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Babylon, the capital of Babylonia, an ancient empire of Mesopotamia, was a city on the Euphrates River, in what is now southern Iraq. Historically, Babylonia refers to the First Dynasty of Babylon established by Hammurabi and to the Neo-Babylonian Period after the fall of the Assyrian Empire. Babylon became one of the most important cities of the ancient Middle East when Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC) made it the capital of his kingdom of Babylonia.

Hammurabi issued a famous code of laws, found on a column at Susa, for the management of the empire. Under the reign of Naboplashar (625-605 BC) of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, the Babylonian civilization reached its ultimate glory. The Babylonian quasi-feudal society was divided into classes.

Babylonian literature was well developed, and records have been found of highly developed religion, history and science. Medicine, chemistry, alchemy, botany, zoology, math and astronomy were practiced. This religion and the cuneiform writing were derived from the older culture of Sumer. They also developed an abstract form of writing based on cuneiform symbols. These symbols were written on wet clay tablets and baked in the hot sun.

The Babylonian "Epic of Creation" is written on seven tablets and was recited at the New Year Festival in Babylon. It reported on the success of the city-god of Babylon, Marduk, and on how Marduk became the supreme deity, king over all gods of heaven and earth.

The Babylonians had a more advanced number system than we have today, with a positional system with a base 60. They also made tables to aid in their calculations. The Babylonians divided the day in the way that we do, with 24 hours of 60 minutes each and each minute lasting 60 seconds.

These Babylonian institutions influenced Assyria and contributed to the later history of the Middle East and Western Europe. Babylonia degenerated into anarchy circa 1180 BC, but flourished once again as a subsidiary state of the Assyrian Empire after the 9th century BC. Babylon was destroyed circa 689 BC by the Assyrians under Sennacherib, but was rebuilt. Later, Nabopolassar established what is generally known as the Chaldean or New Babylonian Empire in 625 BC, which reached its height under his son Nebuchadnezzar (604-562 BC).

The brilliant color and luxury of Babylon became legendary from the days of Nebuchadnezzar, who is credited for building the legendary Hanging Gardens. It is said that the Gardens were built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his wife or concubine who had been "brought up in Media and had a passion for mountain surroundings." During this time the Hanging Gardens, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, existed.

There are no records of the Hanging Gardens in Babylonian literature, and the most descriptive accounts of it come from Greek historians. In tablets from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, descriptions of his palace, the city of Babylon, and the walls are found, but not a single reference to the Hanging Gardens is found. Some historians believe that the legendary Hanging Gardens are only the blended stories of the gardens and palm trees of Mesopotamia, the palace of Nebuchadnezzar, the Tower of Babel, and the ziggurats told by Alexander�s soldiers when they returned home. In this century some of the structure of the Hanging Gardens was discovered. Archaeologists are gathering evidence to reach conclusions about the location of the Gardens, their irrigation system and their true appearance.

Greek sources describe the Hanging Gardens as being quadrangular; each side was four plethora long, consisting of arched vaults on foundations. The gardens had plants cultivated above ground level, and the roots of the trees were embedded in an upper terrace rather than in the earth. The whole mass was supported on stone columns. Water was pumped up and allowed to flow down sloping channels, irrigating the garden.

Recent archaeological excavations at Babylon uncovered the foundation of the palace. Other findings that support the existence of the Hanging Gardens include the Vaulted Building with thick walls and irrigation near the southern palace. A group of archaeologists surveyed the area of the southern palace and reconstructed the Vaulted Building as the Hanging Gardens. The Greek historian, Strabo, stated that the gardens were situated by the River Euphrates. Others argue that the site is too far from the Euphrates to support the theory because the Vaulted Building is several hundred yards away. The site of the palace was reconstructed, and the gardens were located in the area stretching from the river to the palace. Massive walls, 25 feet thick were recently discovered on the river banks, which might have been stepped to form the terraces described in the Greek references.

In 538 B.C., the last of the Babylonian rulers surrendered to Cyrus the Great of Persia.



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