How they built: Babylon
A ten‑minute look at the engineering, organization, and labor that raised Babylon’s legendary walls, gates, and ziggurats.
Chapters
- 0:07 City Foundations and Planning
- 0:33 The Ishtar Gate – Glory in Glaze
- 2:00 Etemenanki – The Tower to Marduk
- 3:27 Labor, Rations, and Organization
On-screen text
- 0:07 City Foundations and Planning
- 0:24 Royal brick stamps found in Babylon Historical record · Mason’s brick stamps, BM 12445, Babylon (6th c BC)
- 0:33 The Ishtar Gate – Glory in Glaze
- 0:40 The Ishtar Gate – Glory in Glaze
- 0:57 Nebuchadnezzar’s inscription on the Ishtar Gate Historical record · Nebuchadnezzar II Prism (British Museum BM 91031)
- 1:15 Koldewey’s dig shows gate’s layered construction Historical record · Robert Koldewey, Die Stadt Babylon (1914‑1917)
- 1:33 Blue‑glazed bricks of the Ishtar Gate Historical record · Ishtar Gate glazed bricks, Pergamon Museum, Berlin
- 1:51 Inkur named chief architect Historical record · Royal inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II, BM 13193 (6th c BC)
- 2:00 Etemenanki – The Tower to Marduk
- 2:07 Etemenanki – The Tower to Marduk
- 2:24 Chronicle notes building of Etemenanki Historical record · Chronicle of the Kings of Babylon (ABC 5, 6th c BC)
- 2:42 Herodotus’s description of the ziggurat Tradition / scripture · Herodotus, Histories, Book I, 184 BC
- 3:00 Bronze chisels used for stone work The Institute's interpretation · J. P. Allen, “Metallurgy in Ancient Mesopotamia” (1999)
- 3:18 Rope pulleys aid stone lifting The Institute's interpretation · M. J. Oates, “Construction Techniques in Ancient Mesopotamia” (2005)
- 3:27 Labor, Rations, and Organization
- 3:43 Ration tablet details workers’ food Historical record · Administrative tablet VAT 1015 (Nebuchadnezzar II, 6th c BC)
- 4:01 Bronze chisels used for stone work The Institute's interpretation · J. P. Allen, “Metallurgy in Ancient Mesopotamia” (1999)
- 4:19 Inkur named chief architect Historical record · Royal inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II, BM 13193 (6th c BC)
Sources
Historical record: Code of Hammurabi, stele (c. 1754 BC) · Mason’s brick stamps, BM 12445, Babylon (6th c BC) · Nebuchadnezzar II Prism (British Museum BM 91031) · Robert Koldewey, Die Stadt Babylon (1914‑1917) · Ishtar Gate glazed bricks, Pergamon Museum, Berlin · Royal inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II, BM 13193 (6th c BC) · Chronicle of the Kings of Babylon (ABC 5, 6th c BC) · Administrative tablet VAT 1015 (Nebuchadnezzar II, 6th c BC)
Tradition / scripture: Herodotus, Histories, Book I, 184 BC
The Institute's interpretation: A. Kuhrt, The Ancient Near East (2000), analysis of Babylon’s orthogonal plan · J. Crawford, “Logistics of Babylonian Building” (2012) · J. P. Allen, “Metallurgy in Ancient Mesopotamia” (1999) · M. J. Oates, “Construction Techniques in Ancient Mesopotamia” (2005) · S. W. Cole, “The Akiti Festival and State Labor” (2018)
Sound: synthesized ambient (wind, drone, water) (CC0 — made by SoapBox). Made in 124 s of CPU.
Scenes Hathor has no parts for yet (13) — the next things to make
- Close‑up of a mudbrick with a stamped cuneiform mark being lifted from a kiln.
- A bird’s‑eye reconstruction of Babylon’s streets forming a regular grid.
- A scribe measuring a brick with a cord while workers shape mud.
- A scribe measuring a brick with a cord while workers shape mud.
- Close‑up of a mudbrick with a stamped cuneiform mark being lifted from a kiln.
- Flat‑bottomed boats unloading stacks of bricks onto a riverside platform.
- Flat‑bottomed boats unloading stacks of bricks onto a riverside platform.
- A royal scribe reading a tablet while Inkur directs masons on site.
- Labor, Rations, and Organization: Illustrate how the state organized workers, supplied food, and coordinated building seasons.
- Citizens in festive garb hauling bricks while priests perform rites.
- Citizens in festive garb hauling bricks while priests perform rites.
- Workers operating a wooden pulley to hoist a stone block onto a wall.
- Workers operating a wooden pulley to hoist a stone block onto a wall.