Babylon

Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu, an ancient city in Mesopotamia (Location: {{coor dms|32|32|11|N|44|25|15|E|}}, modern Al Hillah, Iraq). It was the capital of the Babylonian empire from ca. 600 BC. In the Hebrew Bible, the name appears as ??? (Babel), interpreted by popular etymology to mean "confusion". Akkadian bāb-ilû means "Gate of God", translating Sumerian Kadingirra.

History

The earliest mention of Babylon is in a dated tablet of the reign of Sargon of Akkad (24th century BC short chr.), who made it the capital of his empire. Over the years its power and population waned. For centuries it was just another provincial town, until it became the capital of Hammurabi's empire (18th century BC). From this time onward it continued to be the capital of Babylonia, though during the domination of the Kassites (1595-1155 BC), the city was renamed "Karanduniash".

Related Topics:
Sargon of Akkad - 24th century BC - Short chr. - Hammurabi - 18th century BC

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The city itself was built upon the Euphrates, divided in equal parts among its left and right banks with steep embankments built to contain the river’s seasonal floods. Babylon gradually grew in extent and grandeur, but in process of time it became subject to Assyria. It rebelled against the Assyrian rule under Mushezib-Marduk and again under Shamash-shum-ukin but was besieged and taken over by Sennacherib and Assurbanipal (Kandalanu) again.

Related Topics:
Euphrates - Assyria - Mushezib-Marduk - Shamash-shum-ukin - Sennacherib

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Early turmoil

During the reign of Sennacherib, Babylon underwent a constant state of revolt, which was only suppressed by the complete destruction of the capital. In 689 BC its walls, temples and palaces were razed to the ground and the rubbish thrown into the Arakhtu, the canal which bordered the earlier Babylon on the south. This act shocked the religious conscience of Mesopotamia; the subsequent murder of Sennacherib was held to be an expiation of it, and his successor Esarhaddon hastened to rebuild the old city, to receive there his crown, and make it his residence during part of the year. On his death Babylonia was left to his elder son Shamash-shum-ukin, who eventually headed a revolt against his brother Assur-bani-pal of Assyria.

Related Topics:
689 BC - Arakhtu - Murder - Sennacherib - Esarhaddon - Shamash-shum-ukin - Assur-bani-pal - Assyria

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Once again Babylon was besieged by the Assyrians and starved into surrender. Assur-bani-pal (or Assurbanipal) purified the city and celebrated a "service of reconciliation", but did not venture to "take the hands" of Bel. In the subsequent overthrow of the Assyrian empire the Babylonians saw another example of divine vengeance.

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On the fall of Nineveh (612 BC) Babylon had thrown off the Assyrian yoke, and became the capital of the growing Babylonian empire. Egypt had a very large cultural influence before the Babylonians defeated the Egyptians at the Battle of Carchemish and thus removed them as a major world empire.

Related Topics:
Nineveh - 612 BC - Assyrian - Battle of Carchemish

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With the recovery of Babylonian independence under Nabopolassar a new era of architectural activity set in, and his son Nebuchadrezzar made Babylon one of the wonders of the ancient world.

Related Topics:
Nabopolassar - Nebuchadrezzar

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Beautification of Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar II

It was under the rule of king Nebuchadnezzar II (605 BC-562 BC) that Babylon had become one of the most splendid cities of the ancient world. Nebuchadnezzar ordered the complete reconstruction of the imperial grounds, including rebuilding the Etemenanki and the construction of the Ishtar Gate, the most spectacular of eight that ringed the perimeter of Babylon. The Ishtar Gate survives today in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Nebuchadnezzar is also credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) which he is said to have had built for his homesick wife Amyitis. Whether the gardens did exist is a matter of dispute. Although excavations by German archaeologist Robert Koldewey are thought to reveal its foundations, many historians disagree about the location, and some believe it may have been confused with gardens in Nineveh

Related Topics:
605 BC - 562 BC - Etemenanki - Ishtar Gate - Pergamon Museum - Berlin - Hanging Gardens of Babylon - Seven wonders of the ancient world - Amyitis - Robert Koldewey - Nineveh

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Babylon under the Persians

After passing through various vicissitudes the city was occupied in 538 BC by Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, who issued a decree permitting the Jews to return to their own land (Ezra 1). Under Cyrus, and his heir Darius I, Babylon became a center of learning and scientific advancement. Babylonian scholars completed maps of constellations, and created the foundations of modern astronomy and mathematics. However, under the reign of Darius III, Babylon began to stagnate.

Related Topics:
538 BC - Cyrus the Great - Ezra - Darius I - Darius III

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Invasion by Alexander the Great

In 331 BC The Persian king Darius III was defeated by the forces of the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great at the battle of Gaugamela, and in October Babylon saw its invasion and occupation. A native accounting of this invasion notes a ruling by Alexander not to enter the homes of its inhabitants.

Related Topics:
331 BC - Darius III - Macedonian - Alexander the Great - Battle of Gaugamela

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Under Alexander, Babylon again flourished as a center of learning and commerce. But, after Alexander’s mysterious death in 323 BC in the palace of Nebuchadrezzar, his empire was divided amongst the generals, and decades of fighting soon began, with Babylon once again caught in the middle.

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The constant turmoil virtually emptied the city of Babylon. A tablet dated 275 BC states that the inhabitants of Babylon were transported to Seleucia, where a palace was built as well as a temple to which the ancient name of E-Saggila was given. With this event the history of Babylon comes practically to an end, though more than a century later it was found that sacrifices were still performed in its old sanctuary. By 141 BC, when the Parthian Empire took over the region, Babylon was in complete desolation and obscurity.

Related Topics:
275 BC - Seleucia - E-Saggila - 141 BC - Parthian Empire

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