The Babylonian Empires

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General Information

The Babylonian Empire

The Babylonian Empire was an empire founded around 2300 BCE in the southern end of Mesopotamia, near where Iraq sits in the modern world.

Under the rule of its sixth and most well-known leader, Hammurabi, the capital city of Babylon would evolve from a simple port city into one of the

biggest cities at the time. He achieved this feat by creating many new buildings, taxes, laws, and a more organized government (History.com Editors).

More about Hammurabi can be read here.

After Hammurabi's death, the Empire began to decline rapidly. Eventually, the city of Babylon was attacked and sacked by the Hittites (Seymour). The destruction caused by the Hittites upon the city

caused much information about the Empire and time periods to be lost, which created a Dark Age. Because of this, there are many possible years the sack

on Babylon could have occured on. The most commonly used year for this is around 1595 BCE (Khalisi). After the sack by the Hittites, the Empire was taken over by many ruling dynasties over the years.

In total, the Babylonian Empire lasted a little over 700 years before turning into a sort of puppet state.
Depiction of Babylon

dkfindout.com/us/history/mesopotamia/babylon/

The Neo-Babylonian Empire

The Neo-Babylonian Empire formed when Nabopolassar gained a lot of control over a great portion of Babylonia in a sort of uprising. The northern region of Babylonia was one of the only areas

Nabopolassar had difficulty securing. Because he could not fully gain control over the old Empire, he had to deal with the Assyrians, who were occupying the land at the time.

In order to help secure Babylonia again, Nabopolassar created an alliance with a few other Empires, and they fought off the Assyrians together, finally allowing the Babylonians to have their

empire back ("Babylonian Empire").

Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar II, became leader after his father died, and was one of the Neo-Babylonian's greatest leaders. Under his rule, many more structures were erected within the

of Babylon, and his abilities as leader also elevated the Empire to a very dominant one just like it was during Hammurabi's rule. Nebuchadnezzar II also led powerful armies that took much land,

both former and new, for the Neo-Babylonian Empire ("Babylonia and Assyria"). More about Nebuchadnezzar II can be read here.

The Neo-Babylonian Empire faced a similar downfall to the original empire before it. After Nebuchadnezzar II died, the next few rulers were poor, and the citizens of the Empire grew discontent.

After a few years of decline, Cyrus the II of Persia was able to capture the city of Babylon, and begin to reign over the failing Empire. This would be the end of the proper Babylonian Empires.

The Neo-Babylonian Empire accomplished many great tasks throughout its short lifespan of less than 100 years, but it ultimately could not learn from the mistakes of the empire it built off of

years and years before it. Despite the efforts of the Babylonians throughout both of the major empires, their civilization failed to stand the test of time ("Babylonia and Assyria").
Depiction of Babylon

https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2016/11/02/the-neo-babylonian-empire/