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http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology ... bylon.html : December 4th 2007

Babylon
Babylon, the capital of Babylonia, an ancient empire of Mesopotamia, was a city on the Euphrates River, in what is now southern Iraq. Historically, Babylonia refers to the First Dynasty of Babylon established

by Hammurabi and to the Neo-Babylonian Period after the fall of the Assyrian Empire. Babylon became one of the most important cities of the ancient Middle East when Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC) made it the

capital of his kingdom of Babylonia.

Hammurabi issued a famous code of laws, found on a column at Susa, for the management of the empire. Under the reign of Naboplashar (625-605 BC) of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, the Babylonian

civilization reached its ultimate glory. The Babylonian quasi-feudal society was divided into classes.

Babylonian literature was well developed, and records have been found of highly developed religion, history and science. Medicine, chemistry, alchemy, botany, zoology, math and astronomy were

practiced. This religion and the cuneiform writing were derived from the older culture of Sumer. They also developed an abstract form of writing based on cuneiform symbols. These symbols were written on

wet clay tablets and baked in the hot sun.

The Babylonian "Epic of Creation" is written on seven tablets and was recited at the New Year Festival in Babylon. It reported on the success of the city-god of Babylon, Marduk, and on how Marduk became

the supreme deity, king over all gods of heaven and earth.

The Babylonians had a more advanced number system than we have today, with a positional system with a base 60. They also made tables to aid in their calculations. The Babylonians divided the day in the

way that we do, with 24 hours of 60 minutes each and each minute lasting 60 seconds.

These Babylonian institutions influenced Assyria and contributed to the later history of the Middle East and Western Europe. Babylonia degenerated into anarchy circa 1180 BC, but flourished once again as a

subsidiary state of the Assyrian Empire after the 9th century BC. Babylon was destroyed circa 689 BC by the Assyrians under Sennacherib, but was rebuilt. Later, Nabopolassar established what is

generally known as the Chaldean or New Babylonian Empire in 625 BC, which reached its height under his son Nebuchadnezzar (604-562 BC).

The brilliant color and luxury of Babylon became legendary from the days of Nebuchadnezzar, who is credited for building the legendary Hanging Gardens. It is said that the Gardens were built by

Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife or concubine who had been "brought up in Media and had a passion for mountain surroundings." During this time the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the

World, existed.

There are no records of the Hanging Gardens in Babylonian literature, and the most descriptive accounts of it come from Greek historians. In tablets from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, descriptions of his

palace, the city of Babylon, and the walls are found, but not a single reference to the Hanging Gardens is found. Some historians believe that the legendary Hanging Gardens are only the blended stories of

the gardens and palm trees of Mesopotamia, the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, the Tower of Babel, and the ziggurats told by Alexander’s soldiers when they returned home. In this century some of the

structure of the Hanging Gardens was discovered. Archaeologists are gathering evidence to reach conclusions about the location of the Gardens, their irrigation system and their true appearance.

Greek sources describe the Hanging Gardens as being quadrangular; each side was four plethora long, consisting of arched vaults on foundations. The gardens had plants cultivated above ground level,

and the roots of the trees were embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. The whole mass was supported on stone columns. Water was pumped up and allowed to flow down sloping

channels, irrigating the garden.

Recent archaeological excavations at Babylon uncovered the foundation of the palace. Other findings that support the existence of the Hanging Gardens include the Vaulted Building with thick walls and

irrigation near the southern palace. A group of archaeologists surveyed the area of the southern palace and reconstructed the Vaulted Building as the Hanging Gardens. The Greek historian, Strabo, stated

that the gardens were situated by the River Euphrates. Others argue that the site is too far from the Euphrates to support the theory because the Vaulted Building is several hundred yards away. The site of

the palace was reconstructed, and the gardens were located in the area stretching from the river to the palace. Massive walls, 25 feet thick were recently discovered on the river banks, which might have

been stepped to form the terraces described in the Greek references.

In 538 B.C., the last of the Babylonian rulers surrendered to Cyrus the Great of Persia.

Resources
Kubie, Nora Benjamin, Road to Nineveh, Doubleday & Company, Inc.,
Smith, George, Assyrian Discoveries,
Sampson Low, Marston, Low and Waterfield, Gordon, Layard of Nineveh, Frederick A. Praeger, New York, New York, 1968 .
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http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/Pla ... oryid=aa10 December 4th 2007

HISTORY OF BABYLON

The empire of Hammurabi: 18th century BC


Babylon is just one among many small Mesopotamian kingdoms when Hammurabi becomes its ruler in about 1790. He defeats his rivals in the region, and establishes a society based on the rule of law (and

famous also for the skill of its astronomers and mathematicians). By the end of his reign the whole of Mesopotamia is under central control for the first time since the empire of Sargon, 500 years earlier.

The society over which Hammurabi presides is vividly reflected in the famous code of laws which, towards the end of his life, the king orders to be inscribed on a stele, or upright stone pillar - the only way,

at the time, of publishing them.


Troublesome neighbours to the north: 16th - 7th c. BC

Babylon is destroyed in about 1600 by invaders from the northwest, the Hittites, but it reestablishes itself a century later under the rule of intruders from the northeast. These are the Kassites, who have

been gradually moving into Mesopotamia from the mountainous regions of Iran. They maintain a stable society for three centuries - from the 15th to the 12th.

Meanwhile a region to the north of Babylon has been growing in power. Its centre is Ashur, the capital city from which the Assyrians take their name. In the 7th century BC the Assyrians, under

Sennacherib, overwhelm the Babylonians.

The revival of Babylon: from 625 BC

Sennacherib appals many in Mesopotamia by his brutal destruction, in 689, of the ancient city of Babylon. This act leads to prolonged unrest, occasional periods of outright rebellion and, eventually, to

devastating revenge.

In 625 Nabopolassar, a Chaldean, establishes a new dynasty in Babylon (it is variously described by historians as Chaldean or Neo-Babylonian). Nabopolassar attacks Assyria, allying himself with the Medes

- eastern neighbours of Assyria, and technically one of their vassal states. In 612 Nineveh is captured and destroyed after a three-month siege. This brings to an abrupt end the story of Assyria. It will be

absorbed, eventually, in the Persian empire.

The dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar: 7th - 6th century BC

The Medes are content with the regions to the north and east, so this final Babylonian dynasty becomes the controlling power of the whole of Mesopotamia. Nabopolassar is succeeded by his son

Nebuchadnezzar in 605.

Nebuchadnezzar, in a reign of more than forty years, gives Babylon its period of greatest fame. He is prominent in the Bible as the ruler who destroys Jerusalem and carries off the Jews into their

Babylonian captivity. And he features in the list of the Seven Wonders of the World, as the creator of the hanging gardens of Babylon.

The successors of Nebuchadnezzar on the throne of Babylon are less effective. They have the misfortune to be close neighbours of the greatest empire-builder to have emerged by this stage in history.

Cyrus the Great rules in Persia from 550. He spends his early years campaigning northwest, deep into Turkey. Not until 540 does he turn his attention to Babylon; in October 539 his general enters the city

unopposed. Many in Babylon (including the Jews in captivity) welcome the Persians as liberators, and Cyrus ensures that local religious customs are observed. But mighty Mesopotamia is now a Persian

province.

The end of Babylon: 3rd century BC

Babylon's final claim to fame is an accidental one. Alexander the Great dies here, in 323 BC, after a banquet.
The city's end directly relates to the Greek conquest of this region. In 312 BC Seleucus founds a new Mesopotamian capital city, Seleucia, further to the north and on the Tigris rather than the Euphrates.

Much of the building material is brought from Babylon, which becomes a forgotten city until excavated in the 20th century. But at all times there has been an important city in this region where the two great

rivers come closest together. Seleucia is followed, in it turn, by Ctesiphon on the opposite bank of the Tigris. And from the early days of Islam this has been the site, a few miles further up the Tigris, of

Baghdad.
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Babylonian Empire article by Jona Lendering http://www.livius.org/ba-bd/babylon/bab ... mpire.html

Old Babylonian Period
The city of Babylon makes its first appearance in our sources after the fall of the Empire of the Third Dynasty of Ur, which had ruled the city states of the alluvial plain between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris

for more than a century (2112-2004?). An agricultural crisis meant the end of this centralized state, and several more or less nomadic tribes settled in southern Mesopotamia. One of these was the nation of

the Amorites ("westerners"), which took over Isin, Larsa, and Babylon. Their kings are known as the First Dynasty of Babylon (1894-1595?).
The area was reunited by Hammurabi, a king of Babylon of Amorite descent (1792-1750?). From his reign on, the alluvial plain of southern Iraq was called, with a deliberate archaism, Mât Akkadî, "the country

of Akkad", after the city that had united the region centuries before. We call it Babylonia. It is one of the most fertile and rich parts of the ancient world.

First, Babylon and its ally Larsa fought a defensive war against Elam, the archenemy of Akkad. After this war had been brought to a successful end, Hammurabi turned against Larsa, and defeated its king

Rim-Sin. This scenario was repeated. Together with king Zimrilim of Mari, Hammurabi waged war against Aššur, and after success had been achieved, the Babylonians attacked their ally. Mari was sacked.

Other wars were fought against Jamšad (Aleppo), Elam, Ešnunna, and the mountain tribes in the Zagros. Babylon now was the capital of the entire region between Harran in the northwest and the Persian

Gulf in the southeast.

Hammurabi's successes became the problems of his successors. After the annexation of Mari in the northwest and Ešnunna in the east, there was no buffer against the increasing power of the Hittite

Empire (in Anatolia) and the Kassite tribes in the Zagros. It was impossible for the successors of Hammurabi to fight against all these enemies at the same time, and they started to loose grip. In the deep

south, we find independent rulers (the Sea Land Dynasty). The enemies sometimes invaded Babylonia, and in 1595 (?), the Hittite king Mursilis I advanced along the Euphrates, sacked Babylon, and even took

away the statue of the supreme god of Babylonia, Marduk, from its temple, the Esagila.


Kassite Period
After this spectacular raid, the Kassite tribes took over the city, but they were soon babylonized. The first king of the Kassite dynasty, Agum-Kakrîme, is reported to have defeated the Hittites and received

back the statue of Marduk. Even if this is just propaganda, it proves that the Kassites understood the Babylonians. Yet, a decline started that was to last for almost a millennium. This does not mean that there

was no central state, or that the Kassite kings played no role in international politics, but it is clear that Babylon was eclipsed by other nations.
The first to do so was the kingdom of Mitanni, which dominated the northern part of Mesopotamia, and got into trouble when the Hittites and Assyrians united forces against the Mitannians. After the decline

of Mitanni, the Middle-Assyrian Empire became powerful, and in the thirteenth century, the Babylonian rulers had to respect the claims of Assyrian kings like Shalmaneser and Tikulti-Ninurta. The latter

captured Babylon and took away the image of Marduk, but the occupation of Babylonia and the exile of the god did not last long. Another local power was Elam. In the twelfth century, its armies looted

Babylon. Now it was their turn to capture the statue. (And a lot of other things: the famous stele with the laws of king Hammurabi was excavated in the Elamite capital Susa.)

Middle Babylonian Period
The Kassite kings were replaced as rulers of southern Mesopotamia by the Second Dynasty of Isin. Under Nebuchadnezzar I (1126-1104), the Babylonians advanced to Elam, and received back the statue

of Marduk. However, this revival was brief. In the eleventh century, Aramaeans infiltrated Babylonia, and the central government disappeared for some time. The cities were independent again. There are

few sources, which suggests that the country was unable to pay for scribes. This is not unlike the situation in Assyria, which suffered from decline after the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I (1114-1076), or the

more western parts of the ancient world, where the centuries between 1100 and 800 are often called "the dark ages".
What is certain, however, is that southwest of Babylonia, a new group of people settled, the Chaldaeans, who were related to the Aramaeans. The relations between the Babylonians, who had already

assimilated the Amorites and Kassites, and the new intruders were at first hostile, but the Chaldaeans increasingly babylonized.


Assyrian Period
The Assyrians were the first to recover from the recession. Under king Aššurnasirpal II (883-859), their empire started to grow again, and this expansion continued during the reigns of his successors. One

of the great challenges was the integration of Babylonia, which was Assyria's twin-culture and too highly esteemed to be reduced to the status of province. Tiglath-pileser III (744-727) sought a solution in a

"double monarchy": he united the two countries in a personal union.

Soon, new measures had to be taken. Twice, the Babylonians claimed their independence under king Marduk-apla-iddin (721-710 and 703; the Biblical Merodach Baladan). The second revolt was punished

harshly by the Assyrian leader Sennacherib, who sacked the city and deported its inhabitants to Nineveh. This new policy was soon regretted. Sennacherib's successor Esarhaddon allowed the people to

return. Yet, the relation between Assyria and the Babylonians remained tense. Aššurbanipal (668-631) thought he solved the problem by making his brother Šamaš-šuma-ukin viceroy of the southern part of

Mesopotamia, but this turned out to be the wrong idea too: while the king of Assyria was involved in other wars, the Babylonian king revolted, and it took Aššurbanipal several years before he had restored

order (648; ABC 15). It has been assumed that the man who is called the successor of Šamaš-šuma-ukin, Kandalanu, is in fact the same as the Assyrian king, although it is certain that the viceroy was still

alive in 627, whereas no documents of Aššurbanipal are known after 631.
Neo-Babylonian Period
However this may be, after the death of Aššurbanipal, there were serious troubles in Assyria. In 627, the Assyrian king sent two of his relatives, Sin-šumlišir and Sin-šar-iškun, as governors of Babylon.

They were expelled by a Babylonian soldier named Nabopolassar, who had once fought in the Assyrian army but now started a kingdom for himself. According to the Babylonian chronicle known as ABC 2,

he was recognized as king on 23 November 626. This is the beginning of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Nabopolassar continued the struggle against Assyria, which he wante to overthrow. If he succeeded, the balance of power in the Near East would be seriously endangered; consequently, the Egyptians

supported the Assyrians against the aggressors.

The Fall of Nineveh Chronicle describes the events of these years. In 616, Nabopolassar defeated an Assyrian force on the banks of the Euphrates, south of Harran. This suggests that Nabopolassar

wanted to block the main road between the Assyrian heartland and its possessions in the west. However, he was forced to retreat when an Egyptian army approached.

Next year, the Babylonian changed his strategy and invaded the Assyrian heartland, where he laid siege to Aššur, the religious capital of Assyria. The Assyrians were able to repel their enemy, but late in

615, the Medes, a tribal federation living in modern Iran, intervened. After the winter, they captured the city, and although Nabopolassar arrived too late to help them, he signed a treaty with their king

Cyaxares. The Babylonian historian Berossus tells that the alliance was cemented by a royal wedding: the Babylonian crown prince Nebuchadnezzar married a princess named Amytis.

After a year of inconclusive campaigning, the united Medes and Babylonians laid siege to the Assyrian capital Nineveh in May 612. The siege lasted for three months; in July, the city fell. King Sin-šar-iškun,

who had once been in charge of Babylon (above), seems to have committed suicide.

Several campaigns took place in the neighborhood of Harran, from which the last Assyrian king, Aššur-uballit, was expelled. Yet he returned with the army of the pharaoh of Egypt, Necho II (610-595). (King

Josiah of Judah, who had tried to conquer the former kingdom of Israel, which had become part of the Assyrian Empire, tried to resist the Egyptians, but was killed at Megiddo.) Necho was defeated too, in

605, by crown prince Nebuchadnezzar, near Carchemish on the banks of the Euphrates. The story is told in the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle.

In the same year, Nabopolassar, the founding father of the Babylonian Empire, died. His son continued the expansion to the west, where he took over the former Assyrian possessions. It is not entirely clear

where and when the border between Egypt and Babylonia was drawn: 2 Kings 24.7 implies that Egypt retired to the Sinai desert and left the Palestine coast in Babylonian hands, but the Greek researcher

Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Histories 2.159) suggests that Gaza remained an Egyptian stronghold.

During this phase of the western war, Jerusalem was captured (597), and when its vassal king revolted, the city was captured for the second time (586). Its population was deported to Babylonia: the

beginning of the Babylonian Exile of the Jews. Now, the west was safe; only Tyre resisted, and althoigh the siege lasted many years, it fell in 575.


Babylon (©**)
It is possible that the "Labynetos" mentioned by Herodotus as the man who, together with the Cilician leader Syennesis, arranged a peace treaty between the Lydian king Alyattes and the Median king

Cyaxares in 585, is identical to Nebuchadnezzar. This is far from certain, but its likely that the Babylonians, who had now conquered the west, were interested in Anatolia, where iron was to be obtained. At

the same time, Nebuchadnezzar seems to have had more or less friendly relations with the mountain tribes in the east.
What had happened, in fact, was that the great monarchy of the ancient Near East had received a new elite: the Assyrians had been replaced by the Babylonians, but the empire itself remained more or less

the same. Likewise, the later Achaemenid and Seleucid empires were not really different from earlier empires. The ancient history of the Near East is one of change and continuity.

The Nabonidus chronicle

(British Museum, London) Later history
Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 and was succeeded in by his son Amel-Marduk, who was almost immediately murdered and replaced by his brother-in-law Neriglissar (559-556), who invaded Anatolia, was

victorious in Cilicia, and even crossed the Taurus. But in spite of his success, he was replaced by a new king, Nabonidus, who obtained power by a coup d'état.
The reason may have been that Neriglissar was a commoner - rich, certainly, but without royal blood. It is possible that the man behind the coup was the king's son Bêlsharusur or Belshazzar. However this

may be, Nabonidus was not taken seriously - ancient sources like the Verse Account of Nabonidus call him a madman and a blasphemer, who preferred the cult of Sin in Harran above that of Marduk. This is

confirmed by the Nabonidus Chronicle, which informs us about the king's neglect of the Akitu festival.

Yet, Nabonidus was able to add large parts of Arabia to the Babylonian Empire. Why he subdued them is unclear, but it is possi ble that he was looking for an alliance against the Persians, an Iranian nation

related to the Medes. In 550, their leader Cyrus the Great had overthrown the last king of Media, Astyages, and in c.547, he had added Lydia to his possessions - king Croesus was executed. After this

campaign, we find no references to Cilician iorn in our Babylonian sources, which suggests that Cilicia had sided with Cyrus. In Babylon, people must have seen that something terrible was advancing from

the east and north. In 539, Cyrus attacked, and captured the city. His son Cambyses was made viceroy.
This was the end - and yet, it was not the end. The Babylonians remembered that they had once been rulers of the world and revolted several times. The names of several of their leaders have been

recorded: Nidintu-Bêl or Nebuchadnezzar III (522), Arakha or Nebuchadnezzar IV (521), Bêl-šimânni and Šamaš-eriba (484), and Nidin-Bêl (336/335). It is likely that there were more rebels.