Babylon was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about 85 kilometres (55 miles) south of modern day Baghdad.
Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-speaking region of Babylonia.
Its rulers established two important empires in antiquity, the 19th-16th century BC Old Babylonian Empire, and the 7th-6th century BC Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Babylon was also used as a regional capital of other empires, such as the Achaemenid Empire.
Babylon was one of the most important urban centres of the ancient Near East, until its decline during the Hellenistic period.
Nearby ancient sites are Kish, Borsippa, Dilbat and Kutha.
An artist's depiction of Ishtar Gate as it may have appeared around the time it was constructed in Babylon c. 575 BCE. From the game Old World
The earliest known mention of Babylon as a small town appears on a clay tablet from the reign of Shar-Kali-Sharri (2217-2193 BC), of the Akkadian Empire.
Babylon was merely a religious and cultural centre at this point and neither an independent state nor a large city, subject to the Akkadian Empire.
After the collapse of the Akkadian Empire, the south Mesopotamian region was dominated by the Gutian Dynasty for a few decades, before the rise of the Third Dynasty of Ur, which encompassed the whole of Mesopotamia, including the town of Babylon.
Ishtar Gate of Babylon in situ remains at excavation site, 1930
The town became part of a small independent city-state with the rise of the first Babylonian Empire, now known as the Old Babylonian Empire, in the 17th century BC.
The Amorite king Hammurabi founded the short-lived Old Babylonian Empire in the 16th century BC.
He built Babylon into a major city and declared himself its king. Southern Mesopotamia became known as Babylonia, and Babylon eclipsed Nippur as the region's holy city.
Stele with the code of Hammurabi
The empire waned under Hammurabi's son Samsu-iluna, and Babylon spent long periods under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination.
After the Assyrians destroyed and then rebuilt it, Babylon became the capital of the short-lived Neo-Babylonian Empire, from 626 to 539 BC.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were ranked as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, allegedly existing between approximately 600 BC and AD 1.
Here, a woodcut of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in ancient times, which is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world
However, there are questions about whether the Hanging Gardens of Babylon even existed, as there is no mention within any extant Babylonian texts of its existence.
After the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the city came under the rule of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, Sassanid and Muslim empires.
The last known habitation of the town dates from the 11th century, when it was referred to as the "small village of Babel".
It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world c. 1770 - c. 1670 BC, and again c. 612 - c. 320 BC.
It was perhaps the first city to reach a population above 200,000.
Estimates for the maximum extent of its area range from 890 (3½ sq. mi.) to 900 ha (2,200 acres).
The main sources of information about Babylon - excavation of the site itself, references in cuneiform texts found elsewhere in Mesopotamia, references in the Bible, descriptions in other classical writing, especially by Herodotus, and second-hand descriptions, citing the work of Ctesias and Berossus-present an incomplete and sometimes contradictory picture of the ancient city, even at its peak in the sixth century BC.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon
UNESCO inscribed Babylon as a World Heritage Site in 2019.
The site receives thousands of visitors each year, almost all of whom are Iraqis.
Construction is rapidly increasing, which has caused encroachments upon the ruins. | Source: © Wikipedia
The Lion of Babylon
Babylon was famous for its Hanging Gardens, which some believe may have actually been in the Assyrian capital, Nineveh, where this relief, now held in the British Museum, London, was found
Babylon is the most famous city from ancient Mesopotamia whose ruins lie in modern-day Iraq 59 miles (94 km) southwest of Baghdad.
The name is derived from bav-il or bav-ilim, which in Akkadian meant "Gate of God" (or "Gate of the Gods"), given as Babylon in Greek.
In its time, it was a great cultural and religious center.
Aurochs from Ishtar Gate at Babylon, constructed in about 575 BCE by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II. On display in Istanbul Archaeology Museum, Turkey
Glass vessel from Babylon, Iraq. 8th-7th century BCE. Pergamon Museum, Berlin
The mušḫuššu or mushkhushshu, a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology
Ashurbanipal inspects booty and prisoners from Babylon, 645-640 BCE | British Museum
A reconstructed portion of the ruins of Babylon
Babylonian Panel with striding lion 604-562 BC Fletcher Fund 1931 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Mušḫuššu (sirrush) and aurochs on either side of the processional street. Ancient Babylon, Mesopotamia, Iraq
Detail of a relief from the reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum, Berlin
The Cyrus Cylinder is one of the most famous surviving icons from the ancient world. Excavated at Babylon in 1879, the Cylinder was inscribed in Babylonian cuneiform on the orders of the Persian king Cyrus the Great after he captured Babylon in 539 B.C. It marks the establishment of Persian rule and records how Cyrus restored shrines and allowed deported peoples to return home. Although not mentioned, it is thought to be at this time that the Jews returned to Jerusalem to build the Second Temple, as recorded in the Bible. The Cylinder and sixteen related works, all on loan from the British Museum, reflect the innovations initiated by Persian rule in the ancient Near East (550–331 B.C.) and chart a new path for this empire, the largest the world had known. | Source: © The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Babilonia è la città più famosa dell'antica Mesopotamia, le cui rovine si trovano nell'odierno Iraq, a 59 miglia (94 km) a sud-ovest di Baghdad.
Il nome deriva da bav-il o bav-ilim, che in accadico significava "Porta di Dio" (o "Porta degli Dei"), dato come Babilonia in greco.
A suo tempo, era un grande centro culturale e religioso.
The mušḫuššu or mushkhushshu, is a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology
Babilonia era una città dell'antica Mesopotamia, situata sull'Eufrate, le cui rovine si trovano nei pressi della moderna città di Al Hillah (governatorato di Babil), in Iraq, a circa 80 km a sud di Baghdad.
Intorno al XVIII secolo a.C., Babilonia, fino ad allora di minore importanza, estese, con Hammurabi, il proprio regno su tutta la Mesopotamia meridionale ed oltre, definendo un'area che in epoca achemenide e poi ellenistica verrà indicata con l'esonimo "Babilonia", dal nome del suo centro più importante.
Alla fine del VII e poi nel VI secolo a.C., il regno babilonese raggiunse il suo apice, con il re Nabopolassar ed il figlio Nabucodonosor II; quest'ultimo estese l'impero (detto "Impero caldeo") fino a dominare gran parte del Vicino Oriente antico.
In quel periodo, Babilonia si estendeva per circa 1.000 ettari (10 km²) ed era la più grande città del mondo.
Il suo prestigio si estendeva oltre la Mesopotamia, soprattutto per via dei famosi monumenti che lì erano stati edificati, come le sue alte mura, le sue ziqqurat (tra cui l'Etemenanki), che ispirarono probabilmente il racconto biblico della torre di Babele, ed i suoi leggendari giardini pensili, la cui posizione non è stata, tuttavia, mai identificata.
Babilonia occupa un posto speciale anche per il mito correlato al suo lento declino e al successivo abbandono che si è avuto nei primi secoli del primo millennio d.C..
Questo mito è sostenuto da diversi scritti biblici e in quelli degli autori greco-romani.
Il suo sito, la cui posizione non fu mai dimenticata, non è stato oggetto di scavi rilevanti fino all'inizio del XX secolo, quando vennero riportati alla luce i principali monumenti sotto la direzione dell'archeologo tedesco Robert Koldewey (1855-1925).
Da allora, l'importante documentazione archeologica ed epigrafica scoperta in città, integrate da informazioni provenienti da altri antichi siti legati alla città, hanno fornito una rappresentazione molto accurata della Babilonia antica, superando i racconti mitologici.
Panoramic view of ruins in Babylon
Nonostante ciò, rimangono alcune zone d'ombra su uno dei più importanti siti archeologici di tutta la storia antica, mentre le prospettive per nuove ricerche sono ridotte a causa della situazione politica in Iraq, creatasi dalla fine del XX secolo.
A reconstruction of the blue-tiled Ishtar Gate, Pergamon Museum, Berlin, which was the northern entrance to Babylon. It was named for the goddess of love and war. Bulls and dragons, symbols of the god Marduk, decorated the gate
Il 5 luglio 2019, Babilonia è stata iscritta nella lista del patrimonio mondiale dell'UNESCO.
Oggi migliaia di persone vivono all'interno del perimetro delle antiche mura esterne della città e le comunità all'interno ed intorno ad essa si stanno sviluppando rapidamente nonostante le leggi che limitano la costruzione. | Fonte: © Wikipedia
A reconstruction of the blue-tiled Ishtar Gate, Pergamon Museum, Berlin, which was the northern entrance to Babylon. It was named for the goddess of love and war. Bulls and dragons, symbols of the god Marduk, decorated the gate
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