13.09.2024
Vorderasiatisches Museum
Interested viewers can now explore the cultural history of Mesopotamia online via the interactive virtual tour Babylon Reloaded. The tour takes viewers directly to Babylon’s legendary Processional Way leading to the Ishtar Gate. The Vorderasiatische Museum (Museum of the Ancient Near East) is now taking a significant step towards digitalisation, making it possible for viewers around the globe to experience its permanent exhibition at the Pergamonmuseum in an entirely new way.
Due to the long-term closing of the Pergamonmuseum’s southern wing for a major refurbishment, the permanent exhibition of the Vorderasiatisches Museum with the famous Babylonian Processional Way and the Ishtar Gate will not be accessible for many years. For this reason, back in 2022, the museum began preparations for a complete digital documentation of the historical exhibition, whose original conception can be traced to the visionary museum director Walter Andrae (1875‒1956). Recordings were made in 2023, and the realisation of a virtual tour has now been completed.
The Babylon Reloaded interactive tour allows for direct immersion into the atmosphere of the Vorderasiatisches Museum’s historical exhibition at the Pergamonmuseum and offers a wealth of additional information.
The Vorderasiatisches Museum’s audio guide, part of the digital experience, is available in German and English. Texts from the original labels, grounded in a scholarly context, narrate and expand on the intriguing historical backgrounds of the exhibits.
Thanks to state-of-the-art technology, users can choose whether they wish to move freely in a three-dimensional space or be navigated explicitly from one point to the next. Select objects are available as highlights that can be viewed from all angles in the 3D viewer.
