Introduction to Babylonia:

country, language, religion, and culture

In a well-known description of ancient Babylonia, Berossus (or Bel-re'ušunu, to use his real name) says that

the land lies between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers. It produces wild barley, chickpea, and sesame, and even, in its marshlands, edible roots, called gongai. These roots are the equal of barley in nutrition. The land also produces dates, apples, and all sorts of other fruit, as well as fish and birds, field birds as well as waterfowl. There are also in the land of the Babylonians waterless and infertile regions near Arabia, while lying opposite Arabia there are hilly and fertile areas.


Another ancient author, the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus, was impressed by the fertility of ancient Babylonia

So great is the fertility of the grain fields that they normally produce crops of two-hundredfold, and in an exceptional year as much as three-hundredfold. The blades of wheat and barley are at least three inches wide. As for millet and sesame, I will not say to what an astonishing size they grow, though I know well enough; but I also know that people who have not been to Babylonia have refused to believe even what I have already said about its fertility.

Of course, this is exaggerated, and it should be noted that Herodotus does not claim that he was in Babylonia. Yet, his statement shows that people believed that the alluvial plains of the Lower Euphrates and Tigris were extremely fertile, and this is correct, although the yields were typically fifteenfold, which is, compared to the Mediterranean world, astonishing.

Another factor contributing to Babylonia's agricultural wealth was the use of the the seeder plough. It remained unknown in the west (Greece and Rome), but when it was introduced in Europe in the nineteenth century, the productivity climbed with no less than 50%.

In the fourth and third millennium, the alluvial plain witnessed the rise of the world's first urban centers and monarchies, together with the first attempts to write (in cuneiform script), to build temples, create monumental works of art, organize an administration, and build empires. One of the first cities was Uruk, which in c.3200 BCE measured some 250 hectares.

We do not know what language these "inventors of civilization" spoke, because the oldest texts are written with simple pictograms, which can represent any language. When in c.2600 these pictograms were for the first time used to represent syllables and abstract principles, a real script has been invented. By then, the people spoke Sumerian.

In this period, the so-called Early Dynastic Age, city states like Uruk, Ur, Larsa, Eridu, Lagaš, Umma, Isin, Nippur, and Kiš, were important, and we read about their relations, which were sometimes friendly and sometimes hostile. One of the problems the Sumerians encountered was the irrigation of the plain, and war was sometimes waged about access to water. Kiš seems to have claimed some sort of superiority, but the details are obscure, and we are certain that Nippur was a very important center too. Its god Enlil was head of the Sumerian pantheon.


The Sumerians were not the only people living in this area. Our sources also refer to the Akkadians, who may be an illiterate, lower class that was slowly moving upward in the social pyramid, or an invading nation. We don't know, but it is certain that they spoke a Semitic language related to modern Arabic and Hebrew. In the second millennium, the Akkadian language was spoken and written all over Mesopotamia, although there was a southern (Babylonian) and a northern (Assyrian) variant. In the fourteenth century, it had become the language of international diplomacy, and we find Akkadian texts as far away as Turkey and Egypt. It remained important for the next millennium or so, and was still -although rarely- written in the third century CE. No language in world history can

The Akkadian language is called after Agade, a not identified city that was the first to use Akkadian as the language of its chancellery. Its most famous king, Sargon, may have ruled from 2296 to 2240. His reign was the culmination of a process that had started earlier: several Sumerian kings had tried to unite all city states, but the first to do so was Sargon. For the first time, the people living on the alluvial plain of southern Mesopotamia were united in a strong, centralized state. An empire, in other words. Sargon's armies invaded Elam in the east, Syria in the west, Subartu in the north, and marched against the Arabs in the south, so that his descendants could claim with some justification to be the "kings of the four corners of the world". There were trade contacts with Anatolia and India.

The descendants fought wars against the Gutaeans, people living in the Zagros mountain range. However, these enemies were invincible, and the Akkadian dynasty lost credit. The new ruler of the united cities was king Ur-Nammu of Ur, the founder of the so-called Empire of the Third Dynasty of Ur. It continued what Sargon had started, and is often dated to 2112-2004.


The central institutions were strengthened and there is a surprising wealth of administrative sources, written in Sumerian. (Sometimes, the Ur III-period is called a "Sumerian Renaissance", as if the Akkadian kings had lived in some sort of Dark Ages; the term has, indeed, anti-Semitic associations.) A bureaucracy ruled the towns, which were now provinces with governors, and no longer independent cities. However, in ca.2000, the Third Dynasty of Ur lost control after some kind of ecological crisis that may be due to climatological changes, a succession of bad harvests after the impact of a giant meteor, or simply bad irrigation. However this may be, the central state collapsed, and from the west, the Amorites -until then regarded as "truffle-eating barbarians" entered the region and captured Isin, Larsa, and a new city, never heard of before: Babylon.

All of a sudden, it is there, out of the blue, and quite powerful. At the same time, the city of Agade disappears from our sources. Later, the country surrounding Babylon (which we call Babylonia) was called Mât Akkadî, "the country of Agade". It has been assumed that Babylon is in fact the lost capital of Sargon, but we will probably never be able to test this hypothesis, because the oldest building phase of Babylon is far below groundwater level.

The most famous Babylonian king was Hammurabi (1792-1750 ), who was able reunite southern Mesopotamia. East of the Tigris, he attacked Elam, Ešnunna, and the mountain tribes in the Zagros; in the north, his armies reached Aššur; in the northwest, he captured Mari; and he accepted Harran as the northernmost city of his kingdom. This empire was to last for a century and a half, but in 1595( ), Babylon was captured and sacked by a Hittite army.

Yet, this period was always remembered, and it is not exaggerated to say that in the eighteenth century, the foundations were laid for the Babylonian culture, which was to last for almost two millenniums. The pantheon changed considerably, and the hitherto unimportant city god of Babylon, Marduk, became the head of the pantheon, replacing the old supreme god Enlil. The syncretism is expressed in the words that Marduk is "the enlil of the gods", which may be rendered as "president of the council of gods". For the moment, Marduk's claim to be the supreme god was only recognized in Babylon, but in the fourteenth century, it had been recognized by the other cities too.

Marduk's temple, the Esagila, became very famous, and replaced the old sanctuary of Nippur as major cult center. In Babylon, the world was created, and the Babylonian ziggurat, which was called Etemenanki, was regarded as the foundation of heaven on earth. Every year, the gods of the Babylonian cities came to Babylon to visit Marduk and celebrate the Akitu (New Year) festival. In the creation epic Enûma êliš, Babylon is the center of the universe.

This important text was to become a Babylonian "classic" that was read and copied for more than a millennium and a half. Another important text composed in this period was the Epic of Gilgameš, which is known from copies that were found all over the ancient Near East, including Nineveh, Hattušas, Emar, and Megiddo.

The cult for other Babylonian gods became popular too: for example Nabû, the god of the scribes, the sun god Šamaš, and Ištar, the goddess of love and war. She resembles the Sumerian goddess Inana. In general, we can say that the Babylonian civilization contained many Sumerian elements. The Sumerian language had by now been replaced by Akkadian, but was still learned by people and the ancient texts were still copied. In fact, you can not write Akkadian unless you recognize many Sumerian signs.


In our times, the Babylonian laws of king Hammurabi have become famous. The stele -which is now in the Louvre in Paris- on which the regulations were inscribed, is one of the best-known monuments from Antiquity. Yet it is unclear how important the laws of Hammurabi really were. When the stele was discovered in Susa, it was the first known non-Biblical law code of the ancient Near East. Now, we know of quite a few other codifications, and the laws of Hammurabi are less unique than they once were. Besides, the real significance of the regulations it is still unclear. In a society that was overwhelmingly illiterate, people would never know their rights if they depended upon a written text, and it is possible that the stele was in fact only meant to show to the eternal gods that the king was a just man, or tried to be.
The Babylonian map of the world. British Museum, London (Britain).
Babylonian world map
(British Museum, London; ©***)

Although during the next centuries the political fortunes of Babylonia were fluctuating (more...), the Babylonian civilization continued to influence all neighboring states: Elam and Assyria, but also Syria and Persia. Babylonian artistic motifs like the bull with a man's head (lamassu) have been found in Hattušas, Karchemiš, Nineveh, and Persepolis. A relief showing one of the heroes of the Babylonian creation myth, Oannes, can be found as far to the east as Pasargadae. The library of the Assyrian king Aššurbanipal (668-631) in Nineveh contained many literary texts from Babylonia, including, as we already noted, the Epic of Gilgameš. Greek philosophers tried to learn something in Babylon. The Jews copied the Babylonian calendar. The Akitu festival was still celebrated in the early third century CE in Emessa in Syria, and during the brief reign of the emperor Heliogabalus (218-222) even in Rome. The list is endless.
Tablet with a list of eclipses between 518 and 465, mentioning the death of king Xerxes. British Museum, London (Britain).

The most fascinating later innovation of Babylonian culture was the invention of astronomy by the scientists that are usually (although incorrectly) called Chaldaeans. The development started early: we possess a list of systematic observations of Venus written down under king Ammisaduqa (1646-1626 ). Later, the Babylonians created stellar catalogues and a nearly perfect calendar. In the eighth century, they were able to predict eclipses, which they regarded as evil omens that announced the beginning of a dangerous period. The importance of these predictions can not be exaggerated. Now that dangerous periods were predictable, it was possible to appoint substitute kings who would bear the brunt of the gods' wrath. The real king would remain unharmed and the continuity of the state's policy was guaranteed. (The poor man who was appointed as substitute king was killed. In this way, the omen was always right.)

This is, of course, astrology, not astronomy. But in the fifth or fourth century, the Babylonians, who had always been good in mathematics, developed two mathematical systems to predict eclipses and dangerous periods (explained here). Now, we are really talking about science in the modern sense of the word. Mathematics and astronomy are the lasting legacy of ancient Babylonia.


Yet, when the Chaldaeans did their greatest discoveries, Babylonia had lost its political independence for good. After the glory of the Old Babylonian kingdom of Hammurabi, its capital was captured by Kassites, a Babylonized tribe from the Zagros. They and their successors as rulers of Babylonia, the Second Dynasty of Isin, continued to rule the country from one central capital, propagated the cult of Marduk, and ordered the scribes to copy the classical literary texts. The twelfth and eleventh centuries saw the political disintegration of Babylonia, but Babylon remained the universally recognized cultural capital of the world, and invading tribes usually accepted Babylonian culture.

When Assyria started to increase its power in the tenth century, its kings proudly accepted the Babylonian legacy, and usually treated Babylon kindly. After the fall of the Assyrian capital Nineveh in 612 (text), Babylon was briefly the political center of the Near East, but the splendor of the kingdom of Nabopolossar and Nebuchadnezzar, which is documented in the Babylonian chronicles, was short-lived. In 539, the Persian king Cyrus the Great captured Babylon (texts), and he treated the ancient city and the Babylonians just as respectful as other conquerors had done. One of Cyrus's most important texts, the so-called Cyrus Cylinder, is written in Akkadian and presents him as the king chosen and loved by Marduk. His son Cambyses accepted the Babylonian calendar, and Akkadian was one of the three official languages in the early period of Persian domination.
Two Babylonians. Eastern stairs of the apadana at Persepolis. Photo Marco Prins.

For two centuries, Babylon was one of the most important cities in the Achaemenid Empire, and the Babylonians shared in the ups and downs of the Persian monarchy. The Astronomical Diaries (which document the entire period of 652 to 60 BCE) inform us about political events in the city and tell us about the prices of products, so that we can start to write an economical history of Babylonia.

But Babylonian language, literature and civilization were slowly being superseded. The Persian government increasingly preferred Aramaic as the language of their chancellery, and the Akkadian language was no longer used in the Achaemenid royal inscriptions after the reign of Artaxerxes I (465-424). Things really changed when the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great defeated the last Persian king Darius III Codomannus. Alexander settled Greeks and Macedonians in Babylonia, where he founded a city called Charax. Alexander's successor Seleucus I Nicator ordered the building of another Greek city, Seleucia; later, Uruk was refounded as a Greek town too, and king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (174-164) settled Greeks in Babylon again (text).

The Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period, which were studied for the first time in 2003, will no doubt offer new insights in this period. The fact that these chronicles exist is interesting enough: their publication, and the continuation of the series of Astronomical Diaries, proves that Babylon still was a cultural center of some local significance. The great days were over, but the city was still important when the Parthians took over the region in 141 BCE.

Babylonia was a rich country. It could afford to pay large number of scribes, scholars, and -sometimes- soldiers. This explains why its language, literature, and culture could spread over the ancient Near East, and why its influence lasted so long.
 

The Babylonian Empire

The Babylonian Empire was the most powerful state in the ancient world after the fall of the Assyrian empire (612 BCE). Its capital Babylon was beautifully adorned by king Nebuchadnezzar, who erected several famous buildings. Even after the Babylonian Empire had been overthrown by the Persian king Cyrus the Great (539), the city itself remained an important cultural center.

Old Babylonian Period
The city of Babylon makes its first appearance in our sources after the fall of the so-called Empire of the Third Dynasty of Ur, which had ruled the city states of the alluvial plain between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris for more than a century (2112-2004 ). An agricultural crisis meant the end of this centralized state, and several more or less nomadic tribes settled in southern Mesopotamia. One of these was the nation of the Amorites ("westerners"), which took over Isin, Larsa, and Babylon. Their kings are known as the First Dynasty of Babylon (1894-1595 ).

The area was reunited by Hammurabi, a king of Babylon of Amorite descent (1792-1750 ). From his reign on, the alluvial plain of southern Iraq was called, with a deliberate archaism, Mât Akkadî, "the country of Akkad", after the city that had united the region centuries before. We call it Babylonia. It is one of the most fertile and rich parts of the ancient world.

First, Babylon and its ally Larsa fought a defensive war against Elam, the archenemy of Akkad. After this war had been brought to a successful end, Hammurabi turned against Larsa, and defeated its king Rim-Sin. This scenario was repeated. Together with king Zimrilim of Mari, Hammurabi waged war against Aššur, and after success had been achieved, the Babylonians attacked their ally. Mari was sacked. Other wars were fought against Jamšad (Aleppo), Elam, Ešnunna, and the mountain tribes in the Zagros. Babylon now was the capital of the entire region between Harran in the northwest and the Persian Gulf in the southeast.

Hammurabi's successes became the problems of his successors. After the annexation of Mari in the northwest and Ešnunna in the east, there was no buffer against the increasing power of the Hittite Empire (in Anatolia) and the Kassite tribes in the Zagros. It was impossible for the successors of Hammurabi to fight against all these enemies at the same time, and they started to loose grip. In the deep south, we find independent rulers (the Sea Land Dynasty). The enemies sometimes invaded Babylonia, and in 1595 ( ), the Hittite king Mursilis I advanced along the Euphrates, sacked Babylon, and even took away the statue of the supreme god of Babylonia, Marduk, from its temple, the Esagila.

Kassite Period
After this spectacular raid, the Kassite tribes took over the city, but they were soon babylonized. The first king of the Kassite dynasty, Agum-Kakrîme, is reported to have defeated the Hittites and received back the statue of Marduk. Even if this is just propaganda, it proves that the Kassites understood the Babylonians. Yet, a decline started that was to last for almost a millennium. This does not mean that there was no central state, or that the Kassite kings played no role in international politics, but it is clear that Babylon was eclipsed by other nations.

The first to do so was the kingdom of Mitanni, which dominated the northern part of Mesopotamia, and got into trouble when the Hittites and Assyrians united forces against the Mitannians. After the decline of Mitanni, the so-called Middle-Assyrian Empire became powerful, and in the thirteenth century, the Babylonian rulers had to respect the claims of Assyrian kings like Shalmaneser and Tikulti-Ninurta. The latter captured Babylon and took away the image of Marduk, but the occupation of Babylonia and the exile of the god did not last long. Another local power was Elam. In the twelfth century, its armies looted Babylon. Now it was their turn to capture the statue. (And a lot of other things: the famous stele with the laws of king Hammurabi was excavated in the Elamite capital Susa.)

Middle Babylonian Period
The Kassite kings were replaced as rulers of southern Mesopotamia by the Second Dynasty of Isin. Under Nebuchadnezzar I (1126-1104), the Babylonians advanced to Elam, and received back the statue of Marduk. However, this revival was brief. In the eleventh century, Aramaeans infiltrated Babylonia, and the central government disappeared for some time. The cities were independent again. There are few sources, which suggests that the country was unable to pay for scribes. This is not unlike the situation in Assyria, which suffered from decline after the reign of Tiglath-Pileser I (1114-1076), or the more western parts of the ancient world, where the centuries between 1100 and 800 are often called "the dark ages".

What is certain, however, is that southwest of Babylonia, a new group of people settled, the so-called Chaldaeans, who were related to the Aramaeans. The relations between the Babylonians, who had already assimilated the Amorites and Kassites, and the new intruders were at first hostile, but the Chaldaeans increasingly babylonized.

Assyrian Period
The Assyrians were the first to recover from the recession. Under king Aššurnasirpal II (883-859), their empire started to grow again, and this expansion continued during the reigns of his successors. One of the great challenges was the integration of Babylonia, which was Assyria's twin-culture and too highly esteemed to be reduced to the status of province. Tiglath-pileser III (744-727) sought a solution in a "double monarchy": he united the two countries in a personal union.
Old Babylonian Period
Kassite Period
Middle Babylonian Period
Assyrian Period
Neo-Babylonian Period
The End
King Esarhaddon and his mother attend the refounding of Babylon. Relief from the Louvre, Paris (France). Photo Marco Prins.
King Esarhaddon and his
mother attend the refounding
of Babylon. (Relief from the
Louvre, Paris; ©***)

Soon, new measures had to be taken. Twice, the Babylonians claimed their independence under king Marduk-apla-iddin (721-710 and 703; the Biblical Merodach Baladan). The second revolt was punished harshly by the Assyrian leader Sennacherib, who sacked the city and deported its inhabitants to Nineveh. This new policy was soon regretted. Sennacherib's successor Esarhaddon allowed the people to return. Yet, the relation between Assyria and the Babylonians remained tense. Aššurbanipal (668-631) thought he solved the problem by making his brother Šamaš-šuma-ukin viceroy of the southern part of Mesopotamia, but this turned out to be the wrong idea too: while the king of Assyria was involved in other wars, the Babylonian king revolted, and it took Aššurbanipal several years before he had restored order (648). It has been assumed that the man who is called the successor of Šamaš-šuma-ukin, Kandalanu, is in fact the same as the Assyrian king, although it is certain that the viceroy was still alive in 627, whereas no documents of Aššurbanipal are known after 631.

Neo-Babylonian Period
However this may be, after the death of Aššurbanipal, there were serious troubles in Assyria. In 627, the Assyrian king sent two of his relatives, Sin-šumlišir and Sin-šar-iškun, as governors of Babylon. They were expelled by a Babylonian soldier named Nabopolassar, who had once fought in the Assyrian army but now started a kingdom for himself. According to the Babylonian chronicle known as ABC 2, he was recognized as king on 23 November 626. This is the beginning of the so-called Neo-Babylonian Empire.

Nabopolassar continued the struggle against Assyria, which he wante to overthrow. If he succeeded, the balance of power in the Near East would be seriously endangered; consequently, the Egyptians supported the Assyrians against the aggressors.

The Fall of Nineveh Chronicle describes the events of these years. In 616, Nabopolassar defeated an Assyrian force on the banks of the Euphrates, south of Harran. This suggests that Nabopolassar wanted to block the main road between the Assyrian heartland and its possessions in the west. However, he was forced to retreat when an Egyptian army approached.

Next year, the Babylonian changed his strategy and invaded the Assyrian heartland, where he laid siege to Aššur, the religious capital of Assyria. The Assyrians were able to repel their enemy, but late in 615, the Medes, a tribal federation living in modern Iran, intervened. After the winter, they captured the city, and although Nabopolassar arrived too late to help them, he signed a treaty with their king Cyaxares. The Babylonian historian Berossus tells that the alliance was cemented by a royal wedding: the Babylonian crown prince Nebuchadnezzar married a princess named Amytis.

After a year of inconclusive campaigning, the united Medes and Babylonians laid siege to the Assyrian capital Nineveh in May 612. The siege lasted for three months; in July, the city fell. King Sin-šar-iškun, who had once been in charge of Babylon (above), seems to have committed suicide.

Several campaigns took place in the neighborhood of Harran, from which the last Assyrian king, Aššur-uballit, was expelled. Yet he returned with the army of the pharaoh of Egypt, Necho (610-595). (King Josiah of Judah, who had tried to conquer the former kingdom of Israel, which had become part of the Assyrian Empire, tried to resist the Egyptians, but was killed at Megiddo.) Necho was defeated too, in 605, by crown prince Nebuchadnezzar, near Carchemish on the banks of the Euphrates.

In the same year, Nabopolassar, the founding father of the Babylonian Empire, died. His son continued the expansion to the west, where he took over the former Assyrian possessions. It is not entirely clear where and when the border between Egypt and Babylonia was drawn: 2 Kings 24.7 implies that Egypt retired to the Sinai desert and left the Palestine coast in Babylonian hands, but the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus (Histories 2.159) suggests that Gaza remained an Egyptian stronghold.

During this phase of the western war, Jerusalem was captured (597), and when its vassal king revolted, the city was captured for the second time (586). Its population was deported to Babylonia: the beginning of the Babylonian Exile of the Jews. Now, the west was safe; only Tyre resisted, and althoigh the siege lasted many years, it fell in 575.


It is possible that the "Labynetos" mentioned by Herodotus as the man who, together with the Cilician leader Syennesis, arranged a peace treaty between the Lydian king Alyattes and the Median king Cyaxares in 585, is identical to Nebuchadnezzar. This is far from certain, but its likely that the Babylonians, who had now conquered the west, were interested in Anatolia, where iron was to be obtained. At the same time, Nebuchadnezzar seems to have had more or less friendly relations with the mountain tribes in the east.

What had happened, in fact, was that the great monarchy of the ancient Near East had received a new elite: the Assyrians had been replaced by the Babylonians, but the empire itself remained more or less the same. Likewise, the later Achaemenid and Seleucid empires were not really different from earlier empires. The ancient history of the Near East is one of change and continuity.

The End
Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 and was succeeded in by his son Amel-Marduk, who was almost immediately murdered and replaced by his brother-in-law Neriglissar (559-556), who invaded Anatolia, was victorious in Cilicia, and even crossed the Taurus. But in spite of his success, he was replaced by a new king, Nabonidus, who obtained power by a coup d' état.

The reason may have been that Neriglissar was a commoner - rich, certainly, but without royal blood. It is possible that the man behind the coup was the king's son Bêlsharusur or Belshazzar. However this may be, Nabonidus was not taken seriously - ancient sources like the Verse Account of Nabonidus call him a madman and a blasphemer, who preferred the cult of Sin in Harran above that of Marduk. This is confirmed by the so-called Nabonidus Chronicle, which informs us about the king's neglect of the Akitu festival.


Yet, Nabonidus was able to add large parts of Arabia to the Babylonian Empire. Why he subdued them is unclear, but it is possible that he was looking for an alliance against the Persians, an Iranian nation related to the Medes. In 550, their leader Cyrus the Great had overthrown the last king of Media, Astyages, and in 547, he had added Lydia to his possessions - king Croesus was executed. After this campaign, we find no references to Cilician iorn in our Babylonian sources, which suggests that Cilicia had sided with Cyrus. In Babylon, people must have seen that something terrible was advancing from the east and north. In 539, Cyrus attacked, and captured the city. His son Cambyses was made viceroy.

This was the end - and yet, it was not the end. The Babylonians remembered that they had once been rulers of the world and revolted several times. The names of several of their leaders have been recorded: Nidintu-Bêl or Nebuchadnezzar III (522), Arakha or Nebuchadnezzar IV (521), Bêl-shimanni (481), Šamaš-eriba (479), and Nidin-Bêl (336/335). It is likely that there were more rebels.

Babylon

Babylon was the capital of Babylonia, the alluvial plain between the Euphrates and Tigris. After the fall of the Assyrian empire (612 BCE), Babylon became the capital of the ancient Near East, and king Nebuchadnezzar adorned the city with several famous buildings. Even when the Babylonian Empire had been conquered by the Persian king Cyrus the Great (539), Babylon remained a splendid city. Alexander the Great and the Seleucid kings respected the city, but after the mid-second century, the city's decline started.

The Greek word 'Babylon' is a rendering of Babillu, a very old word in an unknown language. When Mesopotamia was infiltrated by people who spoke a Semitic language (Akkadians or Amorites), they recognized their own words Bâb ("gate") and ili ("gods") and concluded that this place was 'the gate of the gods'. (A similar etymology was invented for Arbela.)

The oldest building phase of Babylon can not be recovered. The city was (and the ruins are) situated on the banks of the river Euphrates, and the remains of the oldest city are below groundwater level. From written sources, however, we know that the city became important after the fall of the empire of the Third dynasty of Ur, when the Amorites had invaded the area.

In the first half of the second millennium, especially during the reign of king Hammurabi (1792-1750 ), Babylon became the capital of Mesopotamia, and even though the political power of Babylonia had its ups and downs in the next millennium or so, Babylon remained the cultural capital of the ancient Near East.

One of the results was that the hitherto unimportant city god of Babylon, Marduk, gained prestige. He superseded the Sumerian supreme god Enlil, took over many of his attributes, and now became the head of the pantheon. The syncretism is expressed in the words that Marduk is "the enlil of the gods", an expression that is perhaps best translated as "president of the council of gods".

The famous temple of Marduk, Esagila, and its ziggurat, Etemenanki, were considered to be the foundation of heaven on earth. In the creation epic Enûma êliš, Babylon is the center of the universe, an idea that is also implied (or parodied ) in the Biblical account of the "tower of Babel", in which the confusion of languages is followed by people spreading all over the world out of Babylon.


The theological fact that Babylon was the center of the world, was reflected in several aspects. One of these was the New Year's Festival (Akitu), during which gods left their cities, visited Marduk, and announced their plans for the new year. Several quarters of Babylon received the name of important Babylonian cities (e.g., Eridu), as if Babylon were some sort of microcosm.

As cultural capital of the ancient Near East, even a politically powerless Babylon was an important city, which created a problem to the Assyrian kings, who conquered Babylonia in the eighth century. From Tiglath-pileser III (744-727) on, they had themselves enthroned as kings of both Assyria and Babylon: by uniting the city in a personal union with their empire, they wanted to express their respect for the Babylonian civilization, institutions, and science. However, the Babylonians revolted under Marduk-apla-iddin (703; the Biblical Merodach Baladan), and king Sennacherib sacked the city - an act of terrible impiety, because he broke the "axis" between heaven and earth. Babylon's population was deported to Nineveh and the site was left alone for some time.


Finally, king Esarhaddon (680-669) allowed the people to return. A text says that the gods had decreed the Babylon was to be in ruins for seventy years, but that they regretted their harshness, turned the tablet of destiny upside down, and allowed the people to return after eleven year (in cuneiform, the numbers 70 and 11 relate to each other as our 6 and 9).

A new model of ruling the city and its environs was found by Aššurbanipal (668-631), who appointed his brother Šamaš-šuma-ukin as king, but he revolted too, and again, Babylon was captured. Another brother served as king of Babylon, and in 627, the Assyrian king sent two of his relatives as governors. They were expelled by a Babylonian soldier named Nabopolassar, who had once fought in the Assyrian army but now started a kingdom for himself..


According to the Babylonian chronicle known as ABC 2, he was recognized as king on 23 November 626. This seems to have been the beginning of a series of insurrections against the Assyrians. In 612, Nineveh the Babylonians and Medes sacked Nineveh (text), and Babylon became the new political capital of the Near East.

The son of Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar, ruled from 604 to 562 (more...) and is credited with rebuilding his capital as the most splendid city in the Near East. The famous blue Ištar Gate is an example. Elsewhere, the royal palace was improved, the Etemenanki reconstructed, and somewhere in the city, a beautiful park seems to have been created, that has become famous as the "hanging gardens". Archaeologists have been unable to identify this monument, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, but perhaps this will change. For the time being, scholars believe that this park was either in Nineveh, or is nothing but a fairy tale.


In 539, the brief period of the Babylonian political supremacy came to an end. The Persian king Cyrus the Great (559-530) captured Babylon (texts) and appointed his son Cambyses as king of Babylon. Like the Assyrian king, Cyrus admired Babylon as a cultural capital, and sought a way to rule the city while respecting its importance. In the Achaemenid royal inscription known as Cyrus' cylinder, the Persian conqueror presents himself as the chosen of Marduk - in other words, as a Babylonian.


Later Achaemenid kings treated Babylon with just as much respect, although there were insurrections during the reigns of Darius I the Great (by the Babylonian leaders Nidintu-Bêl and Arakha) and Xerxes (by Bêl-shimanni and Šamaš-eriba). Reports by Greek authors (Herodotus of Halicarnassus and Arrian of Nicomedia) that Xerxes punished Babylon and removed statues are often misinterpreted. Whatever statue was taken away, it was not that of Marduk; the cult in the Esagila continued; and Babylonia remained an important center in the Persian empire. On the other hand, several Babylonian archives end during the reign of Xerxes, and it is possible that when he captured Babylon, the city was looted.

In 331, the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great, who was fighting a war against the Persians, captured Babylon (text). Later, he intended to make the city his residence, and he ordered several building projects, like a large river port, a theater, and a reconstruction of the Etemenanki. Building activity related to the Esagila is mentioned in several cuneiform sources and continued as late as the early 280's, when the Seleucid crown prince Antiochus used his elephants to remove the debris (text).

Meanwhile, however, the founder of the Seleucid dynasty, Seleucus I Nicator, had ordered the building of a new city, Seleucia. This was meant as a Greek city, and crown prince Antiochus resettled Europeans that had been left in Babylon in Seleucia (text). For more than a century, Babylon remained a primarily Babylonian city. It was only Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164) who again started a Greek colonizing policy in Babylon (text).

In this period, which is well-known from the Astronomical diaries, we can discern at least five different population groups in the city, who had their own administrative institutions:

1. The original Babylonian citizens, who were represented by the official named šatammu , i.e., the president of the council (kiništu) of the Esagila, the temple of Marduk.
2. The Greek citizens (politai), under the authority of a "governor of Babylon" or epistatês. They met in the theater.
3. The royal slaves, led by "the prefect of the king".
4. "The people of the land", who are mentioned in our sources, and are probably the indigenous population on the countryside.
5. The temple slaves.

A generation after the attempt by Antiochus IV Epiphanes to populate Babylon with Europeans, the Parthians conquered Babylonia (141). The city suffered, but remained an important center of learning. For example, the Babylonian astronomers known as Chaldaeans were still studying the skies, and the Akitu festival was still celebrated. The Greek community still celebrated its festivals and organized athletic contests (more...). Yet, it appears that the city's decline had begun. When the Roman emperor Trajan invaded Babylonia in 116-117, he was disappointed by the ruins. Still, as late as the late second century, texts were written in the Babylonian language, and the theater was restored (more...).

Babylon was excavated between 1899 and 1917 by Robert Koldewey, a pupil of the great Heinrich Schliemann. Unfortunately, Koldewey still had to identify many structures by using ancient Greek sources like the Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus and the Persian History of Ctesias of Cnidus. After all, cuneiform studies were, by then, still in their infancy. We now know that these authors were not very reliable, but still, Koldewey's Das wieder ertstehende Babylon is a fascinating must-read.


After this, a certain neglect of the archaeological remains of Babylon started. The British Museum owns a collection of almost 120,000 cuneiform tablets which are published very slowly, something that is among the greatest academic scandals of the modern age.

In the 1980's, the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered repair works at Babylon, which, however, were not executed by archaeologists and restoration professionals. The result was disastrous, but even worse was to come: after the fall of the dictator in 2003, Polish soldiers used the archaeological site as military base. These two calamities have forced Unesco, the UN cultural organization, to remove Babylon from the World Heritage List.

Originally, the king decided which month had to be added ("intercalated"), and when. This was not very satisfying, and the Babylonian astronomers, often called Chaldaeans, gradually developed rules to create the nearly perfect calendar. The key was the discovery, in the mid-eighth century, that 235 lunar months are almost identical to 19 solar years. (The difference is only two hours.) The Chaldaeans concluded that seven out of nineteen years ought to be leap years with an extra month.

From now on, intercalary months were still announced by the king, but he was advised by an astronomer. After Babylon had been captured by the Persian king Cyrus the Great in 539, priestly officials took over. The Chaldaeans now started to look for a standard procedure for the intercalation of months. It was introduced in 503 BCE by Darius I the Great (if not earlier).

As this table shows, there are six years when a second month Addaru is added, and one year with an extra Ulûlu. The result is that the first day of the month Nisannu (New year's day) was never far from the vernal equinox (the first day of spring), so that the civil calendar and the seasons were never out of step. This system is often called the cycle of Meton, to commemorate the Greek astronomer who tried to introduce it in the West. It is still used in the Jewish calendar.

At an unknown moment in the fourth century, an even better procedure for the intercalation of months was invented. This time, a cycle of 76 years was used, one day was left out, and the limits of variability in the start of the year were further narrowed. The new system was already known in 331, because in that year the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great captured Babylon and ordered the Astronomical diaries to be translated into Greek. The new knowledge was immediately applied in Greece: the astronomer Callippus of Cyzicus, a pupil of the philosopher Aristotle of Stagira, recalculated the length of the lunar month and proposed a new calendar, in which he applied the longer cycle. His new era, which was used by all later Greek astronomers, started at 28 June 330, eight months after the capture of Babylon.

One final remark: the Babylonians did not develop a calendar era until the last years of the fourth century. It was only then that people started to date with formulae like "in the year 162 of the Seleucid era". Until then, regnal years were used, and it was very important to use the name of the correct king. In the Diadochi Chronicle, we find the charming piece of information that the Macedonian general Seleucus, after he had expelled his rival Antigonus, "declared that Year 7 of Antigonus-the-general had to be counted as Year 6 of Alexander, son of Alexander, and Seleucus-the-general."

Bel-shimmani

Bel-shimmani: name of a Babylonian rebel king, who rose against his Persian overlord Xerxes. Three cuneiform texts mention his name; they can all be dated in a period of three weeks. The year cannot be established with any certainty from the Babylonian texts.

However, comparison with the History of the Persians by the Greek historian Ctesias suggests a date in the Summer 481. Ctesias also tells that during the rebellion, an important official named Zopyrus was killed; his son Megabyzus subdued the rebels. However, it is not certain whether Ctesias really refers to the rebellion of Bêl-shimmani.

It is possible that Xerxes responded by dividing the large satrapy of Babylonia in two parts, which were more or less identical to modern Iraq and modern Syria/Israel. This division is attested early in his reign.

Chaldaeans, and Babylonian astronomy

The Greek geographer Strabo of Amasia (64 BCE-c.23 CE) gives a description of the life of the Babylonian astronomers, which he calls Chaldaeans.

In Babylon a settlement is set apart for the local philosophers, the Chaldaeans, as they are called, who are concerned mostly with astronomy; but some of these, who are not approved of by the others, profess to be writers of horoscopes. (There is also a tribe of the Chaldaeans, and a territory inhabited by them, in the neighborhood of the Arabs and of the Persian Gulf, as it is called.) There are also several tribes of the Chaldaean astronomers. For example, some are called Orcheni [those from Uruk], others Borsippeni [those from Borsippa], and several others by different names, as though divided into different sects which hold to various different dogmas about the same subjects. And the mathematicians make mention of some of these men; as, for example, Cidenas [Kidinnu], Naburianus [Nabû-rîmannu] and Sudines.
[Strabo, Geography 16.1-6]

The Babylonian temple astronomers, who were in fact called tupšar Enûma Anu Enlil, had been observing the skies for centuries and had recorded their observations in Astronomical diaries, astronomical almanacs, catalogues of stars and other texts. We possess observations of Venus written down under king Ammisaduqa (1646-1626 ), detailed stellar catalogues from the eighth century -our Zodiac was invented in Babylon-, and astronomical diaries from the seventh century until the first century BCE.

Because there were many data available to Babylonian astronomers, their results could be pretty accurate. An example is the length of the so-called synodic month, i.e., the period between two full moons. The above-mentioned astronomer Nabû-rîmannu (c.490 BCE ) concluded that it lasted 29.530641 days. Kidinnu arrived at 29.530594 days, which is only 0.432 seconds more than the modern estimate of 29.530589 days. A similar result is the length of the solar year, which Kidinnu calculated with an error of only 4½ minutes. His accuracy was in fact greater than that of the astronomer Theodor von Oppolzer in 1887. (Kidinnu's results are known from Greek sources.)

Using these data, Babylonian astronomers were able to predict lunar eclipses and -later- solar eclipses with a fair accuracy. Their tool was the so-called Saros-cycle: this is the period of 223 synodic months (or 18 years and 11.3 days) after which lunar and solar eclipses repeat themselves. E.g., when you know that there has been a solar eclipse on 18 May 603 BCE at dawn, you can be confident that there is an almost similar eclipse on 28 May 585 at sunset. (The first solar eclipse that was predicted in this way, was that of 15 June 763 BCE.)

The importance of these predictions can not be exaggerated. The Assyrians and Babylonians regarded lunar eclipses as evil omens, directed against their kings. Now that they were predictable, it was possible to appoint substitute kings who would bear the brunt of the gods' wrath. The real king would remain unharmed and the continuity of the state's policy was guaranteed. (The poor man who was appointed as substitute king was killed. In this way, the omen was always right.)

Another result of the observations was a nearly perfect calendar. In the reign of king Nabonassar, in 747 to be more precise, the astronomers of Babylon recognized that 235 lunar months are almost identical to 19 solar years. (The difference is only two hours.) They concluded that seven out of nineteen years ought to be leap years with an extra month.

At first, intercalary months were announced by the king (who had an astronomical adviser), but after Babylon had been captured by the Persian king Cyrus in 539, priestly officials took over. They started to look for a standard procedure for the intercalation of months. It was introduced in 503 BCE by Darius I the Great (if not earlier).


As this table shows, there are six years when a second month Addaru is added, and one year with an extra Ululu. The result is that the first day of the month Nisanu (New year's day) was never far from the vernal equinox (the first day of spring), so that the civil calendar and the seasons were never out of step. This system is often called the cycle of Meton, to commemorate the Greek astronomer who introduced it in the West. It is still used in the Jewish calendar.


At an unknown moment in the fourth century, a second procedure for the intercalation of months was invented. This time, a cycle of 76 years was used, and the limits of variability in the start of the year were further narrowed. The new system was already known in 331, because in that year the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great captured Babylon and his scientific adviser Callisthenes of Olynthus ordered the astronomical diaries to be translated into Greek. The new knowledge was immediately applied in Greece: the astronomer Callippus of Cyzicus, a pupil of the philosopher Aristotle of Stagira, recalculated the length of the lunar month and proposed a new calendar, in which he used the longer cycle. His new era, which was used by all later Greek astronomers, started at 28 June 330, eight months after the capture of Babylon.
(Callisthenes' translations are
known from a very late Greek
source, Simplicius; the truth of
his words, however, is
established, because he correctly
translates the Babylonian title,
massartu, with têrêseis, which is
illogical in Greek but keeps the
double meaning of 'guarding'
and observing'. A similar story


This calendar reform may have been the work of Kidinnu. We have already seen that he reached extremely accurate estimates of the length of the solar year and the synodic month. Consequently, he had all the necessary knowledge to establish this cycle. There is, however, no hard proof for this. On the other hand, it is unlikely that someone who has discovered the length of the year and month refrains from thinking about the calendar.

Another discovery is mentioned in a scholion (commentary) on the Handy tables by Ptolemy of Alexandria (second century CE). According to the scholiast, Kidinnu discovered that 251 synodic months are identical to 269 anomalistic months. (An anomalistic month is the period between two moments when the moon is closest to the earth, 27,55 days.) This discovery shows considerable skill in observation, because it is very difficult to see with the naked eye that the moon is sometimes closer than on other times. The distance varies between 356,000 and 407,000 kilometers and the diameter of the moon varies only 11%.

The Roman author Pliny the Elder (23-79) knows another discovery of Kidinnu.

The star next to Venus is Mercury, by some called Apollo. It has a similar orbit, but is by no means similar in magnitude or power. It travels in a lower circle, with a revolution nine days quicker, shining sometimes before sunrise and sometimes after sunset, but according to Cidenas [Kidinnu] and Sosigenes never more than 22 degrees away from the sun.
[Pliny the Elder, Natural history 2.39]

Kidinnu's greatest discovery, however, is a system to predict the motion of the moon. Modern scholars call it System-B. In the last years of the fifth century, the Babylonian astronomers discovered that the moon does not always move at the same speed. Sometimes, it seems as if the moon accelerates, at other times it seems to go slower. The explanation is the elliptic shape of the moon's orbit: when it is near the earth, it moves faster because of the earth's gravity.

Several astronomers have tried to describe this phenomenon. (As far as we know, no Babylonian, Greek or Roman has ever suggested an explanation.) The first system, called System-A, assumes that the moon has two constant speeds, and this idea makes predictions more accurate than when we assume a constant motion. Unfortunately, we do not know who invented this improvement.

Kidinnu's system was a further refinement. The moon's velocity changes as a function of time: first, it increases in steps (of a day each) from minimum to maximum speed, later the velocity decreases again. This system was very accurate. From now on, the Babylonian astronomers were able to predict the lunar phases and positions. A similar system was used for the movements of the sun and the five planets (which the Babylonians called Nabû, Ištar, Nergal, Marduk and Ninurta). This is essentially an arithmetical system, and it is probably no coincidence that in our first quotation, Strabo connects Kidinnu with mathematics.

It has been argued in the 1930's that Kidinnu also discovered the precession, that is the slow reorientation of the earth's axis. He was certainly in the position to discover this phenomenon. In our age, the stars seem to rotate around the Pole Star, but in Kidinnu's age, the north pole of heaven was somewhere halfway the Little Bear and the Dragon. Kidinnu must have known that in the days of the legendary king Hammurabi (1792-1750), the earth's axis was directed to a point inside the Dragon and he must have been able to conclude that the axis of the earth was slowly changing its direction. However, there are no indications that he really reached this conclusion, and the theory that Kidinnu discovered the precession has now been abandoned. The Greek astronomer Hipparchus of Nicaea (second century BCE) was the first to understand the nature of the precession - using, as a matter of fact, age-old observations made in Babylonia.

Only one fact about Kidinnu's life is known: he must have lived in the fourth century, because the first System-B-tablets can be dated in that age. (One tablet is dated to c.375 BCE.)

A cuneiform Chronicle (the Alexander Chronicle), which has recently dated to the reign of king Darius III Codomannus, mentions that a man named Kidinnu was put to the sword by the Macedonian king Alexander the Great on 14 August 329. This Kidinnu must have been someone well-known to the author, because he is mentioned without any familial or professional designation. As the Babylonian chronicles were written by the same scribes as the Astronomical diaries and other astronomical texts, it is tempting to think that the astronomer fell victim to Alexander's enlightened science policy. If this identification is correct, the inventor of System-B must have been an old man when he was killed.

It has been argued that the 'Sudines' mentioned by Strabo is responsible for the translation of Kidinnu's work into Greek. It is tempting to connect this hypothesis with the fact that Alexander the Great had the Babylonian astronomical diaries translated, but it is probably better to resist this temptation. However this may be, it is certain that the Greek translation was used by the Greek astrologer Critodemus (c.260 BCE), by Hipparchus of Nicaea and Ptolemy of Alexandria, who all knew System-B and accepted Kidinnu's values for the length of the year and the synodic month and his equation of 251 synodic months with 269 anomalistic months.

To honor the great Babylonian astronomer, a crater on the far side of the moon has been called Kidinnu (35.9N 122.9E). It is a small crater, however, with a diameter of only 56 kilometer.

The Seleucid Empire (Syria)

After the death of Alexander the Great in the afternoon of 11 June 323 BCE, his empire was divided by his generals, the so-called Diadochi. One of them was his friend Seleucus, who became king of the eastern provinces - more or less modern Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, together with parts of Turkey, Armenia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. His kingdom had two capitals, which he founded in c.300: Antioch in Syria (pictures) and Seleucia in Mesopotamia. Babylon was a third important city. The empire was, like the empire of Alexander, actually the continuation of the empires before: the Assyrian, Babylonian, and the Achaemenid Empire.


Seleucus' reign lasted from 312 to 281 (more...), and he was succeeded by his descendants, who continued to govern these countries for two centuries. But c.246, during a short interregnum, the Seleucids lost much territory in the east, where the Parni nomads settled themselves in the satrapy of Parthia -in northeastern Iran- and the satrapy of Bactria (northern Afghanistan) became independent. The Seleucid king Antiochus III the Great was able to reconquer these territories between 209 and 204. In the southwest, the Seleucid kings fought several "Syrian wars" with the Egyptians; in 200, their king was forced to cede Palestine to Antiochus III. Seleucid power had reached its zenith. Yet, Antiochus also witnessed the beginning of its demise.

In 196, he crossed the Hellespont in order to add Thrace to his empire (which happened in 194). This, however, was something that the Romans could not allow to happen, and war between the two superpowers broke out in 192. (One of our sources, the Syriaca by Appian of Alexandria, can be read here.) Antiochus received support from many Greek towns and help from the famous general Hannibal, but was defeated and forced to pay a tremendous sum of money. Moreover, the Seleucid empire lost its possessions in what is now Turkey.


The tide was now turning against the Seleucid monarchy. In the west, Rome became too powerful to resist; they backed the Jews, who liberated themselves in the years after 165 (the so-called Maccabaean revolt). At the same time, the Parni founded the Parthian empire, which seized away the eastern provinces. The towns in Babylonia, a.o. Seleucia and Babylon, were captured between April and June 141. New losses followed, until in 64, the Roman general Pompey the Great made an end to the Seleucid kingdom.

The official name of the kingdom was Asia, but the Romans called it Syria.

Achaemenids

Achaemenids (Hakhâmanišiya): royal dynasty of ancient Persia, named after its legendary founder Achaemenes (Hakhâmaniš).

According to the official story, the Achaemenid or Persian empire was founded by Cyrus the Great, who became king of Persis in 559 BCE and defeated his overlord Astyages of Media in 550. The size of the Median empire is not exactly known, but it seems to have included Cappadocia and Armenia in the west and Parthia, Aria and Hyrcania in the east. Cyrus added Lydia (547), Bactria and Sogdia, campaigned in India, and captured the city of Babylon in 539. His capital was Pasargadae, built on the site where he had defeated Astyages. In 530, Cyrus was killed during a campaign against the Massagetae, a Scythian tribe.

He was succeeded by his son Cambyses, who conquered Egypt (525). Three years later, civil war broke out when his courtier Gaumâta revolted. Cambyses returned home but died in Syria. A distant relative of Cambyses, the Achaemenid prince Darius, however, killed Gaumâta. After the second coup in one year, many provinces of the Achaemenid empire revolted; the most important rebellions were those of Phraortes of Media and Nidintu-Bêl of Babylonia. After nineteen battles, tranquillity returned to the Achaemenid empire. Darius described his victory in the Behistun inscription, in which he presents himself as the faithful servant of the Persian supreme god Ahuramazda. (We do not know whether the Achaemenids adhered to the teachings of the Bactrian prophet Zarathustra, although later Persian dynasties certainly were Zoroastrians.)

It should be stressed that there is not a single piece of contemporary evidence that calls Cyrus or Cambyses Achaemenids. (The texts that do, were written during the reign of Darius.) It is possible that there was no link between the two first Persian kings and the family of Darius.

Darius reorganized the empire and created satrapies, territorial units that also served as tax districts. He also founded Persepolis, where many administrative texts were discovered, and built a palace in Susa. Capable generals like Mardonius added new countries to the empire, which now extended from Macedonia in the west to Pakistan in the east, and from the river Syrdar'ya and the Caucasus mountains in the north to the Libyan desert and the Persian Gulf in the south.


During the reign of Darius' son Xerxes, the expansion of the empire came to an end. Gandara and Taxila in the far east were lost. The Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus describes in his Histories Xerxes' ill-fated campaign against the Greeks (480-479), but fails to explain why the Persians were unsuccessful: because the Babylonian Šamaš-eriba revolted. In the west, Macedonia, Thrace and several Greek towns in Asia Minor became independent. However, Xerxes was able to keep the empire intact during the transition from an expansionist to a more static organization.

Under his successors Artaxerxes I Makrocheir (465-424) and Darius II Nothus (423-404), the empire remained as it was: the strongest power on earth. In several regions (e.g., Asia Minor) we detect strong Persian cultural influence. In Greece, the Athenians copied many institutions of their powerful neighbor. They were not the only ones. To the north of the Achaemenid empire, the Cadusians learned how to organize itself. The war against this tribe was to flare up several times in the fourth century.

After the death of Darius II, civil war broke out between Artaxerxes II Mnemon and his younger brother Cyrus, who marched with an army of Greek mercenaries to the east, but was defeated at Cunaxa near Babylon. This event was important, because it was now obvious that the Persian infantry was no match to the Greek hoplites. The Achaemenids developed a policy of dividing the Greek powers (Athens, Sparta, Thebes) and were able to strengthen their grip on Asia Minor, where the Greek towns were again subdued.

On the other hand, Egypt became independent under Amyrtaeus. Several times, the Persians tried to reconquer the former satrapy, usually employing Greek mercenaries. (The Egyptians did the same.) These attempts came to nothing until two generals of king Artaxerxes III Ochus (358-338), Bagoas and Mentor of Rhodes, were finally successful and forced the last pharaoh of independent Egypt, Nectanebo II, to flee (342/341).


After the death of Artaxerxes III, there was a crisis in the Achaemenid dynasty. The new king was Artaxerxes IV Arses, but after a brief reign, he was replaced by a distant relative, Darius III Codomannus (336-330). Several satrapies revolted, but Darius immediately put down these rebellions. However, in the meantime, the Macedonian king Alexander the Great had invaded Asia Minor. Although Darius sent out a Greek mercenary leader, Memnon of Rhodes, and a Persian admiral, Pharnabazus, the Macedonians were able to reach Syria, where they defeated Darius at Issus (333).

The Persians built a new army, but two years later, they were defeated at Gaugamela. Darius was murdered (330) and Alexander started to reign as an Achaemenid king, keeping the empire together. After Alexander's death in Babylon (11 June 323), his empire was divided into three parts: Macedonia was ruled by Antipater, Ptolemy reconstituted the Egyptian kingdom, and Seleucus ruled the Asian parts of Alexander's realms. In fact, the Seleucid empire was a continuation of the Achaemenid empire.

The fall of Nineveh Chronicle


This is the text of a chronicle that describes the final years of the Assyrian empire.

The tenth year of Nabopolassar [616-615 BCE]: In the month Ajaru he mustered the army of Babylonia and marched along the bank of the Euphrates. The Suheans and Hindaneans [people living south of Harran] did not do battle against him but placed their tribute before him.
In the month Âbu the army of Assyria prepared for battle in Gablini and Nabopolassar went up against them. On the twelfth of the month Âbu [24 July 616] he did battle against the army of Assyria and the army of Assyria retreated before him. He inflicted a major defeat upon Assyria and plundered them extensively. He captured the Manneans, who had come to the Assyrians' aid, and the Assyrian officers. On the same day he captured Gablini.

In the month Âbu the king of Babylonia and his army went upstream to Mane, Sahiri and Bali-hu. He plundered them, sacked them extensively and abducted their gods.
In the month Ulûlu the king of Babylonia and his army returned and on his way he took the people of Hindanu and its gods to Babylon.
In the month Tašrîtu the army of Egypt and the army of Assyria went after the king of Babylonia as far as Gablini but they did not overtake the king of Babylonia. So they withdrew.
In the month Addaru the army of Assyria and the army of Babylonia did battle against one another at Madanu, a suburb of Arraphu [modern Kirkuk], and the army of Assyria retreated before the army of Babylonia. The army of Babylonia inflicted a major defeat upon the Assyrian army and drove them back to the Zab river. They captured their chariots and horses and plundered them extensively. They took many [lacuna] with them across the Tigris and brought them into Babylon.

The eleventh year [615-614]: The king of Babylonia mustered his army, marched along the bank of the Tigris, and in the month Ajaru he encamped against Aššur. On the [lacuna] day of the month Simanu he did battle against the city but he did not capture it. The king of Assyria mustered his army, pushed the king of Babylonia back from Aššur and marched after him as far as Takrit, a city on the bank of the Tigris. The king of Babylonia stationed his army in the fortress of Takrit. The king of Assyria and his army encamped against the army of the king of Babylonia, which was stationed in Takrit, and did battle against them for ten days. But the king of Assyria did not capture the city. Instead, the army of the king of Babylonia, which had been stationed in the fortress, inflicted a major defeat upon Assyria. The king of Assyria and his army turned and went home.
In the month Arahsamna the Medes went down to Arraphu [modern Kirkuk] and [lacuna].

The twelfth year [614-613]: In the month Âbu [July/August] the Medes, after they had matched against Nineveh [lacuna], hastened and they captured Tarbisu, a city in the district of Nineveh. They went along the Tigris and encamped against Aššur. They did battle against the city and destroyed it. They inflicted a terrible defeat upon a great people, plundered and sacked them. The king of Babylonia and his army, who had gone to help the Medes, did not reach the battle in time. The city [lacuna] The king of Babylonia and Cyaxares the king of the Medes met one another by the city and together they made an entente cordiale. [lacuna] Cyaxares and his army went home. The king of Babylonia and his army went home.

The thirteenth year [613-612]: In the month Ajaru the Subeans rebelled against the king of Babylonia and became belligerent. The king of Babylonia mustered his army and marched to Suhu. On the fourth day of the month Simanu [11 May 613] he did battle against Rahilu, a city which is on an island in the middle of the Euphrates and at that time he captured the city. He built his [lacuna] The men who live on the bank of the Euphrates came down to him. [lacuna] he encamped against Anat and the siege engines he brought over from the western side [lacuna] he brought the siege engine up to the wall. He did battle against the city and captured it. [lacuna] the king of Assyria and his army came down and [lacuna] the king of Babylonia and his army. The king of Babylonia went home.

The fourteenth year [612-611]: The king of Babylonia mustered his army and marched to [lacuna]. The king of the Medes marched towards the king of Babylonia. [lacuna] they met one another. The king of Babylonia [lacuna] Cyaxares [lacuna] brought across and they marched along the bank of the Tigris. [lacuna] they encamped against Nineveh.
From the month Simanu [June] until the month Abu [August] -for three months- they subjected the city to a heavy siege. On the [lacuna] day of the month Âbu they inflicted a major defeat upon a great people. At that time Sin-šar-iškun, king of Assyria, died. [lacuna] They carried off the vast booty of the city and the temple and turned the city into a ruin heap [lacuna] of Assyria escaped from the enemy and [lacuna] the king of Babylonia [lacuna].
On the twentieth day of the month Ulûlu [15 August 612] Cyaxares and his army went home. After he had gone, the king of Babylonia dispatched his army and they marched to Nasibin [Nisibis]. Plunder and exiles [lacuna] and they brought the people of Rusapu to the king of Babylonia at Nineveh. On the [lacuna] of the month [lacuna] Aššur-uballit ascended to the throne in Harran to rule Assyria. Up until the [lacuna] day of the month [lacuna] the king of [lacuna] set out and in [lacuna]

The fifteenth year [611-610]: In the month Du'ûzu [June/July] the king of Babylonia mustered his army and [lacuna] marched to Assyria victoriously. He marched about of [lacuna] and he captured Shu[lacuna], plundered it and carried of its vast booty.
In the month Arahsamna [November/December] the king of Babylonia took the lead of his army personally and marched against Ruggulitu. He did battle against the city and on the twenty-eighth day of the month Arahsamnu [8 December 611] he captured it. [lacuna] He did not leave a single man alive. [lacuna] He went home.

The sixteenth year [610-609]: In the month Ajaru [May] the king of Babylonia mustered his army and marched to Assyria. From the month [lacuna] until the month Arahsamna [November] he marched about victoriously in Assyria. In the month Arahsamnu the Medes, who had come to the help of the king of Babylonia, put their armies together and marched to Harran against Aššur-uballit, who had ascended to the throne in Assyria. Fear of the enemy overcame Aššur-uballit and the army of Egypt which had come to help him, and they abandoned the city. [lacuna] they crossed. The king of Babylonia reached Harran and [lacuna] he captured the city. He carried off the vast booty of the city and the temple. In the month Addaru the king of Babylonia left their [lacuna]. He went home. The Medes, who had come to help the king of Babylonia, withdrew.

The seventeenth year [609-608]: In the month Du'ûzu [July] Aššur-uballit, king of Assyria, with a large army from Egypt crossed the river Euphrates and marched against Harran to conquer it. [lacuna] They captured [a town on the road to Harran]. They defeated the garrison which the king of Babylonia had stationed inside. When they had defeated it they encamped against Harran. Until the month Ulûlu [September] they did battle against the city but achieved nothing. However, they did not withdraw. The king of Babylonia went to help his army and [lacuna] he went up to Izalla and the numerous cities in the mountains [lacuna] he set fire to their [lacuna]
At that time the army of [lacuna] march as far as the district of Urartu. In the land [lacuna] they plundered their [lacuna] The garrison which the king of [lacuna] had stationed in it set out. They went up to [lacuna]. The king of Babylonia went home.

In the eighteenth year [608-607]: In the month Ulûlu [August/September] the king of Babylonia mustered his army. [lacuna].
Let the one who loves [the gods] Nabû and Marduk keep this tablet and not let it stray into other hands.

Chronicle of Nabonidus

In October 539 BCE, the Persian king Cyrus took Babylon, the ancient capital of an oriental empire covering modern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel. In a broader sense, Babylon was the ancient world's capital of scholarship and science. The subject provinces soon recognized Cyrus as their legitimate ruler. Since he was already lord of peripheral regions in modern Turkey and Iran (and Afghanistan ), it is not exaggerated to say that the conquest of Babylonia meant the birth of a true world empire. The Achaemenid empire was to last for more than two centuries, until it was divided by the successors of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great. A remarkable aspect of the capture of Babylon is the fact that Cyrus allowed the Jews (who were exiled in Babylonia) to return home.

The Chronicle of Nabonidus tells us the story of the rule of the last king of independent Babylonia. The text is badly damaged and contains many lacunas. However, it makes clear that the rise of Cyrus was not unexpected. We meet him for the first time in Nabonidus' sixth year (=550 BCE), when he defeats the Median leader Astyages. A second reference can be found in year nine, when he defeats the king of a country that is probably to be identified with Lydia (547 BCE).

In addition, we learn that Nabonidus was not in Babylon for ten years. Instead, he seems to have tried to subject Arabia. In year three he conquered the kingdom Edom, which controls the direct road from Babylon to the Gulf of Aqaba. From year seven until year sixteen, Nabonidus stayed in the oasis of Temâ in the Arabian desert, from where he could easily go as far south as the oasis Iatribu (modern Medina).

The events of year seventeen look rather desperate: although the New Year's festival (Akitu) can now be celebrated, several divine guests fail to attend, which suggests that their home towns were under siege. We also learn about a short invasion by soldiers from the Sea Land.

Throughout this text, 'Akkad' means Babylonia; the first years show Babylonian military activity in Syria and the southeast of modern Turkey.

[First line destroyed]
Accession year (556/555 BCE): ... he lifted. The king brought their [lacuna] to Babylon.

First year (555/554): They did [unintelligible] and he did not lift his [lacuna]. All their families [lacuna]. The king called up his army and [marched ] against the country Hume [i.e., Cilicia].


Third year (553/552): In the month of Âbu, to the Amananus [in Cilicia], the mountains of [many ] fruit trees. All kinds of fruits he sent to Babylon.
The king fell sick, but he recovered. In the month Kislîmu, the king called up his army and [joined forces with king ] Nabû[lacuna] of Amurru and marched to [lacuna]. Against the capital of Adummu [the biblical kingdom Edom] they pitched camp [lacuna] the town Shindini [lacuna] he killed him.

Fourth year (552/551): [lacuna]

Fifth year (551/550): [lacuna]

Sixth year (550/549): King Astyages [litt: Ištumegu] called up his troops and marched against Cyrus [Kuraš], king of Anšan, in order to meet him in battle. The army of Astyages revolted against him and in fetters they delivered him to Cyrus. Cyrus marched against the country Agamtanu [the Median capital Ecbatana, modern Hamadan]; the royal residence he seized; silver, gold, other valuables of the country Agamtanu he took as booty and brought to Anšan. The valuables of [lacuna]

Seventh year (549/548): The king stayed in Temâ; the crown prince, his officials and his army were in Akkad. The king did not come to Babylon for the [New Year's] ceremonies of the month of Nisannu; the image of the god Nabû did not come to Babylon, the image of the god Bêl [= Marduk] did not go out of Esagila in procession, the festival of the New Year was omitted. But the offerings within the temples Esagila and Ezida were given according to the complete ritual; the urigallu-priest made the libation and asperged the temple.

Eighth year (548/547): [lacuna]

Ninth year (547/546): Nabonidus, the king stayed in Temâ; the crown prince, his officials and his army were in Akkad. The king did not come to Babylon for the ceremony of the month of Nisanu; the god Nabû did not come to Babylon, the god Bêl did not go out of Esagila in procession, the festival of the New Year was omitted. But the offerings within the temples Esagila and Ezida for the gods of Babylon and Borsippa were given according to the complete ritual.
In the month of Nisannu the fifth day, the mother of the king died in the Walled Camp, which is on the banks of the Euphrates, above Sippar. The crown prince and his army were in deep mourning for three days, an official weeping was performed. In Akkad, an official weeping on behalf of the mother of the king was performed in the month of Simanu.
In the month of Nisannu, Cyrus, king of Persia, called up his army and crossed the Tigris below the town of Arbela. In the month of Ajaru he marched against the country Ly[lacuna; probably Lydia], killed its king [Croesus ], took his possessions, put there a garrison of his own. Afterwards, his garrison as well as the king remained there.

Tenth year (546/545): The king stayed in Temâ; the crown prince, his officials and his army were in Akkad. The king did not come to Babylon for the ceremonies of the month of Nisannu; Nabû did not come to Babylon, Bêl did not go out of Esagila in procession, the festival of the New Year was omitted. But the offerings within the temples Esagila and Ezida for the gods of Babylon and Borsippa were given according to the complete ritual.
In the month Simanu, the twenty-first day [lacuna] of the country of the Elamites in Akkad [lacuna] The governor of Uruk [lacuna]

Eleventh year (545/544): The king stayed in Temâ; the crown prince, his officials and his army were in Akkad. The king did not come to Babylon for the ceremonies of the month of Nisannu; Nabû did not come to Babylon, Bêl did not go out of Esagila in procession, the festival of the New Year was omitted. But the offerings within the temples Esagila and Ezida for the gods of Babylon and Borsippa were given according to the complete ritual.

[large lacuna, containing years #12, #13, #14, #15]

... Tigris. In the month of Addaru the image of Ištar of Uruk [lacuna] The army of the Persians made an attack.

Seventeenth year (539/538): Nabû went from Borsippa for the procession of Bêl [lacuna] The king entered the temple of Eturkalamma; in the temple he [lacuna]. The Sea Country made a short invasion. Bêl went out in procession. They performed the festival of the New Year according to the complete ritual [4 April].
In the month of [Âbu ] Lugal-Marada and the other gods of the town Marad, Zabada and the other gods of Kish, the goddess Ninlil and the other gods of Hursagkalama visited Babylon. Till the end of the month Ulûlu all the gods of Akkad -those from above and those from below- entered Babylon. The gods of Borsippa, Cutha, and Sippar did not enter.
In the month of Tašrîtu, when Cyrus attacked the army of Akkad in Opis[i.e., Baghdad] on the Tigris, the inhabitants of Akkad revolted, but he [Cyrus or Nabonidus ] massacred the confused inhabitants. The fifteenth day [12 October], Sippar was seized without battle. Nabonidus fled. The sixteenth day, Gobryas [litt: Ugbaru], the governor of Gutium, and the army of Cyrus entered Babylon without battle. Afterwards, Nabonidus was arrested in Babylon when he returned there. Till the end of the month, the shield carrying Gutians were staying within Esagila but nobody carried arms in Esagila and its buildings. The correct time for a ceremony was not missed.
In the month of Arahsamna, the third day [29 October], Cyrus entered Babylon, green twigs were spread in front of him - the state of peace was imposed upon the city. Cyrus sent greetings to all Babylon. Gobryas, his governor, installed subgovernors in Babylon.
From the month of Kislîmu to the month of Addaru, the gods of Akkad which Nabonidus had made come down to Babylon, were returned to their sacred cities.
In the month of Arahsamna, on the night of the eleventh, Gobryas died [6 November].
In the month of Addaru, the [lacuna] day, the wife of the king died. From the twenty-seventh day of Adarru till the third day of Nisannu [20-26 March], an official weeping was performed in Akkad. All the people went around with their hair disheveled. When, the fourth day [27 March] Cambyses, son of Cyrus, went to the temple of [unintelligible], the epa-priest of Nabû who [lacuna] the bull [lacuna] They came and made the weaving by means of the handles and when he led the image of Nabû [lacuna] spears and leather quivers, from [lacuna] Nabu returned to Esagila, sheep offerings in front of Bêl and the god Mârbîti.

Alexander the Great:
the Dynastic prophecy
 

Detail of the Alexander mosaic, found in Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum, Naples (Italy). In mid-July 330, the Persian king Darius III Codomannus was killed; this meant the end of the Achaemenid empire, which was now taken over by the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great. One of the most tantalizing descriptions of Darius's death is the so-called Dynastic Prophecy, which was written on a clay tablet found at Babylon. It is now in the British Museum. The relevant lines are quoted below in the translation of Bert van der Spek.

[Column 5]
4 For two years [he will exercise kingship]. [1].
5 That king a eunuch [will murder].
6 A certain prince [......] [2]
7 will set out and [seize] the thr[one]
8 Five years [he will exercise] king[ship]
9 Troops of the land of Hani [......] [3]
10 will set out a[nd  .. ]./-ship \ th[ey will  ...]
11 [his] troop[s they will defeat;]
12 booty from him they will take [and his spoils]
13 they will plunder. Later [his] tr[oops ...]
14 will assemble and his weapons he will ra[ise (...)]
15 Enlil, Šamaš and [Marduk( )] [4]
16 will go at the side of his army [(...);]
17 the overthrow of the Hanaean troops he will [bring about].
18 His extensive booty he will car[ry off and]
19 into his palace he [will bring it]
20 The people who had [experienced] misfortune
21 [will enjoy] well-being.
22 The heart of the land [will be happy]
23 Tax exemption [he will grant to Babylonia]

This is fascinating, because it seems to prove that at least one Babylonian believed that Darius III was not dead, and would return victoriously. World history offers many examples of popular leaders who are believed not to have died: a brief catalogue would include the miraculously saved king Croesus of Lydia, the last pharaoh of independent Egypt Nectanebo II, king Arthur of the Britons, the German emperor Frederick, and, in our own age, Adolf Hitler and Elvis Presley.

It would be interesting if we could say that Darius also belonged to this exclusive company, and several scholars have believed that the text does indeed prove that Darius was considered to be alive somewhere and would one day return to overthrow the Macedonians. Their ideas have been made known to a larger audience by Michael Wood in his immensely popular In the footsteps of Alexander the Great (1997).

Unfortunately, there is a long break in the text (line 10) and we are not permitted to identify the king who fits the army in the second part of the text with Darius, as has often been suggested. If Darius is not the 'he' of the second part of the prophecy, another identification has to be made. The words can refer to Alexander, to several native leaders, but also to Seleucus, who defeated several Greek armies.

A contemporary Babylonian account of
the battle of Gaugamela
 

Detail of the Alexander mosaic, found in Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum, Naples (Italy). On 1 October 331, the Macedonian king Alexander the Great defeated a large Persian army at Gaugamela, commanded by king Darius III Codomannus. The only contemporary source describing the event is the so-called Astronomical diary, a day-by-day account of celestial phenomena, written by the officials of the Esagila temple complex.

The diary mentions other events as well, e.g., the level of the Euphrates, the weather, the food prices, incidents concerning Babylon and its temples, and political events - after all, the celestial phenomena were omens of important political changes.

The following text, a cuneiform tablet now in the British Museum in London, is damaged, but the account is clear: there were terrible omens and the battle -which is described after the astronomical observations- was truly important. (A more scholarly edition can be found here.)


[The first part is missing.]

The thirteenth [1], Moonset to sunrise: 8º. [There was a] lunar eclipse, in its totality covered. 10º night [lacuna] Jupiter set; Saturn [lacuna] during the totality the west wind blew, during clearing the east wind; [lacuna] during the eclipse, deaths and plague occurred in [lacuna].

[The fourteenth:] All day clouds were in the sky.

Night of the fifteenth: Sunset to moonrise: 16º. [There were] clouds [in the sky]. The moon was 32/3 cubits [below Alpha Arietis], the moon having passed to the east; a meteor which flashed, its light was seen on the ground; very overcast, lightning flashed.

Night of the seventeenth: [lacuna] rain; last part of the night, the moon was behind Alpha Tauri. Clouds were in the sky.

Night of the eighteenth: A 'fall of fire' [2] occurred in the district [lacuna] entered opposite of the Nabû temple and a dog was burned.

Night of the nineteenth: First part of the night, a 'fall of fire' occurred [lacuna]; last part of the night, the moon was twenty fingers behind Gamma Geminorum. Venus was [lacuna] above Beta Virginis, Venus having passed [lacuna] fingers to the east.

Night of the twentieth: Last part of the night, the moon was [lacuna] cubits below Beta Geminorum, the moon being 2/3 cubit back to the west.

The twenty-first: Equinox. [3] I did not watch.

Night of the twenty-second: Last part of the night, the moon was six cubits below Epsilon Leonis, the moon having passed ½ cubit to the east.

Night of the twenty-third: Last part of the night, the moon was 1 cubit behind Alpha Leonis.

Night of the twenty-fourth: Clouds were in the sky.

Night of the twenty-fifth: In the morning, clouds were in the sky.

Night of the twenty-sixth: Last part of the night, the moon was [lacuna] below Gamma Virginis, the moon being 2.3 cubit back to the west, it stood 1 cubit 8 fingers behind Venus to the east.

Night of the twenty-ninth: Solar eclipse which was omitted; it was expected for about 1º night after sunset.[4]

Night of the thirtieth: Last part of the night [lacuna]

[5] [That month, the equivalent for 1 shekel of silver was: barley] [lacuna] kur; mustard, 3 kur, at the end of the month [lacuna]; sesame, 1 pân, 5 minas.

At that time, Jupiter was in Scorpio; Venus was in Leo, at the end of the month in Virgo; Saturn was in Pisces; Mercury and Mars, which had set, were not visible.

That month, the river level [lacuna].

That month, the eleventh, panic occurred in the camp before the king [6] [The Macedonians] encamped in front of the king.

The twenty-fourth [7], in the morning, the king of the world [8; erected his] standard [lacuna]. Opposite each other they fought and a heavy defeat of the troops [of the king he inflicted].[9]. The king, his troops deserted him and to their cities [they went] They fled to the land of the Guti.[10]

[Month seven, the first of which followed the thirtieth of the preceding month;] sunset to moonset 13º30' [lacuna].

Night of the second: The moon was above Jupiter [lacuna]

Night of the seventh: Beginning of the night:

[End of the tablet. On the reverse side, the astronomical observations of the month Tašrîtu are illegible. At the end of the tablet, the following can be read:]

[That month, the equivalent] for 1 shekel of silver was: [lacuna]

That month, from the first to the [lacuna; 11], came to Babylon, saying: 'Esagila [will be restored] and the Babylonians to the treasury of Esagila [their tithe will give.']

On the eleventh, in Sippar an order of Al[exander to the Babylonians was sent as follow]s: 'Into your houses I shall not enter.' [12]

On the thirteenth, [the vanguard advanced to the Sikil]la gate, to the outer gate of Esagila and [the Babylonians prostrated themselves].

On the fourteenth, these Ionians [13] a bull [lacuna] short, fatty tissue [lacuna]. Alexander, king of the world, came into Babylon [lacuna], horses and equipment of [lacuna] and the Babylonians and the people of [lacuna] a message to

[end of tablet]


20 September 331 BCE: Pisces, the eclipsed moon, and the planet Saturn (Starry Night).
20 September 331 BCE:
Pisces, the eclipsed moon,
and the planet Saturn
(Starry Night)
Note 1:
The lunar eclipse took place in the evening of 20 September 331 BCE, and started immediately after the moon had risen in the east (and some forty minutes before Jupiter set in the west). The omen was not hard to explain: it meant the eclipse of an eastern power, Persia. According to the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus, the Magians regarded the moon as the symbol of Persia (Histories 7.37). The eclipse took place in Pisces, close to Saturn, the planet that was always interpreted as a very, very bad omen. Moreover, it happened in the sixth month, which was bad for the king of Persia; the western wind suggested that his end would come due to an intruder from the west.

Note 2:
It is not known what this expression means. A similar portent is mentioned by Curtius Rufus.

Note 3:
In fact, the equinox was one day earlier.

Note 4:
The Babylonian astronomer had predicted a solar eclipse that would have been visible in the countries west of Babylon, but he received no reports about it. Not so strange: the eclipse was only visible in northern America.

Note 5:
Having described the celestial phenomena, the author of the Astronomical diary describes the consequences of the omens. The first item consists of the prizes of important commodities.

Note 6:
The date is 18 September. The nameless king must be Darius, who was at Arbela; Alexander had crossed the Tigris on the seventeenth and had won a cavalry skirmish, which explains the panic in the Persian army.

Note 7:
1 October. The Greek author Plutarch of Chaeronea calls the day 26 Boedromion, which proves that the Greek calendar was two days behind the true lunar month.

Note 8:
The king of the world is Alexander. The title is not very usual in the Babylonian literature of this age and may have been used as a translation of Alexander's Greek title 'lord of Asia'.

Note 9:
The lacuna is not large enough to contain the missing verb and a new date. In other words, Darius' men left him on the day of the battle.

That Darius' troops left their king, obviously creates embarrassment among classicists, because it contradicts what is written by the ancient Greek and Roman historians Curtius Rufus, Plutarch of Chaeronea and Arrian of Nicomedia - that Darius fled from the battle field. The author of this note has seen the lines of the Astronomical Diary translated as 'the king deserted the troops'; this error may have been caused by the odd sequence of the words of the Babylonian author, 'the king, his troops left him'.

The only Greek author who describes Darius as a powerful warrior is Diodorus of Sicily. He writes:

The Persian king received the Macedonian attack and fighting from a chariot hurled javelins against his opponents, and many supported him. As the kings approached each other, Alexander flung a javelin at Darius and missed him, but struck the driver standing behind him and knocked him to the ground. A shout went up at this from the Persians around Darius, and those at a greater distance thought that the king had fallen. They were the first to take flight, and they were followed by those next to them, and steadily, little by little, the solid ranks of Darius' guard disintegrated. As both flanks became exposed, the king himself was alarmed and retreated. The flight thus became general.
[Diodorus, Library 17.60.2-4
tr. C. Bradford Welles]

Note 10:
The land of the Guti is the valley of the Diyala. It is the shortest way to Ecbatana.

Note 11:
The words in the gap must have been a date and an indication of the person(s) who came to Babylon. They may have been refugees who hoped to find asylum at the Esagila temple; or it may have been the Persian general Mazaeus, who surrendered the town on the twenty-first.

Note 12:
Alexander announced that his men would not plunder the Babylonian houses on 18 October 331 BCE and entered Babylon on the twenty-second (more...). Sippar is just north of Babylon. The 'houses' may be temples.

Note 13:
Ia-ma-na-a-a is the usual name for Greeks (cf. Greek Ionia and Persian Yaunâ). It is remarkable that Alexander sent Greeks, not Macedonians to Babylon. The bull was probably a sacrifice.

Sassanids

Sassanids: last native dynasty to reign in Persia before the Arab conquest. Its reign lasted from 224 to 651.

The name 'Sassanids' is derived from a Persian priest named Sassan, the ancestor of the dynasty. One of his sons was Pâpak, who dethroned the lawful ruler in Persia, Artabanus V, in 224 CE. The capital of the new king was Istakhr, not far from ancient Persepolis.


At that moment, Persia was a vassal of the Parthian empire, but Pâpak's son Ardašir I, who succeeded his father, did not behave himself as was expected from a vassal. War broke out between him and his overlord. Ardašir was successful: in 226, he took Ctesiphon, the capital of the Parthian empire. This meant the end of Parthia and the beginning of the Sassanid empire. Ctesiphon became the city where the Sassanid kings were to be inaugurated; Ardašir wanted to be called 'king of kings', the title that had been used by the Parthian kings and -centuries ago- the Achaemenid rulers of Persia.


Under the descendants of the priest Sassan, Zoroastrianism became the state religion. In their inscriptions, the Sassanid kings describe themselves as 'Mazda-worshipping kings', i.e., believers in the supreme god Ahuramazda. King Ardašir conferred many privileges to the Magians, the religious specialists of Zoroastrianism, who gained great political power. For example, they played a role in the inauguration ceremony in Ctesiphon, served as judges and served as tax collectors. In the Sassanid rock reliefs, we often see so-called "investiture scenes", in which the god Ahuramazda, seated on a horse, hands over power to a king.

As a consequence of this religious ideology, there was little room for alternative ideas. Christians were persecuted, and the prophet Mani (216-276), who had tried to combine Christianity and Zoroastrianism, was crucified. When the Roman empire, the arch-enemy of the Sassanid empire, had become Christian, the persecution of the Christians increased; being a Christian was considered treason.

The conflict with Rome, which had started in 231 with some fighting on the Euphrates, escalated under Ardašir's son and successor Shapur I (241-272). He made territorial claims: he wanted to restore the Achaemenid empire and demanded all Roman territories in Asia, a claim that was implied in his title 'king of Iran and non-Iran'. After he had invaded Syria and looted Antioch, a Roman counterattack was inevitable. The emperor Gordian III invaded Mesopotamia and was very successful, but died during a battle near Ctesiphon (244). His successor, Philip the Arab, was forced to conclude a shameful peace treaty, and with some justification, Shapur claimed to have put Philip on the throne. Roman POW's were forced to build the city of Bishapur, where a rock relief commemorated his triumph.
Cameo showing the Sassanid king Shapur defeating the Roman emperor Valerian.
Shapur and Valerian (©!!!)

A second war was even more disastrous to the Romans. Their emperor Valerian was not just defeated, he was even captured (260). The humiliation, shown on a rock reliefs at Bishapur and Naqš-i Rustam, could not be more complete. However, under the emperors Odaenathus (261-267), Carus (282-283), and Diocletian (284-305), the Romans restored their fortunes and in 298, a peace treaty was concluded in which the Persians had to give up territories in northern Mesopotamia.

Rome was not the only enemy. Shapur also attacked the Kushans, who ruled the region known as Gandara, the valley of the river Kabul. The Persians took their capital Peshawar and deposed the ruling dynasty. A precious religious object, Buddha's begging bowl, was taken to Persia.

The loot of Peshawar and Antioch was put to good use. Surveys in Iran have shown that large tracts of previously unused land came under cultivation. New trade routes with India and Arabia were opened, and new banking systems were developed (our word 'cheque' has a Persian root).


The conflict with Rome remained an unsolved problem. Sometimes it was just smouldering, sometimes it was blazing. King Shapur II (309-379) attacked the Roman possessions in Mesopotamia, and defeated and killed the Roman emperor Julian who had come to punish the attacker (363). The Romans were forced to give up the conquests of 298. Like his namesake, Shapur II also attacked the Kushan kingdom, which he overthrew. The sphere of influence of the Sassanid empire now reached to the borders of China. Shapur also invaded Arabia. Other enemies were the so-called White Huns, who invaded the Sassanid empire

After the reign of Shapur II, the western front became settled. There were many wars, but no large-scale conflicts. E.g., the city of Nisibis was besieged frequently by both parties, but the neighboring provinces were left alone. The Byzantine historian Procopius (507-c.556) suggests that full-scale war was meaningless because the frontier zone had become too devastated. It is true that the Roman emperor Theodosius II defeated the Sassanid king Bahram V, but this did not mean the end of Persia; Bahram was still able to defeat the White Huns. In 451, Yazdgard II invaded the Roman province Armenia; and Khusrau I invaded both Armenia and Syria, but in the end, the borders remained unchanged.

The final struggle of the Roman empire -now called Byzantium- and Persia started under Khusrau II 'the victorious' (590-628). Again, the Sassanids were the aggressor. The Byzantines were weakened, because Italy had been invaded by the Langobards, the Slavs were taking hold of the Balkans, and Andalusia was lost to the Visigoths. It was the perfect moment to attack the Byzantine empire, and Khusrau acted accordingly. His armies ravaged the cities of Syria and sacked Jerusalem in 614. (The Jews welcomed the Persians, because the Christians had often persecuted them.) One of the objects the Persians took away was the relic of the True Cross.

Khusrau's armies went on to invade Egypt -Alexandria was captured in 619- and in 626, their advance-guards paused only a mile from Constantinople. The Persians even raided Cyprus and occupied Rhodes. It seemed as if the Achaemenid empire was restored, and Khusrau ordered the making of brilliant rock reliefs at Taq-e Bostan. (Go here for a medieval fairy-tale about Khusrau.)

However, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius was to prove a match for Khusrau. He took some time to train an army, and in 627, he invaded Assyria and Mesopotamia. His campaign was extremely successful: he did not even return to his own empire during the winter, but stayed far behind the enemy lines. The Persian army mutinied and Khusrau was murdered (628). His successor Ardašir III made peace and the relic of the True Cross was restored to Jerusalem.


Heraclius' victory meant the end of Persia. There were four Sassanid kings in four years, and because there was no real authority, the Arabs -Muslims- were able to defeat the Persians, who were still Zoroastrians. The last Persian king was Yazdgard III, whose reign began in 632. In 636, the Arabs took Ctesiphon, in 641, they invaded Iran (battle of Nehavand), and ten years later, the last Sassanid king died as a fugitive.

The lasting heritage of the Sassanid empire is the Avesta, the holy book of Zoroastrianism. Under Khusrau II, the Zoroastrian high priest Tansar established the canon of religious texts. It contained hymns of great antiquity and younger texts, but also books on cosmogony and law, a biography of the prophet Zarathustra, apocalypses and several expositions of doctrine. Although parts of this codex were destroyed by the Muslims, the remainder still inspires thousands of people.

Parthia

The Parthian empire was the most enduring of the empires of the ancient Near East. After the Parni nomads had settled in Parthia and had built a small independent kingdom, they rose to power under king Mithradates the Great (171-138). The Parthian empire occupied all of modern Iran, Iraq and Armenia, parts of Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, and -for brief periods- territories in Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Palestine. The end of this loosely organized empire came in 224, when the last king was defeated by one of their vassals, the Persians of the Sassanid dynasty.


Conquest
After the fall of the Achaemenid empire, Parthia, northeastern Iran, was governed by the Seleucid kings: a Macedonian dynasty that ruled in the Asian territories of the former Persian Empire. In 245, a satrap named Andragoras revolted from the young Seleucid king Seleucus II, who had just succeeded to the throne. In the confusion, Parthia was overrun by the Parni, a nomad tribe from the Central-Asian steppe. In 238, they occupied the district known as Astavene. Three years later, a Parnian leader named Tiridates ventured further south and seized the rest of Parthia. A counter-offensive by king Seleucus ended in disaster, and Hyrcania was also subdued by the Parni. The first king of the Parthians (as the Parni were called from now on) was Tiridates' brother Arsaces I. His capital was

The Parthian kings -Arsaces I, Arsaces II, Phriapathus, Phraates I- recognized the Seleucid king as their superiors, especially after the campaign of Antiochus III the Great, who reconquered the lost eastern territories between 209 and 204. The Arsacid dynasty was recognized as the lawful ruler of Parthia, but the kings had to pay tribute to Antiochus.

After 188, when Antiochus had died, a new phase of Parthian expansion started. King Mithradates I the Great (171-138 BCE) first attacked the eastern kingdom of Bactria. Having covered his rear, he moved to the west, where he conquered Media, one of the most important parts of the Seleucid kingdom. Now, Assyria end Babylonia lay almost unguarded. In July 141 Mithradates captured the Seleucid capital Seleucia, and in October he reached Uruk in the south of Babylonia. His enemy Demetrius II tried to reconquer his lost territories, but was defeated and -even more humiliating- caught. Two years later, Elam was added to the Parthian empire.


Government
After the conquest of Media, Assyria, Babylonia and Elam, the Parthians had to organize their empire. The elite of these countries was Greek, and the new rulers had to adapt to their customs if they wanted their rule to last. So the cities retained their ancient rights and the civil administration remained more or less undisturbed. An interesting detail is coinage: legends were written in the Greek alphabet, and this practice was continued in the second century CE, when knowledge of this language was in decline and nobody knew how to read or write Greek characters.

Another source of inspiration was the Achaemenid dynasty that had once ruled the Persian empire. Courtiers spoke Persian and used the Pahlavi script; the royal court traveled from capital to capital; and the Arsacid kings wanted to be called -as Cyrus the Great had ordered his subjects to do in the sixth century- 'king of kings'. This was a very apt title. The Parthian monarch was the ruler of his own empire plus some eighteen vassal kings, such as the rulers of the city state Hatra, the port Characene and the ancient kingdom Armenia.


Ruins of the ivan (open-fronted, vaulted royal audience hall) at Ctesiphon.
The ruins of Ctesiphon (©!!!)
The empire was not very centralized. There were several languages, several peoples and several economic systems. But the loose ties between the separate parts were the key to its survival. In the second century CE, the most important capital Ctesiphon was captured no less than three times by the Romans (in 116, 165 and 198), but the empire survived, because there were other centers. On the other hand, the fact that the empire was a mere conglomerate of kingdoms, provinces, marks and city states could at times seriously weaken the Parthian state. This explains why the Parthian expansion came to an end after the conquest of Mesopotamia and Iran.

Local potentates played an important role and the king had to respect their privileges. Several noble families had a vote in the Royal council; the Sûrên clan had the right to crown the Parthian king; and every aristocrat was allowed/expected to retain an army of his own. When the throne was occupied by a weak ruler, divisions among the nobility could become dangerous.

The constituent parts of the empire were surprisingly independent. For example, they were allowed to strike their own coins, which was, in Antiquity, very rare. As long as the local elite paid tribute, the Parthian kings did not interfere. The system worked very well: towns like Ctesiphon, Seleucia, Ecbatana, Rhagae, Hecatompylos, Nisâ, and Susa flourished.

Tribute was one source of royal income; another was toll. Parthia controlled the Silk road, the route from the Mediterranean sea to China.


The western wars
The Seleucid empire was assaulted from two sides: the Parthians attacked from the east, the Romans from the west. In 69 BCE, the two enemies concluded a treaty: the Euphrates would be the border. Six years later, the Roman commander Pompey the Great conquered what was left of the empire of the Seleucids.

In 53 BCE, the Roman general Crassus invaded Parthia. At Harran or Carrhae, however, he was defeated by a Parthian commander who is called Surena in the Greek and Latin sources, and must have been a member of the Sûrên clan. This was the beginning of a series of wars that were to last for almost three centuries.

The Parthian armies consisted of two types of cavalry: the heavy-armed and armoured cataphracts and light brigades of mounted archers. To the Romans, who relied on heavy infantry, the Parthians were hard to defeat. On the other hand, the Parthians could never occupy conquered countries; they were unskilled in siege warfare. This explains why the Roman-Parthian wars lasted so long.

(The fate of the Roman soldiers taken captive at Carrhae deserves a brief digression. They were settled in the Margiana oasis in the Kara Kum desert, but later offered mercenary service to one Jzh-jzh, the leader of a nomad tribe known from Chinese sources. When he was defeated, these soldiers, which had shown great military prowess and discipline, accompanied the Chinese general to the east. A census list of 1-2 CE mentions a town Li-jien, 'Roman city', in the commandery Chang-i.)


In these years, the Romans were divided between the adherents of Pompey and those of Julius Caesar, and because of the civil war, there was no opportunity to punish the Parthians. Although Caesar was victorious in this conflict, he was murdered, and a new civil war broke out. The Roman general Quintus Labienus, who had supported the murderers and feared Caesar's heirs Mark Antony and Octavian, sided with the Parthians and turned out to be the best general of king Pacorus I. In 41, they invaded Syria, Cilicia, and Caria and attacked Phrygia and Asia. A second army intervened in Judaea and captured its king Hyrcanus II. The spoils were immense, and put to good use: king Phraates IV invested them in Ctesiphon, a new capital on the Tigris.


In 39, Mark Antony was ready to retaliate. Pacorus and Labienus were killed in action, and the Euphrates was again the border between the two nations. The Parthians had learned that they could not occupy enemy territories without infantry. However, Mark Antony wanted to avenge the death of Crassus and invaded Mesopotamia in 36 with the legion VI Ferrata and other, unidentified units. He had cavalry with him, but it turned out to be unreliable, and the Romans were happy to reach Armenia, having suffered great losses.

This meant the end of the first round of wars. The Romans were again fighting a civil war, and when Octavian had defeated Mark Antony, he ignored the Parthians. He was more interested in the west. His son-in-law and future successor Tiberius negotiated a peace treaty with Phraates (20 BCE).

At the same time, the beginning of our era, the Parthians became interested in the valley of the Indus, where they started to take over the petty kingdoms of Gandara. One of the Parthian leaders was named Gondophares, king of Taxila (pictures); according to an old and wide-spread Christian tradition, he was baptized by the apostle Thomas. The story is not impossible: adherents of several religions lived together in Gandara and the Punjab, and there may have been an audience for a representative of a new Jewish sect.

The Roman-Parthian war broke out again in the sixties of the first century CE. Armenia had become a Roman vassal kingdom, but the Parthian king Vologases I appointed a new Armenian ruler. This was too much for the Romans, and their commander Cnaeus Domitius Corbulo invaded Armenia. The result was that the Armenian king received his crown again in Rome from the emperor Nero. A compromise was worked out between the two empires: in the future, the king of Armenia was to be a Parthian prince, but needed approval from the Romans.

Decline and fall
The Armenian compromise served its purpose, but nothing was arranged for the deposition of a king. After 110, the Parthian king Vologases III was forced to dethrone an Armenian leader, and the Roman emperor Trajan -a former general- decided to invade Parthia. War broke out in 114 and the Parthians were severely beaten. The Romans conquered Armenia, and in the following year, Trajan marched to the south, where the Parthians were forced to evacuate their strongholds. In 116, Trajan captured Ctesiphon, and established new provinces in Assyria and Babylonia.

However, rebellions broke out (which proves the loyalty of the population to the Parthians). At the same time, the diasporic Jews revolted and Trajan was forced to send an army to suppress them (more). Trajan overcame these troubles, but his successor Hadrian gave up the territories (117). Nonetheless, it was clear that the Romans had learned how to beat the Parthians.

Perhaps it was not Roman strength, but Parthian weakness that caused the disaster. In the first century, the Parthian nobility had become more powerful, because the kings had given them more right over the peasants and their land. They were now in a position to resist their king. At the same time, the Arsacid family had become divided.

But the end was not near, yet. In 161 king Vologases IV declared war against the Romans and conquered Armenia. The counter-offensive was slow, but in 165, Ctesiphon fell. The Roman emperors Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius added Mesopotamia to their realms, but were unable to demilitarize the region between the Euphrates and Tigris. It remained an expensive burden. But it was now clear that the Romans were superior.

The final blow came thirty years later. King Vologases V had tried to reconquer Mesopotamia during a Roman civil war (193), but when general Septimius Severus was master of the empire, he attacked Parthia. Again, Ctesiphon was captured (198), and large spoils were brought to Rome. According to a modern estimate, the gold and silver were sufficient to postpone a European economic crisis for three or four decades, and we can imagine the consequences for Parthia.

Parthia, now impoverished and without any hope to recover the lost territories, was demoralized. The kings had to do more concessions to the nobility, and the vassal kings sometimes refused to obey. In 224, the Persian vassal king Ardašir revolted. Two years later, he took Ctesiphon, and this time, it meant the end of Parthia. It also meant the beginning of the second Persian empire, ruled by the Sassanid kings.

Etemenanki

(The tower of Babel)

Etemenanki: name of the large temple tower in Babylon, also known as the Tower of Babel. Its Sumerian name E-temen-an-ki means "House of the foundation of heaven on earth".

The story of the Tower of Babel, found in the Biblical book of Genesis, is one of the most famous and beloved legends of mankind.

The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Šin'âr, and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built. And the Lord said, "Behold, the people are one and they have all one language, and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be withheld from them which they have imagined to do. Come, let Us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth; and they left off building the city.
Therefore is the name of it called Bâbel (that is "Confusion") because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
[Genesis 11.1-9;
tr. King James 21st Century]

Let's start our discussion of the Etemenanki with some remarks about this Biblical story. The Hebrew word Bâbel, Confusion, is often used for Babylon (Akkadian Bab-ili), but this is not sufficient to prove the identification of the tower with a monument in this big city. (Imagine a legend about the unity of mankind, which is situated by scholars in Union, Connecticut.) Fortunately, the story contains a second geographical clue: the tower was erected on "a plain in the land of Šin'âr". This country is known from other books of the Bible (Isaiah 11.11 and Zechariah 5.11) and is translated as "Babylonia" in the Septuagint. So there is nothing that keeps us from identifying the Biblical building with a monument in ancient Babylon. This must be the building known as E-temen-an-ki, the 'House of the foundation of heaven on earth', a giant mountain of bricks and tiles with, on top, a temple for the god Marduk. He had a second temple in the neighborhood, the Esagila.

The ancient Babylonians called these brick mountains a ziqqurratu or ziggurat, which can be translated as "rising building" (Akkadian zaqâru, "to rise high"). This type of temple tower is the oriental equivalent of the Egyptian pyramid and just as old, although there are two differences: the ziggurat was not a tomb, and ziggurats were built well into the Seleucid age, whereas the building of pyramids came to an end after c.1640 BCE. Ziggurats played a role in the cults of many cities in ancient Mesopotamia. Archaeologists have discovered nineteen of these buildings in sixteen cities; the existence of another ten is known from literary sources.


The Etemenanki was among the largest of these, and the most important. (The largest was the shrine of Anu at Uruk, built in the third or second century BCE.) According to the Babylonian creation epic Enûma êliš the god Marduk defended the other gods against the diabolical monster Tiamat. After he had killed it, he brought order to the cosmos, built the Esagila, which was the center of the new world, and created mankind. The Etemenanki was next to the Esagila, and this means that the temple tower was erected at the center of the world, as the axis of the universe. Here, a straight line connected earth and heaven. This aspect of Babylonian cosmology is echoed in the Biblical story, where the builders say "let us build a tower whose top may reach unto heaven".

The best description of the monumental tower can be found in a cuneiform tablet from Uruk, written in 229 BCE. It is a copy of an older text and is now in the Louvre in Paris. It states that the tower was made up of seven terraces and it gives the height of the seven stocks - 91 meters all in all. The ground floor measured 91 x 91 meters, and this is confirmed by archaeological excavations conducted by Robert Koldewey after 1913 (91,48 x 91,66 m). Large stairs were discovered at the south side of the building, where a triple gate connected the Etemenanki with the Esagila. A larger gate in the east connected the Etemenanki with the sacred procession road. Seen from the triple gate, the Etemenanki must have resembled a true "stairway to heaven", because the gates on the higher terraces seemed to be standing on top of each other.

Using the archaeological data and the tablet at the Louvre, several reconstructions have been proposed. (The picture shows the most recent one, by Hansjörg Schmid.) However, there is one caveat: it is possible that the Louvre tablet describes not the real temple tower, but an idealized sanctuary - a blueprint for a Etemenanki that still has to be build, comparable to the description of the temple of Jerusalem in the Biblical book of Ezekhiel.


On the highest terrace was a temple, dedicated to the Babylonian supreme god Marduk. The Louvre tablet again offers information. There were several cult rooms: Marduk shared his room with his wife Sarpanitum, a second room offered accommodation to the scribe-god Nabû and his wife Tashmetu, and there were rooms for the water god Ea, the god of light Nusku, the god of heaven Anu, and finally Enlil, Marduk's predecessor as chief of the Mesopotamian pantheon. A seventh room was called "house of the bed" and contained a bed and a throne. A second bed was on the inner court of the temple on the highest platform of the Etemenanki. Finally, there must have been stairs to the roof. It is possible that the famous Babylonian astronomers, the so-called Chaldaeans, did their observations at the topmost level of the building.
 

This is the point where another text becomes useful: the Histories by the Greek researcher Herodotus of Halicarnassus (fifth century BCE). Although he probably never visited Babylon, his description of the Etemenanki tells us something about the temple ritual. (Herodotus correctly calls the supreme god of Babylon Bêl ("lord"), because his real name was not pronounced.)

The temple of Bêl, the Babylonian Zeus [...] was still in existence in my time. It has a solid central tower, one stadium square, with a second erected on top of it and then a third, and so on up to eight. All eight towers can be climbed by a spiral way running round the outside, and about half way up there are seats for those who make the ascent to rest on. On the summit of the topmost tower stands a great temple with a fine large couch in it, richly covered, and a golden table beside it. The shrine contains no image, and no one spends the night there except (if we may believe that Chaldaeans who are the priests of Bêl) one Babylonian woman, all alone, whoever it may be that the god has chosen. The Chaldaeans also say -though I do not believe them- that the god enters the temple in person and takes his rest upon the bed.
[Herodotus, Histories 1.181-2;
tr. Aubrey de Sélincourt]

This account contains minor errors (the dimensions of the tower, the number of levels, the shape of the stairs) and belongs to a description of Babylon that contains grave errors. It needs to be stressed, because there are still scholars maintaining that Herodotus visited Babylon, that the Greek researcher does not claim that he has seen the Etemenanki: he merely writes that it "was still in existence" in his time. Yet, this is the only text we have that describes the ritual performed in the temple: a holy marriage, in which the god sleeps with a woman. Unfortunately, there is not a single scrap of Babylonian evidence that can be used to corroborate Herodotus' story.

Probably, we must simply ignore it. He goes on to make a comparison with a similar Egyptian ritual, and this betrays him: on several occasions, Herodotus offers comparisons between Babylonia and Egypt, and in those cases, he is always wrong and may be repeating a story told by Egyptian priests. The story about the woman and the god belongs to this category.


The Etemenanki is mentioned for the first time in the Annals of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, who claims that he destroyed the temple tower of his Babylonian enemies in 689 BCE. Although he certainly sacked Babylon, it is impossible that his looting soldiers destroyed the Etemenanki. The wholesale destruction of large-scale structures is the prerogative of the modern age; ancient armies were incapable of destroying a large building.

The fact that Sennacherib could send an army against the Etemenanki, proves that it was older, and it would be remarkable if it was not so by at least 1000 years. During the reign of king Hammurabi (1792-1750), Babylonia was the leading power of Mesopotamia. In his age, there were ziggurats in lesser towns like Qatara, Aššur, Sippar, Kish, Borsippa, Nippur, Uruk, Larsa, Ur, and Eridu. It would be very strange if the capital of the world would be the only city without a ziggurat. It may be noted that the creation epic Enûma êliš with its reference to the building of the Esagila (and the implication of the existence of the Etemenanki), had already been written.

After Sennacherib, Esarhaddon was king of Assyria (680-669). He allowed the Babylonians to rebuilt their city. Another construction phase may have been after the war between the Assyrian king Aššurbanipal and his brother Šamaš-šum-ukin, the viceroy of Babylon (667-648). When Babylonia became independent under Nabopolassar (625-605), there was renewed building activity, and finally, king Nebuchadnezzar (604-562) is recorded as one of the builders. He finished the temple at the top, which was covered with a roof made of cedars from the Lebanon. The two last king have boasted that the tower "reached unto heaven".

The building history suggests that the Babylonians were occupied with the construction of the tower for over a century. It is possible that the ambitious design of a tower of 92 x 92 x 92 meters was too grandiose, so that they needed as much time for their project as the medieval builders of the European cathedrals. For a long time, the tower must have looked unfinished, and this may explain how the Biblical story came into being. It is certainly possible that the sanctuary was never finished at all.

The Persian king Xerxes (586-465) has often been blamed for the destruction of the Etemenanki. During his reign, there were indeed two revolts (led by Bêl-shimanni in 481 and Šamaš-eriba in 479), and Herodotus states that Xerxes took away a large statue of a man from the Esagila. Some six centuries later, the historian Arrian of Nicomedia, the author of an important book on Alexander the Great, expanded this last piece of information to a remark about the destruction of the Etemenanki. After all, Arrian had to explain why Alexander started to rebuild the monument that was by then known as the "tomb of Belus". But his story can not be true. The continuous cult at the Esagila and Etemenanki is mentioned in cuneiform sources form the fifth and fourth centuries, and is confirmed by Herodotus (whatever his merits), who states that "the temple of Bêl [...] was still in existence in my time".


The truth must be that by the time of Alexander, the ziggurat had fallen into disrepair. Buildings made of brick easily fall apart and need permanent care in the hot climate of the Near East. There is one badly damaged source, quoted here, that suggests that the Persian king Artaxerxes IV Arses (338-336) had already decided to restore the Esagila and the Etemenanki. Behaving like a Babylonian king was supposed to do, Alexander ordered 10,000 soldiers to remove the remains of the old building. Over a period of two months (April and May 323), tiles and bricks were brought to the eastern part of the city. This time, the tower was not destroyed by an army looking for loot: it was a systematic attempt to clear the building ground.

Although the site was now cleared, the tower was never rebuilt. On 11 June, Alexander died. Civil war broke out between his generals, the Diadochi. During the next years, Babylon saw several armies, and it lasted until 309 until peace conditions were restored by Seleucus Nicator. However, he founded another capital for the new Seleucid empire, Seleucia. Babylon was never restored to its old status, and that meant the end of the attempts to rebuilt the Etemenanki - although one scribe in Uruk was still hoping for its reconstruction and wrote the Louvre tablet. The Esagila remained intact well into the first century BCE and probably even later.

Interesting detail: the still not published Ruin of Esagila Chronicle mentions that the Seleucid king Antiochus I sacrificed on the remains of the Etemenanki, stumbled and fell, and angrily ordered his elephant drivers to destroy the last remains.

Arabian authors were responsible for keeping the memory of the Etemenanki alive, sometimes comparing the greatness of the ancient city with the humble town Bâbil of their own age. However, they thought that the ancient royal palace, which was the largest ruin on the site, was the tower of Babel. The inhabitants of Bâbil told the same to the first Western visitors, in the sixteenth century.


In the nineteenth century, the real Etemenanki was rediscovered by the native Arabian population. People of the nearby village wanted to create a palm garden and discovered ancient bricks when they lowered the groundwater level. German engineers understood the significance and in 1913, Robert Koldewey started the excavation of the Etemenanki. Today, only four channels can be seen; the rest of the site is overgrown with weed.