BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Trove of Artifacts Discovered Near Babylon

Tablets, seals, and more

Archaeological site near Babylon. Courtesy SBAH.

Archaeologists with the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) made a fantastic discovery while excavating near the ancient city of Babylon in central Iraq. The team uncovered two houses filled with nearly 500 artifacts dating to the Old Babylonian period (c. 1894–1595 BCE).

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Excavating Ancient Babylonia

The two houses were discovered in Area B of a site designated 19/3. Containing several rooms of various sizes, the houses contained many clues that will help archaeologists better understand this period, which included the reign of the famous Babylonian king Hammurabi. The finds included numerous cuneiform tablets, written in Akkadian, as well as stamp seals and pottery vessels. According to a statement by SBAH, the excavations are ongoing, as is the study of the objects.

The cuneiform tablets and seals are particularly interesting as they could include information about the people who lived in the area and what their lives were like. Many tablets from this period are business receipts of various types, but others are administrative documents, letters, and even literary works. Stamp seals can similarly reveal intriguing information about the people who used them, recording details such as the person’s family relations, occupation, and even what gods they revered or what king they served. Only further study will tell what secrets these tablets hold.

Related reading in Bible History Daily:

Dating Babylon’s Ishtar Gate

Where Are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon?

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library:

The Babylonian Gap

What the Babylonian Flood Stories Can and Cannot Teach Us About the Genesis Flood

How Bad Was the Babylonian Exile?