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148-524: The ancient city of Babylon , in present-day Babylon Province was the capital of ancient Babylonia , situated on the Euphrates river south of Baghdad , Iraq. The city was occupied from the 3rd millennium BC but became important early in the 2nd millennium under the kings of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The sixth king of this dynasty was Hammurabi (1792–1750 BC) who made Babylon the capital of

296-460: A World Heritage Site in 2019. The site receives thousands of visitors each year, almost all of whom are Iraqis. Construction is rapidly increasing, which has caused encroachments upon the ruins. The spelling Babylon is the Latin representation of Greek Babylṓn ( Βαβυλών ), derived from the native ( Babylonian ) Bābilim , meaning "gate of the god(s) ". The cuneiform spelling

444-640: A 'crusade against the barbarians' but there was not enough strength left in any of the Greek city-states to answer his call. Although there were no rebellions in the Persian Empire itself, the growing power and territory of Philip II of Macedon in Macedon (against which Demosthenes was in vain warning the Athenians) attracted the attention of Artaxerxes. In response, he ordered that Persian influence

592-695: A better understanding of that era. The early Persian kings had attempted to maintain the religious ceremonies of Marduk , who was the most important god, but by the reign of Darius III , over-taxation and the strain of numerous wars led to a deterioration of Babylon's main shrines and canals, and the destabilization of the surrounding region. There were numerous attempts at rebellion and in 522 BC ( Nebuchadnezzar III ), 521 BC ( Nebuchadnezzar IV ) and 482 BC (Bel-shimani and Shamash-eriba) native Babylonian kings briefly regained independence. However, these revolts were quickly repressed and Babylon remained under Persian rule for two centuries, until Alexander

740-663: A century before the Iranian elites of the central plateau reclaimed power under the Parthian Empire . The Achaemenid Empire borrows its name from the ancestor of Cyrus the Great, the founder of the empire, Achaemenes . The term Achaemenid means "of the family of the Achaemenis/Achaemenes" ( Old Persian : 𐏃𐎧𐎠𐎶𐎴𐎡𐏁 , romanized:  Haxāmaniš ; a bahuvrihi compound translating to "having

888-495: A chieftain named Sumu-abum , who declared independence from the neighboring city-state of Kazallu . Sumu-la-El , whose dates may be concurrent with those of Sumu-abum, is usually given as the progenitor of the First Babylonian dynasty . Both are credited with building the walls of Babylon. In any case, the records describe Sumu-la-El's military successes establishing a regional sphere of influence for Babylon. Babylon

1036-406: A force of 14,000 Greeks furnished by the Greek cities of Asia Minor: 4,000 under Mentor , consisting of the troops that he had brought to the aid of Tennes from Egypt; 3,000 sent by Argos; and 1,000 from Thebes. He divided these troops into three bodies, and placed at the head of each a Persian and a Greek. The Greek commanders were Lacrates of Thebes, Mentor of Rhodes and Nicostratus of Argos while

1184-517: A friend's mind"). Achaemenes was himself a minor seventh-century ruler of the Anshan in southwestern Iran, and a vassal of Assyria . Around 850 BC the original nomadic people who began the empire called themselves the Parsa and their constantly shifting territory Parsua , for the most part localized around Persis. The name "Persia" is a Greek and Latin pronunciation of the native word referring to

1332-522: A large army, including a contingent of Ten Thousand Greek mercenaries , and made his way deeper into Persia. The army of Cyrus was stopped by the royal Persian army of Artaxerxes II at Cunaxa in 401 BC, where Cyrus was killed. The Ten Thousand Greek Mercenaries including Xenophon were now deep in Persian territory and were at risk of attack. So they searched for others to offer their services to but eventually had to return to Greece. Artaxerxes II

1480-544: A large quantity of cuneiform tablets and other finds. The zealous excavation methods, common at the time, caused significant damage to the archaeological context. Many tablets had appeared on the market in 1876 before Rassam's excavation began. A team from the German Oriental Society led by Robert Koldewey conducted the first scientific archaeological excavations at Babylon. The work was conducted daily from 1899 until 1917. A major problem for Koldewey

1628-543: A major city and declared himself its king. Southern Mesopotamia became known as Babylonia , and Babylon eclipsed Nippur as the region's holy city. The empire waned under Hammurabi's son Samsu-iluna , and Babylon spent long periods under Assyrian , Kassite and Elamite domination. After the Assyrians destroyed and then rebuilt it, Babylon became the capital of the short-lived Neo-Babylonian Empire , from 626 to 539 BC. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were ranked as one of

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1776-522: A major role in overthrowing the Assyrians. The Achaemenids were initially rulers of the Elamite city of Anshan near the modern city of Marvdasht ; the title "King of Anshan" was an adaptation of the earlier Elamite title "King of Susa and Anshan". There are conflicting accounts of the identities of the earliest Kings of Anshan. According to the Cyrus Cylinder (the oldest extant genealogy of

1924-476: A map of Babylon which includes the location of several villages. William Loftus visited there in 1849. Austen Henry Layard made some soundings during a brief visit in 1850 before abandoning the site. Fulgence Fresnel , Julius Oppert and Felix Thomas heavily excavated Babylon from 1852 to 1854. Much of their work was lost in the Qurnah Disaster , when a transport ship and four rafts sank on

2072-551: A number of mounds, the most prominent of which are Kasr, Merkes (13 meters; 43' above the plain), Homera, Ishin-Aswad, Sahn, Amran, and Babil. It is roughly bisected by the Shatt Al-Hillah, a branch of the Euphrates river , which has shifted slightly since ancient times. The local water table has risen, making excavation of lower levels difficult. Prior to the heavy use of baked bricks in the reign of Neo-Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II (605–562 BC), construction at Babylon

2220-602: A one-tenth tithe which all inhabitants paid to the temple nearest to their land or another source of income. Artaxerxes II became involved in a war with Persia's erstwhile allies, the Spartans , who, under Agesilaus II , invaded Asia Minor . To redirect the Spartans' attention to Greek affairs, Artaxerxes II subsidized their enemies: in particular the Athenians , Thebans and Corinthians . These subsidies helped to engage

2368-469: A peace which required the city's forces to leave Asia Minor and to acknowledge the independence of its rebellious allies. Artaxerxes started a campaign against the rebellious Cadusians , but he managed to appease both of the Cadusian kings. One individual who successfully emerged from this campaign was Darius Codomannus, who later occupied the Persian throne as Darius III . Artaxerxes III then ordered

2516-727: A place name. Archibald Sayce , writing in the 1870s, postulated that the Semitic name was a loan-translation of the original Sumerian name. However, the "gate of god" interpretation is increasingly viewed as a Semitic folk etymology to explain an unknown original non-Semitic placename. I. J. Gelb in 1955 argued that the original name was Babilla , of unknown meaning and origin, as there were other similarly named places in Sumer , and there are no other examples of Sumerian place-names being replaced with Akkadian translations. He deduced that it later transformed into Akkadian Bāb-ili(m) , and that

2664-509: A prolonged, if not even a successful resistance. However, he lacked good generals, and, over-confident in his own powers of command, he was out-maneuvered by the Greek mercenary generals, and his forces were eventually defeated by the combined Persian armies. After his defeat, Nectanebo hastily fled to Memphis , leaving the fortified towns to be defended by their garrisons. These garrisons consisted of partly Greek and partly Egyptian troops; between whom jealousies and suspicions were easily sown by

2812-808: A rebellion against Cyrus. Cyrus sent the Median general Mazares to deal with the rebellion, and Pactyes was captured. Mazares, and after his death Harpagus , set about reducing all the cities which had taken part in the rebellion. The subjugation of Lydia took about four years in total. When the power in Ecbatana changed hands from the Medes to the Persians, many tributaries to the Median Empire believed their situation had changed and revolted against Cyrus. This forced Cyrus to fight wars against Bactria and

2960-489: A reference to Homer . Following the pronouncement of Archibald Henry Sayce in 1883, Herodotus' account of Babylon has largely been considered to represent Greek folklore rather than an authentic voyage to Babylon. However, recently, Dalley and others have suggested taking Herodotus' account seriously. According to 2 Chronicles 36 of the Hebrew Bible , Cyrus later issued a decree permitting captive people, including

3108-543: A result, Kassite Babylon began paying tribute to the Pharaoh of Egypt , Thutmose III , following his eighth campaign against Mitanni. Kassite Babylon eventually became subject to the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365–1053 BC) to the north, and Elam to the east, with both powers vying for control of the city. By 1155 BC, after continued attacks and annexing of territory by the Assyrians and Elamites,

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3256-602: A result, the Persian forces were driven out of Phoenicia . After this, Artaxerxes personally led an army of 330,000 men against Sidon . Artaxerxes' army comprised 300,000-foot soldiers, 30,000 cavalry , 300 triremes, and 500 transports or provision ships. After gathering this army, he sought assistance from the Greeks. Though refused aid by Athens and Sparta , he succeeded in obtaining a thousand Theban heavy-armed hoplites under Lacrates, three thousand Argives under Nicostratus, and six thousand Æolians, Ionians , and Dorians from

3404-609: A review of the stratigraphical position of the main monuments and reconsideration of ancient water levels, by the Turin Centre for Archaeological Research and Excavations in the Middle East and Asia, and the Iraqi-Italian Institute of Archaeological Sciences. The focus was on clearing up issues raised by re-examination of the old German data. Additional work in 1987–1989 concentrated on the area surrounding

3552-511: A short period after the Assyrian sack of Babylon. From the accounts of modern travellers, I had expected to have found on the site of Babylon more, and less, than I actually did. Less, because I could have formed no conception of the prodigious extent of the whole ruins, or of the size, solidity, and perfect state, of some of the parts of them; and more, because I thought that I should have distinguished some traces, however imperfect, of many of

3700-596: A small town appears on a clay tablet from the reign of Shar-Kali-Sharri (2217–2193 BC), of the Akkadian Empire . Babylon was merely a religious and cultural centre at this point and neither an independent state nor a large city, subject to the Akkadian Empire. After the collapse of the Akkadian Empire, the south Mesopotamian region was dominated by the Gutian Dynasty for a few decades, before

3848-521: A vast empire and is best remembered for his code of laws . The city peaked in pre-eminence when Nabopolassar (626–605 BC) and his successor and son Nebuchadnezzar II (605–562 BC) extended the Neo-Babylonian Empire over most of Western Asia . In the year 1991, Babil Governorate was the center of a Shia uprising . Babylon province is located between 32° to 33.25° north latitude and 44° to 45° east longitude. The Babil Governorate

3996-469: A vast succession of mounds of rubbish of such indeterminate figures, variety and extent, as to involve the person who should have formed any theory in inextricable confusion. Claudius J. Rich , Memoir on the Ruins of Babylon (1815), pp. 1–2. The site covers an area of about 1,000 hectares (3¾ sq. mi.), with about 450 hectares (1¾ sq. mi.) within the several kilometer (mile) long city walls, containing

4144-482: Is divided into four districts: Babylon Babylon was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia , within modern-day Hillah , Iraq , about 85 kilometres (55 miles) south of modern day Baghdad . Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-speaking region of Babylonia . Its rulers established two important empires in antiquity,

4292-467: Is further said to have killed not only all Arses' children, but many of the other princes of the land. Bagoas then placed Darius III , a nephew of Artaxerxes IV, on the throne. Darius III, previously the Satrap of Armenia , personally forced Bagoas to swallow poison. In 334 BC, when Darius was just succeeding in subduing Egypt again, Alexander and his battle-hardened troops invaded Asia Minor . Alexander

4440-461: Is reported to have had a number of wives. His main wife was Stateira , until she was poisoned by Artaxerxes II's mother Parysatis in about 400 BC. Another chief wife was a Greek woman of Phocaea named Aspasia (not the same as the concubine of Pericles ). Artaxerxes II is said to have had more than 115 sons from 350 wives. In 358 BC Artaxerxes II died and was succeeded by his son Artaxerxes III . In 355 BC, Artaxerxes III forced Athens to conclude

4588-408: Is the earliest, and although the later historians all agree on the key details of the story, that a magus impersonated Bardiya and took the throne, this may have been a story created by Darius to justify his own usurpation. Iranologist Pierre Briant hypothesises that Bardiya was not killed by Cambyses, but waited until his death in the summer of 522 BC to claim his legitimate right to the throne as he

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4736-534: Is today Iran c.  1000 BC and settled a region including north-western Iran, the Zagros Mountains and Persis alongside the native Elamites . The Persians were originally nomadic pastoralists in the western Iranian Plateau. The Achaemenid Empire may not have been the first Iranian empire, as the Medes , another group of Iranian people, possibly established a short-lived empire when they played

4884-457: The Code of Hammurabi . He conquered all of the cities and city states of southern Mesopotamia, including Isin , Larsa , Ur , Uruk , Nippur , Lagash , Eridu , Kish , Adab , Eshnunna , Akshak , Shuruppak , Bad-tibira , Sippar , and Girsu , coalescing them into one kingdom, ruled from Babylon. Hammurabi also invaded and conquered Elam to the east, and the kingdoms of Mari and Ebla to

5032-546: The Bible , descriptions in other classical writing, especially by Herodotus , and second-hand descriptions citing the work of Ctesias and Berossus —present an incomplete and sometimes contradictory picture of the ancient city, even at its peak in the sixth century BC. Babylon was described, perhaps even visited, by a number of classical historians including Ctesias , Herodotus , Quintus Curtius Rufus , Strabo , and Cleitarchus . These reports are of variable accuracy and some of

5180-611: The Book of Genesis to mean " confusion ", from the verb bilbél ( בלבל , "to confuse"). The modern English verb, to babble ("to speak foolish, excited, or confusing talk"), is popularly thought to derive from this name but there is no direct connection. In Pali and Sanskrit literature, the name appears as Bāveru . Ancient records in some situations use "Babylon" as a name for other cities, including cities like Borsippa within Babylon's sphere of influence, and Nineveh for

5328-805: The Iranian plateau was settled by the Persians . From Persis, Cyrus rose and defeated the Median Empire as well as Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire , marking the establishment of a new imperial polity under the Achaemenid dynasty . In the modern era, the Achaemenid Empire has been recognized for its imposition of a successful model of centralized bureaucratic administration, its multicultural policy, building complex infrastructure such as road systems and an organized postal system ,

5476-828: The Ishtar Gate and hundreds of recovered tablets, were sent back to Germany, where Koldewey's colleague Walter Andrae reconstructed them into displays at the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin . The Koldewey expedition recovered artifacts from the Old Babylonian period . These included 967 clay tablets, with 564 tablets from the Middle Babylonian period , stored in private houses, with Sumerian literature and lexical documents. The German archaeologists fled before oncoming British troops in 1917, and again, many objects went missing in

5624-464: The Jews , to return to their own lands. The text found on the Cyrus Cylinder has traditionally been seen by biblical scholars as corroborative evidence of this policy, although the interpretation is disputed because the text identifies only Mesopotamian sanctuaries but makes no mention of Jews, Jerusalem, or Judea. Under Cyrus and the subsequent Persian king Darius I , Babylon became the capital city of

5772-687: The Kassite period . Another attested spelling for the city of Babylon is TIN.TIR.KI, attested sparsely in the Old Babylonian period but grew in popularity in the Late 2nd Millennium BC and was in widespread usage in the 1st Millennium BC. The spelling E.KI also appears in the 1st Millennium BC. In the Hebrew Bible , the name appears as Babel ( Hebrew : בָּבֶל Bavel , Tib. בָּבֶל Bāḇel ; Classical Syriac : ܒܒܠ Bāwēl , Imperial Aramaic : בבל Bāḇel; in Arabic : بَابِل Bābil ), interpreted in

5920-726: The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , allegedly existing between approximately 600 BC and AD   1. However, there are questions about whether the Hanging Gardens of Babylon even existed, as there is no mention within any extant Babylonian texts of its existence. After the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the city came under the rule of the Achaemenid , Seleucid , Parthian , Roman , Sassanid , and Muslim empires. The last known habitation of

6068-604: The Spartans in what would become known as the Corinthian War . In 387 BC, Artaxerxes II betrayed his allies and came to an arrangement with Sparta, and in the Treaty of Antalcidas he forced his erstwhile allies to come to terms. This treaty restored control of the Greek cities of Ionia and Aeolis on the Anatolian coast to the Persians while giving Sparta dominance on the Greek mainland. In 385 BC he campaigned against

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6216-708: The Tigris river in May 1855. They had been carrying over 200 crates of artifacts from various excavation missions, when they were attacked by Tigris river pirates near Al-Qurnah . Recovery efforts, assisted by the Ottoman authorities and British Residence in Baghdad, loaded the equivalent of 80 crates on a ship for Le Havre in May 1856. Few antiquities from the Fresnel mission made it to France. Subsequent efforts to recover

6364-559: The UAE . The Ionian Revolt in 499 BC, and associated revolts in Aeolis, Doris, Cyprus, and Caria, were military rebellions by several regions of Asia Minor against Persian rule, lasting from 499 to 493 BC. At the heart of the rebellion was the dissatisfaction of the Greek cities of Asia Minor with the tyrants appointed by Persia to rule them, along with the individual actions of two Milesian tyrants, Histiaeus and Aristagoras . In 499 BC,

6512-677: The short chronology , had built Babylon "in front of Akkad" (ABC 19:51). A later chronicle states that Sargon "dug up the dirt of the pit of Babylon, and made a counterpart of Babylon next to Akkad". (ABC 20:18–19). Van de Mieroop has suggested that those sources may refer to the much later Assyrian king Sargon II of the Neo-Assyrian Empire , rather than Sargon of Akkad. Ctesias , quoted by Diodorus Siculus and in George Syncellus 's Chronographia , claimed to have access to manuscripts from Babylonian archives, which date

6660-525: The 10 years that Persia controlled Egypt, believers in the native religion were persecuted and sacred books were stolen. Before Artaxerxes returned to Persia, he appointed Pherendares as satrap of Egypt . With the wealth gained from his reconquering Egypt, Artaxerxes was able to amply reward his mercenaries. He then returned to his capital having successfully completed his invasion of Egypt. After his success in Egypt, Artaxerxes returned to Persia and spent

6808-565: The 19th–16th century BC Old Babylonian Empire , and the 7th–6th century BC Neo-Babylonian Empire . Babylon was also used as a regional capital of other empires, such as the Achaemenid Empire . Babylon was one of the most important urban centres of the ancient Near East , until its decline during the Hellenistic period . Nearby ancient sites are Kish , Borsippa , Dilbat , and Kutha . The earliest known mention of Babylon as

6956-539: The 9th Satrapy (Babylonia in the south and Athura in the north), as well as a center of learning and scientific advancement. In Achaemenid Persia, the ancient Babylonian arts of astronomy and mathematics were revitalized, and Babylonian scholars completed maps of constellations. The city became the administrative capital of the Persian Empire and remained prominent for over two centuries. Many important archaeological discoveries have been made that can provide

7104-486: The Achaemenids) the kings of Anshan were Teispes , Cyrus I , Cambyses I and Cyrus II , also known as Cyrus the Great, who founded the empire. The later Behistun Inscription , written by Darius the Great , claims that Teispes was the son of Achaemenes and that Darius is also descended from Teispes through a different line, but no earlier texts mention Achaemenes. In Herodotus ' Histories , he writes that Cyrus

7252-707: The Assyrians, in which ethnic groups in conquered areas were deported en masse to the capital. According to the Hebrew Bible, he destroyed Solomon's Temple and exiled the Jews to Babylon. The defeat was also recorded in the Babylonian Chronicles . In 539 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire fell to Cyrus the Great , king of Persia , with a military engagement known as the Battle of Opis . Babylon's walls were considered impenetrable. The only way into

7400-673: The Athenians to move the treasury of the Delian League from the island of Delos to the Athenian acropolis. This funding practice inevitably prompted renewed fighting in 450 BC, where the Greeks attacked at the Battle of Cyprus . After Cimon 's failure to attain much in this expedition, the Peace of Callias was agreed between Athens , Argos and Persia in 449 BC. Artaxerxes offered asylum to Themistocles , who

7548-547: The Babylonians at Opis , then took Sippar without a fight before finally capturing the city of Babylon on 12 October, where the Babylonian king Nabonidus was taken prisoner. Upon taking control of the city, Cyrus depicted himself in propaganda as restoring the divine order which had been disrupted by Nabonidus , who had promoted the cult of Sin rather than Marduk , and he also portrayed himself as restoring

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7696-641: The Cadusians . Although successful against the Greeks, Artaxerxes II had more trouble with the Egyptians , who had successfully revolted against him at the beginning of his reign. An attempt to reconquer Egypt in 373 BC was completely unsuccessful, but in his waning years the Persians did manage to defeat a joint Egyptian–Spartan effort to conquer Phoenicia . He quashed the Revolt of the Satraps in 372–362 BC. He

7844-490: The European part of the Black Sea , such as parts of modern Bulgaria , Romania , Ukraine , and Russia , before it returned to Asia Minor . Darius left in Europe one of his commanders named Megabazus whose task was to accomplish conquests in the Balkans. The Persian troops subjugated gold-rich Thrace , the coastal Greek cities, and defeated and conquered the powerful Paeonians . Finally, Megabazus sent envoys to Amyntas, demanding acceptance of Persian domination, which

7992-469: The Great (Alexander III of Macedon) defeated the Persian armies at Granicus (334 BC), followed by Issus (333 BC), and lastly at Gaugamela (331 BC). Afterwards, he marched on Susa and Persepolis which surrendered in early 330 BC. From Persepolis, Alexander headed north to Pasargadae , where he visited the tomb of Cyrus , the man whom he had heard of from the Cyropaedia . In the ensuing chaos created by Alexander's invasion of Persia, Cyrus's tomb

8140-423: The Great 's entry in 331 BC. Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire , also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire ( / ə ˈ k iː m ə n ɪ d / ; Old Persian : 𐎧𐏁𐏂 , Xšāça , lit.  'The Empire' or 'The Kingdom' ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC . Based in modern-day Iran , it

8288-454: The Great ordered Aristobulus to improve the tomb's condition and restore its interior, showing respect for Cyrus. From there he headed to Ecbatana , where Darius III had sought refuge. Darius III was taken prisoner by Bessus , his Bactrian satrap and kinsman. As Alexander approached, Bessus had his men murder Darius III and then declared himself Darius' successor, as Artaxerxes V, before retreating into Central Asia leaving Darius' body in

8436-465: The Great was the son of Cambyses I and Mandane of Media , the daughter of Astyages , the king of the Median Empire. Cyrus revolted against the Median Empire in 553 BC, and in 550 BC succeeded in defeating the Medes, capturing Astyages and taking the Median capital city of Ecbatana . Once in control of Ecbatana, Cyrus styled himself as the successor to Astyages and assumed control of the entire empire. By inheriting Astyages' empire, he also inherited

8584-433: The Great. The Persians continued to reduce the cities along the west coast that still held out against them, before finally imposing a peace settlement in 493 BC on Ionia that was generally considered to be both just and fair. The Ionian Revolt constituted the first major conflict between Greece and the Achaemenid Empire, and as such represents the first phase of the Greco-Persian Wars. Asia Minor had been brought back into

8732-623: The Great. The Persian invasion led indirectly to Macedonia's rise in power and Persia had some common interests in the Balkans; with Persian aid, the Macedonians stood to gain much at the expense of some Balkan tribes such as the Paeonians and Greeks. All in all, the Macedonians were "willing and useful Persian allies. Macedonian soldiers fought against Athens and Sparta in Xerxes I's army. The Persians referred to both Greeks and Macedonians as Yauna (" Ionians ", their term for "Greeks"), and to Macedonians specifically as Yaunã Takabara or "Greeks with hats that look like shields", possibly referring to

8880-497: The Greek cities of Asia Minor. This Greek support was numerically small, amounting to no more than 10,000 men, but it formed, together with the Greek mercenaries from Egypt who went over to him afterward, the force on which he placed his chief reliance, and to which the ultimate success of his expedition was mainly due. The approach of Artaxerxes sufficiently weakened the resolution of Tennes that he endeavoured to purchase his own pardon by delivering up 100 principal citizens of Sidon into

9028-473: The Greeks won a decisive victory over the Persian fleet at the Battle of Salamis and forced Xerxes to retire to Sardis . The land army which he left in Greece under Mardonius retook Athens but was eventually destroyed in 479 BC at the Battle of Plataea . The final defeat of the Persians at Mycale encouraged the Greek cities of Asia to revolt, and the Persians lost all of their territories in Europe with Macedonia once again becoming independent. Artabanus ,

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9176-530: The Ionian Revolt. In 492 BC, the Persian general Mardonius re-subjugated Thrace and made Macedonia a fully subordinate part of the empire; it had been a vassal as early as the late 6th century BC but retained a great deal of autonomy. However, in 490 BC the Persian forces were defeated by the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon and Darius I would die before having the chance to launch an invasion of Greece. Xerxes I (485–465 BC, Old Persian Xšayārša "Hero Among Kings"), son of Darius I , vowed to complete

9324-421: The Iraqi State Organization for Antiquities and Heritage conducted extensive research, excavation and clearing, but wider publication of these archaeological activities has been limited. Most of the known tablets from all modern excavations remain unpublished. The main sources of information about Babylon—excavation of the site itself, references in cuneiform texts found elsewhere in Mesopotamia, references in

9472-404: The Ishara and Ninurta temples in the Shu-Anna city-quarter of Babylon. A number of Iraqi excavations have occurred at Babylon, the earliest in 1938. From 1979–1981 excavation and restoration work was conducted at the Ninmah Temple, Istar Temple, and the Southern Palace. Occasional excavations and restorations continued in the 1970s and 1980s. During the restoration efforts in Babylon,

9620-524: The Kassites were deposed in Babylon. An Akkadian south Mesopotamian dynasty then ruled for the first time. However, Babylon remained weak and subject to domination by Assyria. Its ineffectual native kings were unable to prevent new waves of foreign West Semitic settlers from the deserts of the Levant, including the Arameans and Suteans in the 11th century BC, and finally the Chaldeans in the 9th century BC, entering and appropriating areas of Babylonia for themselves. The Arameans briefly ruled in Babylon during

9768-513: The Macedonian kausia hat. By the 5th century BC, the Kings of Persia were either ruling over or had subordinated territories encompassing not just all of the Persian Plateau and all of the territories formerly held by the Assyrian Empire ( Mesopotamia , the Levant , Cyprus and Egypt ), but beyond this, all of Anatolia and Armenia , as well as the Southern Caucasus and parts of the North Caucasus , Azerbaijan , Uzbekistan , Tajikistan , Bulgaria , Paeonia , Thrace and Macedonia to

9916-411: The Macedonians did. The Balkans provided many soldiers for the multi-ethnic Achaemenid army. Many of the Macedonian and Persian elite intermarried, such as the Persian official Bubares who married Amyntas' daughter, Gygaea. Family ties that the Macedonian rulers Amyntas and Alexander enjoyed with Bubares ensured them good relations with the Persian kings Darius and Xerxes I , who was also known as Xerxes

10064-535: The Persian capital with Artaxerxes, where he took a leading role in the internal administration of the Empire and maintained tranquillity throughout the rest of the Empire. During the last six years of the reign of Artaxerxes III, the Persian Empire was governed by a vigorous and successful government. The Persian forces in Ionia and Lycia regained control of the Aegean and the Mediterranean Sea and took over much of Athens ' former island empire. In response, Isocrates of Athens started giving speeches calling for

10212-447: The Persian fold, but Darius had vowed to punish Athens and Eretria for their support of the revolt. Moreover, seeing that the political situation in Greece posed a continued threat to the stability of his Empire, he decided to embark on the conquest of all of Greece. The first campaign of the invasion was to bring the territories in the Balkan peninsula back within the empire. The Persian grip over these territories had loosened following

10360-443: The Persian leaders. As a result, the Persians were able to rapidly reduce numerous towns across Lower Egypt and were advancing upon Memphis when Nectanebo decided to quit the country and flee southwards to Ethiopia . The Persian army completely routed the Egyptians and occupied the Lower Delta of the Nile. Following Nectanebo fleeing to Ethiopia, all of Egypt submitted to Artaxerxes. The Jews in Egypt were sent either to Babylon or to

10508-465: The Persians in about 512–511, Macedonians and Persians were strangers no more as well. The subjugation of Macedonia was part of Persian military operations initiated by Darius the Great (521–486) in 513—after immense preparations—a huge Achaemenid army invaded the Balkans and tried to defeat the European Scythians roaming to the north of the Danube river. Darius' army subjugated several Thracian people , and virtually all other regions that touch

10656-475: The Persians were led by Rhossaces, Aristazanes, and Bagoas , the chief of the eunuchs. Nectanebo II resisted with an army of 100,000 of whom 20,000 were Greek mercenaries. Nectanebo II occupied the Nile and its various branches with his large navy. The character of the country, intersected by numerous canals and full of strongly fortified towns, was in his favour and Nectanebo II might have been expected to offer

10804-563: The Persians. Psamtik positioned his army at Pelusium in the Nile Delta . He was soundly defeated by the Persians in the Battle of Pelusium before fleeing to Memphis , where the Persians defeated him and took him prisoner. After attempting a failed revolt, Psamtik III promptly committed suicide. Herodotus depicts Cambyses as openly antagonistic to the Egyptian people and their gods, cults, temples, and priests, in particular stressing

10952-631: The Sumerian name Kan-dig̃irak was a loan translation of the Semitic folk etymology, and not the original name. The re-translation of the Semitic name into Sumerian would have taken place at the time of the "Neo-Sumerian" Third Dynasty of Ur . ( Bab- Il ). A fragmentary inscription dating to the Early Dynastic Period , likely in the Akkadian language, refers to an unknown lord who was the governor (ENSI) of BAR.KI.BAR and constructed

11100-590: The Zoroastrian shrines can also be dated to his reign, and it was probably during this period that Zoroastrianism spread from Armenia throughout Asia Minor and the Levant . The construction of temples, though serving a religious purpose, was not a purely selfless act, as they also served as an important source of income. From the Babylonian kings, the Achaemenids adopted the concept of a mandatory temple tax,

11248-609: The allied Medo-Babylonian armies destroyed the Assyrian Empire between 626 BC and 609 BC. Babylon thus became the capital of the Neo-Babylonian (sometimes called the Chaldean) Empire. With the recovery of Babylonian independence, a new era of architectural activity ensued, particularly during the reign of his son Nebuchadnezzar II (604–561 BC). Nebuchadnezzar ordered the complete reconstruction of

11396-406: The attempt. By the last year of Artaxerxes' rule, Philip II already had plans in place for an invasion of the Persian Empire, which would crown his career, but the Greeks would not unite with him. In 338 BC Artaxerxes was poisoned by Bagoas with the assistance of a physician. Artaxerxes III was succeeded by Artaxerxes IV Arses , who before he could act was also poisoned by Bagoas. Bagoas

11544-475: The authority of Ctesias ) that the displaced Tissaphernes came to the new king on his coronation day to warn him that his younger brother Cyrus (the Younger) was preparing to assassinate him during the ceremony. Artaxerxes had Cyrus arrested and would have had him executed if their mother Parysatis had not intervened. Cyrus was then sent back as Satrap of Lydia, where he prepared an armed rebellion. Cyrus assembled

11692-611: The city of Babylon can be found in Akkadian and Sumerian literature from the late third millennium BC. One of the earliest is a tablet describing the Akkadian king Šar-kali-šarri laying the foundations in Babylon of new temples for Annūnı̄tum and Ilaba . Babylon also appears in the administrative records of the Third Dynasty of Ur , which collected in-kind tax payments and appointed an ensi as local governor. The so-called Weidner Chronicle (also known as ABC 19 ) states that Sargon of Akkad , c.  23rd century BC in

11840-505: The city was through one of its many gates, or through the Euphrates River. Metal grates were installed underwater, allowing the river to flow through the city walls while preventing intrusion. The Persians devised a plan to enter the city via the river. During a Babylonian national feast, Cyrus' troops upstream diverted the Euphrates River, allowing Cyrus' soldiers to enter the city through the lowered water. The Persian army conquered

11988-423: The combined forces managed to defeat the forces sent by Artaxerxes III in 354 BC. However, in 353 BC, they were defeated by Artaxerxes III's army and were disbanded. Orontes was pardoned by the king, while Artabazos fled to the safety of the court of Philip II of Macedon . In c.  351 BC , Artaxerxes embarked on a campaign to recover Egypt, which had revolted under his father, Artaxerxes II. At

12136-446: The commander of the royal bodyguard and the most powerful official in the Persian court, assassinated Xerxes with the help of a eunuch , Aspamitres. The exact year and date of Xerxes' assassination is disputed among historians. After Xerxes I was assassinated, he was succeeded by his eldest surviving son Artaxerxes I . It was during his reign that Elamite ceased to be the language of government, and Aramaic gained in importance. It

12284-533: The consonant r with l. The earliest unambiguous mention to the city Babylon came from one of Shar-Kali-Sharri's year names, spelled as KA.DINGIR.KI, indicating that the folk etymology was already widely known in the Sargonic period . However, the original form of the name (Babbar/Babbir) was not forgotten, as seen from the phonetic spelling ba-ab-bí-lum in the Ur III period , and the spellings Pambalu and Babalu in

12432-419: The content was politically motivated, but these still provide useful information. Historical knowledge of early Babylon must be pieced together from epigraphic remains found elsewhere, such as at Uruk , Nippur , Sippar , Mari , and Haradum . The earliest known mention of Babylon as a small town appears on a clay tablet from the reign of Shar-Kali-Sharri (2217–2193 BC) of the Akkadian Empire. References to

12580-511: The country of the people originating from Persis ( Old Persian : 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 , romanized:  Pārsa ). The Persian term 𐎧𐏁𐏂 Xšāça , literally meaning "The Kingdom", was used to refer to the Empire formed by their multinational state. The Persian nation contains a number of tribes as listed here. ... : the Pasargadae , Maraphii , and Maspii , upon which all

12728-423: The disbanding of all the satrapal armies of Asia Minor, as he felt that they could no longer guarantee peace in the west and was concerned that these armies equipped the western satraps with the means to revolt. The order was however ignored by Artabazos II of Phrygia , who asked for the help of Athens in a rebellion against the king. Athens sent assistance to Sardis . Orontes of Mysia also supported Artabazos and

12876-640: The elder Evagoras , the Cypriot monarch. Idrieus succeeded in reducing Cyprus. Artaxerxes initiated a counter-offensive against Sidon by commanding Belesys , satrap of Syria, and Mazaeus , satrap of Cilicia , to invade the city and to keep the Phoenicians in check. Both satraps suffered crushing defeats at the hands of Tennes, the Sidonese king, who was aided by 40,000 Greek mercenaries sent to him by Nectanebo II and commanded by Mentor of Rhodes . As

13024-472: The epitaph of Apis from 524 BC shows that Cambyses participated in the funeral rites of Apis styling himself as pharaoh. Following the conquest of Egypt, the Libyans and the Greeks of Cyrene and Barca in present-day eastern Libya ( Cyrenaica ) surrendered to Cambyses and sent tribute without a fight. Cambyses then planned invasions of Carthage , the oasis of Ammon and Ethiopia . Herodotus claims that

13172-697: The expedition was not a failure, and a fortress at the Second Cataract of the Nile , on the border between Egypt and Kush, remained in use throughout the Achaemenid period. The events surrounding Cambyses's death and Bardiya's succession are greatly debated as there are many conflicting accounts. According to Herodotus, as Bardiya's assassination had been committed in secret, the majority of Persians still believed him to be alive. This allowed two Magi to rise up against Cambyses, with one of them sitting on

13320-573: The following years. Further work by the German Archaeological Institute was conducted by Heinrich J. Lenzen in 1956 and Hansjörg Schmid in 1962, working the Hellenistic, Parthian, Sasanian, and Arabic levels of the site. Lenzen's work dealt primarily with the Hellenistic theatre, and Schmid focused on the temple ziggurat Etemenanki . A topographical survey at the site was conducted in 1974, followed in 1977 by

13468-426: The founding of Babylon to 2286 BC, under the reign of its first king, Belus . A similar figure is found in the writings of Berossus , who, according to Pliny, stated that astronomical observations commenced at Babylon 490 years before the Greek era of Phoroneus , indicating 2243 BC. Stephanus of Byzantium wrote that Babylon was built 1002 years before the date given by Hellanicus of Lesbos for

13616-521: The gardens actually existed is a matter of dispute. German archaeologist Robert Koldewey speculated that he had discovered its foundations, but many historians disagree about the location. Stephanie Dalley has argued that the hanging gardens were actually located near the Assyrian capital, Nineveh . Nebuchadnezzar is also notoriously associated with the Babylonian exile of the Jews, the result of an imperial technique of pacification, used also by

13764-511: The good", also known as Darayarahush ). The Magi, though persecuted, continued to exist, and a year following the death of the first pseudo-Smerdis ( Gaumata ), saw a second pseudo-Smerdis ( Vahyazdāta ) attempt a coup. The coup, though initially successful, failed. Herodotus writes that the native leadership debated the best form of government for the empire. Ever since the Macedonian king Amyntas I surrendered his country to

13912-463: The hands of the Persian king and then admitting Artaxerxes within the defences of the town. Artaxerxes had the 100 citizens transfixed with javelins, and when 500 more came out as supplicants to seek his mercy, Artaxerxes consigned them to the same fate. Sidon was then burnt to the ground, either by Artaxerxes or by the Sidonian citizens. Forty thousand people died in the conflagration. Artaxerxes sold

14060-496: The heritage of the Neo-Assyrian Empire by comparing himself to the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal . The Hebrew Bible also unreservedly praises Cyrus for his actions in the conquest of Babylon, referring to him as Yahweh 's anointed . He is credited with freeing the people of Judah from their exile and with authorizing the reconstruction of much of Jerusalem , including the Second Temple . In 530 BC, Cyrus died and

14208-742: The imperial grounds, including the Etemenanki ziggurat , and the construction of the Ishtar Gate —the most prominent of eight gates around Babylon. A reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate is located in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin . Nebuchadnezzar is also credited with the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , said to have been built for his homesick wife, Amytis . Whether

14356-717: The insistence of Tissaphernes , gave support first to Athens, then to Sparta, but in 407 BC, Darius' son Cyrus the Younger was appointed to replace Tissaphernes and aid was given entirely to Sparta which finally defeated Athens in 404 BC. In the same year, Darius fell ill and died in Babylon. His death gave an Egyptian rebel named Amyrtaeus the opportunity to throw off Persian control over Egypt . At his death bed, Darius' Babylonian wife Parysatis pleaded with him to have her second eldest son Cyrus (the Younger) crowned, but Darius refused. Queen Parysatis favoured Cyrus more than her eldest son Artaxerxes II . Plutarch relates (probably on

14504-400: The job. He organized a massive invasion aiming to conquer Greece . His army entered Greece from the north in the spring of 480 BC, meeting little or no resistance through Macedonia and Thessaly , but was delayed by a small Greek force for three days at Thermopylae . A simultaneous naval battle at Artemisium was tactically indecisive as large storms destroyed ships from both sides. The battle

14652-520: The late 11th century BC. During the rule of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–609 BC), Babylonia was under constant Assyrian domination or direct control. During the reign of Sennacherib of Assyria, Babylonia was in a constant state of revolt, led by a chieftain named Merodach-Baladan , in alliance with the Elamites , and suppressed only by the complete destruction of the city of Babylon. In 689 BC, its walls, temples and palaces were razed, and

14800-556: The lost antiquities from the Tigris, including a Japanese expedition in 1971–72, have been largely unsuccessful. Henry Rawlinson and George Smith worked there briefly in 1854. The next excavation was conducted by Hormuzd Rassam on behalf of the British Museum . Work began in 1879, continuing until 1882, and was prompted by widespread looting of the site. Using industrial scale digging in search of artifacts, Rassam recovered

14948-408: The murder of the sacred bull Apis . He says that these actions led to a madness that caused him to kill his brother Bardiya (who Herodotus says was killed in secret), his own sister-wife and Croesus of Lydia. He then concludes that Cambyses completely lost his mind, and all later classical authors repeat the themes of Cambyses' impiety and madness. However, this is based on spurious information, as

15096-529: The native Sealand Dynasty , and the Elamites appropriated territory in eastern Mesopotamia. The Amorite dynasty remained in power in Babylon, which again became a small city state. After the destruction of the city the Kassites rose to control the region. Texts from Old Babylon often include references to Shamash , the sun-god of Sippar, treated as a supreme deity, and Marduk , considered as his son. Marduk

15244-616: The naval invasion of Carthage was canceled because the Phoenicians, who made up a large part of Cambyses' fleet, refused to take up arms against their own people, but modern historians doubt whether an invasion of Carthage was ever planned at all. However, Cambyses dedicated his efforts to the other two campaigns, aiming to improve the Empire's strategic position in Africa by conquering the Kingdom of Meroë and taking strategic positions in

15392-399: The next few years effectively quelling insurrections in various parts of the Empire so that a few years after his conquest of Egypt, the Persian Empire was firmly under his control. Egypt remained a part of the Persian Empire from then until Alexander the Great 's conquest of Egypt. After the conquest of Egypt, there were no more revolts or rebellions against Artaxerxes. Mentor and Bagoas ,

15540-578: The nomadic Saka in Central Asia. During these wars, Cyrus established several garrison towns in Central Asia, including the Cyropolis . Nothing is known of Persia–Babylon relations between 547 and 539 BC, but it is likely that there were hostilities between the two empires for several years leading up to the war of 540–539 BC and the Fall of Babylon . In October 539 BC, Cyrus won a battle against

15688-636: The north and west, most of the Black Sea coastal regions, parts of Central Asia as far as the Aral Sea , the Oxus and Jaxartes to the north and north-east, the Hindu Kush and the western Indus basin (corresponding to modern Afghanistan and Pakistan ) to the far east, parts of northern Arabia to the south, and parts of eastern Libya ( Cyrenaica ) to the south-west, and parts of Oman , China, and

15836-509: The northwest. After a conflict with the Old Assyrian period king Ishme-Dagan , he forced his successor to pay tribute late in his reign. After the reign of Hammurabi, the whole of southern Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia . From this time, Babylon supplanted Nippur and Eridu as the major religious centers of southern Mesopotamia. Hammurabi's empire destabilized after his death. The far south of Mesopotamia broke away, forming

15984-666: The other tribes are dependent. Of these, the Pasargadae are the most distinguished; they contain the clan of the Achaemenids from which spring the Perseid kings. Other tribes are the Panthialaei, Derusiaei, Germanii , all of which are attached to the soil, the remainder—the Dai , Mardi , Dropici , Sagarti , being nomadic . The Achaemenid Empire was created by nomadic Persians . The Persians were Iranian people who arrived in what

16132-583: The outlying areas of the city while the majority of Babylonians at the city center were unaware of the breach. The account was elaborated upon by Herodotus and is mentioned in parts of the Hebrew Bible. Herodotus also described a moat, an enormously tall and broad wall, cemented with bitumen and with buildings on top, and a hundred gates to the city. He writes that the Babylonians wear turbans and perfume and bury their dead in honey, that they practice ritual prostitution, and that three tribes among them eat nothing but fish . The hundred gates can be considered

16280-429: The principal structures of Babylon. I imagined, I should have said: "Here were the walls, and such must have been the extent of the area. There stood the palace, and this most assuredly was the tower of Belus." – I was completely deceived: instead of a few insulated mounds, I found the whole face of the country covered with vestiges of building, in some places consisting of brick walls surprisingly fresh, in others merely of

16428-479: The rise of the Third Dynasty of Ur , which encompassed the whole of Mesopotamia, including the town of Babylon. The town became part of a small independent city-state with the rise of the first Babylonian Empire, now known as the Old Babylonian Empire , in the 17th century BC. The Amorite king Hammurabi founded the short-lived Old Babylonian Empire in the 16th century BC. He built Babylon into

16576-425: The road to delay Alexander, who brought it to Persepolis for an honourable funeral. Bessus would then create a coalition of his forces, to create an army to defend against Alexander. Before Bessus could fully unite with his confederates at the eastern part of the empire, Alexander, fearing the danger of Bessus gaining control, found him, put him on trial in a Persian court under his control, and ordered his execution in

16724-488: The rubble was thrown into the Arakhtu, the sea bordering the earlier Babylon on the south. The destruction of the religious center shocked many, and the subsequent murder of Sennacherib by two of his own sons while praying to the god Nisroch was considered an act of atonement. Consequently, his successor, Esarhaddon hastened to rebuild the old city and make it his residence for part of the year. After his death, Babylonia

16872-513: The ruins at a high price to speculators, who calculated on reimbursing themselves by the treasures which they hoped to dig out from among the ashes. Tennes was later put to death by Artaxerxes. Artaxerxes later sent Jews who supported the revolt to Hyrcania on the south coast of the Caspian Sea . The reduction of Sidon was followed closely by the invasion of Egypt. In 343 BC, Artaxerxes III, in addition to his 330,000 Persians, had now

17020-537: The same time, a rebellion had broken out in Asia Minor, which, being supported by Thebes , threatened to become serious. Levying a vast army, Artaxerxes invaded Egypt and engaged in fighting with Nectanebo II . After a year of fighting the Egyptian Pharaoh , Nectanebo inflicted a crushing defeat on the Persians with the support of mercenaries led by the Greek generals Diophantus and Lamius. Artaxerxes

17168-473: The siege of Troy (1229 BC), which would date Babylon's foundation to 2231 BC. All of these dates place Babylon's foundation in the 23rd century BC . However, cuneiform records have not been found to correspond with these classical, post-cuneiform accounts. The first attested mention of Babylon was in the late 3rd millennium BC during the Akkadian Empire reign of ruler Shar-Kali-Sharri one of whose year names mentions building two temples there. Babylon

17316-461: The site itself, references in cuneiform texts found elsewhere in Mesopotamia, references in the Bible , descriptions in other classical writing, especially by Herodotus , and second-hand descriptions, citing the work of Ctesias and Berossus —present an incomplete and sometimes contradictory picture of the ancient city, even at its peak in the sixth century BC. UNESCO inscribed Babylon as

17464-499: The south coast of the Caspian Sea , the same location that the Jews of Phoenicia had earlier been sent. After this victory over the Egyptians, Artaxerxes had the city walls destroyed, started a reign of terror, and set about looting all the temples. Persia gained a significant amount of wealth from this looting. Artaxerxes also raised high taxes and attempted to weaken Egypt enough that it could never revolt against Persia. For

17612-450: The support of his regions. Sogdianus reigned for six months and fifteen days before being captured by his half-brother, Ochus , who had rebelled against him. Sogdianus was executed by being suffocated in ash because Ochus had promised he would not die by the sword, by poison or by hunger. Ochus then took the royal name Darius II. Darius' ability to defend his position on the throne ended the short power vacuum. From 412 BC Darius II , at

17760-595: The temple for Marduk , indicating that the city could very well be Babylon. During the ED III period, sign placement was relatively fluid and so the KI sign could be seen as the determinative, with the name of the city as BAR.BAR, perhaps pronounced Babbar. Paul-Alain Beaulieu proposes that the original name could mean "shining" "glowing" or "white". It would be likely that it was later read as Babbir, and then Babbil by swapping

17908-645: The territorial conflicts the Medes had with both Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire . King Croesus of Lydia sought to take advantage of the new international situation by advancing into what had previously been Median territory in Asia Minor. Cyrus led a counterattack which not only fought off Croesus' armies, but also led to the capture of Sardis and the fall of the Lydian Kingdom in 546 BC. Cyrus placed Pactyes in charge of collecting tribute in Lydia and left, but once Cyrus had left Pactyes instigated

18056-671: The then-ongoing campaign of his Macedonian Empire . Alexander's death marks the beginning of the Hellenistic period , when most of the fallen Achaemenid Empire's territory came under the rule of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Seleucid Empire , both of which had emerged as successors to the Macedonian Empire following the Partition of Triparadisus in 321 BC. Hellenistic rule remained in place for almost

18204-478: The then-tyrant of Miletus , Aristagoras, launched a joint expedition with the Persian satrap Artaphernes to conquer Naxos , in an attempt to bolster his position in Miletus, both financially and in terms of prestige. The mission was a debacle, and sensing his imminent removal as a tyrant, Aristagoras chose to incite the whole of Ionia into rebellion against the Persian king, Darius I, who was commonly known as Darius

18352-456: The throne able to impersonate Bardiya because of their remarkable physical resemblance and shared name (Smerdis in Herodotus's accounts ). Ctesias writes that when Cambyses had Bardiya killed he immediately put the magus Sphendadates in his place as satrap of Bactria due to a remarkable physical resemblance. Two of Cambyses' confidants then conspired to usurp Cambyses and put Sphendadates on

18500-642: The throne under the guise of Bardiya. According to the Behistun Inscription , written by the following king Darius the Great , a magus named Gaumata impersonated Bardiya and incited a revolution in Persia. Whatever the exact circumstances of the revolt, Cambyses heard news of it in the summer of 522 BC and began to return from Egypt, but he was wounded in the thigh in Syria and died of gangrene, so Bardiya's impersonator became king. The account of Darius

18648-519: The tomb already built for him in the Naqsh-e Rustam Necropolis. It was Persian tradition that kings begin constructing their own tombs while they were still alive. Artaxerxes I was immediately succeeded by his eldest and only legitimate son, Xerxes II . However, after a few days on the throne, he was assassinated while drunk by Pharnacyas and Menostanes on the orders of his illegitimate brother Sogdianus , who apparently had gained

18796-508: The town dates from the 11th century, when it was referred to as the "small village of Babel". It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world c.  1770  – c.  1670 BC , and again c.  612  – c.  320 BC . It was perhaps the first city to reach a population above 200,000. Estimates for the maximum extent of its area range from 890 (3½ sq. mi.) to 900 ha (2,200 acres). The main sources of information about Babylon—excavation of

18944-484: The two generals who had most distinguished themselves in the Egyptian campaign, were advanced to posts of the highest importance. Mentor, who was governor of the entire Asiatic seaboard, was successful in reducing to subjection many of the chiefs who during the recent troubles had rebelled against Persian rule. In the course of a few years, Mentor and his forces were able to bring the whole Asian Mediterranean coast into complete submission and dependence. Bagoas went back to

19092-403: The use of official languages across its territories, and the development of civil services, including its possession of a large, professional army . Its advancements inspired the implementation of similar styles of governance by a variety of later empires. By 330 BC, the Achaemenid Empire was conquered by Alexander the Great , an ardent admirer of Cyrus; the conquest marked a key achievement in

19240-414: The western oases. To this end, he established a garrison at Elephantine consisting mainly of Jewish soldiers, who remained stationed at Elephantine throughout Cambyses' reign. The invasions of Ammon and Ethiopia themselves were failures. Herodotus claims that the invasion of Ethiopia was a failure due to the madness of Cambyses and the lack of supplies for his men, but archaeological evidence suggests that

19388-405: Was 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 ( KÁ.DIG̃IR.RA ). This would correspond to the Sumerian phrase Kan dig̃irak . The sign 𒆍 ( KÁ ) is the logogram for "gate", 𒀭 ( DIG̃IR ) means "god", and 𒊏 ( RA ) represents the coda of the word dig̃ir (-r) followed by the genitive suffix -ak . The final 𒆠 ( ) is a determinative indicating that the previous signs are to be understood as

19536-420: Was besieged by the Assyrians, starved into surrender and its allies were defeated. Ashurbanipal celebrated a "service of reconciliation", but did not venture to "take the hands" of Bel . An Assyrian governor named Kandalanu was appointed as ruler of the city. Ashurbanipal did collect texts from Babylon for inclusion in his extensive library at Ninevah. Under Nabopolassar , Babylon escaped Assyrian rule, and

19684-451: Was broken into and most of its luxuries were looted. When Alexander reached the tomb, he was horrified by the manner in which it had been treated, and questioned the Magi, putting them on trial. By some accounts, Alexander's decision to put the Magi on trial was more an attempt to undermine their influence and display his own power than a show of concern for Cyrus's tomb. Regardless, Alexander

19832-514: Was compelled to retreat and postpone his plans to reconquer Egypt. Soon after this defeat, there were rebellions in Phoenicia , Asia Minor and Cyprus . In 343 BC, Artaxerxes committed responsibility for the suppression of the Cyprian rebels to Idrieus , prince of Caria , who employed 8,000 Greek mercenaries and forty triremes , commanded by Phocion the Athenian, and Evagoras, son of

19980-668: Was governed by his elder son, the Assyrian prince Shamash-shum-ukin , who eventually started a civil war in 652 BC against his own brother, Ashurbanipal , who ruled in Nineveh . Shamash-shum-ukin enlisted the help of other peoples against Assyria, including Elam , Persia , the Chaldeans , and Suteans of southern Mesopotamia, and the Canaanites and Arabs dwelling in the deserts south of Mesopotamia . Once again, Babylon

20128-400: Was initially a minor city-state, and controlled little surrounding territory. Its first four Amorite rulers did not assume the title of king. The older and more powerful states of Elam , Isin , and Larsa overshadowed Babylon until it became the capital of Hammurabi 's short-lived empire about a century later. Hammurabi (r. 1792–1750 BC) is famous for codifying the laws of Babylonia into

20276-487: Was later elevated to a higher status and Shamash lowered, perhaps reflecting Babylon's rising political power. In 1595 BC, the city was sacked by Mursili I , ruler of the Hittite Empire . Thereafter, the Kassite dynasty took power in the city of Babylon, renaming it Karduniash, ushering in a dynasty that lasted for 435 years, until 1160 BC. Babylon was weakened during the Kassite era, and as

20424-607: Was primarily of unbaked brick, with the occasional use of baked bricks or bitumen. Subsequent excavation, looting, and reconstruction have reduced these original heights found by the German excavators. Claudius Rich , working for the British East India Company in Baghdad, excavated Babylon in 1811–12 and again in 1817. Captain Robert Mignan explored the site briefly in 1827. In 1829, he completed

20572-524: Was probably during this reign that the solar calendar was introduced as the national calendar. Under Artaxerxes I, Zoroastrianism became the de facto religion of the empire. After Persia had been defeated at the Battle of Eurymedon (469 or 466 BC ), military action between Greece and Persia was halted. When Artaxerxes I took power, he introduced a new Persian strategy of weakening the Athenians by funding their enemies in Greece. This indirectly caused

20720-460: Was ruled by ensi (governors) for the empire. Some of the known governors were Abba, Arši-aḫ, Itūr-ilum, Murteli, Unabatal, and Puzur-Tutu. After that nothing is heard of the city until the time of Sumu-la-El. After around 1950 BC Amorite kingdoms will appear in Uruk and Larsa in the south. According to a Babylonian king list, Amorite rule in Babylon began ( c.  19th or 18th century BC ) with

20868-540: Was stopped prematurely when the Greeks received news of the defeat at Thermopylae and retreated. The battle was a tactical victory for the Persians, giving them uncontested control of Artemisium and the Aegean Sea. Following his victory at the Battle of Thermopylae , Xerxes sacked the evacuated city of Athens and prepared to meet the Greeks at the strategic Isthmus of Corinth and the Saronic Gulf . In 480 BC

21016-412: Was succeeded by his eldest son Cambyses II , while his younger son Bardiya received a large territory in Central Asia. By 525 BC, Cambyses had successfully subjugated Phoenicia and Cyprus and was making preparations to invade Egypt with the newly created Persian navy. Pharaoh Amasis II had died in 526, and had been succeeded by Psamtik III , resulting in the defection of key Egyptian allies to

21164-515: Was the largest empire by that point in history , spanning a total of 5.5 million square kilometres (2.1 million square miles). The empire spanned from the Balkans and Egypt in the west, West Asia as the base, the majority of Central Asia to the northeast, and the Indus Valley to the southeast. Around the 7th century BC, the region of Persis in the southwestern portion of

21312-485: Was the large scale mining of baked bricks, which began in the 19th century and which were mainly sourced from the time of Nebuchadnezzar II. At the time, excavations for brick mining, for various building projects, including the Hindiya dam were under way. The primary efforts of the dig involved the temple of Marduk and the processional way leading up to it, as well as the city wall. Artifacts, including pieces of

21460-403: Was the longest reigning of the Achaemenid kings and it was during this 45-year period of relative peace and stability that many of the monuments of the era were constructed. Artaxerxes moved the capital back to Persepolis , which he greatly extended. Also, the summer capital at Ecbatana was lavishly extended with gilded columns and roof tiles of silver and copper. The extraordinary innovation of

21608-402: Was the winner of the Battle of Salamis , after Themistocles was ostracized from Athens . Also, Artaxerxes gave him Magnesia , Myus , and Lampsacus to maintain him in bread, meat, and wine. In addition, Artaxerxes I gave him Palaescepsis to provide him with clothes, and he also gave him Percote with bedding for his house. When Artaxerxes died in 424 BC at Susa , his body was taken to

21756-476: Was then the only male descendant of the royal family. Briant says that although the hypothesis of a deception by Darius is generally accepted today, "nothing has been established with certainty at the present time, given the available evidence". According to the Behistun inscription , Gaumata ruled for seven months before being overthrown in 522 BC by Darius the Great (Old Persian Dāryavuš , "who holds firm

21904-518: Was to be used to check and constrain the rising power and influence of the Macedonian kingdom. In 340 BC, a Persian force was dispatched to assist the Thracian prince , Cersobleptes , to maintain his independence. Sufficient effective aid was given to the city of Perinthus that the numerous and well-appointed army with which Philip had commenced his siege of the city was compelled to give up

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