From their humble beginnings to the true worth of their empire...stay tuned to number 1 to find out the history of Babylon!
The Amorites and Babylon.
While it's always important to note the empire itself, it's also important to note how the empire came to be in the first place. And for the Ancient Babylonian Empire, its roots start in another empire, Mesopotamia.
Mesopotamia is considered one of the "origin points" of the world, so it shouldn't be too much of a surprise that a lot of the future of the world came from the area. From 2900-2000 BC, the nation had two different factions under it. And then, it unified.
Later on, they would become a Sumerian Empire of sorts, and lasted for about a century. Then, around 2000 BC, the group known as the Amorites came to be, and with that came a migration towards the southern parts of Mesopotamia. They adopted various cultures into their own, and actually went and got more city-states to join them through various means.
The Amorites became so powerful that they eventually took down the Neo-Sumerian Empire. After the victory, they freed a part of land owned by the Sumerians, and in that land was Babylon.
Through this, the first Babylonian Dynasty was established, even if it wasn't exactly called this at the time of its birth.
Hammurabi Brought Fame to The Dynasty.
So now the Dynasty of Babylonia has been established, but what did they do with it?
The land had many rulers for some time, but what these Amorite rulers did is a bit of a mystery. History doesn't tell much about them believe it or not.
Of the first five leaders, only some of them are credited with various things like gaining victory in battle and things like that. One was instrumental, though, in making Babylon a bit stronger in regards to its defenses,but that's about it. It was the sixth ruler of the nation that would help propel things forward in a big way, and his name, was Hammurabi.
Hammurabi was the one who took Babylon from a simple city to a grand spectacle of one. He then used his resources to expand the empire in every single direction.
By the time he was done, the empire had grown greatly, and much of Mesopotamia and nearby regions were under his control. But more than that, Hammurabi was a very good leader. He believed in laws and things that would benefit everyone while also helping the government.
Such as taxation and being a Bureaucracy. He was the first to establish a complete set of laws for his nation, which he used to rule very efficiently.
Most empires like this don't have the best of leaders, but the ancient Babylonian Empire was definitely an exception.
The Hanging Gardens Of Babylon.
There's no doubt you've heard of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon at one point in time or another.
After all, it's been called one of the 7 Ancient Wonders Of The World, and was said to be a place of incredible beauty. But despite that, it's never been found ever.
So how come it's such a noted piece of history? Well, this all started with a document written by Berossus of Babylon. Who noted that, in the time of 600 B.C., King Nebuchadnezzar II had the Hanging Gardens built in honor of his wife, Amytis.
To be clear, the gardens didn't "hang" in the air or anything like that, it was more of a draping effect. But still, it was said to be rather beautiful. And yet, we don't know where they are or, even, where exactly they were. It's a true mystery of history.
Furthermore, outside of Berossus, the only other documented mention of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon was by a Greek historian named Diodorus Siculus. There's no other mention of it, anywhere.
So if we are to take all of these records as truth, where in the heck did those Hanging Gardens go?
Well, some people believe that an earthquake spoiled the gardens sometime in the second century, when a documented case of one was said to have happened.
Another possibility is that the sands of the area eventually consumed the gardens, which has also been documented to have happened many times within history.
Many, people have tried to find the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, if for no other reason than to bear witness to their historical importance. But will they ever be found? That's something no one can answer just yet.
Ishtar Gate.
On the flipside, an archaeological wonder of the world that has indeed been discovered belonging to the Babylonian Empire is that of the Ishtar Gate. This particular gate was the entrance into the city of Babylon.
Not unlike the city itself, the Ishtar gate was dressed to impress, it was adorned with various things including bright blue bricks and pictures painted all over it. Such as dragons, lions, and bulls.
When it was fully up it must have been a true wonder.
Now, once you went through the gate and into the city, you were met with the Processional Way, a half-mile of corridor dedicated to their religion. This was a major landmark of Babylon, and was to be treated with respect.
Though the gate was lost, it was later recovered by German archaeologists, who went on to reconstruct it in a museum in Britain, using the original bricks, which is pretty impressive.
You can go see it now if you want, you just need to go to the Pergamon Museum.
The First Empire Ended In 1595 BC.
Not so ironically, many legendary nations have fallen after specific leaders in their history passed on.
The first empire was just so, for after Hammurabi passed away, the nation couldn't hold itself together very well. Hammurabi wasn't just their leader, he was their symbol of excellence and law. Eventually,they started to lose all the land that Hammurabi had won for them during their reign.
The walls slowly closed in until they were basically back to square one. The only exception being Babylon itself, which was a major fixture in the area and wasn't going anywhere just yet. But the final blow to the first empire came at the hands of the Hittites in 1595 BC.
The Hittites were a group from a nearby city, and they amassed an army that would put the nail in the coffin of the first empire of Babylonia. They even went so far as to ransack Babylon itself and get all of its treasures.
The city was ransacked and razed, and left prone to invasion. It wouldn't be the end of them per se, but it was the end of what they had originally started.
The Babylonian Women.
If there's one thing that the ancient world most definitely got wrong, it was how they treated the women of the culture.
Most ancient cultures viewed women as "second" in just about everything, thus they weren't given many rights, privileges, or allowed to do many things that men could. And sadly this continued for many millennia until we became more enlightened. Or at least, partially enlightened, but that's another topic.
One of the few exceptions, though, was the Ancient Babylonian Empire. Not only did they respect their women,they gave them all sorts of rights and privileges that would definitely tick off other nations.
They could also hold certain businesses under their own name, such as selling wine. In terms of family and marriage, a woman could have her husband support her throughout their marriage, and should the husband pass away, the wife would get her husbands lands.
The Walls Of Babylon.
There is a reason that Babylon stood for so long, and that was because once it became a great city, its rulers made sure that it was fortified. Hammurabi, for example, put giant walls around the city to help protect it from invaders.
Then, during the time of King Nebuchadnezzar II, he made the walls even more fortified. He did this by creating three "rings" of walls around the city, each of which were 40 feet tall, something no army at the time could penetrate without great effort.
It's said that the walls were so massive that you could hold chariot races on top of them and they apparently did just that! And at this point in time, Babylon was about the size of the city of Chicago.
Jewelry.
If you're wearing a necklace, a ring, or any other kind of precious jewelry, you have the Babylonian people to thank for that. They were the ones who came up with the idea, not just for jewelry, but to use rare stones to make them more valuable.
The makers would also use metals to make them stronger, just like the jewelry makers of today, and to that end, they were very high quality in their wares, which made Babylon an even better city to be in during their hay day.
How Was The City Named Babylon?...no one knows.
The origin of the name Babylon, and thus the name Babylonia, is a bit of a mystery among scholars. We call it Babylon right now because of its arrival from the great language.
They got it from the word "Babili", or so the legend goes, but how either of them came up with that name is uncertain.
A translation for Babili is "Gate of God', which would appear in the Christian Bible via the word "Babel", as in the Tower of Babel, which would lead to its translation of it meaning "confusion" after the legendary story of the tower. But whether any of this is accurate or not is up for some serious debate.
The Neo-Babylonian Empire.
After the passing of Hammurabi, and the invasion of the Hittites, the Babylonian people fell into turmoil.
Then, in 626 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire rose back up. And with it came a time of great expansion and learning as the people rallied to be the best form of themselves, and in many ways they succeeded.
The Neo-Babylonian Empire is considered the greatest point in Babylonian history by some, even more than Hammurabi's reign. They focused on being better economically, agriculturally, expanded arts, science, and more.
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