1,000 year old Babylonian hymn celebrating ancient city revived using AI
Dating back to the early first millennium BCE (c. 1000 BCE), the 250-line hymn praises the ancient city of Babylon. It describes its monumental buildings, fertile fields sustained by the Euphrates River, and the role of celibate priestesses in society.
The text was pieced together from over 30 fragmented clay tablets spread across several museums and collections.
The reconstruction was made possible through a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Baghdad and Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich, who published their findings in the journal Iraq.
The project utilised an AI-powered platform that digitises fragments of cuneiform – the script used by ancient civilisations, including Mesopotamia and Persia – and cross-references them to identify matching passages.
'Using our AI-supported platform, we managed to identify 30 other manuscripts that belong to the rediscovered hymn – a process that would formerly have taken decades,' said study co-author and Assyriologist Enrique Jiménez.
The hymn itself is focused on Babylon's grandeur; most significantly, it celebrates the city's majestic architecture, emphasising how canals and fields thrived alongside bustling urban structures.
Notably, it highlights the cultural importance of women serving as priestesses as well as Babylon's welcoming attitude towards foreigners, offering a rare glimpse into the structure of Babylon's social and cultural society.
One striking feature is how widely the hymn was known at the time. Dozens of copies were found among what appeared to be school texts.
'The hymn was copied by children at school,' Jiménez noted, suggesting that this hymn was memorised by and taught to students.
Despite its length, some sections of the hymn remain missing or damaged, particularly towards the end. About one-third of the original text is still fragmented, indicating growing opportunities for AI-assisted reconstruction and discovery of damaged or lost ancient texts.
A passage from the larger hymn is transcribed below:
The Euphrates is her river—established by wise lord Nudimmud—
It quenches the lea, saturates the canebrake,
Disgorges its waters into lagoon and sea,
Its fields burgeon with herbs and flowers,
Its meadows, in brilliant bloom, sprout barley,
From which, gathered, sheaves are stacked,
Herds and flocks lie on verdant pastures,
Wealth and splendor—what befit mankind—
Are bestowed, multiplied, and regally granted.
(This article has been curated by Arfan Jeelany, who is an intern with The Indian Express)
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