  Shown within Iraq | |
| Alternative name | Birs Nimrud |
|---|---|
| Location | Babylon Governorate, Iraq |
| Coordinates | 32°23′31.19″N 44°20′30.08″E / 32.3919972°N 44.3416889°E |
| Type | settlement |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1854, 1879-1881, 1902, 1980-2003 |
| Archaeologists | Henry Creswicke Rawlinson, Hormuzd Rassam, Robert Koldewey, Helga Piesl-Trenkwalder, Wilfred Allinger-Csollich |
| Condition | Ruined |
| Ownership | Public |
| Public access | Yes |
Borsippa (Sumerian: BAD.SI.(A).AB.BAKI or Birs Nimrud (having been identified with Nimrod) is an archeological site in Babylon Governorate, Iraq built on both sides of a lake about 17.7 km (11.0 mi) southwest of Babylon on the east bank of the Euphrates. It lies 15 kilometers from the ancient site of Dilbat. The ziggurat is today one of the most vividly identifiable surviving ones, identified in the later Arabic culture with the Tower of Babel due to Nebuchadnezzar referring to it as the Tower of Borsippa or tongue tower, as stated in the stele recovered on site in the 19th century. However, modern scholarship concludes that the Babylonian builders of the Ziggurat in reality erected it as a religious edifice in honour of the local god Nabu, called the "son" of Babylon's Marduk, as would be appropriate for Babylon's lesser sister-city.
The tutelary god of Borsippa in the Ur III Empire period late in the 3rd millennium BC was Tutu who was syncretised with the god Marduk after the Old Babylonian period. Tutu was mentioned in the prologue of the Code of Hammurabi as the god of Borsippa.[1] The goddesses Marat-E-zida and the god Mar-biti(m) were also worshiped at Borsippa.[2]
- ^ Lambert, Wilfred G., "Notes on Enūma Eliš", Babylonian Creation Myths, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 469-492, 2013
- ^ Frayne, Douglas R. and Stuckey, Johanna H., "M", A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East: Three Thousand Deities of Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam, University Park, USA: Penn State University Press, pp. 198-218, 2021