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How the restoration of ancient Babylon is drawing tourists back to Iraq
Work on the Temple of Ninmakh and walls at the Ishtar Gate is nearing completion at the Mesopotamian metropolis, a victim of centuries of damage and neglect
Even in the midday heat, when tour guides refuse to emerge from their office, visitors from Romania, Russia and Iran enthusiastically explore attractions including the largely intact Lion of Babylon, the processional way and the museum next to a reconstructed Ishtar Gate. From its peak as the Neo-Babylonian capital under King Nebuchadnezzar II through to the Iraq War, when American and Polish troops ran roughshod over its ruins and a decade later, Islamic State (Isis) threatened its very existence, the ancient city has witnessed empires come and go. Now the Egyptian architect Ahmed Abdelgawad, an expert in mud brick buildings, is working with the WMF to train locals in the traditional art that befits the Temple of Ninmakh, named after the mother goddess associated with creation, birth and healing who breathed life into humankind via small clay figures in their likeness.
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