Etemenanki (Civ6)

Etemenanki
World wonder of the Ancient Era
Introduced in Portugal Pack
Unlocked by	Writing
Production cost	220
Removed if game started after	Medieval Era
Effects
+2 Science and +1 Production to all Marsh tiles in your empire. +1 Science and +1 Production on all Floodplains tiles in this city. +2 Science

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 "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves."
– Genesis 11:4

Etemenanki is an Ancient Era Wonder in Civilization VI. It must be built on Floodplains or Marsh.

• Effects:
  • +2 Science and +1 Production to all Marsh tiles in your empire.
  • +1 Science and +1 Production on all Floodplains tiles in this city.
  • +2 Science

Strategy

A surprisingly marsh-y island on an Island Plates map: the power of Etemenanki and Lady of the Reeds and Marshes

If you have a sufficient number of Floodplains in one of your city and Marshes in a large area around you, the Etemenanki is a great Wonder for establishing a Production and Science lead over others. You don't necessarily have to pursue a Scientific Victory for this Wonder to be useful, since these bonuses don't scale, but they surely help you on any path.

The best use for this Wonder is in cities with a lot of Floodplains, since these are the tiles that can be improved for extra Food and Housing, with potential even more yields from Floods. In case of Marshes, the bonus applies to all Marshes in your empire, not just in this city, but since Marsh tiles cannot be improved unless they contain a resource, in the midgame, you will run into an issue on whether you should remove or keep these tiles. Furthermore, since this is an Ancient Era wonder, you most likely have only explored the area around your Capital, so unless you are playing on the Wetlands map or have the Rainfall setting as Wet, it is impossible to know how many Marsh tiles are near you to plan accordingly.

For that reason, this Wonder is best for Egypt due to their starting bias of Floodplains, or, to a lesser extent, Vietnam due to their Marsh starting bias. If you build this Wonder, make sure to combine it with the Lady of the Reeds and Marshes pantheon (you can check out the yields provided by this combination in the photo provided). Later in the game, you can consider using Preserves to exploit them for not being improved. The Eiffel Tower and Biosphère can help boost the Appeal of these Marshes.

Civilopedia entry

Etemenanki was a Babylonian ziggurat or stepped tower. Some believe that Etemenanki may be the inspiration for the story of the Tower of Babel. It was originally constructed around the time of Hammurabi and restored by Nebuchadnezzar II after the destruction of Babylon in 689 BC. In 331 BC, Alexander the Great captured Babylon and once more ordered for Etemenanki to be repaired. When he returned to Babylon and found that the building hadn’t changed, he decided it would be easier just to knock the whole thing down and start again. Alexander the Great died however before his orders could be fulfilled. Another prince allegedly wanted to rebuild the ziggurat, but after he embarrassed himself by tripping, he had his elephants knock the rest of it down in a temper tantrum.

Trivia

• There is one unused quote for this wonder in the game files:
  •  "As long as houses are built, as long as tablets are sealed, as long as brothers are at enmity, the days of death are unknown to mankind."
    – The Epic of Gilgamesh

Gallery

Etemenanki completed

Etemenanki in-game