AI revives lost 3,000-year-old Babylonian hymn

Working in partnership with the University of Baghdad, Professor Jiménez rediscovered a Babylonian text that had remained hidden for more than a millennium. "It's a fascinating hymn that describes Babylon in all its majesty and gives insights into the lives of its inhabitants, male and female," he explained. Founded around 2000 BCE in Mesopotamia, Babylon grew into the largest city of its time and became a thriving center of culture and scholarship. Many of its writings remain cornerstones of the world's literary heritage.

Preserving Babylon's Written Legacy

Babylonian works were inscribed in cuneiform on clay tablets, many of which have survived only in fragments. One of the key goals of the LMU-Baghdad collaboration is to decipher hundreds of cuneiform tablets from the renowned Sippar Library and ensure their preservation. According to legend, Noah concealed these tablets there before the flood.

Through the Electronic Babylonian Library Platform, Jiménez and his team are digitally archiving all known cuneiform fragments from around the world. Artificial intelligence helps match pieces that belong together, revealing connections long missed by scholars. "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 Jiménez, who teaches at LMU's Institute of Assyriology. The additional fragments made it possible to fully reconstruct the hymn, including sections that were previously incomplete.

Insights Into Babylonian Society and Daily Life

The discovery of so many copies suggests that the hymn was widely known in its time. "The hymn was copied by children at school. It's unusual that such a popular text in its day was unknown to us before now," noted Jiménez. The poem, dating from the early first millennium BCE, contains around 250 lines.

"It was written by a Babylonian who wanted to praise his city. The author describes the buildings in the city, but also how the waters of the Euphrates bring the spring and green the fields. This is all the more spectacular as surviving Mesopotamian literature is sparing in its descriptions of natural phenomena," said Jiménez. The text also sheds light on women's roles in Babylon, including priestly duties that were previously undocumented. Moreover, the hymn portrays a society that valued respect and hospitality toward foreigners -- an aspect rarely detailed in ancient literature.

A Legacy Preserved in Stone and Song

Today, the ruins of Babylon lie about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad, Iraq. Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the city's remnants continue to tell stories of a civilization whose voice, after 3,000 years, can once again be heard.