Introduction
The rise of Babylon during the era of the Old Babylonian Kingdom (19-16 centuries BC)
Culture of the Babylonian Kingdom
Conclusion
References
Introduction
It is unlikely that people are now interested in ancient cities to the same extent as they study ancient Babylon. This city is known to almost every inhabitant of the earth for its Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Tower of Babel, which the Bible tells so colorfully about. In addition, the study of the ancient East is of no small interest, which helps to understand and reveal many phenomena of the modern world.
The purpose of this work is to study the history of Ancient Babylon, its culture and political and economic structure.
When studying literature on the topics of the Ancient East, the following tasks were set:
· Analysis of sources on the development of the Ancient East;
· Study of the factors and prerequisites for the separation of Babylon into an independent state;
· A study of the historical path of Babylon, from its formation to its political and economic decline;
· Identification of the consequences of the influence of Babylonian culture on the subsequent development of civilization, including Medieval Europe and the Russian state.
The writing of the work was preceded by an analysis of the literature of such authors as A.V. Kostina, S.S. Averintsev and other scientists and researchers whose works are devoted to the history of Babylon.
The following information was gleaned from the textbook of researcher A.A. Vigasin, who also studied the history of the ancient East. The heyday of the Babylonian kingdom occurred during the reign of the sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty, Hammurabi, who was an outstanding statesman, a shrewd and cunning diplomat, a great strategist, a wise legislator, a prudent and skillful organizer. His research also emphasizes that Hammurabi was an excellent commander, thanks to which the king was able to subjugate and unify vast territories.
S.S. Averintsev writes the following. In Babylonia, the cult of dead kings and the deification of royal power itself developed greatly. The kings were proclaimed to be immeasurably higher than the people, and their power was strengthened in the minds of the exploited masses as sacred power.
In addition, Bongard-Levina G.M. devotes his works to the study of legal codes. She argues that the Code of Hammurabi is rooted in the principles of guilt and ill will. For example, the Babylonian king establishes different penalties for intentional and accidental crimes. Scientists note that bodily harm was still punished according to the ancient custom of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” In some articles, class distinctions between citizens are clearly visible. For example, cruel punishments were imposed on obstinate and disobedient slaves, and a person who was accused of stealing someone else's slave was sentenced to death.
Babylon kingdom of Hammurabi political Kassite
1. The rise of Babylon during the era of the Old Babylonian Kingdom (19-16 centuries BC)
In the 16th century, a crisis occurred in the system on which the large royal dynasties of Ur relied; many Sumerian-Akkadian centers collapsed under the onslaught of the Amorite pastoralists, who spread throughout the entire territory of Mesopotamia. All this led to the decline of the centralized state, as a result of which the large political center weakened and began to fragment.
Scientists also note the isolation of the kingdom with its center in Lars, to the north of which the state with its center in Issin begins to rise. Also at that time, Mari and Ashur played a major role in the political arena in the Tigris-Euphrates region, and along the Diyala River the state of Eshnuna was fighting for political independence.
In the 20th-19th centuries BC. these states were in a state of internecine war. And gradually in this war the city of Babylon rises and gains independence, in which the Amorite dynasty reigns, the reign of which in science is called the Old Babylonian period.
Babylon was located in the center of the valley, in the place where the Tigris approached the Euphrates. Since the location represented a huge military advantage (it was immediately convenient for protection and defense), Babylon gradually began to become the center of the country.
Here one can also note the convergence of the main networks of the country’s irrigation life, along which the most important river and land routes throughout Western Asia passed.
“The heyday of the Babylonian kingdom occurred during the reign of the sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty, Hammurabi, who was an outstanding statesman, a shrewd and cunning diplomat, a great strategist, a wise legislator, a prudent and skillful organizer.”
Hammurabi masterfully created various military alliances, and after achieving his goals, he broke them off as unnecessary. First of all, Hammurabi entered into an agreement with Larsa in order to protect himself during military campaigns. Thus, this allowed the Babylonian king to begin his aggressive actions aimed at the southern cities. As a result of these campaigns, Uruk and Issin were subjugated. Then Hammurabi directed all his attention to the state of Mari, which overthrew the power of Assyria and was ruled by a representative of the local Zimrilim dynasty. With this ruler, Hammurabi established the most friendly agreements on all key issues.
The alliance with the state of Mari served as a support for the subsequent war with Eshnunu, which was completely defeated by the Babylonian army. Zimrilim did not claim these lands and gave the reins of power to Hammurabi. A little later, the allies attacked Larsa, whose ruler surrendered and fled to Elam, and the kingdom thus again went to Hammurabi.
Now the entire territory of Mesopotamia represented two huge states: Babylon, which united under its leadership the entire southern and middle part of the country, and Mari, whose ruler ruled over the rest of the lands.
Mari represented a very strong and dangerous enemy for Babylon, since this state was located on the middle reaches of the Euphrates and united several nearby cities, and also subjugated the nomadic tribes inhabiting the Syrian-Mesopotamian steppes. In addition, Mari traded and established a number of diplomatic relations with Byblos, Ugarit, Yamhad, Karchemish, as well as the islands of Cyprus and Crete. During the reign of Zimrilim, a magnificent palace was built in the city, which exceeded the area of 4 hectares and had premises for religious, economic and residential purposes. In the palace itself there was a magnificent throne room, which was specially decorated with frescoes, statues, terracotta baths, and rooms were equipped for foreign ambassadors and messengers. The palace building also housed rooms for economic and diplomatic archives.
In 1759, Hammurabi, under the pretext of breaking the military alliance, appeared with his army under the walls of Mari, subjugated this state to Babylon, and reigned in it. But the rebellion of Zimrilim that followed this capture forced the Babylonian king to make a second campaign to the walls of the city, as a result of which Mari was completely destroyed and destroyed. After this, the state of Marie was never able to fully recover, and therefore lived out a modest existence.
In the north of Mesopotamia, Assyria still remained weak, but its largest cities Ashur, Nineveh and others soon recognized the dominance of the Babylonian kingdom.
Scholars note that the first 35 years of Hammurabi's reign were entirely devoted to strengthening centralized power throughout the Babylonian Empire, which was spread across the territory of Mesopotamia. During this time, Babylon went through a huge development path from a small city and turned into the capital of a huge Asian power, becoming a major political, economic and cultural center.
But initial successes did not bring the desired result. Babylon included many conquered cities and regions, so to some extent its power was fragile.
All this led to an aggravation of internal contradictions, which were associated with the ruin of community members, soldiers, taxpayers and defenders of the state. The state also experienced certain foreign policy difficulties already during the reign of the son of King Hammurabi. Samsuilong is trying in every possible way to maintain the prestige of royal power, building ziggurats and temples, erecting golden thrones in honor of the Babylonian gods, and laying new canals. But in the south of the country a tribe of Elamites advances, which gradually captures the cities of the Sumerians. Then there is an uprising in Sippar, whose walls were destroyed during a fierce rebellion. During the reign of Hammurabi's son, there was constant political tension, instability, and external wars, as evidenced by evidence of constant and numerous turmoil.
The situation in the foreign policy arena is also not conducive to the development of Babylon. The Kassite tribes begin to penetrate into the territory of the state, and in the north-west of Mesopotamia a new state of Mitanni is formed, which cut off Babylon’s access to the main trade routes of Asia Minor and the East Mediterranean coast.
The Hittite invasion of Babylonia marked the beginning of the end of the First Babylonian Dynasty and ended the Old Babylonian period.
Laws of Hammurabi. Socio-economic and political system of the Babylonian kingdom
The most outstanding monument of the Babylonian kingdom is undoubtedly the laws of Hammurabi, forever imprinted on a black basalt pillar. Also, copies of individual parts of this code of law have survived to this day on clay tablets.
The code of laws of the state begins with an abstract introduction, which speaks of the divine role of Hammurabi's royal power, that he was appointed to protect the poor, the weak, orphans and widows from insults and oppression from the powers that be. The code of law itself consists of 282 laws that cover all aspects of life in Babylonian society (civil, administrative, criminal law). At the end of the code of laws there is a final part.
The laws of Hammurabi, in terms of content and “the level of development of legal thought, represented a huge step forward compared to the Sumerian and Akkadian legal monuments that preceded them.” The Code of Hammurabi traces the principle of guilt and ill will. For example, the Babylonian king establishes different penalties for intentional and accidental crimes. Scientists note that bodily harm was still punished according to the ancient custom of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” In some articles, class distinctions between citizens are clearly visible. For example, cruel punishments were imposed on obstinate and disobedient slaves, and a person who was accused of stealing someone else's slave was sentenced to death.
During the period of the Old Babylonian kingdom, the state was inhabited by full citizens, who were called “sons of the husband.” They were legally free, but not full-fledged people, since they were not members of the community. Such people worked in the royal household and, according to their status, were classified as slaves. If any citizen caused damage to a royal employee, he was punished according to the principle of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” and the latter was subject to a fine for the damage caused. If the “husband’s son” had an unsuccessful operation, then the doctor who performed it was punished by cutting off his hand, and if a slave died from such an operation, then his owner was only paid monetary compensation for the losses incurred. If the owner's son died during the construction of a house, the main contractor was punished by the death of his son. If the “husband’s son” lost property, then the culprit was punished tenfold, returning the stolen property. In case of theft of temple or royal property, compensation for the loss was provided in the amount of thirty times.
During his reign, Hammurabi was concerned about the constant number of soldiers and taxpayers, so he tried in every possible way to alleviate the plight of this part of the state's population. One of the articles of the Code of Hammurabi therefore limited the payment of a debt to a creditor to three years of work for him, after which the entire balance of the unpaid amount was automatically paid by the state. If a natural disaster occurred and the debtor’s entire crop was destroyed, then the amount of the debt and the payment of interest on it were automatically transferred to the next year. Some articles of the code of laws are devoted to rent, which was set at the rate of a third of the harvest and two thirds of the garden.
For a marriage to be legal, it was necessary to enter into a prenuptial agreement. If a wife was caught in adultery, she was punished by drowning in a river. If the husband forgave his unfaithful wife, then she and her lover were freed from the punishment provided for by law. Adultery on the part of a husband was not considered a crime unless he seduced the wife of a free man. Sons were necessarily entitled to an inheritance if they were not involved in crimes, and the father was obliged to teach his children the intricacies of his profession and craft.
“Warriors received land plots from the state and were obliged to go on a campaign at the first request of the king. These plots were inherited through the male line and were inalienable. The creditor could take for debts only that property of the warrior that he himself acquired, but did not endow, which was granted to him by the king.”
The state took special care of trade, which brought a significant portion of income to the Babylonian treasury. Trade was carried out by special trading agents - tamkars, who were trained to conduct large-scale state and private trade. Tamkars carried out their activities through smaller intermediary merchants. For their service, the state allocated them land, garden plots and houses. Tamkars also acted as tenants of royal land; they were often large moneylenders.
Kingdom of Babylon under the Kassite dynasty
The Kassites were a population of one of the Zagros mountain tribes who appeared on the borders of Mesopotamia shortly after the death of Hammurabi. In 1742, the Kassites invaded Babylonia, and their king assumed the title of ruler, although the real conquest of the state had not yet occurred. The solid establishment of the Kassites on the Babylonian throne was facilitated by the invasion of the Hittites, under whose pressure the state could not resist.
In 1595, the Middle Babylonian period began, which was marked by the beginning of the reign of the Kassite dynasty. It ended only in 1155.
During the reign of the Kassites, the use of horses and mules during military campaigns was noted, the seeder and plow began to be used in agriculture, a network of roads was created, and foreign trade intensified significantly. But at the same time, the country's economy is experiencing a period of stagnation, as the volume of commercial production has decreased and the influx of labor has decreased due to a decrease in military campaigns.
During the Middle Babylonian period, clan associations and large families increased in importance. This was the result of control of the Kassite clans over a large territory; they also monitored the collection of taxes and the fulfillment of public duties. Simultaneously with the stagnation in the Babylonian economy, there was a process of enrichment of the Kassite clans through the creation of large private landholdings, which were separated from the communal ones and consolidated by the corresponding royal decrees and laws. These laws gave ownership rights to one or another aristocrat to the property and land granted to him, and also exempted them from paying taxes to the treasury. Such decrees were carved on special tablets - kadurru.
The centralized power under the Kassites weakened somewhat, since the heads of the noble Kassite families enjoyed a certain independence and ruled individual parts of the Babylonian kingdom. Large cities such as Babylon, Nippur and Sippar occupied an independent position, their population was exempt from paying taxes and military service, they also had their own military contingents. Kasstite power eventually assimilated with the noble citizens of Babylon.
Foreign policy during the reign of the Kassites was not particularly ambitious. Egypt, Mitania, and the Hittite kingdom fought among themselves for hegemony, and in this war the Babylonian state was one of the minor figures in the military-political arena. The inscriptions of the Egyptian pharaohs say that the power of the Egyptian state was recognized by Babylon, which brought it respect and gifts, and in the 15th century stable peaceful relations were established between these two states. The Kassite kings usually sent teams of horses and chariots, bronze vessels, valuable types of oil, and lapis lazuli items as gifts to the Egyptians. As reciprocal gifts, they received gold, magnificent furniture made of valuable types of wood, decorated with gold and ivory, jewelry and ornaments.
To strengthen their political relations, the Egyptian pharaohs took as wives the daughters of the Kassite kings, but they did not marry their daughters to the rulers of Babylon, since they did not let them go outside the Egyptian state.
When the Egyptian kingdom began to weaken, Babylon increased its demands. The letters begin to show a dissatisfied tone. For example, the Babylonian king Burna-Buriash was outraged by the Egyptians' inattention to his illness, as well as by the small retinue and quality of gifts sent to Babylon. Babylon's discontent intensifies when its rulers learn of the reception of Assyrian ambassadors in Egypt, who were dependent on Babylon. After this event, Babylon broke off diplomatic and friendly relations with the Egyptian power. Now Babylon's foreign policy is aimed at Mitani and the Hittite state. For example, Mitani's claims to the Eastern Mediterranean coast did not meet resistance from the Kassite rulers, and the daughter of Burna-Buriash was married to the Hittite king.
However, the powerful powers do not take the weakened Babylon seriously. Strong Assyria inflicts a number of significant defeats on Babylon. And the Hittites, who waged fierce wars with Egypt, did not provide any support to their ally.
Thus, the struggle with Elam, Assyria and local rulers put an end to the rule of the Kassite dynasty, which by that time had completely assimilated with the Babylonian nobility.
Culture of the Babylonian Kingdom
Mesopotamia is one of the most ancient civilizations and cultures. It is here that the emergence of all humanity from the state of primitiveness and its entry into the era of antiquity is celebrated. The transition from “barbarism to civilization” meant the emergence of a new type of culture, the birth of a new type of human consciousness. All this is closely connected with the spread of numerous cities, the complication of social differentiation, the formation of statehood and “civil society”. New types of activities are formed, areas of management and training are highlighted, as relationships between people take on a new character.
Writing played an important role here. Its appearance marked the invention of new forms of transmission and storage of knowledge, which became the basis for the further development of science and purely intellectual activity. The inhabitants of Mesopotamia rightfully deserve the credit for inventing a unique writing system - cuneiform. This is the most characteristic and important feature inherent in the culture of antiquity. In addition, the majestic Babylonian buildings have not reached our time, but all over the world, museums contain cuneiform tablets telling about the life, morals, foundations and laws of society of that time.
Mesopotamian writing appears at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium BC. Before it, there was a system of “accounting chips”, which cuneiform gradually replaced and supplanted. There is an opinion that in the earliest pictographic system there were over one and a half thousand drawings, and each such sign corresponded to a specific word, in rare cases several words.
The most ancient pictographic messages are peculiar puzzles that were fully understandable only to scribes and those people who were present when writing the tablets. Such tablets were a kind of written confirmation of various contracts and transactions, and also served as an indisputable source in the event of various disagreements. The first such texts are wills regarding the transfer of property and dedication to the gods. The most ancient written sources also include educational texts in which the meaning of this or that sign was deciphered.
A fully cuneiform system was developed only by the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. In addition, there was an expansion of the sphere in which cuneiform was used. Construction reports and calculations, collections of proverbs, lists of names of mountains, countries, rivers, lakes, positions appeared, and the first bilingual dictionaries were published.
The Mesopotamians' Akkandian neighbors also adapted cuneiform to their needs. In the second millennium, cuneiform was borrowed by the Hittites, and then on its basis a simplified syllabary cuneiform was created by the inhabitants of Ugarit, which influenced the development of writing among the Phoenicians, which later gave rise to the Greek alphabet. Thus, cuneiform largely influenced the appearance and development of this region.
Ancient Mesopotamian literature has survived and survived to this day in relatively large quantities. About a quarter of the literary texts that existed in Mesopotamia have now been discovered. This is explained by the fact that clay tablets are very well preserved, and even if they remain in the ground for a long time, they are subject to minor destruction.
Education in Babylon was based on rewriting literary and everyday texts. Libraries were even created at schools, in which clay tablets with information on many branches of scientific knowledge were stored. Libraries were also built at the palaces of kings and temples, which, in addition to literature, contained administrative and economic documents. The most famous library of that time is the collection of books of King Ashurbanipal. The tsar himself oversaw the systematic acquisition of books; on his orders, copies were made from all ancient literary sources, which were stored in churches and private collections. The literature of ancient Mesopotamia also includes literary works of folklore content - songs, poems, fairy tales, proverbs and sayings. The most outstanding monument of that time is the Epic of Gilgamesh.
This work fully embodies the idea of the eternal life of people, which the Sumerians so strived for. Gilgamesh, "being half god, half man and having lost his friend the forest giant Enkidu, goes in search of immortality." In his search for a friend, Gilgamesh even visits the kingdom of the dead, but the flower of immortality he found was stolen by a snake, so people never managed to gain immortality.
The presence in Babylonian society of a trend that marks a certain departure from the traditional religious worldview is evidenced by a remarkable literary monument known as the “Dialogue between Master and Slave.” In this work, the master, talking to his slave, expresses various wishes one after another, and the slave approves of each of these wishes of his master. When the latter refuses his desire, the slave agrees with him here too, giving strong arguments in favor of refusal. This proved the futility of all the master’s aspirations and thoughts: his hopes for the king’s mercy, his hopes of finding oblivion in a feast or in love for a woman, his hopes for salvation through magic, prayer or sacrifice. It is pointless to follow the usual precepts of virtue, for death makes everyone equal, as the slave states, addressing his master: “Climb the hills of ruined cities, walk through the ruins of antiquity and look at the skulls of people who lived long ago and recently: who of them was evil and who of them were they kind? The dialogue ends with the statement that the master who wanted to kill his slave will survive him by only “three days.”
Mathematics and astronomy also left a deep imprint on culture. Modern people use the positional system of numbers and sexagesimal calculation created by the inhabitants of Mesopotamia, dividing an hour into 60 minutes and a minute into 60 seconds. The achievements in the field of astronomy were especially significant.
The creative flowering of Babylonian mathematical science occurred in the 5th century BC. At that time, the most famous schools were in Babylon. Uruk, Borsippa and Sippar. Scientists from these schools developed a system for determining the lunar phases, established the length of the solar year, and also discovered solar precession. Thus, the level of mathematics at that time was in no way inferior to the development of mathematics during the Renaissance in Europe.
Medicine and chemistry were intertwined with magic. Carefully developed witchcraft actions accompanied, for example, the manufacture of a smelting furnace, its installation and work on it. Our knowledge of Babylonian chemistry is, unfortunately, still limited due to the difficulty of understanding the relevant cuneiform texts, often deliberately obscured by ancient scribes for magical purposes.
Zoology, botany and mineralogy found their expression in nothing but long lists of names of animals, plants and stones. However, these lists can be attributed more likely to philological reference books, which were so rich in the scribal schools of Babylonia, which paid great attention to the study of the language, its vocabulary and grammar.
Interest in language problems was largely due to the fact that among the Babylonian priests, the Sumerian language, which had died out by that time, continued to play the role of a sacred language. In addition, without knowledge of the Sumerian language, it was impossible to correctly apply the writing system that was originally developed on the basis of the Sumerian language for the Akkadian language. Therefore, the Babylonian scribes were faced with the need to study, along with their own Akkadian language, a second language alien to them. This study made them more conscious of their native language. Along with vocabulary, the Babylonians began to study grammar for the first time.
Of great interest is the Babylonian political system, as well as the system of military affairs, law and historiosophy. The administrative system of Assyria was later adopted by the Persians, who handed it over to the Hellenistic rulers and the Roman Caesars. In Ancient Rome there were many traditions that took their origins from the court life of the kings of Mesopotamia.
Also characteristic is the emergence of the idea of the transfer of successive power from one city to another, which subsequently served as one of the sources for the emergence of the concept of “Moscow - the third Rome”. An interesting fact is that the insignia of the Byzantine and Russian tsars come from Babylon.
In Babylonia, a number of local gods were revered, identified with heavenly bodies. An important role was played by the deities of the Sun and Moon - Shamash and Sin. Yshtar, corresponding to the Sumerian Inanna, the goddess of Uruk, was personified by the planet Venus. In the blood-red planet Mars they saw Nergal, the god of war, disease and death, the main god of the city of Kutu. The god of wisdom, writing and calculation, Nabu (which corresponds to the West Semitic nabi - “prophet”), revered in Borsippa, neighboring Babylon, was compared with the planet Mercury. Finally, Ninurta, the god of successful war, was associated with the planet Saturn. The god Marduk was identified with the largest planet, Jupiter. The seven main astral (star) gods, together with the triad - Anu, Bel (Enlil), Ea - played a vital role in the religion of Babylon. In honor of these gods, temple towers were built either with three floors (sky, earth, underground water) or seven (seven planets). A relic of the veneration of the Babylonian astral gods is the modern seven-day week. In some Western European languages, the names of the days of the week currently reflect the names of the seven deities.
In Babylonia, the cult of dead kings and the deification of royal power itself developed greatly. The kings were proclaimed to be immeasurably higher than the people, and their power was strengthened in the minds of the exploited masses as sacred power.
The Babylonian priesthood influenced the masses with the pomp of cult in huge temples with their majestic stepped ziggurat towers. Information has been preserved about a large number of temple utensils made of gold, as well as about the richest sacrifices brought daily to the altars of temples. The deification of royal power, instilling obedience to the gods and the king, the protege of the slave-owning nobility, were the basis of the cult.
In the history of Mesopotamia, one or another state has repeatedly emerged as a contender for dominance over its neighbors. The most successful contender for dominance over the entire valley was, as shown above, Babylon. This was reflected in the role that Marduk, the patron god of Babylon, began to play in the main myth of the universe.
Conclusion
Babylon is rightfully a unique state, and it is very difficult to single out at least one more state that would surpass it in its development.
Having read the literature on the Babylonian kingdom, I can conclude that the culture of Mesopotamia represented a transition period between antiquity and the beginning of the emergence of a new type of thinking, which scientists call rational. This conclusion was made based on the facts of the emergence of mathematics, writing and astronomy.
I also believe that the literary and scientific sources of Babylon largely anticipated the masterpieces of Greek literature and served as the basis on which the science of the Renaissance was later based.
In addition, I believe that the political, social and legal system of the Babylonian state was quite perfect for that time, although it had such shortcomings as punishment depending on social status, the presence of a large number of slaves.
But despite this, Babylon is rightfully a treasury of world culture, science and architecture.
References
1.Averintsev S.S., Alekseev V.P., Ardzinba V.G., ed. G.M. Bongard-Levin. Ancient civilizations.- M.: Mysl, 1989.-479 pp.: ill.
.Afanasyeva V.K. and others. The Art of the Ancient East. - M.: higher. school, 1971.- 567 p.
.Vigasin A.A., Dandamaev M.A., Kryukov M.V. History of the Ancient East: Textbook. for students Universities studying in the specialty "History". - M.: higher. school, 1988.- 416 p.
.Erasov B.S. Culture, religion and civilizations in the East: Essays on a general theory. M.: higher. school, 1990.- 456 p.
.Kostina A.V. Culturology: textbook. - M.: KNORUS, 2010. - 336 p.
.Matveev K., Sazonov A. Land of Ancient Mesopotamia. - M.: higher. school, 1986.- 467 p.
.Nemirovskaya L.Z. Culturology. History and theory of culture. - Higher Moscow. school, 1992.- 346 p.
.Nemirovsky A.I. Myths and legends of the Ancient East. - M.: higher. school, 1994.- 563 p.
.Reader on the history of the Ancient East / ed. V.V. Struve and D.G. Redera. M., 1963.- 680 p.
.Reader on the history of the Ancient World / ed. V.G. Borukhovich. Saratov, 1987.- 560 p.
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How to decide on a vacation spot is a problem for many, but also a very exciting activity. This is what happened to us - my husband and I didn’t know where to go, and so we decided to cast lots. And what came out of this, I will tell you later.
Where is the ancient city of Babylon located?
It so happened that I pulled Babylon out of the hat. And it was wonderful, because I had long wanted to see such a legendary place. We began to look for where Babylon was.
We started our search on the Internet. The remains of the ancient city of Babylon are located in Iraq south of Baghdad near the city of Al-Hill. We got there from the airport quite quickly.
From the guide, in the very first hours of our stay there, we learned a lot of useful information:
- history of Babylon;
- what Babylon became famous for;
- history of the Tower of Babel.
The city of Babylon, which means “gate of God,” was founded on the banks of the Euphrates River and was the capital of Babylonia, which existed for 1,500 years in the south of Mesopotamia in modern-day Iraq.
What is Babylon famous for?
In Babylon, the basis of architecture was ziggurats - these are the so-called secular buildings and palaces. These are unique architectural achievements of mankind at that time. Also, according to the biblical scriptures, there is a legend about the Tower of Babel, which reached the heavens in height. It was built by people who spoke the same language to make a name for themselves. But according to legend, the construction of the tower was interrupted by God, who gave people different languages, and this led to a stop in the construction of the tower and the city as a whole. This greatest city was razed to the ground three times by invaders, but was also rebuilt.
Discovery of the Tower of Babel
The scientific history of the search for the tower began with several pieces of painted bricks that were found by the German architect and archaeologist Robert Koldewey. Thanks to this, more fragments of the tower were found, and excavations began. As a result of these excavations, it became clear that a tower was definitely built in Ancient Babylon, which was the crown of architecture at that time.
This story with the Tower of Babel, architectural monuments and stories about the Hanging Gardens made my husband and I think about continuing our romantic vacation. And I hope we will visit this wonderful place again!
Long before the heyday of Ancient Greece, developed powerful powers already existed. One of them is the famous Sumer. It was located on the territory of modern Iraq in the geographical and historical region of Mesopotamia. It must be said that this name was invented by the Greeks. It literally means “between the rivers.” This large region actually extended across the flat terrain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. There were many city-states in Mesopotamia. One of them is Babylon. In what country and where is the city of the legendary Sumerians located now? Why has it not survived to this day? What eras of prosperity and decline did you experience? This is what our article is about.
Eden in Iraq
There is an assumption that Noah’s Ark lies on Mount Ararat, and the Garden of Eden rustled in the lands of Mesopotamia. Even in religious literature there are statements that Eden was located exactly there, at the confluence of two rivers. The once famous city of Babylon also flourished here, which translated from the local dialect meant “the gates of heaven.” But the history of those places is so intertwined that not even all historians can understand them. The Babylonian civilization is often called differently: Sumerian-Akkadian. Where is Babylon today? This place is known to many tourists. Fans of ancient history regret that little remains of the once great city, but everyone can look at its ruins, walk along the sacred (“divine”) land, and touch the centuries-old stones.
From Neolithic to Sumer
Before answering where Babylon is located, let's tell you a little about the time when it flourished. Traces of settlements of ancient people in Iraq can be found everywhere. During the Neolithic period, cattle breeding and agriculture were already quite well developed in the Middle East. 7 thousand years BC. e. Crafts developed there: pottery and spinning. And after about 3 thousand years, people mastered the smelting of copper and gold. At the same time, cities with unique architecture began to develop there. Arches, for example, first appeared there, and not in Ancient Rome. Writing, political and legal norms of social life appear. The settlements of Ur, Uruk and Erebu are being built. These were the largest city-states of the first civilization of Mesopotamia - Sumerian. It was crushed by the Semitic tribes, united into the kingdom of Akkad. Under King Sargon, Sumer was defeated, and the territory of Mesopotamia was united for the first time. But the two states continued to coexist. Akkad controlled the north of the region, and Sumer controlled the south. Unfortunately, they had many enemies who dreamed of capturing the fertile, flowering lands. When Amorite pastoralists came from the foothills, the great state ceased to exist. The Elamites settled on the territory of Sumer.
Rise of Babylon
During all the time of civil strife, this city, which was located far from the borders, suffered less than others. The Sumerians called him Kadingirra. The city was built on the banks of the Euphrates, near the modern settlement of El-Hilla, 80 kilometers from Baghdad. The residence of the tax collector was located there. It was in this provincial town that the Amorite leader Sumuabum settled, making it not just the capital, but creating the Babylonian kingdom. Representatives of the dynasty of Amorite kings fought a lot. Therefore, they attached primary importance to the fortifications of Babylon, and therefore built a defensive wall around it. But temples were also actively rebuilt at this time, and sanctuaries were erected. Five rulers of this family changed before Babylon became dominant in Mesopotamia. In 1792 BC. e. Hammurabi took the throne. Taking advantage of the constant civil strife of his neighbors, he managed to subjugate most of the coastal lands near the Tigris and Euphrates to Babylon. Within forty years, the first centralized state of Western Asia, the Old Babylonian Kingdom, was created. Its foundation can be considered the turn of the 19th-18th centuries BC.
Center of the Universe
Babylon very quickly became one of the centers of the world. He had this position until 1595 (before the Nativity of Christ). His patron god was Marduk, who became one of the main Mesopotamian deities. The city grew richer, which was reflected in its appearance. New walls, gates and wide streets along which crowded temple processions could pass were built not chaotically, but according to plan. Residents of the capital were not drafted into the army and did not pay taxes; it had the right of self-government.
Decline of Babylon
Hammurabi's successors were unable to maintain Babylon's high position. Gradually its decline begins. For a century and a half, the kings of the First Babylonian Dynasty fought with other contenders for power in Mesopotamia. The Kassite mountain tribes took advantage of the weakening of the power. Thanks to the defensive structures erected in the northeast during the reign of Hammurabi, their first onslaught was stopped. At the same time, it was necessary to constantly suppress the uprisings of the southern, “Sumerian” provinces. The cities of Larsa, Ur, Catullu, and Nipur rebelled alternately or simultaneously. These areas finally left the control of Babylon in the 17th century BC. Asia Minor then almost completely belonged to the Hittite kingdom. His troops invaded Babylon, completely plundered it, and destroyed many cultural monuments. Some of the residents were executed, some were sold into slavery. Where is the city of Babylon now? You will learn about this further.
New beginning
The Hittite invasion marked the end of the Old Babylonian Kingdom. Soon these lands were subjugated by the Kassites. The Middle Babylonian period began. The state was in decline, especially in the economic and cultural spheres. The authority of the state was also low in these centuries. The struggle for leadership was between Egypt, the Hittite kingdom and the country of Mitanni. The pharaohs, judging by the information that has reached our time, treated their neighbor, who had recently threatened them, with disdain. However, this was a long period of stability, when it was possible to establish trade ties that had been destroyed during civil strife between different regions of the state.
Another destruction of Babylon
The fall of the III Babylonian dynasty, which is called the Kassite dynasty, coincided with the strengthening of Assyria. In addition, the eastern neighbor, Elam, is rising again. At the end of the 13th century BC. e. the king of Assyria took control of Babylon, destroying the walls of the city and even transporting the most revered statue of the supreme god Marduk to Ashur (his capital). The Assyrian ruler Sennacherib became famous for the fact that in 689 BC. e. not only captured Babylon, but almost destroyed it. The restoration of the power of the glorious city began only after the weakening of Assyria. The city was then ruled by the leaders of the Chaldean tribes. One of them, Nabopolassar, led an uprising that ended in the defeat of the Assyrian army under the walls of Babylon. The Neo-Babylonian period was marked by the restoration of the former power of the legendary state.
Nebuchadnezzar
The restoration of the city began after the death of Sennacherib. Gradually the state restored its former power. The time of greatest prosperity is 605-562 BC. e., when Nabushadnetsar II reigned. This is the same Nebuchadnezzar who destroyed Jerusalem and took many thousands of Jews into captivity. During his reign, the country expanded from Iran to Egypt. Unprecedented wealth contributed to rapid construction. Thanks to cuneiform records, Herodotus and archaeological excavations, we can recreate the appearance of Babylon at that time.
What did the “Capital of the World” look like?
The Euphrates divided Babylon in half. On the plan, it occupied almost 10 square kilometers. Three rows of fortress walls were erected around, huge towers and eight gates were built. It was extremely difficult to approach them. In the center of the Old City there was a 7-tier ziggurat, which is considered a prototype of the Tower of Babel from the Bible. The main temple of the god Marduk stood there, and a market functioned nearby. The Great Palace of Nebuchadnezzar II was also located here. It was a huge complex that was built under Nabopolassar. It included the houses of officials and the throne room. The palace impressed visitors with its size and luxury. On its relief walls made of colored bricks, craftsmen depicted the “tree of life” and walking lions. The palace contained one of the seven wonders of the world - the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Thus, the “Lord of the Half-World” consoled his wife, a princess from Media, who was homesick.
House of the Babylonian
A bridge 123 meters long led to the New Town. There were residential areas there. How did the ordinary people of Babylon live? The appearance of these dwellings is known thanks to excavations. These were two-story houses. The lower part, to protect against erosion, was laid out of baked brick, and the second floor and internal walls were made of raw brick. Small windows were made only under the ceiling, so that light came in almost exclusively through the door. They washed their feet from a jug of water that stood in the entryway. Various utensils were also located there. From there you could get into the courtyard. Wealthier people had a swimming pool there, and a wooden gallery ran along the inner wall. There was always a front room, from which a passage led to a small courtyard inaccessible to outsiders, where the owners built a home altar. They also tried to bury the dead there. Back in the 3rd millennium BC. e. The Babylonians began using stools, tables and beds. But most likely there was only one bed. The owner and his wife slept on it. The rest were located on mats or simply on the floor.
City of a thousand languages
Babylon of the last period was a real metropolis for its time. About 200 thousand people of various nationalities lived in it. These were the Elamites, Egyptians, Jews, Medes. Everyone preserved their traditions, spoke their native language, and wore their national clothes. But Sumerian was considered the main language. Children received education in schools (e-oaks). Those who completed the full course of study had encyclopedic knowledge for those times. In addition to literature and writing, graduates studied mathematics, astronomy, and land surveying. In Babylon, the sexagesimal number system was adopted. We still divide an hour into 60 minutes, and a minute into 60 seconds. Preserved in cuneiform libraries, literary works of those years have reached us.
What is the name of the country where the city of Babylon is located now?
Despite military power, thriving trade, and cultural achievements, the city of Babylon again fell into decline. In the first centuries BC, Persia began to gain power in the east of Mesopotamia. In 538, Babylon was taken by King Cyrus, but even after that it retained the status of the capital. The Persian Empire included the Eastern Mediterranean and Egypt. Mesopotamia ceased to play a leading role in the region. But Babylon still remained a center of science, culture and crafts. The current situation did not suit its residents, who made attempts to regain their former power. After another uprising, Xerxes deprived the city of its status. Economic life still continued. It was then that Herodotus visited Babylon, who wrote enthusiastic words about it. The next conqueror was Alexander the Great. He wanted to make powerful Babylon the capital of his empire, but then he founded a new city nearby, which he named after himself.
Where is Babylon now? In which country? The history of the city is sad. At first a small settlement remained there, but after the conquest of Mesopotamia by the Arabs in 634, it too disappeared. Even the place where Babylon was located was forgotten for almost two thousand years. It is now located in modern Iraq (formerly Persia). The only surviving building from that time is the theater. The administrative center of the country closest to the destroyed city has half a million inhabitants. So where is Babylon now? This is several tens of kilometers from Baghdad. Modern Babylon (you already know where it is located) is the largest open-air museum in the world.
To a traveler in ancient times, whether on foot or by camel, the massive wall with its network of canals and rich lands looked like a mirage under the scorching sun of the Middle East.
About 300 meters high, the central tower of the temple towered over the ancient city, surrounded on all sides by lush green gardens and date trees swaying on the terraces of luxurious estates.
The ancient settlement was located approximately 50 km south of the modern city of Baghdad in Iraq. All that remained of the magnificent capital of the East was a sand-covered desert hill and a few trees. Under this mound there are the ruins of a powerful civilization - a reminder of great glory and former greatness.
Gardens of Babylon
In 6000-3000 BC, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers there was the greatest ancient civilization in human history. The peoples of Assyria left here the remains of Sumerian and Babylonian culture. They invented a writing system, became the founders of literature, compiled a code of laws, a calendar and a time system. The Babylonians were the first to use chariots in warfare. Their main achievement is considered to be the management of water resources - the creation of a dam, drainage system, and pools. Babylon's bathrooms were the most popular and sophisticated of that era.
From 605 to 562 BC city of Babylon, which arose in 2900 BC, was under the rule of King Nebuchadnezzar, who extended power on both banks of the Euphrates River. Its area occupied about 500 hectares. The development was distinguished by the construction of three-story houses with flat roofs made of ancient mud. The lower strata of society could not afford such luxury as a wooden house, and lived in adobe huts whose walls were filled with reeds and mud.
Bitumen, which was the basis for joining materials in Mesopotamia, became an important element of construction in Babylon. It was manufactured in liquid or solid form, that is, tar or resin, used to design irrigation systems. Copper was found, but in small quantities due to the difficulty of shipping along trade routes until 2500 BC. It was replaced with tin or antimony. Workers used a hammer to anneal, solder or rivet.
Water was stored in large ceramic vessels and brought from the river by domestic servants - slaves. The containers were closed with glass lids, which was typical for hot climates: due to evaporation, the water maintained its temperature and remained cool. Jars lined with bitumen were used to store barley, wheat and oil.
Since 539, power in Mesopotamia weakened, Babylon was captured by Cyrus the Great, the founder. The influence of the powerful ruler was overcome only after the invasion of Alexander the Great in the 4th century. BC The population of the land began to decline sharply, and interest in the canals waned. The city became equal to the desert, only legends remained about the gardens of Babylon.
Introduction
Conclusion
Literature
Introduction
At the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. in the south of Mesopotamia, on the lands of modern Iraq, the Babylonian state appeared, which existed until 538 BC. The capital of this powerful state was the city of Babylon - the largest political, commercial and cultural center of Western Asia. The word "Babylon" ("Babil") is translated as "Gate of God."
The Babylonian civilization was, in essence, the last phase of the Sumerian civilization and culture.
It was essentially a small country, no more than 500 kilometers in length and up to 200 in width, the borders of which, with the increase in the political power of the Babylonian monarchy, moved far to the sides.
Along with the prosperity of agriculture, the growth of cities and extensive trade in the country, science developed, and the network of libraries, consisting of numerous clay cuneiform tiles, expanded.
The most ancient undertakings of astronomy and mathematics had their roots in Babylonia, where the duodecimal system dominated, the main large unit of which was the number 60, made up of multiplying 12 (months) by 5 (fingers). In general, the modern division of time, with its seven-day week, with hours and minutes, is of ancient Babylonian origin.
The countries neighboring this state were long influenced by the culture of Babylonia, whose language, even 1500 years before the Christian era, like modern French, was the language of diplomats in almost all of Western Asia and Egypt.
In general, Babylonia is the foundation of the most ancient Western Asian culture, on the foundations of which most of the current Western European education is based.
1. Ancient Babylon and the interweaving of cultures
In Mesopotamia, in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, one state formation was replaced more than once by another, various peoples fought among themselves, and the victors usually destroyed the temples, fortresses and cities of the vanquished to the ground. Babylonia, not protected from the outside, like Egypt, by impassable sands, was often subject to enemy invasions that devastated the countries. Thus, many great works of art perished, and a great culture was consigned to oblivion.
Peoples of different origins, who were at war with each other in Mesopotamia, created several cultures, and yet their art in its entirety is marked by common features that deeply distinguish it from Egyptian.
The art of the ancient peoples of southern Mesopotamia is usually designated as Babylonian art; this name extends to the name not only of Babylon itself (beginning of the 2nd millennium BC), but also of the once independent Sumerian-Akkadian states (IV-III millennium BC), then united by Babylon. For Babylonian culture can be considered the direct heir of the Sumerian-Akkadian culture.
Like the culture of Egypt and probably at about the same time, this culture arose in Mesopotamia at the end of the Neolithic, again in connection with the rationalization of agriculture. If Egypt, in the words of the historian Herodotus, is a gift of the Nile, then Babylon should also be recognized as a gift of the Tigris and Euphrates, since the spring floods of these rivers leave layers of silt around that are beneficial for the soil.
And here the primitive communal system was gradually replaced by a slave system. However, in Mesopotamia for a long time there was no single state ruled by a single despotic power. Such power was established in separate city-states, which were constantly at war with each other over watering the fields, over slaves and livestock. At first, this power was entirely in the hands of the priesthood.
In Babylonian art one cannot find depictions of funeral scenes. All the thoughts, all the aspirations of the Babylonian are in the reality that life reveals to him. But life is not sunny, not blooming, but a life full of mysteries, based on struggle, a life dependent on the will of higher powers, good spirits and evil demons, also waging a merciless struggle among themselves.
The cult of water and the cult of heavenly bodies played a huge role in the beliefs of the ancient inhabitants of Mesopotamia. The cult of water - on the one hand, as a good force, a source of fertility, and on the other - as an evil, merciless force, which apparently devastated these lands more than once (as in ancient Jewish legends, the formidable legend of the flood is given with a striking coincidence of details in the legends Sumerians).
The cult of heavenly bodies is a manifestation of the divine will.
Answer questions, teach how to live without meeting evil spirits, announce the divine will - only a priest could do all this. And indeed, the priests knew a lot - this is evidenced by Babylonian science, born in a priestly environment. Remarkable successes have been achieved in the mathematics necessary to revive the trade of the cities of Mesopotamia, for the construction of dams and the redistribution of fields. The Babylonian sexagesimal number system is still alive today in our minutes and seconds.
Significantly ahead of the Egyptians, Babylonian astronomers succeeded in observing the celestial bodies: “goats,” i.e. planets, and “calmly grazing sheep”, i.e. fixed stars; they calculated the laws of revolution of the Sun, Moon and the frequency of eclipses. But all their scientific knowledge and searches were associated with magic and fortune telling. The stars, constellations, as well as the entrails of sacrificed animals, were supposed to provide clues to the future. Spells, conspiracies and magic formulas were known only to priests and astrologers. And therefore their wisdom was considered magical, as if supernatural.
The Hermitage houses a Sumerian table - the oldest written monument in the world (about 3300 BC). The rich Hermitage collection of such tables gives a clear idea of the life of the Sumerian-Akkadian cities and Babylon itself.
The text of one of the tables of a later period (2nd millennium BC) shows the spirit in which the Babylonian laws were drawn up and what they sometimes led to: a certain Babylonian, convicted of a serious crime - stealing a slave, knowing what he was entitled to for this the death penalty, while the murder of a slave is punishable only by a fine, he hastened to strangle the powerless victim of his self-interest.
Sumerian cuneiform, together with the main elements of Sumerian culture, was borrowed by the Babylonians, and then, thanks to the widespread development of Babylonian trade and culture, it spread throughout Western Asia. In the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. Cuneiform became the international diplomatic writing system.
Many Sumerian sayings testify to the tendency of this people, who seemed to fully accept the priestly “wisdom” with its indisputable provisions, to criticize, to doubt, to consider many issues from the most opposite points of view, with a smile reflecting subtle, healthy humor.
How, for example, should you dispose of your property?
We'll die anyway - let's waste it all!
And we still have a long time to live - let's save up.
Wars did not stop in Babylonia. However, as is clear from the following saying, the Sumerians clearly understood their ultimate meaninglessness:
You are going to conquer the enemy's lands.
The enemy comes and conquers your land.
Among the almost two thousand Babylonian cuneiform tablets stored in the Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, the American scientist Professor S. Carter recently discovered the text of two elegies. This, in his opinion, is one of the first attempts to convey in poetic form the experiences caused by the death of a loved one.
For example, here's what it says:
May your children conceived be included among the leaders,
May all your daughters get married,
May your wife be healthy, may your family multiply,
May prosperity and health accompany them every day,
May beer, wine and other things never run out in your home.
Riddles and fears, superstition, witchcraft and humility, but sober thought and sober calculation; ingenuity, accurate calculation skills, born in hard work to hydrate the soil; constant awareness of danger from the elements and enemies, together with the desire to fully enjoy life; closeness to nature and a thirst to know its secrets - all this left its mark on Babylonian art.
Like the Egyptian pyramids, the Babylonian ziggurats served as a monumental crown to the entire surrounding architectural ensemble and landscape.
A ziggurat is a tall tower surrounded by protruding terraces and giving the impression of several towers, decreasing in volume ledge by ledge. A ledge painted black was followed by another of a natural brick color, and after that a whitewashed one.
Ziggurats were built in three or four ledges, or even more, up to seven. Together with the coloring, the landscaping of the terraces added brightness and picturesqueness to the entire structure. The upper tower, to which a wide staircase led, was sometimes crowned with a gilded dome sparkling in the sun.
Each large city had its own ziggurat, lined with solid brickwork. The ziggurat usually rose near the temple of the main local deity. The city was considered the property of this deity, who was called upon to protect his interests in the host of other gods. The best preserved ziggurat (21 meters high) in the city of Ur, built in the 22nd -21st centuries. BC..
In the upper tower of the ziggurat, the outer walls of which were sometimes covered with blue glazed brick, there was a sanctuary. No people were allowed there, and there was nothing there except a bed and sometimes a gilded table. The sanctuary was the “dwelling” of God, who rested in it at night, served by a chaste woman. But this same sanctuary was used by the priests for more specific needs: they went up there every night for astronomical observations, often associated with the calendar dates of agricultural work.
The religion and history of Babylon are more dynamic than the religion and history of Egypt. Babylonian art is also more dynamic.
Arch... Vault... Some researchers attribute to the Babylonian architects the invention of these architectural forms, which formed the basis of all the building art of ancient Rome and medieval Europe. In fact, a covering of wedge-shaped bricks, placed one against the other in a curved line and thus held in balance, was widely used in Babylonia, as can be seen from the remains of palaces, canals and bridges discovered in Mesopotamia.
The legacy of prehistoric times, the magical image of the Beast, dominates many works of Babylonian fine art. Most often it is a lion or a bull. After all, in the prayer hymns of Mesopotamia the fury of the gods was compared to that of a lion, and their power to the furious strength of a wild bull. In search of a sparkling, colorful effect, the Babylonian sculptor loved to depict a mighty beast with eyes and a protruding tongue made of brightly colored stones.
Copper relief that once dominated the entrance of the Sumerian temple at Al Obeid (2600 BC). An eagle with a lion's head, gloomy and unshakable, like fate itself, with widely spread wings and claws, holds two symmetrically standing deer with decoratively intricate branched antlers. The eagle, victoriously perched above the deer, is at peace, and the deer he captured is also at peace. Extremely clear and extremely impressive in its harmony and inner strength, a typically heraldic composition.
Of exceptional interest in the craftsmanship and remarkable decorativeness, combined with the most bizarre fantasy, is a plate with mother-of-pearl inlay on black enamel that decorated a harp found in the royal tombs of Ur (2600 BC), foreshadowing (again on millennium) fables of Aesop, La Fontaine and our Krylov transformation of the animal kingdom: animals that act and, apparently, reason like people are endowed with human traits: a donkey playing a harp, a dancing bear, a lion on its hind legs, majestically carrying a vase, a dog with a dagger in his belt is a mysterious black-bearded “scorpion man”, somewhat reminiscent of a priest, followed by a mischievous goat...
Magnificent is the mighty head of a bull made of gold and lapis lazuli with eyes and a white shell, which also adorned the harp, which in its reconstructed form is a true miracle of applied art.
Under King Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC), the city of Babylon united all the regions of Sumer and Akkad under its leadership. The glory of Babylon and its king resounds throughout the surrounding world.
Hammurabi publishes the famous code of laws, known to us from the cuneiform text on an almost two-meter stone pillar, decorated with a very high relief. Unlike the Naram-Sin stele, which resembles a pictorial composition, the relief figures stand out monumentally, like round sculptures vertically cut in half. The bearded and majestic sun god Shamash, sitting on a throne-temple, hands over the symbols of power - a rod and a magic ring - to King Hammurabi, who stands in front of him in a pose filled with humility and reverence. Both look intently into each other's eyes, and this enhances the unity of the composition. The rest of the pillar is covered with cuneiform text containing 247 articles of the code of law. Five columns containing 35 articles were apparently scraped out by the Elamite conqueror, who took this monument as a trophy to Susa.
For all its undoubted artistic merits, this famous relief already shows some signs of the coming decline of Babylonian art. The figures are purely static; there is no sense of the inner nerve or the former inspired temperament in the composition.
2. Culture of the New Babylonian Kingdom
Babylon reached its greatest peak during the period of the New Babylonian Kingdom (626-538 BC). Nebuchadnezzar II (604-561 BC) decorated Babylon with luxurious buildings and powerful defensive structures.
The last flourishing of Babylon under Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar II found its outward expression in the great construction activity of these kings. Particularly large and luxurious structures were erected by Nebuchadnezzar, who rebuilt Babylon, which became the largest city in Western Asia. Palaces, bridges and fortifications were built in it, causing the surprise of contemporaries.
Nebuchadnezzar II built a large palace, luxuriously decorated the religious processional road and the “Gate of the Goddess Ishtar,” and built a “country palace” with the famous “hanging gardens.”
Under Nebuchadnezzar II, Babylon turned into an impregnable military fortress. The city was surrounded by a double wall of mud and baked bricks, fastened with asphalt mortar and reeds. The outer wall was almost 8 m high, 3.7 m wide, and its circumference was 8.3 km. The inner wall, located at a distance of 12 m from the outer one, was 11-14 m high and 6.5 m wide. The city had 8 gates guarded by royal soldiers. In addition, fortified towers were located at a distance of 20 m from each other, from which it was possible to fire at the enemy. In front of the outer wall, at a distance of 20 m from it, there was a deep and wide ditch filled with water.
Here is the note left by this king:
“I surrounded Babylon from the east with a powerful wall, I dug a ditch and strengthened its slopes with asphalt and baked bricks. At the base of the ditch I erected a high and strong wall. I made a wide gate of cedar wood and lined it with copper plates. So that the enemies Those who planned evil could not penetrate the borders of Babylon from the flanks, I surrounded it with powerful waters like sea waves. It was as difficult to overcome them as a real sea. To prevent a breakthrough from this side, I erected a rampart on the shore and lined it. I carefully strengthened the bastions with baked bricks and turned the city of Babylon into a fortress."
The ancient historian Herodotus reports that two chariots drawn by four horses could freely pass along the walls. Excavations confirmed his testimony. New Babylon had two boulevards, twenty-four great avenues, fifty-three temples and six hundred chapels.
All this was in vain, because the priests, who occupied an exceptionally high position in the Neo-Babylonian kingdom, under one of Nebuchadnezzar’s successors, simply handed over the country and the capital to the Persian king... in the hope of increasing their income.
Babylon! “A great city... a strong city,” as the Bible says, which “made all nations drink of the wrathful wine of its fornication.”
This is not about the Babylon of the wise king Hammurabi, but about the Neo-Babylonian kingdom, founded by newcomers to Babylonia, the Chaldeans, after the defeat of Assyria.
Slavery in Babylon reached its greatest development during this period. Trade has achieved significant development. Babylon became the country's largest trading center, where agricultural products, handicrafts, real estate and slaves were bought and sold. The development of trade led to the concentration of great wealth in the hands of the large trading houses of the Filial Egibi in Babylon and the Filial Egibi in Nippur, the archives of which have survived to this day.
Nabopolassar and his son and successor Nebuchadnezzar II (604 - 561 BC) pursued an active foreign policy. Nebuchadnezzar II made campaigns in Syria, Phenicia and Palestine, where at that time the Egyptian pharaohs of the 26th dynasty were trying to establish themselves. In 605 BC, at the Battle of Carchemish, Babylonian troops defeated the Egyptian army of Pharaoh Necho, who was supported by Assyrian troops. As a result of the victory, Nebuchadnezzar II captured all of Syria and advanced to the borders of Egypt. However, the kingdom of Judah and the Phoenician city of Tire, with the support of Egypt, stubbornly resisted Nebuchadnezzar II. In 586 BC. After the siege, Nebuchadnezzar II occupied and destroyed the capital of Judea, Jerusalem, resettling a large number of Jews into “Babylonian captivity.” Tire withstood the siege of Babylonian troops for 13 years and was not taken, but subsequently submitted to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar II managed to defeat the Egyptians and drive them out of Western Asia.
Only a memory remains of this New Babylon, for after its capture by the Persian king Cyrus II in 538 BC. Babylon gradually fell into complete decline.
The memory of King Nebuchadnezzar, who defeated the Egyptians, destroyed Jerusalem and captured the Jews, surrounded himself with luxury unparalleled even in those days and turned the capital he built into an impregnable stronghold, where the slave-owning nobility indulged in the most riotous life, the most unbridled pleasures...
The memory of the famous "Tower of Babel" in the Bible, which was a grandiose seven-tiered ziggurat (built by the Assyrian architect Aradakhdeshu), ninety meters high, with a sanctuary sparkling on the outside with bluish-purple glazed bricks.
This sanctuary, dedicated to the main Babylonian god Marduk and his wife, the goddess of the dawn, was crowned with gilded horns, a symbol of this god. According to Herodotus, the statue of the god Marduk made of pure gold that stood in the ziggurat weighed almost two and a half tons.
The memory of the famous “Hanging Gardens” of the semi-mythical queen Semiramis, revered by the Greeks as one of the seven wonders of the world. It was a multi-tiered structure with cool chambers on ledges, planted with flowers, bushes and trees, irrigated by a huge water-lifting wheel, which was rotated by slaves. During excavations at the site of these “gardens,” only a hill with a whole system of wells was discovered.
The memory of the “Gate of Ishtar” - the goddess of love... However, something more concrete has also been preserved from this gate, through which the main processional road ran. On the slabs with which it was paved, there was the following inscription: “I, Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, paved the Babylonian street for the procession of the great lord Marduk with stone slabs from Shadu. Marduk, lord, grant us eternal life.”
The walls of the road in front of the Ishtar Gate were lined with blue glazed bricks and decorated with a relief frieze depicting a procession of lions - white with a yellow mane and yellow with a red mane. These walls, together with the gates, are the most remarkable thing that has been preserved, at least partially, from the grandiose buildings of Nebuchadnezzar (Berlin, Museum).
In terms of the selection of tones, this brilliant colored glaze is perhaps the most interesting in the art monuments of the Neo-Babylonian kingdom that have come down to us. The figures of the animals themselves are somewhat monotonous and inexpressive, and their totality, in general, is nothing more than a decorative composition, at the same time devoid of dynamism. The art of New Babylon created little original; it repeated only with greater and sometimes excessive pomp the examples created by ancient Babylonia and Assyria. It was art that we would now call academic: a form perceived as a canon, without the freshness, spontaneity and inner justification that once inspired it.
With the establishment of Persian rule (528 BC), new customs, laws and beliefs appeared. Babylon ceased to be the capital, the palaces were empty, the ziggurats gradually turned into ruins. Babylon gradually fell into complete decline. In the Middle Ages AD, only miserable Arab huts huddled on the site of this city. Excavations made it possible to restore the layout of the huge city, but not its former grandeur.
The Babylonian civilization, whose culture represents the last phase of Sumerian culture, marks the birth of a new socio-psychic cosmos - moral and ethical, the forerunner of the Christian - around a new sun, suffering man.
Conclusion
At the turn of the XIX - XVIII centuries. BC e. During the fierce struggle in Mesopotamia between states and dynasties of various origins, Babylon began to stand out, eventually turning into one of the greatest cities in the world. It was the capital of not only the Ancient, but also the New Babylonian Kingdom, which emerged a thousand years later. The exceptional importance of this economic and cultural center is evidenced by the fact that all of Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia) - the region in the middle and lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates - was often defined by the term Babylonia.
The existence of the ancient Babylonian kingdom (1894-1595 BC) leaves a remarkable era in the history of Mesopotamia. During these three hundred years, the southern part of it reached a high degree of economic development and political influence. Babylon, an insignificant town under the first Amorite kings, became a major commercial, political and cultural center during the Babylonian dynasty.
At the end of the 8th century. Babylon was conquered by the Assyrians and as punishment for the rebellion in 689. BC e. completely destroyed.
Babylonia, after three hundred years of dependence on Assyria, again became independent in 626 BC, when the Chaldean king Nabopolassar reigned there. The kingdom he founded lasted about 90 years, until 538 BC, when it was conquered by the troops of the Persian king Cyrus, in 331 Alexander the Great took possession of it, in 312 Babylon was captured by one of the generals of Alexander the Great, Seleucus, who resettled most of it inhabitants to the nearby city of Seleucia, which he founded. By 2nd century AD in place of Babylon only ruins remained.
Thanks to archaeological excavations that have been carried out since 1899, city fortifications, a royal palace, temple buildings, in particular the complex of the god Marduk, and a residential area have been discovered on the territory of Babylon.
Currently, Iraq is located on the territory of the state of Babylon; this is the only thing that unites these two states.
Literature
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Shumov S.A., Andreev A.R. Iraq: history, people, culture: Documentary historical research. - M.: Monolit-Evrolints-Tradition, 2002.-232 p.
