Babylon (Akkadian: Bābili or Babilim; Arabic: بابل,
Bābil) was a significant city in ancient Mesopotamia, in the fertile plain
between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The city was built upon the Euphrates
and divided in equal parts along its left and right banks, with steep
embankments to contain the river's seasonal floods.
Babylon was originally a small Semitic Akkadian city dating
from the period of the Akkadian Empire c. 2300 BC. The town attained
independence as part of a small city state with the rise of the First Amorite
Babylonian Dynasty in 1894 BC. Claiming to be the successor of the more ancient
Sumero-Akkadian city of Eridu, Babylon eclipsed Nippur as the "holy
city" of Mesopotamia around the time Amorite king Hammurabi created the
first short lived Babylonian Empire in the 18th century BC. Babylon grew and
South Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia.
The empire quickly dissolved after Hammurabi's death and
Babylon spent long periods under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination.
After being destroyed and then rebuilt by the Assyrians, Babylon became the
capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 609 to 539 BC. The Hanging Gardens of
Babylon was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. After the fall of
the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the city came under the rules of the Achaemenid,
Seleucid, Parthian, Roman and Sassanid empires.
It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in
the world from c. 1770 to 1670 BC, and again between c. 612 and 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 to 900 hectares (2,200
acres).
The remains of the city are in present-day Hillah, Babil
Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometers (53 mi) south of Baghdad, comprising a
large tell of broken mud-brick buildings and debris.
Credits: Wikipedia
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| The first farmers from Samarra migrated to Sumer, and built shrines and settlements at Eridu. |
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