preface
Ancient Babylonian society was a hierarchical and orderly society.
The slave-owning class occupies an absolutely dominant position, and their political, economic, and cultural privileges are very extensive and perfect.
This is the product of the development of slave society to a stage.
The political system of ancient Babylon was characterized by: it had a relatively tight organization and system;
A democratic republic of slave-owning was practiced, with the nobility and commoners composed of adult men and underage men, respectively; has its own armed forces;
The economy is dominated by agriculture, supplemented by industry and commerce, which has a positive effect on promoting the development of productive forces;
It has a large number of slaves, prisoners of war, and civilians, and has a relatively sufficient labor force to carry out military engineering construction.
At the same time, it is a typical slave society.
This article discusses the rise and fall of ancient Babylonian development mainly from some examples from two ancient Babylonian codes.
Ancient Babylonian civilization
The ancient Babylonian civilization consisted of two parts:
One is the Mesopotamian civilization that emerged and developed around the city of Babylon and reached its peak in the 16th century BC;
The second is the Persian Empire from the 18th century BC until the middle of the 19th century BC.
The name "Babylon" comes from its geographical location, and its capital, the "Kingdom of Babylon", was built in the southern Mesopotamian plain, bordered by the Euphrates, Tigris and two river valleys to the west.
It is a place with a long history, developed culture, great military power, economic prosperity and affluent life. Together with the Sumerian civilization, it is known as the three major civilizations of the Middle East.
Before the 18th century BC, Babylon was a vast country with many nationalities and no clear written records.
Since the 16th century BC, the Babylonian region has experienced three historical stages: the ancient Babylonian Kingdom, the Hammurabi dynasty (reigned about 1795~1750 BC) and the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Its territory mainly included the area south of present-day Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, northern Syria, and the eastern Iranian plateau.
In this historical process, many city-states emerged in the Babylonian region, the most influential being the Babylonian Kingdom established by Hammurabi (reigned about 1795~1750 BC) in 1750 BC.
In ancient Babylonian times, in addition to the existence of an independent state, there were many city-states, including Elamite, Assyria, Persia, Medes, etc.
Each of them has a different legal system and language, as well as its own military organization and political institutions, but each has its own religious beliefs and cultural traditions.
During the ancient Babylonian kingdom at the beginning of the 18th century BC, a new fertile land appeared in the southern part of the Mesopotamian plain, and this land was Babylon.
At the beginning of the 18th century BC, three powerful city-states emerged in the region, namely the Sumerian League, the Elamite League, and the Assyrian League. In the late 18th century BC, Babylon was conquered by Assyria due to its advantageous geographical location.
During this time, the kingdom of Babylon developed from a unified city-state to a powerful slave dynasty.
The founder of this dynasty was Hammurabi (reigned about 1795~1750 BC).
After he came to the throne of Babylon, he worked hard to build Babylon into a powerful kingdom with a vast territory, a large population, a developed economy, and a strong military power through external conquest and internal rule.
During his reign, he presided over the compilation of the Code of Hammurabi, a code that comprehensively reflected ancient Babylonian society and politics.
In the Code of Hammurabi, the legal system, criminal law and State institutions are recorded. The Code establishes "monogamy" as an institution of marriage.
The method of land distribution and the method of paying taxes are also regulated.
Because of the small size and large population of Babylon, taxes were extremely heavy, so there is a reference to taxation in the Code of Hammurabi.
In the area of administration, the "Council of the City of Nineveh", a governing body of the city, was established and the appointment and terms of reference of the head of the administration, the "Governor of Nineveh", were established.
During this period, a number of famous scientists also appeared.
Their inventions and creations played an important role in the later development of Mesopotamian civilization.
According to research, the earliest script used in Sumerian civilization was cuneiform.
This script was later inherited and developed by the ancient Egyptians, during which two new scripts were produced, the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and the Phoenician alphabet.
The heyday of ancient Babylonian civilization
(18th century BC ~ 16th century BC), was the heyday of ancient Babylonian civilization.
It is known for the splendid culture it has created.
Politically, centralization is practiced;
Militarily, a powerful standing army was created.
It has a large army and well-trained technicians and engineers, with advanced siege weapons and siege machinery;
Economically, agriculture and commerce are developed; Culturally, a systematic, complete, mature and highly representative language and art has been formed.
It created the earliest hieroglyphic writing system in human history;
invented the world's first digital system;
Invented the first machine in human history that was widely used in engineering construction - "Niniwei boom".
In addition, the ancient Babylonians created the first calendar in human history, the "Hammurabi calendar".
During this period, the city of Babylon was built as a famous city center and commercial center.
Hammurabi calendar
It is located 120 km west of Nineveh. The famous ancient city of Tigris (present-day southern Iraq).
The city is bordered by the Euphrates River to the east and the Tigris and Euphrates river systems to the south;
To the west, it is bordered by the Serum and Nile rivers, tributaries of the Euphrates.
The population is about 150,000. Its capital was in the eastern part of the city of Babylon.
After Hammurabi's death, his son Hannibal ascended the throne, and Hannibal Baka succeeded him.
In 1800 BC, under his command, the ancient Babylonian kingdom destroyed the alliance of Eram and Assyria.
In 1700 BC, the Persian alliance was destroyed.
During this period, the city of Babylon became the center of the empire spanning three continents: Asia, Europe and Africa.
It was once one of the largest cities in the world at the time;
It was also one of the largest economic, cultural and academic centers in the world in ancient times;
It is also one of the oldest cities in the world.
At that time, it had a large standing army and well-trained technicians and engineers, advanced siege weapons and siege machinery; The economy is dominated by agriculture, supplemented by industry and commerce.
In ancient Babylonian society, there was a democratic republic of slave-owning owners, with nobles and commoners composed of adult men and underage men, respectively; has its own armed forces; The economy is dominated by agriculture, supplemented by industry and commerce; Owned a large number of slaves, prisoners of war and civilians.
During the slave society, due to the slow development of productive forces, inequalities between the landlord class and slaves prevailed in the city-states, such as between the nobility and the commoners, between different classes, and between different nationalities.
In addition to the above in ancient Babylon, there were other features of slave society.
Such as: the implementation of a strict hierarchy; The division of master and slave within the ruling class;
have their own armed forces;
the political practice of a democratic republic of slave-owning owners;
The economy is mainly agricultural, supplemented by industry and commerce;
The method of land distribution and taxation is determined by the city-states themselves.
During the period of the ancient Babylonian kingdom (18th century BC ~ 16th century BC), after the heyday of ancient Babylonian civilization, it gradually declined.
The period of the decline of ancient Babylon
Hannibal ascended the throne, the last king of the ancient Babylonian kingdom.
During the reign of Hannibal Barca (reigned about 1750 BC ~ 1700 BC), due to long-term foreign wars and years of conquests, coupled with his son's brutal suppression of the domestic aristocracy.
As a result of internal conflicts and uprisings in various places, the people demanded that Hammurabi Baca hand over the kingdom to them to inherit and administer.
Around 1800 BC, at the strong demand of the people, Hammurabi Baca decided to abdicate and make way for the virtuous. Hammurabi Baca abdicated and became supreme ruler of a slave-owning democratic republic.
During his reign, a series of reforms were introduced.
First of all, he abolished the monopoly and decision-making power of the slave-owning aristocracy over state affairs, and allowed citizens to freely elect kings, etc.
Second, the system of state ownership of land is implemented economically, and land is divided into two forms: state ownership and private ownership;
Third, slavery and personal dependency were abolished;
Finally, a democratic republic of slave-owning was implemented politically.
Hammurabi Barka died shortly after his abdication, and his son succeeded him.
After King Ptolemy Augustus (reigned about 1695~1597 BC) succeeded to the throne around 1700 BC, he further strengthened the centralized system and the slave-owning democratic republic.
During his reign, he mainly completed the following major reforms of land tenure.
On the basis of inheriting Hammurabi Bhaca's original land ownership, he gave part of the land ownership to citizens to buy and sell freely to increase government tax revenue; Army building and armament have been strengthened.
The military system of the Ptolemaic dynasty consisted of a standing army and a citizen army.
Its soldiers are mainly adult men.
He strengthened army building and armament by ordering all men in the army to perform military service.
He also created a large standing army and gave a portion of the land to the soldiers, so that they could buy and sell it freely.
Like Hammurabi Bacca, he was a more enlightened ruler who allowed people to marry freely and gave them certain benefits.
He practiced monogamy throughout the country, while abolished slavery and promoted the development of society.
On the economic front, he allowed farmers to buy and sell land freely.
He also banned land acquisition, stipulated that "each person can only own one-third of the land," and created a number of official posts throughout the country such as tax collectors and grain officials to strengthen the management of agricultural production.
Like Hammurabi Bacca, he practiced monogamy and abolished slavery.
These reforms are conducive to social development and progress, and thus have won the support and support of the broad masses of the people. After the deaths of Toh and Hammurabi Baka, the ancient Babylonian kingdom soon perished.
Around 1800 BC, the Hittites of Egypt destroyed the ancient Babylonian kingdom;
Around 1400 BC, the Elamites destroyed the ancient Babylonian kingdom;
Around the 14th century BC, the Persians replaced the ancient Babylonian kingdom;
Around 640 BC, the Persian king Darius I (reigned about 651 BC ~ 605 BC) began a series of conquest wars against ancient Babylon, which led to the fall of the ancient Babylonian kingdom.
After that, the ancient Babylonian kingdom was conquered by the Greeks and gradually disappeared.
In the ancient Mesopotamian civilization, in addition to the above-mentioned regions, there were some city-states that developed rapidly due to their transportation and superior political status.
For example: the Marduk dynasty (reigned about 700 BC ~ 585 BC) was a city-state in the region;
Elam (reigned c. 511~514 BC) was a commercial city.
It is located on the lower reaches of the Euphrates River, bordered by the Tigris to the north and the Serum and Nile rivers, tributaries of the Euphrates River, to the west. The river valleys around the city are fertile alluvial plains.
It was an independent city-state, controlling major transportation routes and strategic locations along the Euphrates.
At the same time, because the region is a multi-ethnic and multicultural region, there are both certain commonalities and many differences in the historical development of the city-states.
The biggest differences are mainly in the political system and religious beliefs.
In terms of political system, each city-state basically practiced slave-owning democracy, but some city-states also implemented a feudal and vassal system.
They rule over their people through their kings.
There are also large differences in religious beliefs, for example: the Akkadians are polytheistic, while the Elamites are Zoroastrian.
They also differ in their economic systems.
The Elamite are predominantly agricultural, while the Akkadian are predominantly pastoral.
In addition, some city-states also practiced slave owners, slavery or vassals.
But they all have one thing in common—they all rule through their own kings. In socio-economic terms, the relationship between agriculture, animal husbandry and handicraft production is mainly manifested.
For example, the land system in Sumer mainly adopted private ownership of land; In Mesopotamia, slaves and sharecroppers were the main labor force; The Akkadian region was dominated by slavery and so on.
Sumerian civilization occupies an important place in world history.
It is one of the earliest human civilizations to rise after Egypt and the Two Rivers Valley, which not only created splendid ancient civilizations, but also had a profound impact on future world civilizations.
The author's opinion
Ancient Babylonian social development went through two phases: prosperity and decline.
We believe that during its flourishing period, ancient Babylon became one of the most powerful countries in the world, with remarkable achievements in politics, economy, culture and technology.
In the stage of decline, ancient Babylon perished due to internal and external contradictions and economic crises.
bibliography
Ancient Babylon: History, Politics and Culture
Religion and Mythology of Ancient Babylon
The Economic, Social and Cultural History of the Babylonian Empire
Urban Planning and Architecture in Babylon
Life and Culture in Ancient Babylon