Approaches for the conservation of the Ninmakh temple in Babylon, preliminary studies and project

This paper highlights the methodological approach used for the project of conservation, recovery, and reuse of the temple of Ninmakh in Babylon, a monumental building of significant importance dating back to the Neo-Babylonian period (626-539 BC), in which Babylon was the capital of one of the most powerful empires known at the time. Babylon is the subject of a project called The Future of Babylon, funded by the U.S. government and conducted by World Monuments Fund (WMF) in collaboration with the Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH). For WMF, Dr. Josephine D'Ilario, in collaboration with the co-authors of this contribution, drew up the project for the conservation and recovery of the temple, starting from previous mission reports carried out since 2005. The project provides for interventions to manage and preserve the archaeological site of Babylon. Located 85 km south of Baghdad, the area includes the remains of the defensive walls and the famous Ishtar gate, palaces, and temples. These testify to Babylon's grandeur during imperial eras, which saw a succession of emperors, including Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar II. Babylon's fame and myth make it a significant site, which brought it to be included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2019. This contribution covers the temple of Ninmakh, which has been, together with the Ishtar Gate, the subject of a meticulous and complex conservation and recovery project for more than 15 years. The complexity of the site derives not only from the nature of the archaeological remains built with earth but also from the reconstruction works that took place from the end of the ‘40s until the end of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.