From Hammurabi’s low codes to the Tower of Babel, to Ishtar Gate, one of the most popular ancient cities of human history, Babylon the gate of gods designated World Heritage Site. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization has declared that the archaeological sites of Babylon in modern-day Iraq as UNESCO World Heritage on July 5th. UNESCO announced this development through a written statement published on Twitter.
The government representatives, as well as locals, expressed their sincere happiness out of UNESCO’s decision, underlining the importance of the city’s unique history and its significant contributions to the civilizations of Mesopotamia as well as to the history of humanity. Once the richest and powerful city of antiquity, Babylon was also the capital of the Babylonian Empire which was built as a port city on the banks of Euphrates more than 4,000 years ago. Located in 100 km southwest of Baghdad, the archaeological ruins of the ancient city was excavated for the first time in 1899 by a German Archaeologist Robert Koldewey. The most remarkable finding of the city was Ishtar Gate which is today exhibited in Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
The government of Baghdad had been lobbying since 1983 in order to inscribe the archaeological sites on UNESCO World Heritage List. The archaeological site is lying over a 10 km square area and only 18 % of the site is today continue to be excavated.
