Babylon/History

Faction Overview	Strategic Overview	History

Babylonia was a relatively late achiever in the Mesopotamian world, occupying southern Mesopotamia where Sumer was. Babylonia was built around 2300 B.C. Babylon was its main city, located about 55 miles south of where Baghdad is today in Iraq. Babylon is now in ruins, but thousands of years ago was a thriving city known for the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon," which were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

As heirs to the traditions and culture of the late Sumerian city-states, Babylon improved on their heritage further and eventually became a cultural power in the Middle East and beyond, reaching the zenith of its influence under the Chhaldaean dynasty, of whose kings Nebuchadnezzar is considered to be the greatest. Even after the Chaldaean line of rulers went extinct, its influence was such that it as considered as a holy site long after it had been eclipsed first by the Persians, and then by the Greeks. When Alexander the Great dismantled the Achaemenid Empire, he considered making Babylon the eastern capital of his new empire, which didn't just consist of Greece, but Persia, Egypt and the Middle East as well.

Akkadian Ancestors

The region between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates was the center of the advanced Sumerian civilization before 3500 BCE. The Sumerians built cities and irrigated their land. They had a legal system and even a form of postal service. They developed a form of writing called cuneiform, based on wedge-shaped symbols made by pressing a stylus into tablets of wet clay, and a system of counting using base 60.

Regardless, life in the late Copper and early Bronze Ages was no cakewalk, for many were the problems that the Fertile Crescent cities faced. Soil degradation, inter-city competition and conflict was rife, while the control of the ruling priest-princes could be stifling. Eventually, they all would fall under the sway of the Akkadians, an Eastern Arabian people in the 2300s BCE. Under the leadership of Sargon I (his name meaning "true king"), they conquered Mesopotamia and unified it under a single great multi-city nation. Sumerian culture would be mostly preserved, but for one element: the lingua franca of Mesopotamia would be Akkadian, and would remain so for almost a thousand years.

Dawn of the Gods

Geography, however, did not favour the formation of a pan-Mesopotamian empire. it lacked the long lasting nature of the kingdom of Egypt during that same time period for one simple reason — it was not bounded by desert and sea, unlike Egypt. So when there were difficulties in Akkad (climate change is thought to be the catalyst for said troubles), the Akkadian empire became vulnerable to attack by outsiders, most notably the Gutians, who came east from the mountains, and the Amorites, who originated from the Levant. The Amorites were able to cross the Euphrates in the 2100s BCE and penetrate deeper into Mesopotamia. The Amorites' main obstacle was the city-state of Ur that blocked them away from their water resources and pasture. However, Ur was also engaged in a long war vs the Gutians that left them weak and unable to stop the East Canaanite Amorites. In 1959BCE, the Amorites seized Babylon, but Ur would be seized by another group from the east, the Elamites.

Once the Elamites were seen off by the Amorites, the city of Babylon was chosen by the Amorites as the centre of their new empire around 1900BCE. As a city Babylon was smaller and less important than Ur, which enjoyed several dynasties. But the constant fighting led to the fall of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, and an Amorite king named Sumuabum established a kingdom in 1894 BCE there. His successors built it up, and then a brilliant ruler name Hammurabi took power as the sixth king of Babylon from 1792 to 1750BCE.

The reign of Hammurabi signaled the end of the early Mesopotamian civilization. He created a system of justice by promulgating an elaborate code of law (called the Code of Hammurabi, or "Hammurabi's Code"). The code imposed harsh punishment of "an eye for an eye," and lower classes of people received harsher punishment than higher classes of people. If you broke the bone of a "free man" (non-slave), then the punishment was to break one of your bones.

These laws Hammurabi had carved into a stele which he then placed in a central area of Babylon (this so-called "Code of Hammurabi" was excavated in 1901 at Susa, Iran, where it had been taken following an Elamite invasion as war booty) to make it available to all and sundry. Aside from his Code of laws, Hammurabi attempted to be righteous and much of his correspondence survives to this day. He encouraged legal contracts, but he also limited the amount of interest and wages that could be earned. After 29 years of establishing order, he then conquered all of Mesopotamia, making him the first king of the Babylonian Empire. To this day Hammurabi is considered a great leader who achieved an enormous amount of progress that benefits all of mankind.

The Kassites

Chaos resulted when Hammurabi died, a common result after the passing away of a powerful ruler. In the north, a new nation arose - that of the Hittites, who became famous for bringing iron smelting to many other groups, and using the superior iron weapons and tools. They attacked and weakened the Babylonian empire, ultimately defeating it in 1600 BCE.

In this vacuum, the next group of people to rule Babylon were the Kassites, who probably originated as tribal groups in the Zagros Mountains to the north-east of Babylonia. Their leaders came to power in Babylon following the collapse of the ruling dynasty of the Old Babylonian Period in 1595 BCE. Led by their king Agumkakrine, they took advantage of the situation and grabbed power, but continued to retain Babylonian culture for the next 4 centuries of their rule (until 1155 BCE).

Sources for reconstructing the Kassite Dynasty are carved stelae, called kudurrus. Other revealing information is provided by the Amarna letters, which include correspondence from the Kassite Babylonian kings to the Egyptian pharaohs of the mid-fourteenth century BCE. Babylonian wealth and influence at this time is reflected in the use of the cuneiform script and the Babylonian language as the main form of diplomatic communication. Even so, the chronology of the Kassite rulers is very uncertain even to this very day. Nevertheless, the Kassite Dynasty refurbished many of the ancient Babylonian cities and constructed a new city called Dur-Kurigalzu (named after one of the Kassite kings) near modern Baghdad.

There is very little evidence for serious political problems before the thirteenth century BCE when Assyria to the north and Elam to the west began to threaten Babylonia, and eventually brought an end to Kassite control.

The Chaldaeans

In 1124 B.C. the first Nebuchadnezzar rose to power over the Babylonian empire. He moved its capital to Babylon, then the world's largest city — and fast becoming THE Babylon of modern imagination. At this point, the city itself would have spanned 10,000 hectares, which is slightly larger than San Francisco today. [1]

In the years between 908 and 811 BC, Babylonia was in regular contact with Assyria. Then the Assyrians invaded Babylonia and successively overthrew two kings. The country descended into anarchy. During the eighth century BC, Chaldean kings originating from three different Semitic tribes to the west alternately occupied the Babylonian throne whose subjects were Chaldean, Aramaean, Arabic, and Babylonian peoples. Shortly after the mid eighth century, Assyria rose again under the reign of Tiglath-pileser III, who launched a series of conquests. His aggressive policy was imitated by the next five occupants of the Assyrian throne.

Relations between Assyria and Babylonia were ambivalent. The former clearly venerated the older, more advanced Babylonian civilization, being envious of the ancientness of its cities and religious rites and its supremacy in the fields of learning and literature; on a political level, however, Assyria was wary of Babylonia, composed of a mixed population and headed by kings stemming alternately from rival interest groups. After 731 BC, Assyria decided to administer Babylonia directly, installing its choice of king on the throne, who would nevertheless be regularly overthrown by rebellions led by the Chaldeans, who then installed kings of their own choosing.

Finally, the Assyrian monarch Sennacherib (704–681 BC), irritated by the assassination of the crown prince, whom he had placed on the throne of Babylon, re-invaded the capital in 689 BC. His soldiers sacked the city, destroyed its main buildings, and altered the course of the Euphrates so that it flooded Babylon, turning the capital into a veritable marshland. The statues of gods were taken back to Assyria and kept there. The Babylonians were crushed by the destruction of their capital and religious center. When Sennacherib was assassinated eight years later by one of his own sons, the Assyrians themselves admitted that the torment was unleashed by gods unhappy with their king’s sacrilegious behavior toward Babylon.

Back in Babylon, the constant change of kings came to an end. After the death of Sennacherib, his son Esarhaddon (680–669 BC) reigned over both Assyria and Babylonia, and he rebuilt Babylon. Esarhaddon divided his royal domains between his two sons: Ashurbanipal (668–631 BC) inherited the throne of Assyria, while Shamash-shum-ukin (667–648 BC) inherited Babylonia. Since Ashurbanipal curbed his brother’s power, Shamash-shum-ukin gathered a coalition of Chaldeans, Aramaeans, citizens of Northern Babylonia, Elamites, and Arabs, then triggered a civil war that divided the kingdom of Assyria, which continued to weaken until Ashurbanipal died. Taking advantage of the succession crisis, Nabopolassar, a figure of obscure origin probably from the province of the “land-by-the-sea” (on the Persian Gulf), seized power in Babylon in 626 BC and had himself proclaimed king. In subsequent years, Nabopolassar fought the Assyrians with his allies, the Medes. Nineveh fell in 612, and the Assyrian empire crumbled. In the fall of 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II inherited Babylonia on the death of his father and went to war against the Egyptians and Arabs. Babylonian hegemony over Syria-Palestine was complete by the early sixth century BC.

Nebuchadnezzar II (605–562 BC)

Two-thirds of the existence of the Neo-Babylonian empire was spent under a single reign, that of Nebuchadnezzar II, who occupied the throne for forty-three years (605–562 BC). The king of Babylon’s ambitions were not just territorial but also civic and artistic—his conquests and imperial income provided him with the resources to carry out such plans. Booty from conquered cities and Nebuchadnezzar’s policy of deporting the inhabitants (notably intellectuals and specialized artisans) enabled the king to launch major construction programs and provided him with the cheap labor essential to the task. Nebuchadnezzar II was the builder of the grand, magnificent Babylon often mentioned in the Bible. His Babylon was also the lavish city described by Herodotus.

His concern to defend Babylon and Babylonia from all attack obliged Nebuchadnezzar II to reinforce the city’s defensive system, spurring his architects to carry out grandiose projects: the city was placed within a terrific defensive network consisting of two sets of walls that created a stronghold admired and dreaded by his enemies. The inner walls were punctuated by eight gates, including the Gate of Ishtar, rebuilt several times during Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, becoming a symbol of Babylon’s power and magnificence—Marduk’s religious procession passed through this gate. To these formidable walls Nebuchadnezzar added, on the vulnerable north side of Babylon, two large bastions—one on the Euphrates, along the west side of the southern palace, and another outside the city to north, between the Gate of Ishtar and the river. Nebuchadnezzar II had three palaces in Babylon, all located to the east of the Euphrates, on its left bank, in the northern part of the city. The “grand,” or northernmost, palace was set on a large terrace structure, suggesting that the “hanging gardens” took the form of a terraced slope descending to the river, bordered by a park.

In the heart of Babylon, near the Euphrates, was located the most important religious complex in the kingdom: the sanctuary of Marduk, the supreme god. It was composed of two architectural units, including the notorious Etemenanki tower, the “house that is the foundation of heaven and earth.” This site still stirs people’s imaginations today, and is considered to be the Biblical setting for the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1–9). German archaeological digs have demonstrated that it was indeed the tower described in historical texts.

In addition to the major construction work carried out in the religious complex dedicated to Marduk, Nebuchadnezzar II restored several important temples. Eight of them, including the ziggurat, have been found through excavations on the east bank of the river, while eight other temples have been approximately located thanks to topographic data and to contracts that provide precise information on houses and property sold in the vicinity of the temples.

At his death in 562 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II bequeathed his successors an empire stretching across Mesopotamia and the Levant; he apparently had five sons, and his succession led to several years of instability. It was Amel-Marduk (556-554 BC) who succeeded his father, but his brief reign ended with a plot that brought his brother-in-law, Neriglissar, to the throne. The latter’s short reign is known only for a campaign in Cilicia; on his death in 556 BC, his son Labashi-Marduk acceded to the throne only to fall three months later in another palace plot that brought to power a certain Nabonidus, probably from Harran in northern Syria and of Assyro-Aramaean background. The Harranian origins of his family explain his devotion to the moon-god, Sin. Nabonidus apparently concluded an alliance with Cyrus; the Persians went to war against the Medes while Nabonidus left on campaign in Arabia. There he settled in the oasis of Tayma where he allegedly built a replica of his palace in Babylon. The king’s stay in Tayma is not only recounted in Babylonian sources, but also left strong traces in Jewish tradition. The book of Daniel’s theme of the madness of Nebuchadnezzar—changed into an animal who wandered the steppes—is a legend inspired by Nabonidus’s expatriation.

On returning to Babylon in the autumn of 543 BC, Nabonidus began promoting worship of the moon-god, thus provoking the ire of priests of the god Marduk. During the summer of 539 BC the Babylonians expected a major Persian offensive—Nabonidus had the statues of the kingdoms main gods sent to the capital to protect them from potential capture. The anticipated invasion occurred in early October. The Babylonian armies were crushed at Opis (Upi), not far from today’s Baghdad; when the Persian army entered Babylon on October 12th, the history of ancient Babylonia as an autonomous political entity came to an end.

Stela dedicated to the sun god by King Nabu-apla-iddina zoomStela dedicated to the sun god by King Nabu-apla-iddina

Rectangular box with a vertical handle on the lid zoomRectangular box with a vertical handle on the lid

Square stela of Asarhaddon bearing the narrative of the restoration of Babylon zoomSquare stela of Asarhaddon bearing the narrative of the restoration of Babylon

Seal of the god Adad zoomSeal of the god Adad

Fragments of one or more tablets listing the rations given to prisoners and foreigners zoomFragments of one or more tablets listing the rations given to prisoners and foreigners

Nebuchadnezzar, king of justice – laws zoomNebuchadnezzar, king of justice – laws

Tablet from Esagila giving the dimensions of the two courtyards there, and of the ziggurat zoomTablet from Esagila giving the dimensions of the two courtyards there, and of the ziggurat

Model of the terraced tower (ziggurat) of Babylon zoomModel of the terraced tower (ziggurat) of Babylon

Brick relief panel: Lion moving left zoomBrick relief panel: Lion moving left

Brick relief panel: Dragon moving right zoomBrick relief panel: Dragon moving right

Literary work on the reign of Nabonidus zoomLiterary work on the reign of Nabonidus

Legacy?

Much of the Bible, Old and New Testaments, is written with references to Babylon. The main reason is that Babylon rose to enormous power and captured the Hebrews, and held them in captivity. This is known as the Babylonian Exile or Babylonian Captivity. As an example of usage, the English author G.K. Chesterton once wrote, "the Babylonian halls of the big hotel," using the word "Babylonian" to denote luxurious extravagance.

References

• National Endowment for the Humanities, "Hammurabi’s Code: What Does It Tell Us About Old Babylonia?"
• The Louvre, "Exhibition: Ancient Babylon"