Borsippa

Borsippa, Barsippa (Sumerian Ba -ad -DUR -si -a -ab -ba = Badursiabba ( Horn of the Sea), Akkadian 1) Barzipa, 2) Tintir IIkum AI (Second Babylon ), 3) Kinnir, Kinunir (place of struggle ), today's Birs Nimrud), after the mythical king Nimrod, is an ancient city in Babylonia.

The city, 20 kilometers southwest of Babylon, was located near a large lake country, which was called Sea ( tamtu ) and lay in the north- west and west of the city. To the south was a small tributary of the lake, which was dubbed the horn. Borsippa was right on the horn of the sea. This name was drawn together under the new name of Hammurabi Barzipa. As an ornamental epithet in religious texts, the city was then known as Second Babylon and place of struggle.

Evidence of settlements in Borsippa found, from the Ur III period (about 2050-1950 BC). Borsippa was initially the cult center of the god Tutu, who was later replaced by Nabu as the City God. Borsippa, the city of the sun at night, was a copy of Babylon, which was titled as a counterpart to the city of sun days. The processions were committed in close coordination. The autonomy lost Borsippa with the conquest of Hammurabi and was later in the Marduk cult as crown and city by the father of Nabu, who had the oversight of the city of his son.

As a cult center Borsippa had his god Nabu a sanctuary - called Ezida - and built the ziggurat Euriminanki ( " House of the Seven Commander of heaven and earth "). With Babylon Borsippa was connected by a channel. From texts we know that the city by a wall, which is called " Good is around them" wore was enclosed, which is partially visible even today. The wall had numerous gates, each of which was assigned to a God. Borsippa possessed, like Babylon, a processional. Its heyday was Borsippa during the reign of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II.

In ancient Borsippa Artemis and Apollo was sacred. Borsippa was known for the production of linen. There were at that time numerous and conspicuous large bats in Borsippa, caught and salted by the inhabitants.

First excavations at the ziggurat there were in the middle of the 19th century by Henry Rawlinson. Only 1879/80 and under Hormuzd Rassam and 1901 /02 under Robert Koldewey were performed in Borsippa systematic excavations until 1980, the Austrian excavations began, which are under the organizational leadership of Helga Trenkwalder. The archaeological investigations during the years 1980 to 2000 were conducted by Wilfrid Allinger - Csollich, which focused on the exploration of the temple Ezida and the ziggurat. In the years 2001 and 2002 studies were carried out in the city of Borsippa by Kai Kaniuth. The work was repeatedly hampered by the Iraq war, but never interrupted for long periods. Nevertheless, a large number of cuneiform tablets from the city have long been known. The large and impressive ruins of the ziggurat of Nabu was thought at first mistaken for the Tower of Babel. Already in late Hebrew and Talmudic times, this error has been made ​​, not least because of incorrect measurements in Herodotus. In addition, the tower was much better preserved than the " sister tower " in Babylon. Today, he is after all still 50 meters high, though he had served for centuries as a quarry for bricks. In the third Iraq war heavy damage was done in Borsippa.