THE BABYLONIAN

HISTORY AND MYTH

Created By:
Mohammed
ELChaaraoui
 BABYLON
Plan:
 Brief History of Babylon
 The empire of Hammurabi: 18th century BC
 Troublesome neighbors to the north: 16th - 7th century BC
 The revival of Babylon: from 625 BC
 The dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar: 7th - 6th century BC
 The end of Babylon: 3rd century BC
 Historical Settings of Babylon
 The Babylonian version of création Story
 The empire of Hammurabi: 18th century BC

Babylon is just one among many small kingdoms in Mesopotamia when

Hammurabi becomes its ruler in about 1728 BC. He defeats his rivals in the
region, and establishes a society based on the rule of law (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, the Code of Hammurabi, 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 neighbors to the north: 16th -
7th century. BC

Babylon is destroyed in about 1531 BC by invaders from the northwest, the Hittites
(local dates are controversial at this time - see Chronology of the Near East ). But
Babylon re-establishes 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 DYNAST Y 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 DYNAST Y OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR:
7TH - 6TH CENTURY BC

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.
 HISTORICAL SETTINGS OF BABYLON

 To we r o f B a b e l
T h e c i t y o f B a by l o n a p p e a r s i n b o t h
H e b r ew a n d C h r i s t i a n s c r i p t ur es .
C h r i s t ia n s c r i p t ur e s p o r t r ay B a b y l o n a s
a w i c ke d c i t y. H e b r ew s c r i p t ur e s te l l t h e
s to r y o f t h e B a b y l o n i a n ex i l e , p o r t r ay in g
N e b u c h a d n e z z a r a s a c a p to r.
Fa m o us a c c o un t s o f B a b y l o n i n t h e
B i b l e i n c l ude t h e s to r y o f t h e To w e r o f
B a b e l . A c c o r d i n g to t h e O l d Te s t a m e n t
s to r y, h u m a n s t r i e d to b u i l d a to w e r to
r e a c h t h e h e av e n s . W h e n G o d s aw t h i s ,
h e d e s t roye d t h e to w er a n d s c a t te r e d
mankind across the Earth, making them
s p e a k m a ny l a n g u a g e s s o t h ey c o u l d n o
l o n g er u n d e r s t a n d e a c h o t h e r .
S o m e s c h o l a r s b e l i eve t h e l e g e n d a r y
To w e r o f B a b e l m ay h av e b e e n i n s p i r e d
b y a r e a l - l i fe te m p l e , o r z i g g ur a t , b u i l t
to h o n o r M a r d u k , t h e p a t r o n g o d o f
Babylon.
 HISTORICAL SETTINGS OF BABYLON

 Wa l l s o f B a by l o n
A r t a n d a r c h i te c t ur e f l o ur i s h e d
t h r o ug h o ut t h e B a by l o ni a n E m p i r e ,
e s p e c i al l y i n t h e c a p i t al c i t y o f B a b y l o n ,
w h i c h i s a l s o f a m o us f o r i t s
i m p e n et r a b l e w a l l s .
H a m m ur a b i f i r s t e n c i rc l e d t h e c i t y
with walls. Nebuchadnezzar II further
f o r t i fi e d t h e c i t y w i t h t h r e e r i n g s o f
w a l l s t h a t w e r e 4 0 f e et t a l l .
T h e G r e e k h i s to r i a n H e r o d o t us w r o te
that the walls of Babylon were so thick
t h a t c h a r i ot r a c e s w e r e h e l d o n to p o f
t h e m . T h e c i t y i n s i d e t h e w a l l s o c c up i e d
a n a r e a o f 2 0 0 s q u a r e m i l e s , r o u g hl y
t h e s i z e o f C h i c a g o to d ay.
Nebuchadnezzar II built three major
p a l a c e s , e a c h l av i s h l y d e c o r a te d w i t h
b l u e a n d ye l l ow g l a z e d t i l e s . H e a l s o
b u i l t a n u m be r o f s h r i n e s . T h e l a r g e s t
s h r i n e , c a l l e d E s a g i l , w a s d e d i c a te d to
M a r d uk . T h e s h r i n e s to o d 2 8 0 f e et t a l l ,
n e a r l y t h e s i z e o f a 2 6 - s to r y o f fi c e
building.
 HISTORICAL SETTINGS OF BABYLON

 Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The Hanging Gardens of
Babylon, a colossal maze of
terraced trees, shrubs, flower s
and manmade water falls, are
one of the Seven Wonder s of the
Ancient World .
Yet archaeologists have turned
up scant evidence of the
gardens. It’s unclear where they
were located or whether they
ever existed at all.
Some researchers have
uncovered evidence that
suggests the hanging gardens
existed, but not in Babylon —they
may have actually been located
in the city of Nineveh.
 HISTORICAL SETTINGS OF BABYLON

 I s h tar G a te
Th e m a i n e n t ra n c e to t h e i n n er c i t y
wa s c a l l ed t h e Is h t a r G a te . Th e po r t a l
wa s de c o ra te d w i t h bri g h t bl ue g l a zed
bri c k s a do rn e d w i t h pi c t ure s o f bul l s,
dra g o n s a n d l i ons.
Th e Is h t a r G a te g ave way to t h e
c i ty’ s g re a t P ro ce s sion al Way, a h a l f -
m i le de co ra te d co rri do r us e d i n
re l i gio us ri t ua l to c e l e brate t h e N ew
Ye a r. In a n c ie nt B a by l o n, t h e n ew
ye a r s t a r te d w i t h t h e s pri n g e q ui n ox
a n d m a rke d t h e be g i nning o f t h e
a g ri c ult ural s e a son.
G e rm a n a rc h a e ologists exc ava ted
t h e re m a ins o f t h e g a te i n t h e e a rl y
t we n ti eth ce n tur y a n d re co n st ruc te d
i t i n B e rl in ’s Pe rg a mon M us e um us i ng
o ri g inal bri c k s.
 END

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