Early Iron Age Native Rule, Second Dynasty of Isin, 11551026 BC[edit]

The Elamites did not remain in control of Babylonia long, instead entering into
an unsuccessful war with Assyria, allowing Marduk-kabit-ahheshu (11551139 BC) to
establish the Dynasty IV of Babylon, from Isin, with the very first native Akkad
ian-speaking south Mesopotamian dynasty to rule Babylonia, with Marduk-kabit-ahh
eshu becoming only the second native Mesopotamian to sit on the throne of Babylo
n, after the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I. His dynasty was to remain in power
for some 125 years. The new king successfully drove out the Elamites and preven
ted any possible Kassite revival. Later in his reign he went to war with Assyria
, and had some initial success, briefly capturing the south Assyrian city of Eka
llatum before ultimately suffering defeat at the hands of the Assyrian king Ashu
r-Dan I.
Itti-Marduk-balatu succeeded his father in 1138 BC, and successfully repelled El
amite attacks on Babylonia during his 8-year reign. He too made attempts to atta
ck Assyria, but also met with failure at the hands of the still reigning Ashur-D
an I.
Ninurta-nadin-shumi took the throne in 1137 BC, and also attempted an invasion o
f Assyria, his armies seem to have skirted through eastern Aramea (modern Syria)
and then made an attempt to attack the Assyrian city of Arbela (modern Erbil) f
rom the west. However this bold move met with defeat at the hands of Ashur-reshishi I who then forced a treaty in his favour upon the Babylonian king.
Nebuchadnezzar I (11241103 BC) was the most famous ruler of this dynasty. He foug
ht and defeated the Elamites and drove them from Babylonian territory, invading
Elam itself, sacking the Elamite capital Susa, and recovering the sacred statue
of Marduk that had been carried off from Babylon during the fall of the Kassites
. Shortly afterwards, the king of Elam was assassinated and his kingdom disinteg
rated into civil war. However, Nebuchadnezzar failed to extend Babylonian territ
ory further, being defeated a number of times by Ashur-resh-ishi I (11331115 BC),
king of the Middle Assyrian Empire, for control of formerly Hittite-controlled
territories in Aram. The Hittite Empire of the northern and western Levant and e
astern Anatolia had been largely annexed by the Middle Assyrian Empire, and its
heartland finally overrun by invading Phrygians from the Balkans. In the later y
ears of his reign, he devoted himself to peaceful building projects and securing
Babylonia's borders.
Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his two sons, firstly Enlil-nadin-apli (11031100)
, who lost territory to Assyria. The second of them, Marduk-nadin-ahhe (10981081
BC) also went to war with Assyria. Some initial success in these conflicts gave
way to catastrophic defeat at the hands of the powerful Assyrian king Tiglath-Pi
leser I (11151076 BC), who annexed huge swathes of Babylonian territory, thus fur
ther expanding the Assyrian Empire. Following this a terrible famine gripped Bab
ylon, inviting attacks from the Semitic Aramaeans and Suteans from the west.
In 1072 BC Marduk-shapik-zeri signed a peace treaty with Ashur-bel-kala (10751056
BC) of Assyria, however his successor Kadaman-Buria was not so friendly to Assyri
a, prompting the Assyrian king to invade Babylonia and depose him, placing Adadapla-iddina on the throne as his vassal. Assyrian domination continued until c.
1050 BC, with Marduk-ahhe-eriba and Marduk-zer-X regarded as vassals of Assyria.
After 1050 BC the Middle Assyrian Empire descended into a period of civil war,
followed by constant warfare with the Arameans, Phrygians, Syro-Hittite states a
nd Hurrians, allowing Babylonia to once more largely free itself from the Assyri
an yoke for a few decades.
However East Semitic-speaking Babylonia soon began to suffer repeated incursions
from West Semitic nomadic peoples migrating from the Levant, and during the 11t
h century BC large swathes of the Babylonian countryside was appropriated and oc
cupied by these newly arrived Arameans and Suteans. They were followed in the la
te 10th or early 9th century BC by the Chaldeans, an Aramean tribe described in
Assyrian annals as the "Kaldu". The Chaldeans settled in the far southeast of Ba
bylonia, other Arameans settled much of the countryside in eastern and central B
abylonia and the Suteans in the western deserts, with the weak Babylonian kings
being unable to stem these migrations.
Period of Chaos 1026911 BC[edit]

The ruling Babylonian dynasty of Nabu-shum-libur was deposed by marauding Aramea

ns in 1026 BC, and the heart of Babylonia, including the capital city itself des
cended into anarchic state, and no king was to rule Babylon for over 20 years.
However, in southern Mesopotamia (a region corresponding with the old Dynasty of
the Sealand), Dynasty V (10251004 BC) arose, this was ruled by Simbar-shipak, le
ader of a Kassite clan, and was in effect a separate state from Babylon. The sta
te of anarchy allowed the Assyrian ruler Ashur-nirari IV (1019-1013 BC) the oppo
rtunity to attack Babylonia in 1018 BC, and he invaded and captured the Babyloni
an city of Atlila and some northern regions for Assyria.
The south Mesopotamian dynasty was replaced by another Kassite Dynasty (Dynasty
VI; 1003984 BC) which also seems to have regained control over Babylon itself. Th
e Elamites deposed this brief Kassite revival, with king Mar-biti-apla-usur foun
ding Dynasty VII (984977 BC). However, this dynasty too fell, when the Arameans o
nce more ravaged Babylon.
Babylonian rule was restored by Nab-mukin-apli in 977 BC, ushering in Dynasty VII
I. Dynasty IX begins with Ninurta-kudurri-usur II, who ruled from 941 BC. Babylo
nia remained weak during this period, with whole areas of Babylonia now under fi
rm Aramean and Sutean control, and by 850 BC the migrant Chaldeans had establish
ed their own land in the extreme south east. Babylonian rulers were often forced
to bow to pressure from Assyria and Elam, both of which had appropriated Babylo
nian territory.
Assyrian rule, 911619 BC[edit]
From 911 BC with the founding of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911605 BC) by Adad-nira
ri II, Babylon found itself once again under the domination and rule of its fell
ow Mesopotamian state for the next three centuries. Adad-nirari II twice attacke
d and defeated Shamash-mudammiq of Babylonia, annexing a large area of land nort
h of the Diyala River and the towns of Ht and Zanqu in mid Mesopotamia. He made f
urther gains over Babylonia under Nabu-shuma-ukin I later in his reign. TukultiNinurta II and Ashurnasirpal II also forced Babylonia into vassalage, and Shalma
neser III (859824 BC) sacked Babylon itself, slew king Nabu-apla-iddina, subjugat
ed the Aramean, Sutean and Chaldean tribes settled within Babylonia, and install
ed Marduk-zakir-shumi I (855819 BC) followed by Marduk-balassu-iqbi (819813 BC) as
his vassals. It was during the late 850's BC, in the annals of Shalmaneser III,
that the Chaldeans and Arabs are first mentioned in the pages of written record
ed history.
Upon the death of Shalmaneser II, Baba-aha-iddina was reduced to vassalage by th
e Assyrian queen Shammuramat (known as Semiramis to the Persians and Greeks), ac
ting as regent to his successor Adad-nirari III who was merely a boy. Adad-nirar
i III eventually killed Baba-aha-iddina and ruled there directly until 800 BC un
til Ninurta-apla-X was crowned. However he too was subjugated by Adad-Nirari II.
The next Assyrian king, Shamshi-Adad V then made a vassal of Marduk-bel-zeri.
Babylonia briefly fell to another foreign ruler when Marduk-apla-usur ascended t
he throne in 780 BC, taking advantage of a period of civil war in Assyria. He wa
s a member of the Chaldean tribe who had a century or so earlier settled in a sm
all region in the far south eastern corner of Mesopotamia, bordering the Persian
Gulf and south western Elam. Shamshi-Adad V attacked him and retook northern Ba
bylonia, forcing a border treaty in Assyria's favour upon him. However he was al
lowed to remain on the throne, and successfully stabilised Babylonia. Eriba-Mard
uk, another Chaldean, succeeded him in 769 BC and his son, Nabu-shuma-ishkun in
761 BC. Babylonia appears to have been in a state of chaos during this time, wit
h the north occupied by Assyria, its throne occupied by foreign Chaldeans, and c
ivil unrest prominent throughout the land.
The Babylonian king Nabonassar overthrew the Chaldean usurpers in 748 BC, and su
ccessfully stabilised Babylonia, remaining untroubled by Ashur-nirari V of Assyr
ia. However, with the accession of Tiglath-Pileser III (745727 BC) Babylonia came
under renewed attack. Babylon was invaded and sacked and Nabonassar reduced to
vassalage. His successors Nabu-nadin-zeri, Nabu-suma-ukin II and Nabu-mukin-zeri
were also in servitude to Tiglath-Pileser III, until in 729 BC the Assyrian kin
g decided to rule Babylon directly as its king instead of allowing Babylonian ki
ngs to remain as vassals of Assyria as his predecessors had done for two hundred

years.
It was during this period that Eastern Aramaic was introduced by the Assyrians a
s the lingua franca of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, and Mesopotamian Aramaic began t
o supplant Akkadian as the spoken language of the general populace of both Assyr
ia and Babylonia.
The Assyrian king Shalmaneser V was declared king of Babylon in 727 BC, but died
whilst besieging Samaria in 722 BC.
Revolt was then fomented against Assyrian domination by Marduk-apla-iddina II, a
Chaldean malka (chieftain) of the far south east of Mesopotamia, with strong El
amite support. Merodach-Baladan managed to take the throne of Babylon itself bet
ween 721710 BC whilst the Assyrian king Sargon II (722705 BC) were otherwise occup
ied in defeating the Scythians and Cimmerians who had attacked Assyria's Persian
and Median vassal colonies in ancient Iran. Marduk-apla-iddina II was eventuall
y defeated and ejected by Sargon II of Assyria, and fled to his protectors in El
am. Sargon II was then declared king in Babylon.
Sennacherib (705681 BC) succeeded Sargon II, and after ruling directly for a whil
e, he placed his son Ashur-nadin-shumi on the throne. However Merodach-Baladan a
nd his Elamite protectors continued to unsuccessfully agitate against Assyrian r
ule. Nergal-ushezib, an Elamite, murdered the Assyrian prince and briefly took t
he throne. This led to the infuriated Assyrian king Sennacherib invading and sub
jugating Elam and sacking Babylon, laying waste to and largely destroying the ci
ty. Babylon was regarded as a sacred city by all Mesopotamians, including Assyri
ans, and this act eventually led Sennacherib to be murdered by his own sons whil
e praying to the god Nisroch in Nineveh in 681 BC. A puppet king Marduk-zakir-sh
umi II was placed on the throne by the new Assyrian king Esarhaddon. However, Me
rodach-Baladan returned from exile in Elam, and briefly deposed him, forcing Esa
rhaddon to attack and defeat him, whereupon he once more fled to his masters in
Elam, where he died in exile.
Esarhaddon (681669 BC) ruled Babylon personally, he completely rebuilt the city,
bringing rejuvenation and peace to the region. Upon his death, and in an effort
to maintain harmony within his vast empire (which stretched from the Caucasus to
Egypt and Nubia and from Cyprus to Iran), he installed his eldest son Shamash-s
hum-ukin as a subject king in Babylon, and his youngest, the highly educated Ash
urbanipal (669627 BC), in the more senior position as king of Assyria and overlor
d of Shamash-shum-ukin.
Despite being an Assyrian himself, Shamash-shum-ukin, after decades subject to h
is brother Ashurbanipal, declared that the city of Babylon (and not the Assyrian
city of Nineveh) should be the seat of the immense empire. He raised a major re
volt against his brother, Ashurbanipal. He led a powerful coalition of peoples a
lso resentful of Assyrian subjugation and rule, including; Elam, the Persians, M
edes, the Babylonians, Chaldeans and Suteans of southern Mesopotamia, the Aramea
ns of the Levant and southwest Mesopotamia, the Arabs and Dilmunites of the Arab
ian Peninsula and the Canaanites-Phoenicians. After a bitter struggle Babylon wa
s sacked and its allies vanquished, Shamash-shum-ukim being killed in the proces
s. Elam was destroyed once and for all, and the Babylonians, Persians, Chaldeans
, Arabs, Medes, Elamites, Arameans, Suteans and Canaanites were violently subjug
ated, with Assyrian troops exacting savage revenge on the rebelling peoples. An
Assyrian governor named Kandalanu was placed on the throne to rule on behalf of
the Assyrian king.[9] Upon Ashurbanipal's death in 627 BC, his son Ashur-etil-il
ani (627623 BC) became ruler of Babylon and Assyria.
However, Assyria soon descended into a series of brutal internal civil wars whic
h were to cause its downfall. Ashur-etil-ilani was deposed by one of his own gen
erals, named Sin-shumu-lishir in 623 BC, who also set himself up as king in Baby
lon. After only one year on the throne amidst continual civil war, Sinsharishkun
(622612 BC) ousted him as ruler of Assyria and Babylonia in 622 BC. However, he
too was beset by constant unremitting civil war in the Assyrian heartland. Babyl
onia took advantage of this and rebelled under Nabopolassar, a previously unknow
n malka (chieftain) of the Chaldeans, who had settled in south eastern Mesopotam
ia by c. 850 BC.
It was during the reign of Sin-shar-ishkun that Assyria's vast empire began to u

nravel, and many of its former subject peoples ceased to pay tribute, most signi
ficantly for the Assyrians; the Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scythia
ns, Arameans and Cimmerians.
Neo-Babylonian Empire (Chaldean Era)[edit]
Main articles: Neo-Babylonian Empire and Chaldea
The Neo-Babylonian Empire
In 620 BC Nabopolassar seized control over much of Babylonia with the support of
most of the inhabitants, with only the city of Nippur and some northern regions
showing any loyalty to the Assyrian king.[9] Nabopolassar was unable to yet utt
erly secure Babylonia, and for the next four years he was forced to contend with
an occupying Assyrian army encamped in Babylonia trying to unseat him. However,
the Assyrian king, Sin-shar-ishkun was plagued by constant revolts among his pe
ople in Nineveh, and was thus prevented from ejecting Nabopolassar.
The stalemate ended in 615 BC, when Nabopolassar entered the Babylonians and Cha
ldeans into alliance with Cyaxares, an erstwhile vassal of Assyria, and king of
the Iranian peoples who had emerged c. 1000 BC, the Medes, Persians and Parthian
s. Cyaxares had also taken advantage of the Assyrian destruction of the formerly
regionally dominant pre-Iranian Elam and the subsequent anarchy in Assyria to f
ree the Iranic peoples from three centuries of the Assyrian yoke and regional El
amite domination. The Scythians from north of the Caucasus, and the Cimmerians f
rom the Black Sea who had both also been subjugated by Assyria, joined the allia
nce, as did regional Aramean tribes.
In 615 BC, while the Assyrian king was fully occupied fighting rebels in both Ba
bylonia and Assyria itself, Cyaxares launched a surprise attack on the Assyrian
heartlands, sacking the cities of Kalhu (the Biblical Calah, Nimrud) and Arrapkh
a (modern Kirkuk), Nabopolassar was still pinned down in southern Mesopotamia an
d thus not involved in this breakthrough.
From this point on the coalition of Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scy
thians, Cimmerians and Arameans fought in unison against a civil war ravaged Ass
yria. Major Assyrian cities such as Ashur, Arbela (modern Irbil), Guzana, Dur Sh
arrukin (modern Khorsabad), Imgur-Enlil, Nibarti-Ashur, Kar Ashurnasipal and Tus
hhan fell to the alliance during 614 BC. Sin-shar-ishkun somehow managed to rall
y against the odds during 613 BC, and drove back the combined forces ranged agai
nst him.
However, the alliance launched a renewed combined attack the following year, and
after five years of fierce fighting Nineveh was sacked in late 612 BC after a p
rolonged siege, in which Sin-shar-ishkun was killed defending his capital.
House to house fighting continued in Nineveh, and an Assyrian general and member
of the royal household, took the throne as Ashur-uballit II (612605 BC). He was
offered the chance of accepting a position of vassalage by the leaders of the al
liance according to the Babylonian Chronicle. However he refused and managed to
somehow successfully fight his way out of Nineveh and to the northern Assyrian c
ity of Harran in Upper Mesopotamia where he founded a new capital. The fighting
continued, as the Assyrian king held out against the alliance until 608 BC, when
he was eventually ejected by the Medes, Babylonians, Scythians and their allies
, and prevented in an attempt to regain the city the same year.
The Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II, whose dynasty had been installed as vassals of As
syria in 671 BC, belatedly tried to aid Egypt's former Assyrian masters, possibl
y out of fear that Egypt would be next to succumb to the new powers without Assy
ria to protect them, having already been ravaged by the Scythians. The Assyrians
fought on with Egyptian aid until a final victory was achieved against them at
Carchemish in north western Assyria in 605 BC.
The seat of empire was thus transferred to Babylonia for the first time since Ha
mmurabi over a thousand years before.
Nabopolassar was followed by his son Nebuchadnezzar II (605562 BC), whose reign o
f 43 years made Babylon once more the ruler of much of the civilized world, taki
ng over portions of the former Assyrian Empire, with the eastern and north easte
rn portion being taken by the Medes and the far north by the Scythians.

Some sections of the Assyrian Army and Administration may have still continued i
n and around Dur-Katlimmu in north west Assyria for a time, however by 599 BC As
syrian records from this region fell silent. The fate of Ashur-uballit II remain
s unknown, and he may have been killed attempting to regain Harran, at Carchemis
h, or continued to fight on, eventually disappearing into obscurity.
The Scythians and Cimmerians, erstwhile allies of Babylonia under Nabopolassar,
now became a threat, and Nebuchadnezzar II was forced to march into Anatolia and
rout their forces, ending the northern threat to his Empire.
The Egyptians attempted to remain in the Near East, possibly in an effort to aid
in restoring Assyria as a secure buffer against Babylonia and the Medes and Per
sians, or to carve out an empire of their own. Nebuchadnezzar II campaigned agai
nst the Egyptians and drove them back over the Sinai. However an attempt to take
Egypt itself as his Assyrian predecessors had succeeded in doing failed, mainly
due to a series of rebellions from the Israelites of Judah and the former kingd
om of Ephraim, the Phoenicians of Caanan and the Arameans of the Levant. The Bab
ylonian king crushed these rebellions, deposed Jehoiakim, the king of Judah and
deported a sizeable part of the population to Babylonia. Cities like Tyre, Sidon
and Damascus were also subjugated. The Arabs and other South Arabian peoples wh
o dwelt in the deserts to the south of the borders of Mesopotamia were then also
subjugated.
In 567 BC he went to war with Pharaoh Amasis, and briefly invaded Egypt itself.
After securing his empire, which included marrying a Median princess, he devoted
himself to maintaining the empire and conducting numerous impressive building p
rojects in Babylon. He is credited with building the fabled Hanging Gardens of B
abylon.[15]
Amel-Marduk succeeded to the throne and reigned for only two years. Little conte
mporary record of his rule survives, though Berosus later stated that he was dep
osed and murdered in 560 BC by his successor Neriglissar for conducting himself
in an "improper manner".
Neriglissar (560556 BC) also had a short reign. He was the son in law of Nebuchad
nezzar II, and it is unclear if he was a Chaldean or native Babylonian who marri
ed into the dynasty. He campaigned in Aram and Phoenicia, successfully maintaini
ng Babylonian rule in these regions. Neriglissar died young however, and was suc
ceeded by his son Labashi-Marduk (556 BC), who was still a boy. He was deposed a
nd killed during the same year in a palace conspiracy.
Of the reign of the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus (Nabu-na'id, 556539 BC) who i
s the son of the Assyrian priestess Adda-Guppi and who managed to kill the last
Chaldean king, Labashi-Marduk, and took the reign, there is a fair amount of inf
ormation available. Nabonidus (hence his son, the regent Belshazzar) was, at lea
st from the mother's side, neither Chaldean nor Babylonian, but ironically Assyr
ian, hailing from its final capital of Harran (Kharranu). Information regarding
Nabonidus is chiefly derived from a chronological tablet containing the annals o
f Nabonidus, supplemented by another inscription of Nabonidus where he recounts
his restoration of the temple of the Moon-god Sin at Harran; as well as by a pro
clamation of Cyrus issued shortly after his formal recognition as king of Babylo
nia.
A number of factors arose which would ultimately lead to the fall of Babylon. Th
e population of Babylonia became restive and increasingly disaffected under Nabo
nidus. He excited a strong feeling against himself by attempting to centralize t
he polytheistic religion of Babylonia in the temple of Marduk at Babylon, and wh
ile he had thus alienated the local priesthoods, the military party also despise
d him on account of his antiquarian tastes. He seemed to have left the defense o
f his kingdom to Belshazzar (a capable soldier but poor diplomat who alienated t
he political elite), occupying himself with the more congenial work of excavatin
g the foundation records of the temples and determining the dates of their build
ers. He also spent time outside Babylonia, rebuilding temples in the Assyrian ci
ty of Harran, and also among his Arab subjects in the deserts to the south of Me
sopotamia. Nabonidus and Belshazzar's Assyrian heritage is also likely to have a
dded to this resentment. In addition, Mesopotamian military might had usually be
en concentrated in the martial state of Assyria. Babylonia had always been more

vulnerable to conquest and invasion than its northern neighbour, and without the
might of Assyria to keep foreign powers in check and Mesopotamia dominant, Baby
lonia was ultimately exposed.
It was in the sixth year of Nabonidus (549 BC) that Cyrus the Great, the Achaeme
nid Persian "king of Anshan" in Elam, revolted against his suzerain Astyages, "k
ing of the Manda" or Medes, at Ecbatana. Astyages' army betrayed him to his enem
y, and Cyrus established himself at Ecbatana, thus putting an end to the empire
of the Medes and making the Persian faction dominant among the Iranic peoples. T
hree years later Cyrus had become king of all Persia, and was engaged in a campa
ign to put down a revolt among the Assyrians. Meanwhile, Nabonidus had establish
ed a camp in the desert of his colony of Arabia, near the southern frontier of h
is kingdom, leaving his son Belshazzar (Belsharutsur) in command of the army.
In 539 BC Cyrus invaded Babylonia. A battle was fought at Opis in the month of J
une, where the Babylonians were defeated; and immediately afterwards Sippar surr
endered to the invader. Nabonidus fled to Babylon, where he was pursued by Gobry
as, and on the 16th day of Tammuz, two days after the capture of Sippar, "the so
ldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without fighting." Nabonidus was dragged from hi
s hiding place, where the services continued without interruption. Cyrus did not
arrive until the 3rd of Marchesvan (October), Gobryas having acted for him in h
is absence. Gobryas was now made governor of the province of Babylon, and a few
days afterwards Belshazzar the son of Nabonidus died in battle. A public mournin
g followed, lasting six days, and Cyrus' son Cambyses accompanied the corpse to
the tomb.
One of the first acts of Cyrus accordingly was to allow the Jewish exiles to ret
urn to their own homes, carrying with them their sacred temple vessels. The perm
ission to do so was embodied in a proclamation, whereby the conqueror endeavored
to justify his claim to the Babylonian throne.
Cyrus now claimed to be the legitimate successor of the ancient Babylonian kings
and the avenger of Bel-Marduk, who was assumed to be wrathful at the impiety of
Nabonidus in removing the images of the local gods from their ancestral shrines
to his capital Babylon.
The Chaldean tribe had lost control of Babylonia decades before the end of the e
ra that sometimes bears their name, and they appear to have blended into the gen
eral populace of Babylonia even before this (for example, Nabopolassar, Nebuchad
nezzar II and their successors always referred to themselves as Shar Akkad and n
ever as Shar Kaldu on inscriptions), and during the Persian Achaemenid Empire th
e term Chaldean ceased to refer to a people and instead to a social class of pri
ests educated in classical Babylonian literature, particularly Astronomy and Ast
rology.
Persian Babylonia[edit]
Further information: Achaemenid Assyria and Fall of Babylon
Babylonia was absorbed into the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BC.
A year before Cyrus' death, in 529 BC, he elevated his son Cambyses II in the go
vernment, making him king of Babylon, while he reserved for himself the fuller t
itle of "king of the (other) provinces" of the empire. It was only when Darius I
acquired the Persian throne and ruled it as a representative of the Zoroastrian
religion, that the old tradition was broken and the claim of Babylon to confer
legitimacy on the rulers of western Asia ceased to be acknowledged.
Immediately after Darius seized Persia, Babylonia briefly recovered its independ
ence under a native ruler, Nidinta-Bel, who took the name of Nebuchadnezzar III,
and reigned from October 522 BC to August 520 BC, when Darius took the city by
storm, during this period Assyria to the north also rebelled. A few years later,
probably 514 BC, Babylon again revolted under the Armenian king Nebuchadnezzar
IV; on this occasion, after its capture by the Persians, the walls were partly d
estroyed. The Esagila, the great temple of Bel, however, still continued to be k
ept in repair and to be a center of Babylonian religious feelings.
Alexander the Great conquered Babylon in 333 BC for the Greeks, and died there i
n 323 BC. Babylonia and Assyria then became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire. I
t has long been maintained that the foundation of Seleucia diverted the populati
on to the new capital of southern Mesopotamia, and that the ruins of the old cit

y became a quarry for the builders of the new seat of government, but the recent
publication of the Babylonian Chronicles has shown that urban life was still ve
ry much the same well into the Parthian Empire (150 BC to 226 AD). The Parthian
king Mithridates conquered the region into the Parthian Empire in 150 BC, and th
e region became something of a battleground between Greeks and Parthians.
There was a brief interlude of Roman conquest (the provinces of Assyria and Meso
potamia; 116-8 AD) under Trajan, after which the Parthians reasserted control.
The satrapy of Babylonia was absorbed into Asristn in the Sasanian Empire, which b
egan in 226 AD, and by this time East Syrian Rite Syriac Christianity (which eme
rged in Assyria and Upper Mesopotamia the first century AD) had become the domin
ant religion among the native populace, who had never adopted the Zoroastrianism
or Hellenic religions of their rulers.
Apart from the small 2nd century BC to 3rd century AD independent Neo-Assyrian s
tates of Adiabene, Osroene, Assur, Beth Garmai and Beth Nuhadra in the north, Me
sopotamia remained under largely Persian control until the Arab Muslim conquest
of Persia in the seventh century. Asristn was dissolved as a geopolitical entity i
n 637, and the native Aramaic-speaking and largely Christian populace of souther
n and central Mesopotamia gradually underwent Arabization and Islamization.
Babylonian culture[edit]
Bronze Age to Early Iron Age Mesopotamian culture is sometimes summarized as "As
syro-Babylonian", because of the close cultural interdependence of the two polit
ical centers. The term "Babylonia", especially in writings from around the early
20th century, was formerly used to include Southern Mesopotamia's earliest hist
ory, and not only in reference to the later city-state of Babylon proper. This g
eographic usage of the name "Babylonia' has generally been replaced by the more
accurate term Sumer in more recent writing, referring to the pre-Assyro-Babyloni
an Mesopotamian civilization.
Babylonian culture[edit]
Old Babylonian Cylinder Seal, hematite, The king makes an animal offering to Sha
mash. This seal was probably made in a workshop at Sippar.[16]
Art and architecture[edit]
Further information: Architecture of Mesopotamia and Art of Mesopotamia
In Babylonia, an abundance of clay, and lack of stone, led to greater use of mud
brick; Babylonian temples were massive structures of crude brick which were supp
orted by buttresses, the rain being carried off by drains. One such drain at Ur
was made of lead. The use of brick led to the early development of the pilaster
and column, and of frescoes and enameled tiles. The walls were brilliantly colou
red, and sometimes plated with zinc or gold, as well as with tiles. Painted terr
acotta cones for torches were also embedded in the plaster. In Babylonia, in pla
ce of the relief, there was greater use of three-dimensional figuresthe earliest
examples being the Statues of Gudea, that are realistic if somewhat clumsy. The
paucity of stone in Babylonia made every pebble precious, and led to a high perf
ection in the art of gem-cutting.
Astronomy[edit]
Main article: Babylonian astronomy
Tablets dating back to the Old Babylonian period document the application of mat
hematics to the variation in the length of daylight over a solar year. Centuries
of Babylonian observations of celestial phenomena are recorded in the series of
cuneiform script tablets known as the 'Enma Anu Enlil'. The oldest significant a
stronomical text that we possess is Tablet 63 of 'Enma Anu Enlil', the Venus tabl
et of Ammi-Saduqa, which lists the first and last visible risings of Venus over
a period of about 21 years and is the earliest evidence that the phenomena of a
planet were recognized as periodic. The oldest rectangular astrolabe dates back
to Babylonia c. 1100 BC. The MUL.APIN, contains catalogues of stars and constell
ations as well as schemes for predicting heliacal risings and the settings of th
e planets, lengths of daylight measured by a water clock, gnomon, shadows, and i
ntercalations. The Babylonian GU text arranges stars in 'strings' that lie along
declination circles and thus measure right-ascensions or time-intervals, and al

so employs the stars of the zenith, which are also separated by given right-asce
nsional differences.[17][18][19]
Medicine[edit]
Medical diagnosis and prognosis
We find [medical semiotics] in a whole constellation of disciplines. ... There w
as a real common ground among these [Babylonian] forms of knowledge ... an appro
ach involving analysis of particular cases, constructed only through traces, sym
ptoms, hints. ... In short, we can speak about a symptomatic or divinatory [or c
onjectural] paradigm which could be oriented toward past present or future, depe
nding on the form of knowledge called upon. Toward future ... that was the medic
al science of symptoms, with its double character, diagnostic, explaining past a
nd present, and prognostic, suggesting likely future. ...
Carlo Ginzburg[20]
The oldest Babylonian (i.e., Akkadian) texts on medicine date back to the First
Babylonian Dynasty in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC[21] although the e
arliest medical prescriptions appear in Sumerian during the Third Dynasty of Ur
period.[22] The most extensive Babylonian medical text, however, is the Diagnost
ic Handbook written by the ummn, or chief scholar, Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa,[23
] during the reign of the Babylonian king Adad-apla-iddina (10691046 BC).[24]
Along with contemporary ancient Egyptian medicine, the Babylonians introduced th
e concepts of diagnosis, prognosis, physical examination, and prescriptions. In
addition, the Diagnostic Handbook introduced the methods of therapy and aetiolog
y and the use of empiricism, logic and rationality in diagnosis, prognosis and t
herapy. The text contains a list of medical symptoms and often detailed empirica
l observations along with logical rules used in combining observed symptoms on t
he body of a patient with its diagnosis and prognosis.[25]
The symptoms and diseases of a patient were treated through therapeutic means su
ch as bandages, creams and pills. If a patient could not be cured physically, th
e Babylonian physicians often relied on exorcism to cleanse the patient from any
curses. Esagil-kin-apli's Diagnostic Handbook was based on a logical set of axi
oms and assumptions, including the modern view that through the examination and
inspection of the symptoms of a patient, it is possible to determine the patient
's disease, its aetiology and future development, and the chances of the patient
's recovery.[23]
Esagil-kin-apli discovered a variety of illnesses and diseases and described the
ir symptoms in his Diagnostic Handbook. These include the symptoms for many vari
eties of epilepsy and related ailments along with their diagnosis and prognosis.
[26] Later Babylonian medicine resembles early Greek medicine in many ways. In p
articular, the early treatises of the Hippocratic Corpus show the influence of l
ate Babylonian medicine in terms of both content and form.[27]
Literature[edit]
Main article: Akkadian literature
There were libraries in most towns and temples; an old Sumerian proverb averred
that "he who would excel in the school of the scribes must rise with the dawn."
Women as well as men learned to read and write,[28] and in Semitic times, this i
nvolved knowledge of the extinct Sumerian language, and a complicated and extens
ive syllabary.
A considerable amount of Babylonian literature was translated from Sumerian orig
inals, and the language of religion and law long continued to be written in the
old agglutinative language of Sumer. Vocabularies, grammars, and interlinear tra
nslations were compiled for the use of students, as well as commentaries on the
older texts and explanations of obscure words and phrases. The characters of the
syllabary were all arranged and named, and elaborate lists of them were drawn u
p.
There are many Babylonian literary works whose titles have come down to us. One
of the most famous of these was the Epic of Gilgamesh, in twelve books, translat
ed from the original Sumerian by a certain Sin-liqi-unninni, and arranged upon a
n astronomical principle. Each division contains the story of a single adventure
in the career of Gilgamesh. The whole story is a composite product, and it is p
robable that some of the stories are artificially attached to the central figure

.
Neo-Babylonian culture[edit]
The brief resurgence of Babylonian culture in the 7th to 6th centuries BC was ac
companied by a number of important cultural developments.
Astronomy[edit]
Main articles: Babylonian astronomy and Chronology of the ancient Near East
Among the sciences, astronomy and astrology still occupied a conspicuous place i
n Babylonian society. Astronomy was of old standing in Babylonia. The zodiac was
a Babylonian invention of great antiquity; and eclipses of the sun and moon cou
ld be foretold. There are dozens of cuneiform records of original Mesopotamian e
clipse observations.
Babylonian astronomy was the basis for much of what was done in ancient Greek as
tronomy, in classical Indian astronomy, in Sasanian, Byzantine and Syrian astron
omy, astronomy in the medieval Islamic world, and in Central Asian and Western E
uropean astronomy.[17] Neo-Babylonian astronomy can thus be considered the direc
t predecessor of much of ancient Greek mathematics and astronomy, which in turn
is the historical predecessor of the European (Western) scientific revolution.[2
9]
During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Babylonian astronomers developed a new appr
oach to astronomy. They began studying philosophy dealing with the ideal nature
of the early universe and began employing an internal logic within their predict
ive planetary systems. This was an important contribution to astronomy and the p
hilosophy of science and some scholars have thus referred to this new approach a
s the first scientific revolution.[30] This new approach to astronomy was adopte
d and further developed in Greek and Hellenistic astronomy.
In Seleucid and Parthian times, the astronomical reports were of a thoroughly sc
ientific character; how much earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were d
eveloped is uncertain. The Babylonian development of methods for predicting the
motions of the planets is considered to be a major episode in the history of ast
ronomy.
The only Babylonian astronomer known to have supported a heliocentric model of p
lanetary motion was Seleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC).[31][32][33] Seleucus is kn
own from the writings of Plutarch. He supported the heliocentric theory where th
e Earth rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around the Sun. Accor
ding to Plutarch, Seleucus even proved the heliocentric system, but it is not kn
own what arguments he used.
Mathematics[edit]
Main article: Babylonian mathematics
Babylonian mathematical texts are plentiful and well edited.[29] In respect of t
ime they fall in two distinct groups: one from the First Babylonian Dynasty peri
od (18301531 BC), the other mainly Seleucid from the last three or four centuries
BC. In respect of content there is scarcely any difference between the two grou
ps of texts. Thus Babylonian mathematics remained stale in character and content
, with very little progress or innovation, for nearly two millennia.[dubious dis
cuss][29]
The Babylonian system of mathematics was sexagesimal, or a base 60 numeral syste
m. From this we derive the modern day usage of 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minute
s in an hour, and 360 (60 x 6) degrees in a circle. The Babylonians were able to
make great advances in mathematics for two reasons. First, the number 60 has ma
ny divisors (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, and 30), making calculations easier.
Additionally, unlike the Egyptians and Romans, the Babylonians had a true place
-value system, where digits written in the left column represented larger values
(much as in our base-ten system: 734 = 7100 + 310 + 41). Among the Babylonians' ma
thematical accomplishments were the determination of the square root of two corr
ectly to seven places (YBC 7289 clay tablet). They also demonstrated knowledge o
f the Pythagorean theorem well before Pythagoras, as evidenced by this tablet tr
anslated by Dennis Ramsey and dating to c. 1900 BC:
4 is the length and 5 is the diagonal. What is the breadth? Its size is not know
n. 4 times 4 is 16. And 5 times 5 is 25. You take 16 from 25 and there remains 9
. What times what shall I take in order to get 9? 3 times 3 is 9. 3 is the bread

th.
The ner of 600 and the sar of 3600 were formed from the unit of 60, correspondin
g with a degree of the equator. Tablets of squares and cubes, calculated from 1
to 60, have been found at Senkera, and a people acquainted with the sun-dial, th
e clepsydra, the lever and the pulley, must have had no mean knowledge of mechan
ics. A crystal lens, turned on the lathe, was discovered by Austen Henry Layard
at Nimrud along with glass vases bearing the name of Sargon; this could explain
the excessive minuteness of some of the writing on the Assyrian tablets, and a l
ens may also have been used in the observation of the heavens.
The Babylonians might have been familiar with the general rules for measuring th
e areas. They measured the circumference of a circle as three times the diameter
and the area as one-twelfth the square of the circumference, which would be cor
rect if were estimated as 3. The volume of a cylinder was taken as the roduct o
f the base and the height, however, the volume of the frustum of a cone or a squ
are yramid was incorrectly taken as the roduct of the height and half the sum
of the bases. Also, there was a recent discovery in which a tablet used as 3 and
1/8. The Babylonians are also known for the Babylonian mile, which was a measur
e of distance equal to about seven miles today. This measurement for distances e
ventually was converted to a time-mile used for measuring the travel of the Sun,
therefore, re resenting time. (Eves, Cha ter 2) The Babylonians used also s ace
time gra hs to calculate the velocity of Ju iter. This is an idea that is consi
dered highly modern, traced to the 14th century England and France and antici at
ing integral calculus.[34]
Philoso hy[edit]
Further information: Babylonian literature Philoso hy
The origins of Babylonian hiloso hy can be traced back to early Meso otamian wi
sdom literature, which embodied certain hiloso hies of life, articularly ethic
s, in the forms of dialectic, dialogs, e ic oetry, folklore, hymns, lyrics, ro
se, and roverbs. Babylonian reasoning and rationality develo ed beyond em irica
l observation.[35]
It is ossible that Babylonian hiloso hy had an influence on Greek hiloso hy,
articularly Hellenistic hiloso hy. The Babylonian text Dialogue of Pessimism c
ontains similarities to the agonistic thought of the so hists, the Heraclitean d
octrine of contrasts, and the dialogs of Plato, as well as a recursor to the ma
ieutic Socratic method of Socrates.[36] The Milesian hiloso her Thales is also
known to have studied hiloso hy in Meso otamia.
Legacy[edit]
Babylonia, and articularly its ca ital city Babylon, has long held a lace in t
he Abrahamic religions as a symbol of excess and dissolute ower. Many reference
s are made to Babylon in the Bible, both literally (historical) and allegoricall
y. The mentions in the Tanakh tend to be historical or ro hetic, while New Test
ament a ocaly tic references to the Whore of Babylon are more likely figurative,
or cry tic references ossibly to agan Rome, or some other archety e. The lege
ndary Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Tower of Babel are seen as symbols of l
uxurious and arrogant ower res ectively.