An Ancient Hymn to Babylon is Reawakened

Uncovering the Past

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Archaeologists and AI specialists have uncovered a nearly 3,000-year-old Babylonian hymn that celebrates the grandeur of ancient Babylon, offering a rare and poetic glimpse into early urban society, education, and religious life. The rediscovered text, likely composed around 1000 BCE and written in cuneiform, was pieced together from over 30 clay tablets thanks to artificial intelligence tools developed by researchers from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and the University of Baghdad.

Published in the journal Iraq in March 2025,  the hymn is part of a broader project led by Professor Dr. Enrique Jiménez of LMU’s Institute of Assyriology. Jiménez and co-researcher Dr. Anmar Fadhil identified fragments of the same poem across dozens of tablets using the electronic Babylonian Library (eBL) platform, a powerful AI-assisted system designed to speed the reconstruction and publication of ancient Mesopotamian texts.

“Using our AI-supported platform, we managed to identify 30 other manuscripts that belong to the rediscovered hymn,” said Jiménez. This allowed the team to reconstruct most of the original poem—estimated at 250 lines—despite the fragmentary and damaged nature of many surviving tablets.

The result is one of the most vivid literary rediscoveries in recent decades. “The author immortalized his devotion to his city, gods, and people in words that resonated until the final decades of cuneiform culture,” the researchers note.

The cuneiform tablet with the newly discovered hymn. Photo Credit: © Anmar A. Fadhil, Department of Archaeology, University of Baghdad. With the permission of the Iraqi Museum and the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage [Courtesy

A Song for the City

The hymn opens with lofty praise for Marduk, the patron god of Babylon, calling him by many divine titles, including the “guardian of Esagil,” his temple. It continues with a divine blessing from other gods, extolling Marduk’s influence over the fundamental elements of life,  governed by the gods Anu, Enlil, and Ea. The researchers noted that these elements represent the building blocks of the cosmos in Babylonian theology.

Next, the hymn honors Esagil, Marduk’s temple, described as both beautiful and mysterious. The poem then shifts focus to Babylon itself, comparing it to a trove of precious stones and a flourishing garden. “The Euphrates is her river,” reads one passage. “Its fields burgeon with herbs and flowers… Herds and flocks lie on verdant pastures.” This segment is particularly notable for its rich imagery—rare in Mesopotamian literature—and stands as one of the only lengthy descriptions of spring known from the region.

Following the lyrical praise of nature and the city’s architecture, the hymn lauds the citizens of Babylon. Men are depicted as just and noble, protectors of the weak and followers of divine law. Strikingly, the text claims, “they respect the foreigners who live among them”—a comment the researchers caution applies specifically to foreign priests, not necessarily to the broader population of enslaved or conquered peoples.

Women, while given far less attention, are praised for their “devotion and discretion.” Although the text stops short of attributing active roles to women, it does mention the priestesses of Babylon, offering valuable evidence of their spiritual function and societal presence. “It’s the only surviving reference to Babylonian women and their role,” the authors point out, marking an important detail for gender historians.

One of the most fascinating discoveries is how widespread and beloved the hymn appears to have been in its time. Clay tablets containing its verses date from the 7th to the 1st centuries BCE, showing that the poem was recopied and preserved for centuries. “The hymn was copied by children at school,” said Jiménez. “It’s unusual that such a popular text in its day was unknown to us before now.”

Indeed, the effort involved in scratching cuneiform into clay makes the hymn’s repeated transcription all the more impressive. In an age before parchment, the very act of preserving this text reveals the deep reverence ancient Babylonians felt for their city, their god, and their way of life.

Prof. Enrique Jiménez and his colleague, Prof. Anmar Fadhil, stand in front of the replica of the Ishtar Gate, marking the entrance to the archaeological site of Babylon. They hold a tablet with excerpts from the discovered hymn . Photo Credit: © Junko Taniguchi [Courtesy

Though about one-third of the hymn remains lost, and its ending is largely fragmentary, what survives is a powerful celebration of a civilization that once stood at the heart of the ancient world. “It’s a fascinating hymn that describes Babylon in all its majesty and gives insights into the lives of its inhabitants, male and female,” said Jiménez.

With the help of modern tools like AI, scholars are continuing to unearth long-lost voices from the past—voices that, even after three millennia, still speak to the pride, poetry, and complexity of ancient urban life.