After making Babylon his own capital 300 years later, Alexander the Great died in Nebuchadnezzar's southern palace.
The center of the empire, Babylon in its brief heyday, which lasted until it was conquered by the Persians under Cyrus in 539 BC, was also a place where science and philosophy, mathematics and astronomy flourished.
"Babylon deserves more than the curses it has received," said Said. "It gathered all the experience of the ancient world."
In addition to the southern palace, the reconstruction includes a half-size replica of the great Ishtar Gate through which passed Babylon's main ceremonial thoroughfare, Procession Way, also visible today.
Although you see unpainted bulls and dragons on remnants of the original gate, the brilliant blue enameled bricks that adorned it were carted off to Berlin's Pergamum Museum at the time of the German excavation.
Nearby, in a shallow pool of water, lie the foundation stones of a 300-foot tower that was constructed in the 6th century BC, on what archeologists say could be the site of the legendary Tower of Babel referred to in Genesis.
The visitor can see a model based on the ground plan recovered at the site, plus dozens of artists' conceptions of the tower "whose top may reach unto heaven," in a small museum adjacent to the southern palace.
