RISE+&+GOLDEN+AGE

 RISE & FALL OF BABYLON (2000 - 539 BC)

//"Leaders like Hammurapi are what helped Babylon reach prosperity."// Babylon lay between the Tigris and Eurphates rivers, upon gainging prosperity they had many challenges and challengers to overcome. Their main rival were there neighbors the Assyrians, whose developement was often intertwined with Babylon's history. Babylonian history can be broken down into three different periods: Old Babylonian Period (2000 - 1595 BC), Middle Babylonian period (1595 - 1000 BC), and the Neo-Babylonian period (1000 - 539 BC). CLIMATE AND GEOGRAPHIC FACTORS
 * Babylon**

Babylon once existed in ancient mesopotamia between the Tigris and Eurphates rivers, near modern Iraq. Today it is nothing but mounds of clay and destroyed brick buildings being studied by archeologists. Despite this, at one time Babylon was a beautiful city-state, home to one of the seven world wonders of that period.

Here is some detail on what archeologists suspect ancient Babylon once looked like: -Babylon rested on a flat plain -Mountains surrounded the East and North side of the plain -In the summer the climate is hot and dry and the winters are cold and wet -In the spring, due to rain, the Tigris and Eurphrates rivers over-flow their banks, flooding great portions of the plain -Many clay buildings

How this may have affected Babylon: -Lots of water and proper control enabled man in ancient times to produce abundant crops, mostly barely and seseame, with abundant grazing land in the lush meadows for the cattle, sheep and goats. -The abundant clay was formed into bricks to build houses and monumental structures, and also provided clay tablets for writing purposes -Babylon was situated on the river of Eurphrates it was an ideal place for trade -When Babylon became important people wanted to live there because of the economic benefits -A large city like Babylon also would give great security to its inhabitants

//"Today Babylon is nothing but ruins."//

 SOCIO-POLITICAL STRUCTURE



// "Babylon's political structure was quite strong and helped Babylon gain prosperity in it's rise and golden age." //

 SOCIAL HIERARCHY: - several layers in the social hierarchy with the king at the top and the slaves at the bottom - in between (in descending order) were the nobles, the free citizens, and those in the military service -There were three main classes in Babylon society, the awilu (a free person of the upper class), the wardu (slave), and the mushkenu (a free person of low estate, who ranked between the Awilu and Mushkenu) -Free people could become slaves if they commited a criminal offense and families could sell their children as slaves if they needed to

FAMILY AND TRIBE: - your class and station was determined by who was in your family - people without family were often pitied, or seen as outcasts - widows and orphans were the responsibilty of the state, specifically the king - adoption was common - Babylonian social structure was often shaken with the coming and setteling of new peoples, such as the Kassites - Marriages were arranged by the parents - Betrothal was recognized legally as soon as the groom had presented a bridal gift to the father of the bride - In most cases, the Ceromony was concluded with a contract subscribed in a tablet - Marriage was more practical, but premaridal love making was not unknown - Babylonian women had legal rights (property, engagement in business, and qualification as a witness) - Husbands could divorce their wives on relatively light grounds - If the wife had born him no children he could marry a second wife - Children were under absolute authority of their parents - Parents could disinherit their children or sell them as slaves, however, children were usually loved and inherited their parents property - Adopted children were not uncommon and were treated with care

DOMESTIC RELATIONS: - Marriage was defined with a contract if a partner broke that contract they could be sued - Wives who were undutiful could be divorced and returned to their families or reduced to servants - Those who commited adulturey were severly punished - Wives could divorce their husbands, taking their things with them when they left

MONARCHY: - Babylonian political structure was a monarchy - The king ruled through a number of officials who were directly under and responsible to him - The monarchy was hereditary - Male primogeniture seems to have been the key rule - In the very early period the king had to respect custom and tradition, private property, the sensibilities of the nobles, religion and divination - King was the ultimate authority except for in religon where he was subject to the chief god as represented by his chief preist

//"In the New Year's Festival (of Babylon) the King's role includes being slapped in the face and pulled by the ears, as a sign of his respect to the god's."//

EVENTS & LEADERS

//"Babylon lived a long prosperus life, but was defeated by Cyrus (the great ruler of Persia) in 539 BC."// LIST OF KINGS & RULERS The First Dynasty of Babylon: Sumu-Abum - 14 years Sumu-La-El - 36 years Sabium (son) - 14 years Abil-Sin (son) - 18 years Sin-Muballit (son) - 20 years Hammu-rapi (son) - 43 years ; during his reign he dealt with his enemies through dimplomacy or military force. Samsu-Iluna (son) - 38 years Abi-Eshuh (son) - 28 years Ammi-Ditana (son) - 37 years Ammi-Zaduga (son) - 21 years Samsu-Ditana (son) - 32 years

IMPORTANT DATES Begining of Babylonia - ( approx. 2000 BC) Isin-Larsa period - (approx. 1800 BC) ; the perdiod in which the Isin and Larsa peoples took rule over Babylon Hammu-rapi period - (1792-1750 BC) ; Hammu-rapi emerged as the new ruler of Babylon, he expanded the borders of the empire and organized its laws into a written system, also known as the code of Hammu-rapi Kassites established a Dynatsy in Babylonia - (1595 BC) Kassite invaders rule Babylon and most of southern Mesopotamia - (1415-1115 BC) Babylonia was invaded, the city of Babylon captured by Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta - (1243-1207 BC) End of the Kassite Dynasty - (1155 BC)

•Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon //"Nebuchadnezzar (1125-1104 BC) became a legend in tradition & history"//

AGRICULTURE & THE ECONOMY

//"Babylonian economy was based on agriculture, animal husbandry, manufactured goods, and foreign trade."//

HOUSES AND FARMS: - Houses were made from sun-dried brick - They were inhabited by farmers and artisans - Authorites took no census - City streets were narrow, winding, and irregular, with high window-less houses on both sides - Streets were un-paved and un-drained - Average house was a small, one story, mud-brick structure with serveral rooms grouped around a court - Higher status Babylonians owned a two story house and was both plastered and white washed inside and out - Below the house there was a mausolem where the family dead were buried - Babylonians produced Barley, Wheat, fruits, vegetables, with cattle and sheep predominating - Barley was the main crop - Farmer would sow his seeds with a "seeder plough", plough would create a furrow into the earth in which a seed would be dropped using a funnel this ensured all seeds were at exactly correct depth IRRIGATION: - Without Irrigation the land would have turned back into swamp and desert - Crops (grown in irrigated areas) were the only source of food of the Babylonians, when these areas were destroyed it had disatrous effects - All the water for irrigation was taken from the Tigris and Eurphates rivers - Rivers often changed course and still do in Mespotomia, and canals were built to keep them on course - Cities relied on the rivers for prosperity - Officials were appointed to watch over the canals (keep them clean, making sure flood banks were at the right height.)

MANUFACTURING: - Babylonian economy was based on agriculture, animal husbandry, manufactured goods, and foreign trade - The king could, and did have control over prices - Prices also changed depending on supply and demand

TRADE: - By promoting trade a king could tax people - For trade to flourish the trade route and to be safe and protected from bandits - Largely due to nations attempting to control the trade routes that so many wars broke out //"Babylon was smart when it came to caring for their crops, they new that if they had better control of the rivers they would have more prosperity."//

ART, LITERATURE & MUSIC

// "Babylonians liked to use stories with morals and that were similar to their history to inspire them." //

LITERATURE: - Only certain people of Babylon were taught to write - Those usually consisted of scribes, who's parents paid money to have them taught as children - Babylonian scribes were often busy translating the Sumerian language - Therefore, some portions of Babylonian literature consits Sumerian writings in the Akkaidian language - The language of the scribes depends on the perdiod (the flow of people coming through Babylon often changed Babylon's main language) - Literary works were read to the Illiterate public for entertainment or learning purposes - Babylonian literature continued to be copied, studied, and created long after the fall - Babylonian literature was known to have morals

POETRY - Poetry consisted of parallelism - Poetic lines were usually grouped in couplets, though triplets and singlets did exist - Rhyme was unknown at the time - Traditionally, compositions were entitled by the first few words of the text - Dividing literature according to genre was not really known by the Babylonians - Certain stories were popular among the Babylonians and were respected in literary texts - Some of the most famous epics and myths were: Gilgamesh, Atrahasis, Adapa, Nergal, and more - Modern scholars have divided the literature into a number of categories - These are: Epics and Myths, Prayers and Hymns, Wisdom literature, and Historiography

MUSIC: - The Babylonians tended to use music as an accompaniment to telling a story, chant, or verse - Used for religious ceremonies and entertainment - Most music was instrumental - They used very different types of instruments such as: The reed flute, the lyre, the drum, the trumpet, and the harp

//"Up to the first century BC a script call Cuneiform was used to write Babylonian language."//

SCIENCE & MATHEMATICAL CONTRIBUTIONS //"The theorems of Euclid and Pythagoras were all ready known in the old Babylonian period."//

ASTRONOMY: - Observations by Astrologers led to accurate predictions of various astronomical phenomena and the correct calculation of the solar and lunar year - Babylonian calander was based upon the lunar year - Babylonians were one of the first peoples, after the Sumerians, to have a calander - The calander was very important without it agriculture would not be planned out properly - There were twelve lunar months in a year, but their months were shorter than ours so often an extra month would have to be added - Each week was divided into seven days - The day was divided into six parts, each of two hour duration and containing thirty parts - Babylonians measured time with a water or sun clock - Year started at the spring equinox

Calander: Tashritu Arahsamna Kislimu Tebetu Sabutu Addaru Nisannu Aiaru Simanu Du'uzu Abu Alulu

MATHEMATICS: - Theoretical mathematics interested the Babylonians - Sumerians developed a need for a numerical system they needed it for measurements, business transactions, etc. - From this Babylonian mathematics arose and was soon highly developed - Sumerians and Babylonians were one of the first peoples to have some fairly complex mathematics - Babylonian influence can still be seen in measurement of time and degree of angles - The Babylonian numerical system was sexagesimal (base sixty) - This is why there are sixty minutes in an hour and 360 degrees in a circle - By the time of Hammu-rapi the Babylonians also had symbols for ten, one hundred and one thousand, making their system part decimal

MEDICINE: - The Babylonians had a great knowlege of human and animal anatomy and physiology and were aware, for example, of the circulation of the blood and the pulse



 //"The Babylonians were one of the first people, after the Sumerians, to have a Calender."//

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SEE ALSO: WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM BABYLON RESOURCES