Babylonia ~ Literary Hunt

Babylonia

The map shows cities and regions important in the history of the Middle East when first Babylonia, then Assyria was dominant. Solid line encloses the Assyrian Empire about 720 B.C.

The lands surrounding the rivers Tigris and Euphrates were more exposed than Egypt and were vulnerable to constant attack. Their tale is that of the collapse and rebirth of cities and civilizations, from the fall of Ur (blog-2) to.their conquest by Persia*.

From the Syrian deserts, the Semitic Amorite peoples invaded Mesopotamia around 2000 B.C. They overran Sumer and Akkad (blog-2), merged them together as one entity, and then ruled Babylon over it.

The Babylonian King Hammurabi (around 1728-1686 B.C.) acquired possession of northward Assyria, eastward Elam, and westward Syria. He consolidated power, replacing regional governors with princes.

Hammurabi drew up a code of laws to better govern his Kingdom, some of which were harsh. For example, if one man broke his own eye from another, he was forfeited. Nevertheless, Hammurabi's code carefully guarded people's rights. It recognized three social classes: first, the great nobles or landowners; second, the poorer people who might own some property and slaves; third, the slaves. Even slaves, who were often prisoners of war, could possess property; and if a slave married a free woman, they would have free children. Hammurabi's judges rigorously pursued these and similar rules.

Trade flourished in Babylonia as a result of business practices like our own, including standard weights and measures of precious metal, loans money at interest rates (measured in terms of grain and weighed silver), and even flood insurance.

This stone bears one of the oldest known law codes. Hammurabi (left) supposedly retained it from a sun god (right). Inscribed below the figures, the code fills over 3600 lines.

Despite Babylonian influence under the rule of Hammurabi, Mesopotamia remained the focus of invaders searching for riches and fertile ground. Hammurabi's predecessors unsuccessfully battled against the Kassites in the northeast, a semi-barbarian hill people who eventually migrated into Babylon. Many invaders were the Hittites under King Mursilis I (around 1530 B.C.), who marched from their Empire in the mountains of Anatolia (modern Turkey) southeast into Mesopotamia.

A grim scene for eighth-century Babylonians: Assyrians count their plunder while another drives off captured sheep and goats.

The assault by Mursilis on Babylon was merely a devastating invasion, but it marked the beginning of a long period of foreign control over Babylonia. Next, Babylonia was ruled by the semi-barbarian Kassites. Then the Assyrians (blog-7) invaded the country in 721 B.C. and they controlled until 626 B.C. Then, a new dynasty established by Nabopolassar has once again turned Babylonia into a dominant state for less than a century. The new rulers were Chaldeans, descendants of Arabian Desert nomads who had arrived about 1100 B.C in southern Babylonia.

Photo of an embossed bull that decorated the Ishtar Gate. These blue and brown animals were set on a blue enameled brick ground.

Nebuchadnezzar II (6o5-562 B.C.), son of Nabopolassar, conquered Necho, King of Egypt, in the battle of Carchemish, and established an empire extending from Egypt to Elam. At present, Nebuchadnezzar restored Babylon to a large degree with the goal of surpassing all other cities. Within the outer wall of Babylon, which was over 11 miles in diameter and 80 feet thick-so high, there was space for some 200,000 people that a chariot might turn on the path that ran along the rim. The inner wall had eight gates, the best known of which is the Ishtar Gate, now 35 foot wide and flanked by towers nearly 70 feet high, adorned with hundreds of carved bull and sirrushes or "dragons." characters. A stone-paved processional path extended south from this gate past three citadels housing the royal palaces to the main temple of Babylon, which occupied almost 50 acres. It possessed the largest of all Mesopotamian ziggurats, which climbed from a 300-foot-square foundation to a temple top nearly 300 feet above ground through eight levels.

Reconstruction of Babylon shows its
processionals road, Ishtar Gate, and
giant ziggurat,descendant of Sumerian
man-made mountains that inspired
" Tower of Babel " story.

Chaldean priests made great strides in astronomy using such temples as observatories, making successful observations of both sun and moon eclipses. They studied the heavens and created a simple sky map to foretell the future, recording at least seven of the star groups that make up a part of the Zodiac. They also named some of the planets after their gods; like "Marduk" (Jupiter) and "Ishtar" (Venus) for example.

The great new civilization in Babylon only lasted 87 years. During 539 B.C. It collapsed when Cyrus of Persia defeated King Nabonidus of Babylon. But much Babylonian learning continued, and the empires to come were fertilized.

Babylonia

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