User:Racheal Rivera/sandbox

Research and discovery

Claudius James Rich, British resident of Baghdad and a self right historian, did personal research on Babylon because it intrigued him. Acting as a scholar and collecting field data, he was determined to discover the wonders to the ancient world. CJ. Rich's topographical records of the ruins in Babylon were the first ever published in 1815. It was reprinted in England no fewer than three times. CJ. Rich and most other 19th century visitors thought a mound in Babylon was a royal palace, and that was eventually confirmed by Robert Koldewey's excavations, who found two palaces of King Nebuchadnezzar and more notably, The Ishtar Gate. Robert Koldewey, a successful German excavator had done previous work for the Royal Museum of Berlin, with his excavations at Surghul (Ancient Nina) and Al-hiba (Ancient Lagash) in 1887. Koldewey's assistance in Babylon's excavation began in 1899.

The method that the British were comfortable in using in excavating tunnels and deep trenches, was damaging the mud brick architecture of the foundation. Instead, it was suggested that the excavation team focus on tablets and other such trivial things rather than pick at the crumbling buildings. In light of the destructive nature of the archaeology used, the recording of data was immensely more thorough than in previous Mesopotamian excavations.

Walter Andre, one of Koldewey's many assistants, Who was an architect and a draftsman was the first at Babylon. His contribution was documentation and reconstruction of Babylon. A small museum was built at the site and Andre was the museums first director.

One of most complex and impressive architectural reconstructions in the history of archaeology, was the rebuilding of Babylon's Ishtar gate and processional way in Berlin. Hundreds of crates of glaze brick fragments were carefully desalinated and then pieced together. Fragments were combined with new bricks baked in a specially designed kiln to re-create the correct color and finish.