BETWEEN 625 and 605 BC. AD
Reign of King Nabopolassar:
A Babylonian general proclaims himself king of Babylon. He allies himself with his neighbors the Medes to defeat the Assyrians.
The Babylonians are convinced that they can predict the future by looking into the entrails of animals. (The photo opposite is a clay model representing a sheep's liver to indicate to the priests what to look for in the entrails)
BETWEEN 612 AND 609 BC. AD
The Babylonians attack Assyria:
The Babylonian king Nabopolassar and the Medes attack Assyria . The cities of Assur and Nineveh are completely destroyed and the Assyrian Empire collapses.
BETWEEN 605 AND 562 BC. AD
Reign of King Nebuchadnezzar II:
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II and his father Nabopolassar rebuild Babylon and make it one of the richest cities in the world. Nebuchadnezzar II had a huge stepped temple built in honor of the god Marduk.
Myth of the Tower of Babel:
“Tower of Babel” means “Gate of Heaven” and comes from the fact that the Hebrews, on their arrival in Babylon, were subjugated by the grandeur of the ziggurat of the god Marduk. This ziggurat would have been conceived as “the pivot that unites heaven and earth and ensures the unity of the Universe”.
Bible Story :While all men speak the same language and form only one people, it occurs to them to build a tower which would reach the heavens by its height and which would allow them direct access to Paradise. But God finds them too proud and believes that if they succeed, nothing will ever be inaccessible to them again. He punishes them by making them all speak different languages. As men no longer understand each other, they abandon their business and disperse on Earth. They thus form peoples foreign to each other. It is in reference to this story in Genesis that the term “tower of Babel” is sometimes used to refer to a place where hubbub and confusion reign. The word Babel is also originally from the word “babble”.
EN 587 BC. AD
The Babylonians conquer Judah and destroy Jerusalem:
The Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II subjugates the Hebrews of Judah and takes them by the thousands into slavery in Babylon. The survivors would later be called the Jews and they would return to their homes when the Babylonian Empire fell.