Esagila

Coordinates: 32°32′2″N 44°25′17″E / 32.53389°N 44.42139°E / 32.53389; 44.42139

The Ésagila, a Sumerian name signifying "É (temple) whose top is lofty", (literally: "house of the raised head") was a temple dedicated to Marduk, the protector god of Babylon. It lay south of the ziggurat Etemenanki.

In this temple was the cult image inhabited by Marduk, surrounded by cult images of the cities that had fallen under the hegemony of the Babylonian Empire from the 18th century BC; there was also a little lake which was named Abzu by the Babylonian priests. This Abzu was a representation of Marduk's father, Enki, who was god of the waters and lived in the Abzu that was the source of all the fresh waters.

The Esagila complex, completed in its final form by Nebuchadnezzar II (604–562 BC) encasing earlier cores, was the center of Babylon. It comprised a large court (ca. 40×70 sq. meters), containing a smaller court (ca. 25×40 m²), and finally the central shrine, consisting of an anteroom and the inner sanctum which contained the statues of Marduk and his consort Sarpanit.