Barium zirconium sulfides, Ba 2 ZrS 4 and Ba 3 Zr 2 S 7 , were prepared by a novel precursor method. Ba 2 ZrS 4 forms in the K 2 NiF 4 -type tetragonal (I4/mmm) structure with a = 4.8379(5) a and c = 15.916(2) a. Ba 3 Zr 2 S 7 forms in a distorted variant of the Ba 3 Zr 2 O 7 Ruddlesden-Popper-type orthorhombic (Cccm) structure with a = 7.067(1) a, b = 25.557(4) a and c = 7.059(1) a. Four probe electrical resistivity measurements show that the Ba n + 1 Zr n S 2 n + 1 (n = 1, 2, ~) phases are semiconducting. The conductivity increases with increasing n. Seebeck measurements show that the majority charge carriers are holes. X-Ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements probing the electronic structure of these materials as viewed from the S and Zr sites are also discussed.