Babylon

Ancient Babylon is the modern day city of Al Hillah, Iraq. The name was given to both the capitol city and to the kingdom. Its ruins are about 80 kilometers south of Baghdad.

This city is mentioned in the Bible in several passages. Since the Old Testament takes place mainly in and around the fertile crescent which is located in Iraq, the land of Iraq is significant to the stories of the Bible.

The fertile crescent is also known as the cradle of civilization. The Garden of Eden is believed to have been located there.

The actual kingdom was properly named Babylonia. This was the southern portion of Mesopotamia and was once a conquering nation, constantly in battle with the northern kingdom of Assyria.

We first hear of this city in the Bible in Genesis 11:9 called Babel, as in the Tower of.

This was a significant city, known for its beauty. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. These gardens were built by the famous King Nebuchadnezzar II who reigned from 605-562 BC. See II Kings 24-25 for more information.

The city was built on both the left and right banks of the Euphrates River, in equal parts.

This powerful city was taken in 539 BC by Cyrus and the Persians and its power was diminished. Then Alexander the Great conquered the city and made it flourish until he died in 323 BC. Once again it declined and this time basically disappeared into oblivion.

Archaeologists excavated many layers of this ancient capitol, starting in 1899. They turned up the lost hanging gardens mentioned above and many other remains of once-beautiful buildings and statues.

Saddam Hussein launched a project in 1985 to rebuild the great city on top of its old ruins. He had his name put on many of the bricks, just like Nebuchadnezzar II had done so many years before when he built up the city.

Saddam's bricks say, "This was built by Saddam Hussein, son of Nebuchadnezzar, to glorify Iraq." Saddam also placed a very large portrait of himself with Nebuchadnezzar at the entrance to the ruins.

Once Saddam lost power in Iraq, the project stopped. The bricks were all taken and are now a collector's item.

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