History of ancient Babylon

One of the first great civilizations of the history of mankind is that of Babylon, considered by many to be the first world power in history. To talk about this huge empire that, although with changes, was able to exist for more than a thousand years, in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we offer you a brief summary of ancient Babylon and its history thrilling.

Index

1. Ancient Babylon: map and location
2. History of Babylon: Amorite or Pale-Babylonian empire
3. The Babylonian Empire of the Kasites and Assyrians
4. The Chaldean or Neo-Babylonian Empire
5. The end of Ancient Babylon

Before summarizing the history of Babylon we must talk about its location in the world to understand its area of ​​influence and its greater or lesser relevance in the continents.

Babylon was located in south-central Mesopotamia, being the area of Middle east between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Although this is the area that we know the most, the reality is that the map of Babylon was broader, reaching the areas of Sumeria and Acad and ending with the so-called Sumerian renaissance.

Other a region occupied by Babylon was Egypt, the best known area of ​​Canaan being the one that for a time was dominated by the Babylonians.

What country is ancient Babylon?

Ancient Babylon was located in the countries that, today, would be Iraq and Syria.

Image: History of civilizations

The Babylon origin we can find it in the Amorites, being a town of Semitic origin that settled in the area of ​​Canaan and Syria; here the First Babylonian Empire.

At one point, the Amorites settled in the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, joining the Sumerians and ending up ruling the city of Babylon under the rule of the king Hammurabi. For all this we can say that at first Babylon was a mixture between Sumerians, Amorites, and Akkadians.

Hammurabi's accession to the throne took place in the 1782 a. C. being monarch of a region that began to have a great weight in the area. Upon his arrival to the throne, the greatest monarchs of the region were Assur and Larsa, both regions being defeated. by Hammurabi's troops and thereby taking Babylon control of the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates.

After the death of Hammurabi, the influence of Babylon decreased by leaps and bounds and many peoples began to confront the Amorites. Among these peoples we can highlight the Hittites, Hurrians, or Hyksos. After years of fighting in the northern part of Mesopotamia, the hittites conquered to the Hurrians and they went to conquer the city of Mesopotamia that was annihilated and lost all the expansion achieved by Hammurabi.

Babylon's weakness after the Hittites attack caused the kasitas, a town from the Zagros Mountains, they took the city in 1595 BC. C., ending with the so-called Amorite or Pale Babylonian Empire.

Unlike the typical cultures that impose their ideas upon conquering a region, the Kasitas did the opposite, adopting the language and religion of the city and rebuilding Ur and the main temples, being they who were converted to the thought of Babylon.

The role of the Kasites during their management of more than 400 years in Babylon was less, seeing how other peoples such as the Egyptians or the Hittites fought but without participating in these disputes. While the Egyptians and the Hittites battled, the Assyrians began to gain relevance and, when they had enough power, they faced both peoples.

Over time, the Assyrians began to attack the Kasites and especially the city of Babylon, taking the city and forcing the Kasites to pay tribute. Shortly after, and due to the arrival of the Peoples of the Sea, the Egyptians, Hittites and Assyrians were involved in continuous invasions, being something that alleviated the burden of the Kasitas. But in addition to the Kasitas, another favored people was the kingdom of Elam, who took advantage to conquer Babylon.

It was the arrival to the throne of a native of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar I, which led to the victory of Babylon against the Kasitas and Elam starting a new dynasty. Even with this, Babylon continued to be attacked and conquered by peoples such as Assyria or the Cimmerians, and the Babylonian dynasties were changing without having a stability.

We continue with this summary of Ancient Babylon knowing the history of the Second Babylonian Empire. In the VII century a. C. the Assyrians took back the city of Babylon, but their influence was much less, and this was taken advantage of by the general Nabopolassar of Caldea to take the city of Babylon. The victory and subsequent death of the general entails the independence of Babylon and the birth of the neo-Babylonian empire.

The independence of Babylon brought war against Assyria, but this time the city had the support of the Medes of Persia, because King Nebuchadnezzar II had married the daughter of the king of the Medes. Although the Assyrians sought an alliance with the Egyptians, they did not arrive in time and Babylon managed to defeat the Assyrians, destroying their capital completely.

After defeating the Assyrians, Babylon attacked Egypt, who was in dispute against the Jews, King Nebuchadnezzar II was able to defeat the Egyptians and take the region of Canaan. After that the king continued with the expansion of him defeating Syrians and Phoenicians to expand his borders, and later attacking the kingdoms of Israel and Judah destroying the city of Jerusalem.

After conquering so many regions and building monuments such as the Hanging Gardens, King Nebuchadnezzar II died in 562 BC. C. starting with it a period of decline of the great empire of Babylon.

To finish this summary of Ancient Babylon we must talk about the end of one of the most interesting civilizations of history, looking at the reasons why its decline took place.

Behind the death of Nebuchadnezzarr, none of the Babylonian monarchs was able to remain long on the throne, characterizing the time a great instability which caused a great decline in the region.

In the Anshan region the coming to the power of Cyrus the Great, a leader who in a few years managed to seize power from the Medes and later create the great empire of the Persians. After that, and with the idea of ​​forming a great empire, he conquered the Lydian region, managing in just 5 years to take important regions of the area.

After taking these cities, Cyrus conquered Babylon ending the city forever and thereby ending the empire of ancient Babylon.

If you want to read more articles similar to Ancient Babylon: summary, we recommend that you enter our category of Story.

• Fenollós, J. L. M. (2012). Brief history of Babylon. Nowtilus SL editions.
• Kriwaczek, P., & de Apodaca Martínez, M. R. (2010). Babylon: Mesopotamia: Half of Human History. Ariel.
• Fenollós, J. L. M. (2007). BABYLON AND NABUCODONOSOR: ANCIENT HISTORY AND LIVING TRADITION Sketch on its historical reality and its presence in the biblical procession of Lorca (Murcia). AlbercA, 5, 171-188.