#Babylon, #AncientBabylon, #BabylonianEmpire, #BabylonHistory, #Mesopotamia, #IraqHeritage, #HistoricalBabylon, #AncientCivilizations, #BabylonRuins, #BabylonArchaeology, #BabylonianCulture, #BabylonMysteries, #BabylonLegends, #IraqHistory, #BabylonianArtifacts, #BabylonianMythology, #HangingGardens, #BabylonTourism, #BabylonianReligion, #BabylonianKings, #IraqAntiquities, #SumerAndBabylon, #BabylonianAstronomy, #BabylonianLaw, #BabylonianArchitecture, #BabylonianArt, #BabylonianScience, #Nebuchadnezzar, #BabylonianEmpireLegacy, #AncientIraq
The ancient walled city of Babylon rose to prominence during the reign of Hammurabi, the Mesopotamian king renowned for the world’s first written law. From Babylon, which means Gate of the Gods, he ruled an empire that stretched across most of Mesopotamia. But it was under Nebuchadnezzar II, the second and greatest king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, that Babylon reached glory.
Though biblical narratives portray Babylon as a city of wickedness and evil, the ancient kingdom was a hub of learning, culture, writing, art, and commerce. It is also believed to be the first metropolis in the ancient world to reach a population of some 200,000. The once-mighty city is most famous for the fabled Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. According to legend, Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the construction of these lush, terraced gardens as a gift to his Median wife Queen Amytis to mimic the green valleys of Persia and remind her of her homeland.
Archeologists, however, refute that the Hanging Gardens were in Babylon itself, while others doubt the gardens ever existed to the scale depicted by legend if they existed at all. The city is also known for the Tower of Babel, a legendary tower said to touch the sky. But perhaps Babylon’s most defining feature is the magnificent Ishtar Gate, a monumental blue-glazed, burnt-brick entryway built by Nebuchadnezzar II around 575 BC as a part of a grand walled processional way leading into the city. The gate was dedicated to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar and decorated with wild animals and mythical creatures of religious significance. It was the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon, which was surrounded by mighty mud-brick walls considered one of the original Seven Wonders of the World.
