According to the opening introduction of the Two Rivers Civilization, Babylon was originally used as a geographical concept to refer to the southern region of Mesopotamia. It was not until the Amorites founded ancient Babylon in the 19th century BC that the concept of Babylon as a nation began. To be honest, its existence was not short, and by the time the Neo-Babylonian kingdom was founded, it had been established for more than 1,000 years and had gone through eleven dynasties. The reason why I skip the middle 9 dynasties and write about ancient Babylon (the first Babylonian dynasty) and Neo-Babylon (the eleventh Babylonian dynasty) separately is because in the middle of the 1,000 years, most of the time was either suppressed by northern powers (such as the Hittites and Assyria) or frequently harassed by the Elamites from the Iranian plateau in the east, which was really lackluster. And these two dynasties, one head and one tail, have contributed immortal masterpieces to mankind.
The Code of Hammurabi is the treasure of ancient Babylon for posterity, but what about Neo-Babylon?
In 626 BC, the dying Assyrian Empire sent Nabopalashar, the leader of the Chaldeans, as governor of Babylon. As soon as this Assyrian "Anlusan" took office, he immediately raised the anti-flag, declared independence, and established the eleventh dynasty in the history of Babylon, the new Babylon. He then united with the Median kingdom on the Iranian plateau and sent Assyria to the grave.
In 605 B.C., the son of Naboparashar, a man who will be remembered by all Jews for life, ascended the throne, ushering in the golden age of Neo-Babylon.
Nebuchadnezzar II (Aramaic:
； Hebrew:
Nəḇūḵaḏneṣṣar； Ancient Greek: Ναβουχοδονόσωρ; Naboukhodonósôr； Arabic:
nibūḫaḏniṣṣar； 634-562 BC, equivalent to the middle and early Spring and Autumn period of the mainland, roughly the same period as King Zhuang of Chu and Duke Jing of Jin)
This dude may not be very famous in the mainland, but in the West, he can be compared with Attila and Genghis Khan, especially in the eyes of Jews, he should be regarded as the first "whip of God", so he is fortunate to appear in the Bible many times.
In 587 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II besieged Jerusalem, the city fell the following year, the kingdom of Judah founded by the two remaining tribes of the Jews collapsed (the ins and outs of the kingdom of Judah will be discussed in detail in the "Israel" chapter later), Solomon's temple was destroyed, and all the Jews were taken into exile in the city of Babylon, known as the "prisoner of Babylon".
(Image from the Internet, oil painting "Prisoner of Babylon")
Compared to bloody martial arts, his cultural rule may be more well-known, that is, the hanging gardens of Babylon, known as one of the seven wonders of the ancient West---.
The city of Babylon, the thousand-year-old capital of Babylon, was once destroyed by the Assyrians, and Naboparashar, who became queen, rebuilt the city, and Nebuchadnezzar II expanded it on a large scale. The city of Babylon is surrounded by two walls, the main road of the city is paved with white and rose stone slabs, and the city wall has eight gates, the north of which is the famous Ishtar Gate, the surface of the gate is decorated with navy blue glazed bricks, and the bricks are decorated with reliefs such as bulls and mythical monsters. More than 100 years later, when Herodotus, a Greek historian and known as the "father of history", came to the city of Babylon and was still struck by its scale and luxury, calling it the most magnificent city in the world.
(Image taken from the Internet)
Ishtar Gate: In the early 20th century, Germans excavated fragments of the gate during the archaeology of Iraq and transported it back to Germany for reconstruction. It is now in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, Germany, and is the treasure of its town pavilion.
Nebuchadnezzar II also built the world-famous Hanging Garden for his queen, ---Princess Amityes of the Medes, to relieve the queen of homesickness. Located on the banks of the Euphrates River, the garden is built on an artificially piled hill, and according to Theodorus (an ancient Greek historian of the 1st century BC), the garden is about 120 meters long on each side, square in shape, full of exotic flowers and plants, and constantly draws water from the Euphrates River with water wheels for irrigation. This garden looks as if it is located in the sky from a distance, hence the name Sky Garden. The garden also has magnificent pavilions where the king and queen can overlook the city.
(Image excerpted from the Internet, Sky Garden hypothetical image)
Shortly after the death of Nebuchadnezzar II, the struggle between royal power and theocracy, which had been suppressed due to his strength, finally broke out. During the reign of Nabonid, dissatisfied with the priests of the temple of Marduk, the king even left the capital city of Babylon to install a new god, leaving the crown prince Bershasa as regent. Meanwhile, Babylon's eastern neighbor, the once-powerful Medes kingdom, was overthrown by a small and recently rising tribe named Persia, and at this time the monarch's name was Cyrus.
In 539 BC (Old Master Kong had just reached the age of junior high school), Cyrus the Great led an army to invade Babylon, the temple priests simply surrendered directly to Kaecheng, Bershazzar was killed, Nabonides were captured, and the Neo-Babylonian kingdom inexplicably perished.
- Text: Big-faced cat
[Civilization and Geography] 1.7 Two River Valley Civilizations: Assyrian Empire (c. early 26th century BC – 609 BC)
Next: Phoenicia in the Two River Valley