Ezibatila (temple of Gula at Borsippa)

According to Akkadian inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 604–562 BC), including the "East India House Inscription," the healing goddess Gula/Ninkarrak had three temples at Borsippa. Ezibatila was one of those three; the other two were Egula and Etila.

BM 129397, a large stone tablet that bears a long Akkadian inscription that is now commonly referred to as the "East India House Inscription." The description of Nebuchadnezzar's rebuilding of Ezibatila is recorded in lines iv 52–56. Image adapted from the British Museum Collection website. Credit: Trustees of the British Museum.

Names and Spellings

This temple at Borsippa went by the Sumerian ceremonial name Ezibatila; the precise meaning of the name is uncertain. A ritual fragment refers to this temple as Ezidabatila.

Written Forms: e₂-zi-ba-ti-la ; e₂-zi-da-ba-ti-la.

Known Builders

Neo-Babylonian (ca. 625–539 BC)

Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 604–562 BC)

Building History

In numerous Akkadian inscriptions, Nebuchadnezzar II states that he built Ezibatila anew. This work was carried out in connection with the rebuilding of two other temples of Gula/Ninkarrak at Borsippa, Egula and Etila. Presently-extant inscriptions provide no information about this Neo-Babylonian king's work on Ezibatila.

Archaeological Remains

Ezibatila has not yet been positively identified in the archaeological record.

Further Reading

George, A.R. 1993. House Most High. The Temples of Ancient Mesopotamia (Mesopotamian Civilizations 5), Winona Lake, p. 159 no. 1234.

Jamie Novotny & Joshua Meynell

Jamie Novotny & Joshua Meynell, 'Ezibatila (temple of Gula at Borsippa)', Babylonian Temples and Monumental Architecture online (BTMAo), The BTMAo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, [http://oracc.org/btmao/Borsippa/TemplesandZiggurat/Ezibatila/]

BTMAo 2019-. BTMAo is based at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Historisches Seminar (LMU Munich, History Department) - Alexander von Humboldt Chair for Ancient History of the Near and Middle East. BTMAo is part of the four-year project Living Among Ruins: The Experience of Urban Abandonment in Babylonia (September 2019 to October 2023), which is funded by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung as part of the program "Lost Cities. Wahrnehmung von und Leben mit verlassenen Städten in den Kulturen der Welt," coordinated by Martin Zimmermann and Andreas Beyer. Content released under a CC BY-SA 3.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/] license, 2007-.
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