Robert Koldewey (September 10, 1855 – February 4, 1925) was a German architect and archaeologist, famous for his discovery of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in modern day Iraq. He was born in Blankenburg am Harz in Germany, the duchy of Brunswick, and died in Berlin at the age of 70. His digs at Babylon revealed the foundations of the ziggurat Marduk, and the Ishtar Gate; he also developed several modern archaeological techniques including a method to identify and excavate mud brick architecture. This technique was particularly useful in his excavation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (1899-1917) which was built (ca. 580 BC) using mainly unfired mudbricks.
Koldewey was a self-trained classical era archaeological historian. Although he studied architecture and art history in Berlin and Vienna, he left both those universities without an advanced degree. In 1882 he was signed on as a participant to the excavation of ancient Assus in Turkey, where Keldewey learned several excavation methods and how to best draw ancient remains. A practicing archaeologist for most of his life, he participated in and led many excavations in for example Asia Minor, Greece, and Italy. After he died the Koldewey Society was established to record and mark his architectural service.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were a previously unconfirmed legend about a beautiful man-made mountain full of green plants and trees that reportedly were built by King Nebuchadnezzar (ruled 605 BC - 563 BC) for his homesick wife, Amyitis , who was daughter of the king of the Medes.
Koldewey unearthed many of its features including the outer walls, inner walls, foundation of the Tower of Babel, Nebuchadnezzar's palaces and the wide processional roadway which passed through the heart of the city. While excavating the Southern Citadel, Robert Koldewey discovered a basement with fourteen large rooms with stone arch ceilings. Ancient texts showed that only two locations in the city had used stone, the north wall of the Northern Citadel, and the Hanging Gardens. The north wall of the Northern Citadel had already been found. This made it seem likely that Koldewey had found the cellar of the gardens.
He continued exploring the area and discovered many of the features reported by the ancient Greek historian Diodorus. While Koldewey was convinced he'd found the gardens, some modern archaeologists call his discovery into question. While the location of the site that Koldewey excavated was well known and recognised as where Babylon had been situated, they argued that the dig site was too far from the river to have been irrigated with the amount of water that would have been required for a green garden. Tablets recently found at the site suggest that the location was used for administrative and/or storage purposes, not as a garden.
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