Etemenanki (Tower of Babel)

Etemenanki ("House of the foundation of heaven on earth") was a massive ziggurat dedicated to Marduk in ancient Babylon. Its origins may date to Hammurabi's reign (1792-1750 BC), though major reconstruction occurred under Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar II in the 7th-6th centuries BC. The structure measured approximately 91 metres square at its base across seven terraces, with a cedar-roofed temple at the summit. Destroyed by the Assyrian king Sennacherib and rebuilt, it was later dismantled by Xerxes. In 323 BC, Alexander the Great deployed 10,000 soldiers to clear the ruins for rebuilding, but his death that same year left the project abandoned. Robert Koldewey began archaeological excavations in 1913, confirming the ground dimensions.