ANCIENT BABYLON

THE ANCIENT BABYLONIAN EMPIRE.

Babylonia was a state in ancient Mesopotamia.

The ruins of the city of Babylon are located in the present-day Iraq.

Language

Ancient Akkadian speakers.

Culture

 Cultural area for the Amoramites.

Location

It was located along the Euphrates river.

THE RISE OF THE EMPIRE OF BABYLON.

The first ruler was King Hammurabi who reigned from  1792 BC to 1750 BC after conquering the neighbouring city states.

Achievements

1. He conquered the neighbouring city states of Babylon.

2. He United the central and southern Mesopotamia through the Babylonian rule.

3. He created the Babylonian empire .

4. He made Babylon a rich, powerful and influential city.

5. He created the first complete legal written code known as  CODE OF HAMMURABI.

What was the function of Babylon in Babylonian empire.

1. It was the capital of Babylonian empire.

2. Babylon was considered to be the centre of culture, commerce and art.

3. It was a minor administrative town in the empire.

THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE OF BABYLON.

The empire fell apart after the death of King Hammurabi into a small kingdom for centuries.

            THE RISE OF NEO - BABYLONIAN EMIPRE.

 Many centuries later, the Neo-Babylonian Empire was established by New kings and it reigned from 626BC to 539BC .

The new empire became powerful after defeating Assyrians in Nineveh in 612BC.

The it was a cultural empire that made many Babylonians to biuld beautiful buildings

  During this period, thousands of Jews were forced into exile in Babylon for more than half a century.

THE FALL OF NEO- BABYLONIAN EMPIRE.

The empire fell apart in 539 B.C when the legendary Persian king Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon.

 fall of Babylon was complete when the empire came under Persian control resulting to the return of Judeans to Jerusalem. 

WHERE IS THE TOWER OF BABEL.

Some scholars believe the legendary Tower of Babel may have been inspired by a real-life ziggurat temple built to honor Marduk, the patron god of Babylon.

ART IN THE WALLS OF BABYLON.

The capital city of Babylon is famous for its impenetrable walls.

 Hammirabi  encircled the city with walls. 

Nebuchadnezzar II further fortified the city with three rings of walls that were 40 feet tall.

The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the walls of Babylon were so thick that chariot races were held on top of them. The city inside the walls occupied an area of 200 square miles.

 II built three major palaces, each decorated with blue and yellow glazed tiles. He also built a number of shrines, the largest of which, called Esagil, was dedicated to Marduk. The shrine stood 280 feet tall, nearly the size of a 26-story office building.

THE MAIN ENTRANCE TO THE BABYLONIAIN EMPIRE

The main entrance to the inner city of Babylon was the Ishtar Gate decorated with bright blue glazed bricks adorned with pictures of bulls, dragons and lions.

The Ishtar Gate gave way to the city’s great Processional Way, a half-mile decorated corridor used in religious ritual to celebrate the New Year. 

Evidence

German archaeologists excavated the remains of the gate in the early twentieth century and reconstructed it in Berlin’s Pergamon Museum using original bricks.