  Shown within Iraq | |
| Alternative name | Birs Nimrud |
|---|---|
| Location | 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, 1861, 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; Akkadian: Barsip and Til-Barsip)[1] or Birs Nimrud (having been identified with Nimrod) is an archeological site in Babil Governorate, Iraq. 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.
Borsippa was an important ancient city of Sumer, built on both sides of a lake about 17.7 km (11.0 mi) southwest of Babylon on the east bank of the Euphrates.
- ^ The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory: Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010.