This is the land of Babylon - the world of Alexander the Great, Nebuchadnessar, the first written law, writing, science.

13. Kish

Kish is the collective name for at least 40 tells (mounds) arranged in an oval measuring 1.5 by 5 miles. The important mounds are called Uhaimir and Ingharra. Occupations span the period from cat 3000 B.C. to A.D. 650. The major excavation was the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition of 1923-1933. There is an important standing temple at Kish of the Neo-Babylonian period, perhaps built by Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 B.C.).

14. Babylon

This was the Mesopotamian capital from the time of Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.) through the Neo-Babylonian period, the time of Nebuchadnezzar II's dynasty (625-539 B.C.). The site, encompassing some 2,100 acres, is probably the largest in southern Mesopotamia. Excavations by the Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft from 1899 to 1917 uncovered substantial remains of the time of the Neo- Babylonian period: fortifications, including a double gateway (known as the Ishtar gate), whose walls were decorated with molded reliefs of lions, bulls, and dragons; and many temples, including Esagila, the temple of Marduk, with its ziggurat (the biblical tower of Babel). Emah (the temple of the goddess Ninmah) has been restored by the Directorate-General of Antiquities. The excavations also uncovered private houses and palaces, including Nebuchadnezzar II's, now being restored under the direct sponsorship of Saddam Hussein. In the northeastern part of Babylon, a theater built at (or not long after) the time of Alexander the Great and rebuilt by the succeeding Seleucid kings has been restored by the Directorate-General of Antiquities. (Information on the mythology of Babylon and Assyria.)

15. Jemdet Nasr

This site is perhaps best known for its remains of the late 4th and early 3rd millennia B.C. It was excavated as part of the Oxford-Field Museum Expedition to Kish.

16. Ukhaidir

A fortified palace in the desert about 75 miles south of Baghdad, Ukhaidir dates to the Abbasid period, specifically the late 8th century A.D.

17. Dur-Kurigalzu (A-tar Quf)

The city was built by the Kassite rulers of Babylonia, probably in the early 14th century B.C. An unusually well- preserved ziggurat, whose mud-brick core still stands to a height of about 170 feet, is a prominent feature on the flat plain in the vicinity of Baghdad. The lowest terrace of the ziggurat was restored by the Directorate-General of Antiquities.