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Babylonia

  (băb'ə-lō'nē-ə, -lōn') pronunciation

An ancient empire of Mesopotamia in the Euphrates River valley. It flourished under Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar II but declined after 562 B.C. and fell to the Persians in 539.

 

 
 

Ancient cultural region of the Tigris and Euphrates river system. The area was divided into Sumer (southeast) and Akkad (northwest) when the first Babylonian line of Amorite kings took power after 2000 BC. Largely because of the efforts of Hammurabi (r. c. 1792 – 50 BC), Babylonia gained regional hegemony but declined after his death; the Kassites from the east eventually assumed power (c. 1595) and established a dynasty that lasted some four centuries. After Elam conquered Babylonia (c. 1157 BC), a series of wars established a new Babylonian dynasty whose outstanding member was Nebuchadrezzar I (r. c. 1124 – 03 BC). Following his rule, a three-way struggle developed for control of Babylonia among Assyria, Aram (see Aramaeans), and Chaldea, in which the Assyrians ruled the area most frequently (9th – 7th century BC). In the 7th – 6th century BC the Chaldean Nebuchadrezzar II (605 – 562 BC) instituted the last and greatest period of Babylonian supremacy, conquering Syria and Palestine and rebuilding Babylon, the capital city. It was conquered in 539 BC by the Persian Achaemenian dynasty under Cyrus II and in 331 BC by Alexander the Great, after which the capital city was gradually abandoned.

For more information on Babylonia, visit Britannica.com.

 

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A region taking in the whole of the southern alluvial plain of Mesopotamia, which although traditionally linked with the city of Babylon was not always connected to it or ruled from it.

 
(băbĭlō'nēə) , ancient empire of Mesopotamia. The name is sometimes given to the whole civilization of S Mesopotamia, including the states established by the city rulers of Lagash, Akkad (or Agade), Uruk, and Ur in the 3d millennium B.C. Historically it is limited to the first dynasty of Babylon established by Hammurabi (c.1750 B.C.), and to the Neo-Babylonian period after the fall of the Assyrian Empire. Hammurabi, who had his capital at Babylon, issued the code of laws for the management of his large empire—for he was in control of most of the Tigris and Euphrates region even before he defeated the Elamites. Babylonian cuneiform writing was derived from the Sumerians. The quasifeudal society was divided into classes—the wealthy landowners and merchants and the priests; the less wealthy merchants, peasants, and artisans; and the slaves. The Babylonian religion (see Middle Eastern religions) was inherited from the older Sumerian culture. All these Babylonian institutions influenced the civilization of Assyria and so contributed to the later history of the Middle East and of Western Europe.

The wealth of Babylonia tempted nomadic and seminomadic neighbors; even under Hammurabi's successor Babylonia was having to stave off assaults. Early in the 18th cent. B.C. the Hittites sacked Babylon and held it briefly. The nomadic Kassites (Cassites), a tribe from Elam, took the city shortly thereafter and held it precariously for centuries. Babylonia degenerated into anarchy c.1180 B.C. with the fall of the Kassites. As a subsidiary state of the Assyrian Empire (after the 9th cent. B.C.), Babylonia flourished once more. It was the key area in the attempted uprising against the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, and Babylon was sacked (c.689 B.C.) in his reign.

After the death of Assurbanipal, the last great Assyrian monarch, Nabopolassar, the ruler of Babylonia, established (625 B.C.) his independence. He allied himself with the Medes and Persians and helped to bring about the capture of Nineveh (612 B.C.) and the fall of the Assyrian Empire. He established what is generally known as the Chaldaean or New Babylonian Empire. Under his son, Nebuchadnezzar, the new empire reached its height (see Babylon). The recalcitrant Hebrews were defeated and punished with the Babylonian captivity. Egypt had already been defeated by Nebuchadnezzar in the great battle of Carchemish (605) while Nabopolassar was still alive. The empire seemed secure, but it was actually transitory. The steady growth of Persian power spelled the end of Babylonia, and in 538 B.C. the last of the Babylonian rulers surrendered to Cyrus the Great (see also Belshazzar). Babylonia became an important region of the Persian Empire.

Bibliography

See R. W. Rogers, A History of Babylonia and Assyria (6th ed. 1915); D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia (1926–27); G. R. Driver et al., The Babylonian Laws (1952–55); H. W. F. Saggs, Everyday Life in Babylonia and Assyria (1965, repr. 1987); J. Wellard, Babylon (1972).


 

Ancient Religion and Magic

Magic was integral to the religion of ancient Babylonia. All the deities (the most prominent ones being Ea, Anu, and Enlil, the elder Bel) retained, even in the last centuries of Babylonian development, traces of their early demonic character. Ea, Anu, and Enlil formed a triad at the dawn of history and appear to have developed from an animistic group of world spirits. Although Ea became specialized as a god of the deep, Anu as a god of the sky, and Enlil as an earth god, each also had titles that emphasized that they had attributes overlapping those of the others. Thus Ea was Enki, earth lord, and as Aa was a lunar deity; he also had solar attributes. In the legend of Etana and the Eagle, his heaven is stated to be in the sky. Anu and Enlil as deities of thunder, rain, and fertility are closely linked to Ea, as Dagan, of the flooding and fertilizing Euphrates.

Each of these deities was accompanied by demonic groups. The spirits of disease were the "beloved sons of Bel"; the fates were the seven daughters of Anu; the seven storm demons, including the dragon and serpent, were of Ea's brood. The following description of Ea's older monstrous form occurs in one of the magical incantations translated by R. C. Thompson:

The head is the head of a serpent,
From his nostrils mucus trickles,
The mouth is beslavered with water;
The ears are those of a basilisk,
His horns are twisted into three curls,
He wears a veil in his head-band,
The body is a sun-fish full of stars,
The base of his feet are claws,
The sole of his foot has no heel;
His name is Sassu-wunnu,
A sea monster, a form of Ea.

Ea was "the great magician of the gods;" his sway over the forces of nature was secured by the performance of magical rites, and his services were obtained by humankind, who performed requisite ceremonies and repeated appropriate spells. Although he might be worshipped and propitiated in his temple at Eridu, he could also be conjured in reed huts. The latter indeed appear to have been the oldest holy places. In the Deluge myth, he makes a revelation in a dream to his human favorite, Pirnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah, of the approaching disaster planned by the gods, by addressing the reed hut in which he slept: "O, reed hut, hear; O, wall, understand." The sleeper received the divine message from the reeds. The reeds were to the Babylonians what rowan branches were to northern Europeans—they protected them against demons. Thus, for example, the dead were buried wrapped in reed mats.

The priesthood included two classes of magicians: the "Ashipu," who were exorcists, and the "Mashmashu," the purifers. The Ashipu priests played a prominent part in ceremonies, which had for their object the magical control of nature; in times of storm, disaster, and eclipse they were especially active. They also took the part of "witch doctors." Victims of disease were supposed to be possessed of devouring demons. In Thompson's translation:

Loudly roaring above, gibbering below,
They are the bitter venom of the gods …
Knowing no care, they grind the land like corn;
Knowing no mercy, they rage against mankind,
They spill their blood like rain,
Devouring their flesh and sucking their veins.

The Ashipu priests bore the responsibility to drive out the demon. Before doing so, the demon had to be identified. Once the priest did so, he had to bring it under his influence. He accomplished this by reciting its history and detailing its characteristics. The secret of the magician's power was his knowledge.To cure a toothache, for instance, he had to know the "Legend of the Worm." The worm was vampire-like and absorbed the blood of victims, but specialized in gums.

The legend relates that the worm came into existence as follows: Anu created the heavens, the heavens created the earth, the earth created the rivers, and the rivers created the canals, then the canals created marshes, and the marshes created the worm. In due time the worm appeared before Shamash, the sun god, and Ea, god of the deep, weeping and hungry. "What will you give me to eat and drink?" it cried. The gods promised that it would get dried bones and scented wood. The worm realized that this was the food of death, and answered: "What are dry bones to me? Set me upon the gums that I may drink the blood of the teeth and take away the strength of the gums." When the worm heard this legend repeated, it came under the magician's power and was dismissed to the marshes, while Ea was invoked to smite it. Different demons were exorcised by different processes. A fever patient might receive the following treatment:

Sprinkle this man with water,
Bring unto him a censer and a torch,
That the plague demon which resteth in the body of the man,Like water may trickle away.

Demons might also be attacked by a form of image magic. The magician began by fashioning a figure of dough, wax, clay, or pitch. This figure might be placed on a fire, mutilated, or placed in running water to be washed away. As the figure suffered, so did the demon it represented, by the magic of the word of Ea.

In treating the sick, the magician might release a raven at the bedside of the sick person so that it would conjure the demon of fever to take flight likewise. Sacrifices could also be offered, as substitutes for patients, to provide food for the spirit of the disease. A young goat was slain and the priest repeated:

The kid is the substitute for mankind;
He hath given the kid for his life,
He hath given the head of the kid for the head of the man.
A pig might be offered:
Give the pig in his stead
And give the flesh of it for his flesh,
The blood of it for his blood.

The cures were numerous and varied. After the patient recovered, the mashmashu priests purified the house. The ceremony entailed the sprinkling of sacred water, the burning of incense, and the repetition of magical charms. People protected their homes against attack by placing certain plants over the doorways and windows. The halter of a donkey, or ass, was apparently used, in the same manner that horseshoes have been used in Europe to repel witches and evil spirits.

The purification ceremonies suggest the existence of taboo. For a period, the sick were "unclean" and had to be isolated. The recently recovered could make their way to the temple. A House of Light was attached, where fire ceremonies were performed, along with a House of Washing, where patients bathed in sacred water. The priest would anoint the individual with oil to complete the release from uncleanliness. Certain foods were also taboo at certain seasons. It was unlawful for a man to eat pork on the thirtieth of Ab (July-August), the twenty-seventh of Tisri, and other dates. Fish, ox flesh, and bread were similarly forbidden on specific dates.

A person's luck depended greatly on the observance of these rules. Still, even if all the ceremonies were observed, one might still meet with ill fortune on unlucky days. On the festival day of Marduk (Merodach) a man must not change his clothes, nor put on white garments, nor offer up sacrifices. Certain disaster would overcome a king if he drove out in a chariot, or a physician if he laid hands on the sick, or a priest who sat in judgment, for example. On lucky days good fortune was the heritage of everyone. Good fortune meant good health in many cases, sometimes assured by worshiping the dreaded spirit of disease called Ura.

A legend related that this demon once made up his mind to destroy all humankind. His counsellor, Ishun, however, prevailed upon him to change his mind, and he said, "Whoever will laud my name I will bless with plenty. No one will oppose the person who proclaims the glory of my valor. The worshiper who chants the hymn of praise to me will not be afflicted by disease, and he will find favor in the eyes of the King and his nobles."

Ghosts

Among the spirits who were the enemies of humans the ghosts of the dead were most dangerous, especially the ghosts of those who had not been properly buried. These homeless spirits—the grave was the home of the dead—wandered the streets searching for food and drink, or haunting houses. They often injured humans seriously.

The ghosts had a scary appearance. When they appeared before children, they frightened them to death. They delayed travelers and mocked those who were in sorrow. The screech-owl was a mother who had died giving birth, and wailed her grief nightly in solitary places. Occasionally she appeared in some terrible form and killed travellers.

Adam's first wife Lilith was a demon who had once been beautiful and was in the habit of deceiving lovers, working evil on them. A hag, Labartu, haunted mountains and marshes and children had to be charmed against her attacks. She also had a human history.

Another belief prevalent in Babylonia was that the spirits of the dead could be conjured from their graves to make revelations. In the Gilgamesh epic, the hero visits the tomb of his old friend and fellow warrior Ea-Bani. The ghost rises like a "weird gust" of wind and answers the various questions with great sadness. Babylonian vision of the future life was colored by profound gloom and pessimism. It was even the fate of the ghosts of the most fortunate and ceremonially buried dead to live in darkness, amid dust. The ghost of Ea-Bani said to Gilgamesh: "Were I to inform thee the law of the underworld which I have experienced, Thou wouldst sit down and shed tears all day long.' Gilgamesh lamented: "The sorrow of the underworld hath taken hold upon thee."

Priests who performed magical ceremonies had to be clothed in magical garments. They received inspiration from their clothing. the gods derived power from the skins of animals in a similar way, with which they were associated from the earliest time. Thus Ea was clad in the skin of the fish—probably the fish totem of the Ea tribe.

The dead were not admitted to the heavens of the gods. When a favored human being, like Utnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah, joined the company of the gods, he was assigned an island paradise where Gilgamesh visited him. He lived there with his wife. Gilgamesh was not permitted to land, and conversed with his immortal ancestor while sitting in his boat. The deities secured immortality by eating the "food of life" and drinking the "water of life."

Astrology

The ancient Babylonians were credited with some of the first correct astronomical observations. They were also pioneers of astrology, which they attributed to the god Marduk or Bel, said to have created the sun, moon, stars, and five planets. They knew that the length of the solar year was approximately 365.4 days and had divided the period of 24 hours into 12 beru (double hours) in accordance with the divisions of the equator, each of which was divided into 60 minutes, and each minute into 60 seconds. Such data were recorded on clay tablets in the library of the Babylonian king Assurbani-pal, around 668 B.C.E. Babylonian astrologers attributed human characteristics to planetary influences at birth, and laid the foundation for modern astrologers.

Sources:

Encyclopedia.com. Babylonia.http://www.encyclopedia.com/. June 26, 2000.

Ferry, David. Gilgamesh: a New Rendering into English Verse. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1992.

Jastrow, Morris. Aspects of Religious Belief and Practice in Babylonia & Assyria. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1911.

Kramer, Samuel N. From the Tablets of Sumer. Falcon's Wing, 1956.

——. Gilgamesh and the Huluppu-tree: A Reconstructed Sumerian Text. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1938.

Lenormant, Francois. Chaldean Magic: Its Origin & Development. London: Samuel Bagster, [1877].

Spence, Lewis. Myths and Legends of Babylonia & Assyria. London, 1916. Reprint, Detroit: Gale Research, 1975.

Thierens, A. E. Astrology in Mesopotamian Culture. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1935.

 
Wikipedia: Babylonia
Ancient Mesopotamia
Babylonlion.JPG
Euphrates · Tigris
Cities / Empires
Sumer: Uruk · Ur · Eridu
Kish · Lagash · Nippur
Akkadian Empire: Akkad
Babylon · Isin · Susa
Assyria: Assur · Nineveh
Dur-Sharrukin · Nimrud
Babylonia · Chaldea
Elam · Amorites
Hurrians · Mitanni
Kassites · Urartu
Chronology
Kings of Sumer
Kings of Assyria
Kings of Babylon
Language
Aramaic
Sumerian · Akkadian
Elamite · Hurrian
Mythology
Enûma Elish
Gilgamesh · Marduk

Babylonia was a state in southern Mesopotamia, in modern Iraq, combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad. The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 23rd century BC.

History

Historically, two ethnic groups, the Sumerians and Akkadians, had dominated the region. An area intensely irrigated, and strategically located for trade routes and commerce, it was often under threat from outsiders throughout the region's history.

Old Babylonian period

Main article: Old Babylonian

At around 2000 BC, following the collapse of the "Ur-III" dynasty at the hands of the Elamites, Semitic Amorites from west of the Euphrates River gained control over most of Mesopotamia. During the first centuries of their rule, Mesopotamia was not unified, and the most powerful city state was Isin. Some Amorites eventually formed a monarchical government in the city-state of Babylon, which would ultimately take over the Amorite kingdoms and form the first Babylonian empire. The three centuries of their rule are known as the Old Babylonian Period.

The Babylonians engaged in regular trade and influence with Western city-states; with Babylonian officials and troops passing to Syria and Canaan. Further, Amorite colonists were established in Babylonia for the purposes of trade.

The city of Babylon was given hegemony over Mesopotamia by their sixth ruler, Hammurabi (17801750 BC; dates highly uncertain). He was a very efficient ruler, writing an influential law code, Hammurabi's Code and giving the region stability after turbulent times, thereby transforming it into the central power of Mesopotamia.

Babylonian beliefs held the king as an agent of Marduk, and the city of Babylon as a "holy city" where any legitimate ruler of Mesopotamia had to be crowned. A natural development was the establishment of a bureaucracy, with taxation and centralized government, to allow the king to exert his control.

A great literary revival followed the recovery of Babylonian independence. One of the most important works of this "First Dynasty of Babylon", as it was called by the native historians, was the compilation of a code of laws. This was made by order of Hammurabi after the expulsion of the Elamites and the settlement of his kingdom. In 1901, a copy of the Code of Hammurabi was discovered by J. De Morgan and V. Scheil at Susa, where it had been taken as plunder. That copy is now in the Louvre.

The Babylonian monarchy's western connections remained strong for quite some time. An Amorite named Abi-ramu or Abram was the father of a witness to a deed dated to the reign of Hammurabi's grandfather; Ammi-Ditana, great-grandson of Hammurabi, still titled himself "king of the land of the Amorites". Ammi-Ditana's father and son also bore Canaanite names: Abi-Eshuh and Ammisaduqa.

The armies of Babylonia were well-disciplined, and they conquered the city-states of Isin, Elam, and Uruk, and the strong Kingdom of Mari. The rule of Babylon was obeyed as far as the shores of the Mediterranean. But Mesopotamia had no natural, defensible boundaries, making it vulnerable to attack. Trade and culture thrived for 150 years until Babylon was sacked by the Hittites in c. 1595 BC, ushering in the age of the Kassites who filled in the power vacuum.

Kassite period

Main article: Kassites

The 14th king of the dynasty was Samsu-Ditana, son of Ammisaduqa. He was overthrown following the sack of Babylon in 1595 BC by the Hittite king Mursili I, and Babylonia was turned over to the Kassites (Kossaeans) from the mountains of Iran, with whom Samsu-Iluna had already come into conflict in his 6th year. The Kassite dynasty was founded by Kandis or Gandash of Mari. The Kassites renamed Babylon "Kar-Duniash", and their rule lasted for 576 years. With this foreign dominion — that offers a striking analogy to the contemporary rule of the Hyksos in ancient Egypt — Babylonia lost its empire over western Asia. The high-priests of Ashur made themselves kings of Assyria. Most divine attributes ascribed to the Semitic kings of Babylonia disappeared at this time; the title of "god" was never given to a Kassite sovereign. However, Babylon continued to be the capital of the kingdom and the 'holy' city of western Asia, where the priests were all-powerful, and the only place where the right to inheritance of the old Babylonian empire could be conferred.

Neo-Babylonian Empire (Chaldean Era)

The Middle East, c. 600 BC, showing extent of Chaldean rule.
Enlarge
The Middle East, c. 600 BC, showing extent of Chaldean rule.
Main articles: Neo-Babylonian Empire and Chaldea

Through the centuries of Assyrian domination, Babylonia enjoyed a prominent status, or revolted at the slightest indication that it did not. However, the Assyrians always managed to restore Babylonian loyalty, whether through granting of increased privileges, or militarily. That finally changed in 627 BC with the death of the last strong Assyrian ruler, Ashurbanipal, and Babylonia rebelled under Nabopolassar the Chaldean the following year. With help from the Medes, Nineveh was sacked in 612 BC, and the seat of empire was again transferred to Babylonia.

Nabopolassar was followed by his son Nebuchadnezzar II, whose reign of 43 years made Babylon once more the mistress of the civilized world, including the conquering of Phoenicia in 585 BC.[1] Only a small fragment of his annals has been discovered, relating to his invasion of Egypt in 567 BC, and referring to "Phut of the Ionians".

Of the reign of the last Babylonian king, Nabonidus (Nabu-na'id), and the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus, there is a fair amount of information available. This is chiefly derived from a chronological tablet containing the annals of Nabonidus, supplemented by another inscription of Nabonidus where he recounts his restoration of the temple of the Moon-god at Harran; as well as by a proclamation of Cyrus issued shortly after his formal recognition as king of Babylonia. It was in the sixth year of Nabonidus (549 BC) that Cyrus, the Achaemenid Persian "king of Anshan" in Elam, revolted against his suzerain Astyages, "king of the Manda" or Medes, at Ecbatana. Astyages' army betrayed him to his enemy, and Cyrus established himself at Ecbatana, thus putting an end to the empire of the Medes. Three years later Cyrus had become king of all Persia, and was engaged in a campaign in the north of Mesopotamia. Meanwhile, Nabonidus had established a camp in the desert, near the southern frontier of his 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 June, where the Babylonians were defeated; and immediately afterwards Sippara surrendered to the invader. Nabonidus fled to Babylon, where he was pursued by Gobryas, and on the 16th of Tammuz, two days after the capture of Sippara, "the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without fighting." Nabonidus was dragged from his hiding-place, where the services continued without interruption. Cyrus did not arrive until the 3rd of Marchesvan (October), Gobryas having acted for him in his absence. Gobryas was now made governor of the province of Babylon, and a few days afterwards the son of Nabonidus died. A public mourning followed, lasting six days, and Cambyses accompanied the corpse to the tomb.

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. Nabonidus, in fact, had excited a strong feeling against himself by attempting to centralize the religion of Babylonia in the temple of Merodach (Marduk) at Babylon, and while he had thus alienated the local priesthoods, the military party despised him on account of his antiquarian tastes. He seems to have left the defense of his kingdom to others, occupying himself with the more congenial work of excavating the foundation records of the temples and determining the dates of their builders.

The invasion of Babylonia by Cyrus was doubtless facilitated by the existence of a disaffected party in the state, as well as by the presence of foreign forced exiles like the Jews, who had been planted in the midst of the country. One of the first acts of Cyrus accordingly was to allow these exiles to return to their own homes, carrying with them the images of their gods and their sacred vessels. The permission to do so was embodied in a proclamation, whereby the conqueror endeavored to justify his claim to the Babylonian throne. The feeling was still strong that none had a right to rule over western Asia until he had been consecrated to the office by Bel and his priests; and accordingly, Cyrus henceforth assumed the imperial title of "King of Babylon."

A year before Cyrus' death, in 529 BC, he elevated his son Cambyses II in the government, making him king of Babylon, while he reserved for himself the fuller title of "king of the (other) provinces" of the empire. It was only when Darius Hystaspis 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 independence under 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. A few years later, probably 514 BC, Babylon again revolted under Arakha; on this occasion, after its capture by the Persians, the walls were partly destroyed. E-Saggila, the great temple of Bel, however, still continued to be kept in repair and to be a center of Babylonian patriotism, until at last the foundation of Seleucia diverted the population to the new capital of Babylonia and the ruins of the old city became a quarry for the builders of the new seat of government.

Astronomy

Main article: Babylonian astronomy

Among the sciences, astronomy and astrology occupied a conspicuous place in Babylonian society. Astronomy was of old standing in Babylonia, and the standard work on the subject, written from an astrological point of view, later translated into Greek by Berossus, was believed to date from the age of Sargon of Akkad. The zodiac was a Babylonian invention of great antiquity; and eclipses of the sun and moon could be foretold. Observatories were attached to the temples, and reports were regularly sent by astronomers to the king. The stars had been numbered and named at an early date, and we possess tables of lunar longitudes and observations of the phases of Venus. Great attention was naturally paid to the calendar, and we find a week of seven days and another of five days in use.[citation needed]

Babylonian astrology was based on the belief that the entire universe was created in relation to the earth. Thus the ancients saw it as no accident that the stars and planets were set in a certain divine order at the time of creation.

The first evidence of recognition that astronomical phenomena are periodic and of the application of mathematics to their prediction is Babylonian. Tablets dating back to the Old Babylonian period document the application of mathematics 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 tablets known as the 'Enūma Anu Enlil'. The oldest significant astronomical text that we possess is Tablet 63 of 'Enūma Anu Enlil', the Venus tablet 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 ca. 1100 BC. The MUL.APIN, contains catalogues of stars and constellations as well as schemes for predicting heliacal risings and the settings of the planets, lengths of daylight measured by a water-clock, gnomon, shadows, and intercalations. The Babylonian GU text arranges stars in 'strings' that lie along declination circles and thus measure right-ascensions or time-intervals, and also employs the stars of the zenith, which are also separated by given right-ascensional differences.[2]

In Seleucid and Parthian times, the astronomical reports were of a thoroughly scientific character; how much earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed 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 astronomy.

Babylonian astronomy was the basis for much of what was done in Greece, in India, in Sassanian Iran, in Byzantium, in Syria, in Islam, in Central Asia, and in Western Europe.[3]

Mathematics

The Babylonian system of mathematics was sexagesimal, or a base 60 numeral system (see: Babylonian numerals). From this we derive the modern day usage of 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes 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 many 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 = 7×100 + 3×10 + 4×1). Among the Babylonians' mathematical accomplishments were the determination of the square root of two correctly to seven places (YBC 7289 clay tablet). They also demonstrated knowledge of the Pythagorean theorem well before Pythagoras, as evidenced by this tablet translated by Dennis Ramsey and dating to ca. 1900 BC:

4 is the length and 5 is the diagonal. What is the breadth? Its size is not known. 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 breadth.

The ner of 600 and the sar of 3600 were formed from the unit of 60, corresponding 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, the clepsydra, the lever and the pulley, must have had no mean knowledge of mechanics. 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 lens may also have been used in the observation of the heavens.

The Babylonians might have been familiar with the general rules for measuring the 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 correct if π were estimated as 3. The volume of a cylinder was taken as the product of the base and the height, however, the volume of the frustum of a cone or a square pyramid was incorrectly taken as the product of the height and half the sum of the bases. Also, there was a recent discovery in which a tablet used π as 3 and 1/8. The Babylonians are also known for the Babylonian mile, which was a measure of distance equal to about seven miles today. This measurement for distances eventually was converted to a time-mile used for measuring the travel of the Sun, therefore, representing time. (Eves, Chapter 2)

Literature

Main article: Babylonian 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, and in Semitic times, this involved knowledge of the extinct Sumerian language, and a complicated and extensive syllabary.

A considerable amount of Babylonian literature was translated from Sumerian originals, and the language of religion and law long continued to be the old agglutinative language of Sumer. Vocabularies, grammars, and interlinear translations 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 up.

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, translated from the original Sumerian by a certain Sin-liqi-unninni, and arranged upon an 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 probable that some of the stories are artificially attached to the central figure.

Babylonia in culture

A 16th century depiction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (by Martin Heemskerck). The Tower of Babel is visible in the background.
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A 16th century depiction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon (by Martin Heemskerck). The Tower of Babel is visible in the background.

Babylonia, and particularly its capital city Babylon, has long held a place in Abrahamic religions as a symbol of excess and dissolute power. Many references are made to Babylon in the Bible, both literally and allegorically. The mentions in the Tanakh tend to be historical or prophetic, while New Testament references are more likely figurative, or cryptic references to pagan Rome. The legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Tower of Babel are seen as symbols of luxurious and arrogant power respectively.

Footnotes

  1. ^ World Wide School. History of Phoenicia - Part IV. Retrieved on 2007-01-09.
  2. ^ Pingree (1998)
    Rochberg (2004)
    Evans (1998)
  3. ^ Pingree (1998)

See also

Further reading

  • Ascalone, Enrico. Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians (Dictionaries of Civilizations; 1). Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007 (paperback, ISBN 0520252667).
  • Bryant, Tamera. The Life and Times of Hammurabi.
  • Eves, Howard. An Introduction to the History of Mathematics.
  • King, Leonard William. Babylonian Religion and Mythology.
  • Leick, Gwendolyn. The Babylonians: An Introduction.
  • Leick, Gwendolyn. Mesopotamia.
  • Lloyd, Seton. The Archaeology of Mesopotamia: From the Old Stone Age to the Persian Conquest.
  • Mieroop, Marc Van de. King Hammurabi Of Babylon: A Biography.
  • Nemet-Nejat, Karen Rhea. Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia.
  • Oates, Joan. Babylon.
  • Oppenheim, A. Leo. Ancient Mesopotamia : Portrait of a Dead Civilization.
  • Pallis, Svend Aage. The Antiquity of Iraq.
  • Roux, Georges. Ancient Iraq.
  • Saggs, Henry W.T.F. Babylonians.
  • Saggs, Henry W.F. The Greatness That Was Babylon.
  • Schomp, Virginia. Ancient Mesopotamia: The Sumerians, Babylonians, And Assyrians.
  • Spence, Lewis. Myths and Legends of Babylonia and Assyria.

babyloian bazzars

External links

Many of these articles were originally based on content from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.


 
 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Archaeology Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology. Copyright © 2002, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Occultism & Parapsychology Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. Copyright © 2001 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Babylonia" Read more

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