Greek Mythology The Heros Journey

By Click to edit Master subtitle style Rachel S., Karthik S., John C.

Babylon
Background Information

Babylon, an ancient city of Mesopotamia, was one of the most important cities of the Middle East. It was located on the Euphrates River and was north of the cities that flourished in southern Mesopotamia. Babylonia is the Greek name of what the people knew as Mat Akkad, or the fertile plain between the Euphrates and Tigris. The city became widely known when Hammurabimade it

Babylon Culture

The state religion of Babylonia involved large worshiping systems with big temples. Religion revolved around the great gods of the cities who were ranked in an order corresponding more or less to the political status of their cities. By the first millennium BC, Marduk, god of Babylon, was king of the gods and his son, Nabu of Borsippa, was right next to him. Bel, or Lord Marduk, had a large ziggurat built after him.

Babylon
Culture

Some of the earliest proper ziggurats were built by UrNammu, a late Sumerian king of Ur. These were with three "steps" but later Ziggurats had as many as seven "steps". Other gods include the sun god Shamash was in charge of justice while the goddess Ishtar embraced both love and war. Care taking of the gods was a large concern in Babylonian life. Divination was widely used in Babylonian culture