Babylon (

Akkadian: Bbili or Babilim; Aramaic:

, Babel, Hebrew: , Bavel, Arabic: , Bbil) was a major city of ancient Mesopotamia in the
fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city was built upon the Euphrates and
divided in equal parts along its left and right banks, with steep embankments to contain the river's
seasonal floods. Babylon was originally a small Semitic Akkadian city dating from the period of
the Akkadian Empire c. 2300 BC.
The town attained independence as part of a small city-state with the rise of the
First Amorite Babylonian Dynasty in 1894 BC. Claiming to be the successor of the more
ancient Sumero-Akkadian city of Eridu, Babylon eclipsed Nippur as the "holy city" of Mesopotamia
around the time Amorite king Hammurabi created the first short lived Babylonian Empire in the 18th
century BC. Babylon grew and South Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia.
The empire quickly dissolved after Hammurabi's death and Babylon spent long periods
under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination. After being destroyed and then rebuilt by the
Assyrians, Babylon became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 609 to 539 BC.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. After the fall
of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the city came under the rule of
the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, and Sassanid empires.
It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world from c. 1770 to 1670 BC, and
again between c. 612 and 320 BC. It was perhaps the first city to reach a population above
200,000.[2] Estimates for the maximum extent of its area range from 890[3] to 900 hectares (2,200
acres).[4] The remains of the city are in present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85
kilometres (53 mi) south of Baghdad, comprising a large tell of broken mud-brick buildings and
debris.
Contents
[hide]

1Name
2Geography
3Ancient history
o 3.1Classical dating
o 3.2Old Babylonian period
o 3.3Assyrian period
o 3.4Neo-Babylonian Chaldean Empire
o 3.5Persian conquest
o 3.6Hellenistic period
o 3.7Renewed Persian rule
o 3.8Muslim conquest
4Modern history
o 4.1Hussein regime
o 4.2Present-day
o 4.3Modern research
5Cultural importance
o 5.1Biblical narrative
6See also
7Notes
8References
9Further reading
10External links

Name
The English Babylon comes from Greek Babyln (), a transliteration of
the Akkadian Babili.[5] The Babylonian name in the early 2nd millennium BC had
been Babilli or Babilla, which appears to be an adaption of an unknown original non-Semitic
placename.[6] By the 1st millennium BC, it had changed to Babili under the influence of the folk
etymology which traced it to bb-ili ("Gate of God" or "Gateway of the God").[7] The 'Gate of God' or
Gate of El being from the Aramaic Hebrew Bab for Gate and El for God, hence Babel. This being
similar to the Hebrew word for confusion Balal.[8]
In the Bible, the name appears as Babel (Hebrew: , Bavel, Tib. , Bvel; Syriac: , Bwl),
interpreted in the Hebrew Scriptures' Book of Genesis to mean "confusion",[9]from the
verb bilbl (, "to confuse"). The modern English verb, to "babble", or to speak meaningless
words, is popularly thought to derive from this name, but there is no direct connection.[10]

Geography

Plan of ruins of Babylon, 1905

Babylon in 1932

The remains of the city are in present-day Hillah,[5] Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers
(53 mi) south of Baghdad, comprising a large tell of broken mud-brick buildings and debris. The site
at Babylon consists of a number of mounds covering an area of about 2 by 1 kilometer (1.24 mi

 0.62 mi), oriented north to south,[citation needed] along the Euphrates to the west. Originally, the river
roughly bisected the city, but the course of the river has since shifted so that most of the remains of
the former western part of the city are now inundated. Some portions of the city wall to the west of
the river also remain.
Remains of the city include:

Kasralso called Palace or Castle, it is the location of the Neo-Babylonian ziggurat Etemenanki
and lies in the center of the site.[citation needed]
Amran Ibn Alithe highest of the mounds at 25 meters, to the south. It is the site of Esagila, a
temple of Marduk which also contained shrines to Ea and Nabu.[citation needed]
Homeraa reddish colored mound on the west side. Most of the Hellenistic remains are
here.[citation needed]
Babila mound about 22 meters high at the northern end of the site. Its bricks have been
subject to looting since ancient times. It held a palace built by Nebuchadnezzar.[citation needed]

Although occupation of the site dates back to the late 3rd millennium, almost nothing from that
period has been recovered from prior to the Neo-Babylonian period, for various reasons. The water
table in the region has risen greatly over the centuries and artifacts from the time before the NeoBabylonian Empire are unavailable to current standard archaeological methods. Additionally, the
Neo-Babylonians conducted significant rebuilding projects in the city, which destroyed or obscured
much of the earlier record. Babylon was pillaged numerous times after revolting against foreign rule,
most notably by the Hittites and Elamites in the 2nd millennium, then by the Neo-Assyrian
Empire and the Achaemenid Empire in the 1st millennium. Much of the western half of the city is
now beneath the river, and other parts of the site have been mined for commercial building
materials.

The Queen of the Night relief. The figure could be an aspect of the goddess Ishtar, Babylonian goddess of sex
and love.

Ancient history
A tablet describing the reign of Sargon of Akkad (c. 23rd century BC short chronology) alludes to the
city of Babylon. The so-called Weidner Chronicle states that Sargon had built Babylon "in front
of Akkad" (ABC 19:51). Another later chronicle likewise states that Sargon "dug up the dirt of the pit

of Babylon, and made a counterpart of Babylon next to Akkad". (ABC 20:1819). Van de Mieroop
has suggested that those sources may refer to the much later Assyrian king Sargon II of the NeoAssyrian Empire rather than Sargon of Akkad.[11]
Linguist I.J. Gelb, has suggested that the name Babil is in reference to an earlier city name. Herzfeld
wrote about Bawer in Ancient Iran, and the name Babil could refer to Bawer. David Rohl holds that
the original Babylon is to be identified with Eridu. Joan Oates claims in her book Babylon that the
rendering Gateway of the gods is no longer accepted by modern scholars. The Book of
Genesis claims that a biblical king named Nimrod was the original founder of Babel (Babylon).
By around the 19th century BC, much of southern Mesopotamia was occupied by Amorites, nomadic
tribes from the northern Levant who were Northwest Semitic speakers, unlike the
native Akkadians of southern Mesopotamia and Assyria, who were East Semitic speakers. The
Amorites at first did not practice agriculture like more advanced Mesopotamians, preferring a seminomadic lifestyle, herding sheep. Over time, Amorite grain merchants rose to prominence and
established their own independent dynasties in several south Mesopotamian city-states, most
notably Isin, Larsa, Eshnunna, Lagash, and later, founding Babylon as a state.

Classical dating
Ctesias, quoted by Diodorus Siculus and in George Syncellus's Chronographia, claimed to have
access to manuscripts from Babylonian archives, which date the founding of Babylon to 2286 BC,
under the reign of its first king, Belus.[12] A similar figure is found in the writings of Berossus, who
according to Pliny,[13] stated that astronomical observations commenced at Babylon 490 years before
the Greek era of Phoroneus, indicating 2243 BC. Stephanus of Byzantium wrote that Babylon was
built 1002 years before the date given by Hellanicus of Lesbos for the siege of Troy (1229 BC),
which would date Babylon's foundation to 2231 BC.[14] All of these dates place Babylon's foundation
in the 23rd century BC; however, more recent translation of cuneiform records have not been found
to correspond with these classical (post-cuneiform) accounts.

Old Babylonian period

Map showing the Babylonian territory upon Hammurabi's ascension in 1792 BC and upon his death in 1750 BC

Old Babylonian Cylinder Seal. hematite. This seal was probably made in a workshop at Sippar (about 40 miles
north of Babylon on the map above) either during, or shortly before, the reign of Hammurabi.[15] It depicts the
king making an animal offering to the Sun god Shamash.

Old Babylonian Cylinder Seal. hematite. Linescan camera image of seal above (reversed to resemble an
impression).

The First Babylonian Dynasty was established by an Amorite chieftain named Sumu-abum in
1894 BC, who declared independence from the neighboring city-state of Kazallu. The Amorites were
not native to Mesopotamia, but were semi nomadic Canaanite Northwest Semitic invaders from the
northern Levant. They (together with the Elamites to the east) had originally been prevented from
taking control of the Akkadian states of southern Mesopotamia by the intervention of
powerful Assyrian kings of the Old Assyrian Empire during the 21st and 20th centuries BC,
intervening from northern Mesopotamia. However, when the Assyrians turned their attention to
expanding their colonies in Asia Minor, the Amorites eventually began to supplant native rulers
across the region.
Babylon was initially a minor city state, and controlled little surrounding territory, and its first four
Amorite rulers did not even assume the title of king of the city. It remained overshadowed by older
and more powerful states such as Assyria, Elam, Isin and Larsa until it became the capital
of Hammurabi's short lived Babylonian Empire about a century later. Hammurabi (r. 17921750 BC)
is famous for codifying the laws of Babylonia into the Code of Hammurabi. He conquered all of the
cities and city states of southern Mesopotamia,
including Isin, Larsa, Ur, Uruk, Nippur, Lagash, Eridu, Kish, Adab, Eshnunna, Akshak, Akkad, Shuru
ppak, Bad-tibira, Sippar and Girsu, coalescing them into one kingdom, ruled from Babylon.

Hammurabi also invaded and conquered Elam to the east, and the kingdoms of Mari and Ebla to the
north west. After a protracted struggle with the powerful Mesopotamian king Ishme-Dagan of
Assyria, he forced his successor to pay tribute late in his reign, spreading Babylonian power to
Assyria's Hattian and Hurrian colonies in Asia Minor.
After the reign of Hammurabi, the whole of southern Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia,
whereas the north had coalesced centuries before into Assyria. From this time, Babylon also
became the major religious center of Mesopotamia, supplanting the more ancient cities
of Nippur and Eridu. Hammurabi's empire destabilized after his death. Assyrians defeated and drove
out the Babylonians and Amorites. The far south of Mesopotamia broke away, forming the Sealand
Dynasty, and the Elamites appropriated territory in eastern Mesopotamia. The Amorite dynasty
remained in power in Babylon, which again became a small city state.
In 1595 BC[16] the city was overthrown by the Hittite Empire from Asia Minor.
Thereafter, Kassites from the Zagros Mountains of north western Ancient Iran captured Babylon,
ushering in a dynasty that lasted for 435 years, until 1160 BC. The city was renamed Karanduniash
during this period. Kassite Babylon eventually became subject to the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365
1053 BC) to the north, and Elam to the east, with both powers vying for control of the city. The
Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I took the throne of Babylon in 1235 BC.
By 1155 BC, after continued attacks and annexing of territory by the Assyrians and Elamites, the
Kassites were deposed in Babylon. An Akkadian south Mesopotamian dynasty then ruled for the first
time. However, Babylon remained weak and subject to domination by Assyria. Its ineffectual native
kings were unable to prevent new waves of foreign West Semitic settlers from the deserts of the
Levant, including the Arameans and Suteans in the 11th century BC, and finally the Chaldeans in
the 9th century BC, entering and appropriating areas of Babylonia for themselves. The Arameans
briefly ruled in Babylon during the late 11th century BC.

Assyrian period

Sennacherib of Assyria during his Babylonian war, relief from his palace in Nineveh

During the rule of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911609 BC), Babylonia was under
constant Assyrian domination or direct control. During the reign of Sennacherib of Assyria, Babylonia
was in a constant state of revolt, led by a Chaldean chieftain named Merodach-Baladan, in alliance
with the Elamites, and suppressed only by the complete destruction of the city of Babylon. In
689 BC, its walls, temples and palaces were razed, and the rubble was thrown into the Arakhtu, the
sea bordering the earlier Babylon on the south. Destruction of the religious center shocked many,
and the subsequent murder of Sennacherib by two of his own sons while praying to the
god Nisroch was considered an act of atonement. Consequently, his
successor Esarhaddon hastened to rebuild the old city and make it his residence during part of the
year. After his death, Babylonia was governed by his elder son, the Assyrian prince Shamash-shumukin, who eventually started a civil war in 652 BC against his own brother, Ashurbanipal, who ruled
in Nineveh. Shamash-shum-ukin enlisted the help of other peoples subject to Assyria,
including Elam, Persia, Chaldeans and Suteans of southern Mesopotamia, and
the Canaanites and Arabs dwelling in the deserts south of Mesopotamia.

Once again, Babylon was besieged by the Assyrians, starved into surrender and its allies were
defeated. Ashurbanipal celebrated a "service of reconciliation", but did not venture to "take the
hands" of Bel. An Assyrian governor named Kandalanu was appointed as ruler of the city. After the
death of Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian empire destabilized due to a series of internal civil wars
throughout the reigns of Assyrian kings Ashur-etil-ilani, Sin-shumu-lishir and Sin-shar-ishkun.
Eventually Babylon, like many other parts of the near east, took advantage of the anarchy within
Assyria to free itself from Assyrian rule. In the subsequent overthrow of the Assyrian Empire by an
alliance of peoples, the Babylonians saw another example of divine vengeance.[17]

Neo-Babylonian Chaldean Empire

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Main article: Neo-Babylonian Empire

Detail of the Ishtar Gate reconstruction

A reconstruction of the blue-tiled Ishtar Gate which was the northern entrance to Babylon. It was named for the
goddess of love and war. Bulls and dragons, symbols of the god Marduk, decorated the gate.

Under Nabopolassar, a previously unknown Chaldean chieftain, Babylon eventually escaped

Assyrian rule, and in an alliance with Cyaxares, king of the Medes and Persians together with
the Scythians and Cimmerians, the Assyrian Empire was finally destroyed between 612 BC and 605
BC. Babylon thus became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian (sometimes and possibly erroneously
called Chaldean) Empire.[18][19][20]
With the recovery of Babylonian independence, a new era of architectural activity ensued,
particularly during the reign of his son Nebuchadnezzar II (604561 BC).[21] Nebuchadnezzar ordered
the complete reconstruction of the imperial grounds, including the Etemenanki ziggurat, and the
construction of the Ishtar Gatethe most prominent of eight gates around Babylon. A reconstruction
of the Ishtar Gate is located in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
Nebuchadnezzar is also credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylonone of
the seven wonders of the ancient worldwhich is said to have been built for his homesick
wife Amyitis. Whether the gardens actually existed is a matter of dispute. Excavations by German
archaeologist Robert Koldewey are thought to reveal its foundations, though many historians
disagree about the location, and some believe it may have been confused with gardens in the
Assyrian capital, Nineveh.[22]
Chaldean rule of Babylon did not last long; it is not clear whether Neriglissar and LabashiMarduk were Chaldeans or native Babylonians, and the last ruler Nabonidus (556539 BC) and his
co-regent son Belshazzar were Assyrians from Harran.[citation needed]

Persian conquest
In 539 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, with a military
engagement known as the Battle of Opis. Babylon's walls were considered impenetrable. The only
way into the city was through one of its many gates or through the Euphrates River. Metal grates
were installed underwater, allowing the river to flow through the city walls while preventing intrusion.
Cyrus (or his generals) devised a plan to enter the city via the river. During a Babylonian national
feast, Cyrus' troops diverted the Euphrates River upstream, allowing Cyrus' soldiers to enter the city
through the lowered water. The Persian army conquered the outlying areas of the city while the
majority of Babylonians at the city center were unaware of the breach. The account was elaborated
upon by Herodotus[23] and is also mentioned in parts of the Hebrew Bible.[24][25]
According to 2 Chronicles 36 of the Hebrew Bible, Cyrus later issued a decree permitting captive
people, including the Jews, to return to their own lands. Text found on the Cyrus Cylinder has
traditionally been seen by biblical scholars as corroborative evidence of this policy, although the
interpretation is disputed because the text only identifies Mesopotamian sanctuaries but makes no
mention of Jews, Jerusalem, or Judea.
Under Cyrus and the subsequent Persian king Darius the Great, Babylon became the capital city of
the 9th Satrapy (Babylonia in the south and Athura in the north), as well as a center of learning and
scientific advancement. In Achaemenid Persia, the ancient Babylonian arts
of astronomy and mathematics were revitalized, and Babylonian scholars completed maps of
constellations. The city became the administrative capital of the Persian Empire and remained
prominent for over two centuries. Many important archaeological discoveries have been made that
can provide a better understanding of that era.[26][27]
The early Persian kings had attempted to maintain the religious ceremonies of Marduk, but by the
reign of Darius III, over-taxation and the strain of numerous wars led to a deterioration of Babylon's
main shrines and canals, and the destabilization of the surrounding region. There were numerous
attempts at rebellion and in 522 BC (Nebuchadnezzar III), 521 BC (Nebuchadnezzar IV) and 482 BC

(Bel-shimani and Shamash-eriba) native Babylonian kings briefly regained independence. However
these revolts were quickly repressed and Babylon remained under Persian rule for two centuries,
until Alexander the Great's entry in 331 BC.

Hellenistic period
In October of 331 BC, Darius III, the last Achaemenid king of the Persian Empire, was defeated by
the forces of the Ancient Macedonian Greek ruler Alexander the Great at the Battle of Gaugamela. A
native account of this invasion notes a ruling by Alexander not to enter the homes of its
inhabitants.[28]
Under Alexander, Babylon again flourished as a center of learning and commerce. However,
following Alexander's death in 323 BC in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, his empire was divided
amongst his generals, the Diadochi, and decades of fighting soon began. 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 and a temple (Esagila) were built. With this
deportation, Babylon became insignificant as a city, although more than a century later, sacrifices
were still performed in its old sanctuary.[29]

Renewed Persian rule

Main article: Babylonia Persian_Babylonia
Under the Parthian and Sassanid Empires, Babylon (like Assyria) became a province of
these Persian Empires for nine centuries, until after AD 650. It maintained its own culture and
people, who spoke varieties of Aramaic, and who continued to refer to their homeland as Babylon.
Examples of their culture are found in the Babylonian Talmud,
the GnosticMandaean religion, Eastern Rite Christianity and the religion of the prophet Mani.
Christianity was introduced to Mesopotamia in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, and Babylon was the
seat of a Bishop of the Church of the East until well after the Arab/Islamic conquest.

Muslim conquest
Main article: Muslim conquest of Persia
In the mid-7th century, Mesopotamia was invaded and settled by the expanding Muslim Empire, and
a period of Islamization followed. Babylon was dissolved as a province and Aramaic and Church of
the East Christianity eventually became marginalized.