Situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers the first people came
to inhabit survive and thrive these were the Sumerians who lived in separate
city-states for centuries competing for control and dominance the Akkadian
Empire eventually came to control them directed by Sargon the world's first
emperor next came the new Sumerian Empire but this would last just over a
hundred years before disintegration once again into city-states and this is where
Babylon story begins
the city-state of Babylon was said to have been founded during the time of the
Akkadian Empire but very little is known about early Babylon it is known that the
Babylonian state retained the written Akkadian language and retained the
Sumerian language for religious use in the periods between the 20th and 19th
century BC profound change took place as waves of migrants and invasions occurred
under the direction of the amorite s-- the amorites weren't a united people and
were said to be nomadic barbaric and uncivilised by the Sumerians from the
lands of modern-day Syria they steadily integrated into the societies of Sumer
particularly Babylon who slowly transformed from a small port city on
the Euphrates to a regional power the Emirates rose up in society and when
they were strong enough installed themselves as leaders in the 19th
century BC the first amorite ruler Sumu Abam was elected as Ensi of Babylon the
amorite rulers after him proved to be just as effective at ruling the fifth ensi Sin
Mubalit managed to defend and defeat the preceding force of earth with their
troops in retreat Babylon was able to conquer the city of the Isin In 1792 BC a
king ascended to the throne by the name of Hammurabi Hammurabi was a wise and
administrative King early in his reign he was careful not to offend provoked or
caused bad interactions with his superior neighboring kingdoms and
empires persisting to stay out of conflict instead he concentrated on his
people and the cities he controlled focusing on expanding temples
infrastructure and emphasizing the construction and improvement to a city's
warm defenses although his most famous act would be the introduction of his
code of law that applied to all of society Hammurabi's code of law was a
seven feet tall black diorite stone placed in the center of Babylon for all
to see carved in cuneiform texts with 282 laws in total these laws were
similar to Sumerian law codes such as the code of ur-nammu used centuries
before Hammurabi's code is an early example of essential law a simple
Constitution where both the accused and accuser had the opportunity to provide
evidence an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth many years Babylon remained
peaceful but it was forced to encounter its enemies to the east was the Kingdom
of Elam and they enacted a plot to drive the kingdoms of Lhasa and Babylon
against each other the Elamites plan was to strike when both powers were weak but
Hammurabi soon discovered their intentions Hammurabi instead formed an
alliance with larser in the Babylonian forces marched defeated and collected
tribute from Elam unpleased by Larsa and their lack of support in the gruesome
battles against Elam Hammurabi turned on his ally and affirmed control across
southern Mesopotamia after conquering Lhasa and her allies hungry for more
Hammurabi turned to Russia and Ashe nuna and his old ally of Maori all while fiy
vibrant kingdoms to the north he annexed the areas quickly and continued to hold
a sphere of influence over Elam and Assur squashing any resistance or potential
rivals Hammurabi had proven to be a worthy administrator military tactician
and a great king during this time Babylon grew to be the largest city in
the world with over 100,000 inhabitants at its centre there was said to be a
great Ziggurat over 300 feet tall
following Hammurabi's death the Babylonian Empire fell apart although
his son fought a number of successful campaigns it was not enough the sphere
of influence over Russia and Elam rapidly faded and without sufficient
resources the northern territory could not be held Babylon reverted to a small
Kingdom in southern Mesopotamia once more and allowed the rise of several
small kingdoms in states a storm of Hittites under the leadership of
mursaleen the first desolated the city of babylon by loot and plunder but they
returned to Anatolia seeing Babylon is too far from home to defend instead
Babylon was infiltrated by the car sites who conquered the remainder of the
region without trouble soon after they revolt many of the conquered cities they
adopted their culture and expanded territory the kassitus ruled Babylon for
over 400 years they had little interest in the arts or
earning excelled in trade rather than seeking conflicts the kassitus of
babylon formed many alliances which were reinforced with intermarriage between
ruling families within Mesopotamia but out of the struggling Mitani Empire came
the Assyrians in 1365 BC the ambitious King Asha Bilotti defeated the Mitanni
for the following hundred years the Mitanni Hittites and Babylonians would
struggle to keep them at bay the Assyrian King - Tukulti-Ninurta led his
forces to Babylon and with victory demolished the walls massacred many
civilians pillaged and plundered King - coolly would be murdered by his sons
upon his return as many in Assyria had come to love and admire the culture of
babylon babylon was once again overwhelmed with migrants from the
deserts of the new vance these migrants were the Chaldeans and they quickly
assimilated into the city by 900 BC the Assyrians were rising once again with
highly trained soldiers and iron-forged weapons Babylon was soon absorbed into
the neo-assyrian empire change would come with the rebellion of the county in
chief Nabopollasar. Nabopollasar formed an alliance with the Medes and their
combined armies attacked and sacked the Assyrian capital of Nineveh the city
fell after a three-month long siege bringing an end to the Neo Assyrian
Empire by his death Babylon was once again a great Empire he was succeeded by
his son Nebuchadnezzar ii who expanded the empire greatly the Babylonians
sacked the holy city of Jerusalem taken the Jews from their homeland and into
captivity as a result Babylon's historical fate was sealed
becoming known as the city of evil and sin by Hebrew and Christian texts but in
reality Nebuchadnezzar built new temples called ziggurats restored buildings and
improved the city walls adding towers and fortifications he is even said to
have opened up a museum in one of the Royal Palace complexes he enlarged the
temple of Marduk creating a broad processional route to lead the lavish
decorated Ishtar Gate in the inner city walls Babylon once
again became a great magnificent city the most famous feature of the city were
said to be the Hanging Gardens an outstanding work of architecture a
pyramid of steps were constructed to feature terraces reinforced by beautiful
columns the terraces were packed full of colourful plants fruit trees and
vegetation where all could marvel at its size and magnificence it was said to
have been constructed on the orders of Nebuchadnezzar so he could please his
wife Amyitis who missed the green landscape of a homeland however modern
archaeologists and historians have cast doubts to whether the gardens really
existed no trace has ever been found and writings near the time mentioned no
magnificent garden Greek historians who detailed them may have mistakenly
described a garden of Assyrian King Sennacherib in his capital Nineveh
nevertheless Babylon was said to be a great city flourishing with culture
science and arts upon the death of Nebuchadnezzar the Empire took a dark
turn the following kings of Babylon proved to be a popular King nabonidus
tried to promote the worship of the moon god sin while censoring the worship of
Marduk the nation's beloved deity this made him massively unpopular with both
the people and the priesthood aligned with a lack of military leadership his
generals soon grew to hate him to the lands of the east a new emerging Empire
gradually swept the borders of the neo-babylonian empire the fragmented and
weak Babylonians were unable to withstand this new threat and quickly
foul the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great arrived at the city of Babylon
after scattering the disorganized babylonian forces the city was taken
almost without a fight Cyrus wisely treated the inhabitants with respect he
rebuilt many of the temples dedicates to Marduk will he store the Jews and
allowed them to return to their homeland Babylon soon prospered under Persian
rule for more than 200 years in fact flourishing in the arts and sciences
in time however the Empire was sidelined by high taxes
satraps became rebellious babylons greatness slowly declined but upon the
conquest of Alexander the Great the hopes for greatness were rejuvenated
Alexander ordered his soldiers to not loot the city or kill its inhabitants
following its fall his plan was to instead make Babylon the new capital of
his newly found Empire Alexander's intention was to make it a place of
learning and arts once again to rebuild its infrastructure that had
since fallen into disarray he wanted his beauty to blossom but his
plans would not come to pass shortly after his crowning he set off to finish
what remained of the Persian Empire and what lay beyond he returned to the city
after his army refused to go no further past the river Ganges but upon his
arrival he soon fell ill and died leaving his new empire in crisis without
a successor without true leadership his generals fought for control of territory
within his empire Babylon was incorporated into the Seleucid Empire
but its leaders had little interest in carrying out Alexander's plans for the
city gradually the city depleted in population trade and influence the city
was abandoned practically vanishing from existence
never again would it recover and become a thriving metropolis had once been
instead it remained his ruins undisturbed and largely forgotten until
rumours caught the attention of Europeans in the age of European
colonialism archaeologists uncovered the legendary tales of its greatness