Babylon

From ArchaeoWiki

Babylon (Arabic: بابل; Hebrew: בבל) refers to a long-lived ancient city of Mesopotamia, the default capital of southern Mesopotamia (Babylonia) from the early second millennium BCE and capital of the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) Empire in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, when the city appeared at the height of its splendour and influence. Babylon's extensive ruins, located on the Euphrates River about 55 miles (88 km) south of Baghdad, lie near the modern town of Al-Hillah, in Babil Province, Iraq.

The form Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu (bāb-ilû, meaning "Gateway of the god(s)", translating Sumerian KA2.DINGIR.RA).

Rulers

Babylon as a city, a kingdom and an empire was governed by a long succession of rulers and dynasties.

BIbliography

• Oates, Joan [1986], Babylon, London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986. ISBN 0500273847 (paper) ISBN 0500020957 (cloth)