BABYLON

BABYLON
   Ancient city on the river Euphrates, south of modern Baghdad. The name is the Greek version of the Babylonian Babili, which was rendered as “Gate of the Gods,” although the etymology is unclear.
   The river used to run through the city but has shifted its course, and the denuded site was left uninhabited for centuries, while the baked bricks used in the monuments were reused by local villagers for their own shelters. There are several scattered tells on an area that used to be enclosed by a wall of some 20 kilometers in length. Due to the high water table, archaeological levels lower than those of the later second millennium B.C. are inaccessible. The extensive archaeological site was excavated by the German Oriental Society starting in 1899, originally led by Robert Koldewey; more recently, Iraqi archaeologists have been at work at the sites. The most spectacular remains, such as the restored Ishtar Gate with its glazed tile reliefs of sacred animals, are in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. Babylon always had a reputation as a sacred site. It was first mentioned in an inscription of the Akkad kingShar-kali-sharri, but it is unlikely that the city’s main temple, the Esagil, was founded by Sargon of Akkad, as a Babylonian Chronicle states. It was the seat of a governor during the Third Dynasty of Ur but only grew to some importance in the Old Babylonian period when Sumu-abum made it the capital of his kingdom. Hammurabi enlarged and fortified the city in the 18th century B.C. The MarduktempleEsagil and the first ziggurat may also have been constructed at this time, although there is no archaeological proof for this.
   The Hittiteking Mursili Idestroyed Babylon around 1595 B.C. It was rebuilt under the Kassite Dynasty, which promoted the cult of the venerable Babylonian gods. The city suffered another sacking (c. 1174) at the hands of the Elamites, who also abducted the statues of Marduk and his consort. It was NebuchadrezzarIwho vindicated this insult by invading Elam and bringing back the stolen gods. In subsequent centuries Babylon was under foreign influence and occupation, first by Elam and then by the Assyrians. While some Assyrian kings wrought havoc in the “sacred city” (e.g., Sennacherib in 698), others endowed the sanctuaries lavishly. However, it was during the time when Babylonia had regained its independence and became a powerful empire that the city began to be invested with magnificence. This was largely the work of NebuchadrezzarII. He used the enormous revenue generated from taxes and tribute to embellish the capital, which became the largest and wealthiest of cities in the Near East.
   It was surrounded by a strongly fortified double wall, some 20 kilometers long, pierced by several gates. Huge bulwarks of baked brick protected the wall at the places where the Euphrates entered the city. Nebuchadrezzar built new palaces and decorated the throne room with glazed brick wall designs, which have also been partially reconstructed in Berlin.
   Of particular importance was the sacred precinct of the god Marduk, with the temple Esagil and the ziggurat, remembered in the Bible as the Tower of Babel, which took 17 years to complete. It incorporated the remains of earlier structures under a casing of brick some 15 meters thick.
   A straight, walled street that served military as well as ritual purposes linked the temple to the western gate. It was used for the annual processions during the New Year festival, and glazed bricks lined the walls, showing the symbols of the main deities: the dragon of Marduk, the lion of Ishtar, and the bull of Adad (see ARCHITECTURE, RELIGION). When the Persianstook political control of Mesopotamia, they did not destroy the city. In the Seleucid period, a theater and a new market were built, while older temples continued to flourish. Despite the foundation of a new capital, Seleucia-on-the-Tigris, Babylon remained an important urban and especially religious center but declined when Parthian rule isolated Babylonia from the Hellenized world.

Historical Dictionary of Mesopotamia. . 2012.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Babylon 5 — Babylon 5, kurz B5, ist der Name einer Raumstation, welche Schauplatz der gleichnamigen Science Fiction Fernsehserie von Joseph Michael Straczynski („JMS“) ist. Diese Serie sowie die zugehörigen Fernsehfilme und Romane spielen in einem eigenen… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Babylon V — Babylon 5 Babylon 5 Titre original Babylon 5 Genre Série de science fiction Créateur(s) Joe Michael Straczynski Production John Copeland Musique Christopher Franke ; Stewart Copeland (pilote) Pays d’origine …   Wikipédia en Français

  • BABYLON — (Heb. Bavel, בָּבֶל, Gk. Βαβυλὼν), ancient city on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River in what is now Iraq. (In contemporary convention, Babylon is used for the city name and Babylonia for the country. In biblical Hebrew בבל is used for… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Babylon 5 — Titre original Babylon 5 Genre Série de science fiction Créateur(s) Joe Michael Straczynski Production John Copeland Mu …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Babylon 5 — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda J. Michael Straczynski, 2007 Babylon 5 es una serie televisiva de ciencia ficción creada, producida y en gran parte escrita por J. Michael Straczynski. El episodio piloto, The Gathering, fue emitido por primera vez… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Babylon A.D. — Babylon A.D. Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Babylon A.D. Información personal Nacimiento 1988 Origen Oakland, California …   Wikipedia Español

  • Babylon AD — Babylon A.D. Babylon A.D. Réalisation Mathieu Kassovitz Acteurs principaux Vin Diesel, Gérard Depardieu, Mélanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh Scénario Éric Besnard Mathieu Kassovitz Maurice G. Dantec (roman) Musique Atli Örvarsson …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Babylon A.D. — Babylon A.D. Données clés Réalisation Mathieu Kassovitz Scénario Éric Besnard Mathieu Kassovitz Maurice G. Dantec (roman) Acteurs principaux Vin Diesel, Gérard Depardieu, Mélanie Thierry, Michelle Yeoh …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Babylon —     Babylon     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► Babylon     The curial title of a Latin archbishopric, also of a Chaldean patriarchate and of a Syrian archbishopric. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Nihil… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • BABYLON — Beli filius, urbis cognominis conditor, secundum Herennium Philonem. Steph. de Babylone, Κτίσμα Βαβυλῶνος, ἀνδρὸς σοφοῦ, παιδὸς Βήλου σοφωτάτου, οὐχ ὡς Η῾ρόδοτους ὑπὸ Σεμιράμιδος. Ταύτης γὰρ ἠ̈ν ἀρχαιοτέρα ἔτεσι χιλίοις δύο, ὡς Ε᾿ρέννιος, Opus… …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Babylon — Babylon, NY U.S. village in New York Population (2000): 12615 Housing Units (2000): 4680 Land area (2000): 2.413619 sq. miles (6.251245 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.344705 sq. miles (0.892781 sq. km) Total area (2000): 2.758324 sq. miles… …   StarDict's U.S. Gazetteer Places

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”