi-disciplinary approach, combining expertise in biblical studies and Assyriology with perspectives on history, art history, intellectual history, reception studies and contemporary issues.

chapter 1|7 pages

Beginning discovery

chapter 2|18 pages

Biblical Babylon

chapter 3|14 pages

European visions of Babylon

chapter 4|20 pages

Ad fontes? Babylon of the Greeks

chapter 5|28 pages

The discovery of Mesopotamia

chapter 6|34 pages

From the sources of Babylon

chapter 7|20 pages

Babel and Bible

chapter 8|25 pages

Babylon’s resurrection

chapter 9|7 pages

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