The Processional Way
High crenellated walls.
Safa.daneshvar — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Safa.daneshvar — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Safa.daneshvar — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Osama Sarm — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Safa.daneshvar — CC BY-SA 4.0
Ancient Babylon is the remains of an old capital on the Euphrates, near Hillah, about 85 km south of Baghdad. It was among the most important cities of the ancient Near East, and UNESCO listed it as a World Heritage Site in 2019. Its name alone draws anyone who loves history, as it is one of the most famous cities of the ancient world. It first appears as a small town on a clay tablet from the 3rd millennium BC. Two empires rose from it, the Old Babylonian between the 19th and 16th centuries BC and the Neo-Babylonian in the 7th and 6th centuries BC. Its Hanging Gardens were ranked among the Seven Wonders of the World, but scholars doubt they existed, as Babylonian texts do not mention them. You walk the Processional Way between high crenellated walls, pass a blue replica of the Ishtar Gate, with the original kept in Berlin, then see the stone Lion of Babylon and the remains of Nebuchadnezzar's palace. Many of the yellow walls were rebuilt in the 1980s, so a guide helps you tell the old from the new. The site is about 9 km in a straight line from Hillah and about 37 km from Karbala. The grounds are wide with little shade, so visit in the morning and bring water and dinars. The UK Foreign Office currently advises against all but essential travel to this area, so check official guidance before planning.
High crenellated walls.
Blue, near the entrance.
An ancient stone statue.
North of Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq
No, the one here is a modern replica, and the original is kept in a museum in Berlin.
No confirmed trace exists, and scholars doubt they existed at all.