Esagila

Esagila is the name given in ancient sources to the main temple precinct of the god Marduk in the city of Babylon, in present-day Iraq. The temple complex was a major religious centre in Mesopotamia by the first millennium BCE.

Visible today are earthworks and ruined foundations marking the raised precinct and adjacent structures rather than standing buildings; modern archaeological remains are limited to excavated walls, brickwork and foundation courses. Interpretive signs and museum displays at the Babylon site place the temple remains in context with nearby features such as the palace mounds and the large ziggurat area.

The Esagila precinct is attested in cuneiform texts from the second millennium BCE and continued as Babylon’s principal temple into the first millennium BCE. It was rebuilt and renovated by successive rulers of Babylon, including major construction under Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BCE, and remained a ceremonial centre through the Achaemenid period before falling into ruin.

The remains sit within the archaeological site of Babylon in Babil Governorate, near the modern town of Hillah roughly 85 km south of Baghdad. The site occupies flat alluvial plain terrain on the middle Euphrates between modern roads and irrigation works.

• Religious centre: Located within the archaeological site of ancient Babylon, the temple precinct is identified in classical and cuneiform sources as the center for the worship of Marduk.

What to See #

• Esagila precinct: Part of the ancient city of Babylon, the complex included a main temple to the god Marduk that occupied a raised precinct and adjacent ritual buildings; it was a focal point of royal ritual in Mesopotamia.
• Etemenanki (ziggurat): A large stepped ziggurat immediately north of the temple precinct traditionally called Etemenanki is associated with the same cult center and with Babylonian creation-myth architecture.