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Babylon
An ancient city
(Babylonian Bab-ilim or Babil, "gate of God"), capital of Babylonia
in the 2nd and 1st millennia BC and one of the most important cities of the
ancient world. Today its location is marked by a broad area of ruins just east
of the
Euphrates River, 90 km (56 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq. In antiquity
the city profited from its location extending across the main overland trade
route connecting the
Persian Gulf and the
Mediterranean.
Babylon is first mentioned in documents
only in the late 3rd millennium BC, although the site was settled in prehistoric times.
About 2200 BC it was known as the site of a temple, and during the 21st century BC it was
subject to the nearby city of Ur. By 1894 BC Babylon became an independent city-state,
when the
Amorite
Sumu-abum founded a dynasty there, which reached its high point under
King Hammurabi. Hammurabi issued
one of the first legal codes, with laws that applied even to animals. For
example, if a animal died while under the care of a veterinarian, the vet had to
pay the owner one-fourth of the animal's value.
Another famous Babylonian king was
Nebuchadnezzar II, who legend says built the fabulous Hanging Gardens of Babylon for his
Persian wife because she missed the green hills of her native land. Although the gardens
— if they ever existed — disappeared long ago, archeologists have found the
remains of an intricate irrigation system that it could have carried water to a garden
built on the roof of a building.
The Babylonians believed that the gods
communicated their intentions through omens
and signs — smoke, a flock of birds, a shooting star, or an eclipse. Their astrologers studied every movement in the
heavens and used astrolabes (ancient instruments used to chart the location and movement
of stars and planets) to make precise measurements of the locations of the stars.
In fact,
their work eventually led to sciences such as astronomy, and some of the names they gave
to stars and constellations are still in use today.
In 1595 BC the city was captured by
Hittites, and shortly thereafter it came under the control of the
Kassite dynasty (circa
1590-1155 BC). The Kassites transformed Babylon the city-state into the country of
Babylonia by bringing all of southern
Mesopotamia into permanent subjection and making
Babylon its capital and thus the administrative center of a large kingdom. Later, around
the 12th century BC, it became the religious center as well, when its principal god,
Marduk, was elevated to the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon.
After the collapse of the Kassite
dynasty under pressure from the
Elamites to the east, Babylon was governed by several
short-lived dynasties. From the late 8th century BC until the
Assyrians were expelled by
Nabopolassar, between 626 and 615
BC, the city was part of the Assyrian Empire.
See Ka,
Thoth,
Amulet, Talisman,
Casting Black Magic Spells,
Commanding Spirits,
The Tarot Store and
Divination & Scrying Tools and
Supplies.
Sources: Article is scheduled to be reviewed.
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