The Babylonian Empire was one of the most important in the ancient world . The Babylonians were a very sophisticated people, who built great cities and invented astronomy, the lunar calendar and the zodiac. They were also great teachers of algebra and advanced mathematics.
The capital of the Babylonian Empire was Babylon, located on the Mesopotamian plain surrounding the Euphrates River. The first Babylonian dynasty was founded around 1890 BC, when a king of the Amorite dynasty created a kingdom around his capital, Bab-ilu, located near the Euphrates . It was the beginning of the Babylonian Old Kingdom, which lasted until about 1600 BC
Reign of Hammurabi in Babylon
In 1792 BC, an energetic young king named Hammurabi inherited the throne. Little by little he built up a vast empire that stretched from Assyria in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south. To maintain order within his domain, Hammurabi developed an elaborate legal code. He put in place efficient systems to organize the defense of the country, administer justice, collect taxes and control trade and agriculture . It was the golden age of the Old Kingdom, during which the arts and sciences flourished in Babylon.
After the death of Hammurabi, around 1750 BC, Babylon suffered various attacks. Finally, in 1595 B.C. the capital was sacked by the Hittites, coming from Anatolia. It was not they, however, but the Kassites, coming from the east, who finally inherited the kingdom . For the next 440 years, the Kassite kings ruled Babylon, until they were expelled in 1155 BC. Then began a turbulent time for Babylon, during which a series of powerful dynasties each reigned for a short period of time.
At the beginning of the first millennium BC, the power of the Assyrians to the north was at its height. In the seventh century B.C. the Assyrians sacked Babylon and took control of the region. But the Assyrian Empire was in full decline and, in 626 BC, a general from Chaldea (a southern region of Mesopotamia) named Nabopolassar, reconquered the city and restored Babylonian independence . His victory began the greatest period of Babylon's history.
The new empire
Nabopolassar, who ruled between 625 and 605 BC, claimed that he was the "son of a nobody » But during his rule Babylon again became a mighty empire. Aided by his allies, the Medes from Persia, Nabopolassar defeated the Assyrians and claimed the land from him. In 605 BC, his son Nebuchadnezzar defeated the Egyptian army at the Battle of Carchemish, being crowned king shortly after. His reign (605-562 BC) was the high point of the Babylonian New Kingdom .
Nabopolassar had begun a rebuilding program in Babylon. The new king, Nebuchadnezzar, continued the work of his father. He built stronger walls, new palaces and temples, as well as the beautiful hanging gardens of Babylon for his wife.
Nebuchadnezzar also expanded the borders of his father's empire, defeating Syria and the kingdom of Phoenicia, on the shores of the Mediterranean. From there he continued south to conquer the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, capturing the latter's capital, Jerusalem, in 597 BC. . Following this conquest, the king of Judah and thousands of Jewish citizens were taken to Babylon in chains. When, ten years later, Jerusalem revolted, the city was sacked and again many of its citizens were deported to Babylon.
After Nebuchadnezzar, the glorious history of Babylon declined. The last of its kings was Nabonidus, who ruled between 556 B.C. and 539 BC . He was a mysterious character; an elderly scholar who seemed more interested in religion than solving Babylon's problems. Around 550 BC, Nabonidus suddenly went to live in Taima, an oasis in the Arabian desert.
He remained there for ten years, leaving his eldest son, Belshazzar, in charge of Babylon. In 539 BC the Persians invaded Babylon and in the battles that took place both Nabonidus and Belshazzar were killed. Babylon was conquered and made a province of the Persian Empire.
Babylonian society
Babylonian society was made up of three different groups:the aristocrats, the free citizens (the common people) and the slaves . Aristocrats were generally government officials, military leaders, priests, wealthy landowners, and wealthy merchants. Free citizens were artisans, merchants, farmers, and scribes. Slaves were at the bottom of the hierarchy, but some of them had limited rights:they could own land and even, in certain cases, buy their own freedom. Women could also own land, but other than that they had few rights. They never received an education, for example, since only boys were allowed to go to school.
Most of the inhabitants of Babylon were dedicated to working the fields . The smooth plain between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers was very fertile, for each spring the rivers overflowed their banks, depositing a rich silt on the ground. When the flood waters receded, a network of artificial canals drew water from the rivers to irrigate the fields . The peasants grew barley and sesame, vegetables and fruits. They also kept bees to produce honey and grew flowers, such as lotuses and lilies, to make perfume. Herds of goats, sheep, and cattle grazed the rich fields. Most of the land did not belong to beekeepers, but to the king or to priests and nobles, so many farmers had to lease the land they farmed.
Many inhabitants of the city were merchants or artisans. Merchants traveled great distances to trade, exchanging cloth, grain, and manufactured goods for wood, stone, and precious metals. . Building materials were not abundant in Babylon, so wood and stone were very valuable.
The craftsmen were highly skilled and were grouped into guilds. In order to be admitted to the guild, the boys had to first be apprenticed to a master craftsman and learn the trade.
Science and mathematics in the Babylonian Empire
The Babylonians were outstanding scientists and mathematicians. They invented the lunar calendar, which divided the year into 12 months based on the phases of the Moon . The months were divided into weeks of seven days and each day divided into 24 hours. In the same way as the Sumerians, they also divided the hours into 60 minutes.
In mathematics, they excelled in geometry and algebra, as they came to understand square roots and fractions . They were skilled doctors and have left us detailed records of the symptoms of many diseases and their cures. They had a good knowledge of human anatomy and understood the circulation of the blood.
The Babylonians spoke Akkadian, a Semitic language. They wrote in cuneiform, the writing system developed by the Sumerians . Several thousand documents written on clay tablets have been discovered. Many are business records, legal contracts, receipts and loans. Others speak of military victories, mathematical proofs, prayers, and some are even works of literary fiction.
The Gods of Destiny in the Babylonian Empire
The Babylonians worshiped many of the same gods as the Sumerians . Their deities represented the powerful forces of nature or celestial bodies such as the Sun, the Moon and the stars. Ishtar, the goddess of love and war, represented the planet Venus, while Adad was the god of storms and winds . Each Babylonian city had its own tutelary god. The patron god of Babylon was Marduk the creator.
The Babylonians believed that their gods were responsible for their fate. Signs in the sky, dreams and unusual events predicted the future for them. So the Babylonians quickly became expert astronomers, studying and keeping records of the movements of the stars each night. They could predict eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and invented many of the names we still give to the constellations today .
Babylonian law
The Babylonians had a complete legal code, applied throughout the empire. The law was literally written in stone, as it was recorded on tablets of this material . The best-known group of laws is the Code of Hammurabi, written around 1760 BC. The code was very long, containing 282 articles, and its stated goal was “to make justice prevail on earth, to destroy the wicked and the wicked, that the strong cannot oppress the weak” .
However, the law was not the same for everyone. The same crime had a different punishment depending on who had committed it and against whom it had been committed . For example, if one aristocrat hurt another, the rule was "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth"; in other words, that the criminal should suffer the same damage that he had caused to the victim. However, if an aristocrat harmed a commoner or a slave, the punishment was milder and he only had to pay a fine.
The punishments of the Babylonian law included fines, beatings, mutilations and executions . Prison and forced labor did not exist. If a surgeon killed a patient during a major operation, he could have his hand amputated. An architect who built a house that collapsed on its owner and killed him could be executed.
There were also laws to govern family life. Men could divorce their wives and were allowed to have mistresses. They could also sell their wives and children as slaves . Women, however, could only divorce their husbands if they could prove that they had been ill-treated or cruelly treated, risking their lives if they could not prove their accusations. The law also dealt with children:a son who beat his father could end up with his hand cut off.