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175-525: While besieged by the Persians in 479 BC, the town may have been saved by a tsunami rather than a particularly high tide. Herodotus reports how the Persian attackers who tried to exploit an unusual retreat of the water were suddenly surprised by "a great flood-tide, higher, as the people of the place say, than any one of the many that had been before". Several tsunamigenic layers have been identified along

350-657: A dysphemism for the Roman Empire . Babylon, like the rest of ancient Mesopotamia, followed the Ancient Mesopotamian religion , wherein there was a general accepted hierarchy and dynasty of gods and localized gods who acted as patron deities for specific cities. Marduk was the patron deity of the city Babylon, having held this position since the reign of Hammurabi (18th century BC) in Babylon's first dynasty. Although Babylonian worship of Marduk never meant

525-521: A "cruel and barbarous manner." Neo-Babylonian Empire The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire , historically known as the Chaldean Empire , was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia until Faisal II in the 20th century. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and being firmly established through the fall of

700-640: 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

875-603: A 127 BC legal document). At this time, two major recognized groups lived in Babylon: the Babylonians and the Greeks, who settled there during the centuries of Macedonian and Seleucid rule. These groups were governed by separate local (e.g. pertaining to just the city) administrative councils; Babylonian citizens were governed by the šatammu and the kiništu and Greeks by the epistates . Although no king lists younger than

1050-463: A century after its founding, it was a minor and relatively weak state, overshadowed by older and more powerful states such as Isin , Larsa , Assyria and Elam . But Hammurabi ( r.   c.   1792–1750 BC) turned Babylon into a major power and eventually conquered Mesopotamia and beyond, founding the Old or First Babylonian Empire . After his death, his dynasty lasted another century and

1225-552: A century-long struggle for Babylonian independence against Assyria. Although the Assyrians incorporated the region into their empire and used the title King of Babylon in addition to the title King of Assyria , Assyrian control of Babylonia was neither stable nor entirely continuous and the century of Assyrian rule included several unsuccessful Babylonian revolts. Early in the reign of the Neo-Assyrian king Sinsharishkun ,

1400-521: A family business. Slave families were most often sold as a unit, children only being separated from their parents once they reached adulthood (or working age). Though slaves probably endured harsh living conditions and poor treatment from others, it would not have been equivalent to the brutal form of slavery in the Roman Empire and in later times. Though there are occasional mentions of slaves escaping, there are no records of slave rebellions in

1575-421: A fee called the mandattu to their masters, which allowed them to work and live independently, essentially "renting" themselves from their master. There are records of slaves paying the mandattu for themselves and for their wives so that they could live freely. There are, however, no records of slaves completely buying their freedom, Babylonian slaves could only be freed by their masters. The establishment of

1750-406: 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

1925-699: A golden age for Babylon, which became the most powerful kingdom in the Middle East. Nebuchadnezzar's most famous campaigns today are his wars in the Levant . These campaigns began relatively early in his reign and were chiefly conducted to stabilize his reign and consolidate his empire (most of the newly independent kingdoms and city-states in the Levant previously having been vassals of the Neo-Assyrian Empire). His 587 BC destruction of Jerusalem ended

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2100-474: A golden age that transformed Babylonia into the greatest empire of its time. Religious policies introduced by the final Babylonian king Nabonidus , who favoured the moon god Sîn over Babylon's patron deity Marduk , eventually served as a casus belli for Persian king Cyrus the Great , who invaded Babylonia in 539 BC by portraying himself as a champion of Marduk divinely restoring order to Mesopotamia. After

2275-711: A half, but the Babylonian Empire quickly collapsed, and Babylon once more became a small state. Babylonia fell to the Hittite king Mursili I c.   1595 BC, after which the Kassites took control and ruled for almost five centuries before being deposed by native Babylonian rulers, who continued to rule the Babylonian rump state . The population of Babylonia in this so-called Post-Kassite or Middle Babylonian period comprised two main groups,

2450-467: 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

2625-546: 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 the then-ongoing campaign of his Macedonian Empire . Alexander's death marks the beginning of the Hellenistic period , when most of

2800-542: A level, completely unlike the actual architecture of real ancient Mesopotamian cities, with obelisks and sphinxes inspired by those of Egypt. Ottoman influence came in the shape of cupolas and minarets dotted through the imagined appearances of the ancient city. Babylon is perhaps most famous today for its repeated appearances in the Bible, where it appears both literally (in reference to historical events) and allegorically (symbolizing other things). The Neo-Babylonian Empire

2975-575: A massive counterattack in 623 BC. Though this counterattack was initially successful and Sinsharishkun might have been ultimately victorious, he had to abandon the campaign due to a revolt in Assyria threatening his position as king. The absence of the Assyrian army allowed the Babylonians to conquer the last remaining Assyrian seats of power in Babylonia from 622 BC to 620 BC. Both Uruk and Nippur,

3150-631: A notable position in modern cultural memory due to the invidious portrayal of Babylon and its greatest king Nebuchadnezzar II in the Bible . The biblical description of Nebuchadnezzar focuses on his military campaign against the Kingdom of Judah and particularly the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 587 BC, which resulted in the destruction of Solomon's Temple and the subsequent Babylonian captivity . Babylonian sources describe Nebuchadnezzar's reign as

3325-602: 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

3500-469: 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

3675-509: 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

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3850-549: 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

4025-813: A sacred tree or mythological animals and creatures. Cylinder seals increasingly fell into disuse over the course of the Neo-Babylonian century, eventually being entirely replaced by stamp seals. Terracotta figurines and reliefs, made using molds, were common during the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Preserved figurines usually represent protective demons (such as Pazuzu ) or deities but there are also examples of horsemen, naked women, boats, men carrying vases and various types of furniture. Terracotta figurines could be sacred objects intended to be kept in people's homes for magical protection or as decorations, but they could also be objects offered to deities in

4200-499: A set quota of lambs to provide for sacrificial purposes, with wool and hides also being used in the temples for various purposes. Dairy products were less important since the animals would be unavailable for most of the year as the shepherds drove them across the land. Cows and oxen, rare in Mesopotamia due to being difficult to feed and maintain through the summer months, were mainly used as draft animals for plowing. Regions with

4375-545: A swampy environment, unsuited for farming, were used to hunt birds and fish. The most common form of business partnership recorded from Neo-Babylonian sources is called the harrānu , which involved a senior financing partner and a junior working partner (who did all the work, using the money provided by the senior partner). Profit from such business ventures were divided equally between the two partners. The idea allowed rich individuals to use their money to finance businesses by capable individuals who might not otherwise have had

4550-471: A unified "Babylonian" culture. At the same time, the Chaldeans, though retaining their tribal structure and way of life, were becoming more "babylonized", many adopting traditional Babylonian names. These Babylonized Chaldeans became important players in the Babylonian political scene and by 730 BC, all the major Chaldean tribes had produced at least one Babylonian king . The 9th to 8th century BC

4725-427: A victory for Tiamat until Marduk convinced the other gods to proclaim him as their leader and king. The gods agreed, and Marduk was victorious, capturing and executing Kingu and firing a great arrow at Tiamat, killing her and splitting her in two. With these chaotic primordial forces defeated, Marduk created the world and ordered the heavens. Marduk is also described as the creator of human beings, which were meant to help

4900-578: Is a good description for the situation of Potidaea, which lies at the head of Toroneos gulf. During the time of the Delian League , conflicts occurred between Athens and Corinth . However, the Corinthians still sent a supreme magistrate each year. Potidaea was inevitably involved in all of the conflicts between Athens and Corinth. The people revolted against the Athenians in 432 BC, and it

5075-445: Is assumed to have died. Sinsharishkun's successor, Ashur-uballit II , the final king of Assyria, was defeated at Harran in 609 BC. Egypt, Assyria's ally, continued the war against Babylon for a few years before being decisively defeated by Nabopolassar's crown prince Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish in 605 BC. Nebuchadnezzar II succeeded Nabopolassar in 605 BC upon the death of his father. The empire Nebuchadnezzar inherited

5250-507: Is featured in several prophecies and in descriptions of the destruction of Jerusalem and subsequent Babylonian captivity. Because of its sordid reputation for atrocities, including sexual abuse , in Jewish tradition, Babylon symbolizes an oppressor. In Christianity , Babylon symbolizes worldliness and evil. Prophecies sometimes symbolically link the kings of Babylon with Lucifer . Nebuchadnezzar II, sometimes conflated with Nabonidus, appears as

5425-464: Is from 35 BC and contains a prayer to Marduk. The latest known other documents written in Akkadian are astronomic predictions (e.g. planetary movements) for the year 75 AD. The way the signs are written in these astronomic texts means that readers would not have to be familiar with Akkadian to understand them. If the Akkadian language and Babylonian culture survived beyond these sparse documents, it

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5600-467: 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

5775-495: Is known to have completely renovated at least 13 cities but spent most of his time and resources on the capital, Babylon. By 600 BC, the Babylonians and possibly their subject peoples saw Babylon as the literal and figurative center of the world. Nebuchadnezzar widened Processional Street and fitted it with new decorations, making the annual New Year's Festival , celebrated in honor of the city's patron deity Marduk , more spectacular than ever before. After Nebuchadnezzar II's reign,

5950-461: 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

6125-436: Is suggested by ancient sources to have had dire consequences for the city. Though no direct evidence exists , Babylon appears to have been severely punished for the revolt. Its fortifications were destroyed and its temples damaged as Xerxes ravaged the city. It is possible that the sacred statue of Marduk , which represented the physical manifestation of Babylon's patron deity, was removed by Xerxes from Babylon's main temple,

6300-408: 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

6475-675: The Assyrian Empire in 612 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 539 BC, marking the collapse of the Chaldean dynasty less than a century after its founding. The defeat of the Assyrian Empire and subsequent return of power to Babylon marked the first time that the city, and southern Mesopotamia in general, had risen to dominate the ancient Near East since

6650-711: 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 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

6825-554: The Esagila , at this time. Xerxes also divided the previously large Babylonian satrapy (composing virtually all of the Neo-Babylonian Empire's territory) into smaller sub-units. Babylonian culture endured for centuries under the Achaemenids and survived under the rule of the later Hellenic Macedonian and Seleucid Empires , with the rulers of these empires also listed as kings of Babylon in Babylonian civil documents. It

7000-513: The First World War , is situated near this ancient site. In popular culture, the fictional character Gabrielle from the TV series Xena: Warrior Princess was described as being from Potidaea. 40°11′37″N 23°19′40″E  /  40.1937°N 23.3278°E  / 40.1937; 23.3278 Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire , also known as

7175-497: The Kingdom of Judah and scattered its populace, with many of its elite citizens sent back to Babylon, initiating a period known as the Babylonian Captivity . Nebuchadnezzar subsequently besieged Tyre for 13 years. Though he did not capture the city, it surrendered to him in 573 BC, agreeing to be ruled by vassal kings. The length of the siege can be ascribed to its difficulty: Tyre was on an island 800 metres from

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7350-528: The Medes , also ancient enemies of Assyria, under King Cyaxares entered Assyria and conquered the region around the city of Arrapha . In July or August of 614 BC, the Medes began attacking the cities of Kalhu and Nineveh . They then besieged Assur , the ancient political (and still religious) capital of Assyria. The siege was successful and the city endured a brutal sack. Nabopolassar arrived at Assur only after

7525-583: 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 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

7700-660: 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

7875-559: 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,

8050-470: The statue of Marduk usually refers to Marduk's primary statue, placed prominently in the Esagila and used in the city's rituals. The Babylonians themselves conflated the statue with the actual god Marduk – the god was understood as living in the temple, among the people of his city, and not in the heavens. As such, Marduk was not seen as some distant entity, but a friend and protector who lived nearby. This

8225-525: 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

8400-430: The Achaemenids, like the Assyrians had been resented a century earlier. At least five rebels proclaimed themselves King of Babylon and revolted during the time of Achaemenid rule in attempts at restoring native rule; Nebuchadnezzar III (522 BC), Nebuchadnezzar IV (521–520 BC), Bel-shimanni (484 BC), Shamash-eriba (482–481 BC) and Nidin-Bel (336 BC). The revolt of Shamash-eriba against Xerxes I in particular

8575-443: The Assyrians had been resented by the Babylonians as impious and warlike and the Neo-Babylonian kings preferred to present themselves as devout kings. The king was also the single most important landowner within the empire, with there being several large swaths of land placed under direct royal control throughout Babylonia. There were also large domains placed under other members of the royal family (for instance, there are mentions of

8750-606: 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

8925-428: 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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9100-641: 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

9275-710: 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

9450-526: 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

9625-498: 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 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

9800-618: The Great , the Achaemenid king of Persia , revolted against his suzerain Astyages , king of Media , at Ecbatana . Astyages' army betrayed him and Cyrus established himself as ruler of all the Iranic peoples, as well as the pre-Iranian Elamites and Gutians , ending the Median Empire and establishing the Achaemenid Empire . Ten years after his victory against the Medes, Cyrus invaded Babylon. Nabonidus sent Belshazzar to head off

9975-454: 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

10150-502: 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

10325-793: 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

10500-497: 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

10675-526: 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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10850-593: 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

11025-571: The Jews. Accordingly, one of his first acts was to allow these exiles to return to their homelands, carrying with them the images of their gods and their sacred vessels. The permission to do so was explicitly written in a proclamation, today called the Cyrus Cylinder , wherein Cyrus also justified his conquest of Babylonia as the will of Marduk. Babylon fell as an independent political entity in

11200-513: 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

11375-411: 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

11550-400: 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 the territorial conflicts the Medes had with both Lydia and the Neo-Babylonian Empire . King Croesus of Lydia sought to take advantage of

11725-487: 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

11900-440: The Middle East forever. The early Achaemenid rulers had great respect for Babylonia, regarding it as a separate entity or kingdom united with their own kingdom in something akin to a personal union . The region was a major economical asset and provided as much as a third of the entire Achaemenid Empire's tribute. Despite Achaemenid attention and the recognition of the Achaemenid rulers as kings of Babylon, Babylonia resented

12075-471: The Neo-Babylonian 182, with the average size of these settlements also increasing. This population growth was probably because of increasing prosperity in Babylonia, combined with the resettlement of subjugated peoples and the possible return of peoples that had been resettled under the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Neo-Babylonian period also saw a dramatic increase in urbanization , reversing a trend of ruralization which southern Mesopotamia had experienced since

12250-462: The Neo-Babylonian Empire meant that for the first time since the Assyrian conquest, tribute flowed into Babylonia rather than being drained from it. This reversal, combined with building projects and the relocation of subjugated peoples stimulated both population and economic growth in the region. Although the soil in Mesopotamia was fertile, the average rainfall in the region was not enough to sustain regular crops. As such, water had to be drawn from

12425-735: The Neo-Babylonian Empire were valuable resources, typically sold for money matching several years of income for a paid worker. Slaves were typically from lands outside of Babylonia, becoming slaves through the slave trade or through being captured in times of war. Slave women were often given as part of a dowry to help daughters of free men and women in their household or in raising children. Slaves were not cheap to maintain as they had to be clothed and fed. Because they were expensive to begin with, many Neo-Babylonian slave-owners trained their slaves in professions to raise their value or rented them out to others. Sometimes slaves who showed good business sense were allowed to serve in trade or through managing part of

12600-416: The Neo-Babylonian Empire. Slaves mentioned in connection to farming and agriculture are usually not forced laborers. As farming required diligence and care, slaves at farms were typically given contracts and were allowed to work independently, which would make the slaves more interested in the result of their labor. Some slaves acted as proxies or junior partners of their masters. Slaves were also allowed to pay

12775-400: The Neo-Babylonian Empire. The punishment for these types of crimes and disputes appears, for the most part, to have been money-related, with the guilty party paying a specified amount of silver as compensation. Crimes such as adultery and lèse-majesté were apparently punishable by death , but little surviving evidence exists for the death penalty actually being carried out. Artists in

12950-477: The Neo-Babylonian period continued the artistic trends of previous periods, showing similarities with the artwork of the Neo-Assyrian period in particular. Cylinder seals of the period are less detailed than in previous times and shows definite Assyrian influence in the themes depicted. One of the most common scenes depicted in such seals are heroes, sometimes depicted with wings, about to strike beasts with their curved swords. Other common scenes include purification of

13125-758: 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

13300-499: 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

13475-611: 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

13650-586: 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

13825-475: 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

14000-563: 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

14175-600: The Seleucid Empire survive, documents from the early years of Parthian rule suggest a continued recognition of at least the early Parthian kings as kings of Babylon. Although Akkadian-language legal documents continued in a slightly reduced number through the rule of the Hellenic kings, they are rare from the period of Parthian rule. The astronomical diaries kept since the days of ancient Babylon survived through Persian and Hellenic rule but stopped being written in

14350-585: The Temple at Sippar , had to make repeated excavations until he found the foundation deposit of Naram-Sin of Akkad . The discovery then allowed him to rebuild the temple properly. Neo-Babylonians also revived the ancient Sargonic practice of appointing a royal daughter to serve as priestess of the moon-god Sîn . As in most ancient empires, slaves were an accepted part of Neo-Babylonian society. In contrast to slavery in ancient Rome , where slave-owners often worked their slaves to death at an early age, slaves in

14525-533: The Thracian Coast, indicating that the region is prone to tsunamis. While tsunami are generally associated with earthquakes, Herodotus, the source of this story, makes no mention of an earthquake at the time. This makes it more likely that the event was a meteotsunami . Not only are such events relatively common in the Mediterranean, but their effect is amplified in a long, narrow body of water, which

14700-478: 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,

14875-548: 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 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

15050-568: The assassination, the influential courtier Nabonidus and his son Belshazzar , then took power. Despite the turmoil that had surrounded his rise to the throne, the empire itself had remained relatively calm through the difficult period. Nabonidus began his reign with traditional activities associated with the king: renovating buildings and monuments, worshipping the gods and waging war (also campaigning in Cilicia). Nabonidus wasn't of Babylonian ancestry, originating from Harran in former Assyria, one of

15225-406: 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

15400-475: 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

15575-417: The campaign) in northern Arabia . His son Belshazzar was left to govern Babylonia (though with the title crown prince rather than king, a title Nabonidus continued to hold). Why Nabonidus spent a decade away from his capital there is unknown. Nabonidus' return c.   543 BC was accompanied with a reorganization of his court and the removal of some of its more influential members. In 549 BC Cyrus

15750-541: The canals was seen as a royal task and the resources required to construct and maintain the infrastructure necessary, and the manpower itself, was provided by the many temples which dotted the region. The most detailed economical records from Neo-Babylonian times are from these temples. The people who cultivated the temple lands of Babylonia were mostly unfree personnel, so-called temple dependents ( širāku ), which were usually given larger work assignments than they could accomplish. In later times, to increase productivity,

15925-409: The cities who had shifted the most between Assyrian and Babylonian control, were firmly in Babylonian hands by 620 BC, and Nabopolassar had consolidated his rule over all of Babylonia. After further Babylonian conquests and further failures by Sinsharishkun to stop Nabopolassar, despite receiving military aid from Egypt , the Assyrian Empire quickly began to fall apart. In October or November 615 BC,

16100-484: The city of Uruk . Sinsharishkun failed to capture Babylon and Nabopolassar endured the Assyrian siege of Uruk, repulsing the Assyrian army. In November of 626 BC, Nabopolassar was formally crowned as King of Babylon, restoring Babylonia as an independent kingdom after more than a century of direct Assyrian rule. With only small successes during campaigns in northern Babylonia from 625 to 623 BC and more southern cities, such as Der , joining Nabopolassar, Sinsharishkun led

16275-428: The clothes used by the deity's cult, cleaned and moved around the statues of the deities, maintained the rooms within the temple and performed the important rituals, represented the skilled and free urban elite of Babylonian society and were paid through leftovers from meals intended for the gods, barley and beer. The surviving sources suggest that the justice system of the Neo-Babylonian Empire had changed little from

16450-426: The coast and could not be taken without naval support. Though it withstood numerous sieges, it was not captured until Alexander the Great 's siege in 332 BC. It is possible that Nebuchadnezzar campaigned against Egypt in 568 BC, given that a fragmentary Babylonian inscription from that year, given the modern designation BM 33041, records the word "Egypt" as well as possibly traces of the name "Amasis" (the name of

16625-541: The collapse of the Old Babylonian Empire (under Hammurabi ) nearly a thousand years earlier. The period of Neo-Babylonian rule thus saw unprecedented economic and population growth throughout Babylonia , as well as a renaissance of culture and artwork as Neo-Babylonian kings conducted massive building projects, especially in Babylon itself, bringing back many elements from the previous 2,000 years of Sumero-Akkadian culture. The Neo-Babylonian Empire retains

16800-423: 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

16975-446: 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

17150-528: The conquest, Babylon remained culturally distinct for centuries, with references to people with Babylonian names and to the Babylonian religion known from as late as the Parthian Empire in the 1st century BC. Although Babylon revolted several times during the rule of later empires, it never successfully restored its independence. Babylonia was founded as an independent state by an Amorite chieftain named Sumu-abum c.   1894 BC. For over

17325-520: The denial of the existence of the other gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon , it has sometimes been compared to monotheism . The history of worship of Marduk is intimately tied to the history of Babylon itself and as Babylon's power increased, so did the position of Marduk relative to that of other Mesopotamian gods. By the end of the second millennium BC, Marduk was sometimes just referred to as Bêl , meaning "lord". In Mesopotamian religion, Marduk

17500-423: 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

17675-463: 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 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

17850-640: 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

18025-399: The elder gods and Abzu decided to rid himself of them by killing them. Alarmed by this, Tiamat revealed Abzu's plan to Enki, who killed his father before the plot could be enacted. Although Tiamat had revealed the plot to Enki to warn him, the death of Abzu horrified her and she too attempted to kill her children, raising an army together with her new consort Kingu . Every battle in the war was

18200-456: The empire fell into political turmoil and instability. Nebuchadnezzar's son and successor, Amel-Marduk , reigned for only two years before being assassinated in a coup by the influential courtier Neriglissar . Neriglissar was a simmagir , a governor of one of the eastern provinces, and had been present during several of Nebuchadnezzar's campaigns. Importantly, Neriglissar was also married to one of Nebuchadnezzar's daughters and thus linked to

18375-472: 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

18550-458: 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 , the use of official languages across its territories, and the development of civil services, including its possession of

18725-448: The everyday tongue, Akkadian was retained as the language of administration and culture. Ancient artworks from the heyday of Babylonia's imperial glory were treated with near-religious reverence and were painstakingly preserved. For example, when a statue of Sargon the Great was found during construction work, a temple was built for it, and it was given offerings. The story is told of how Nebuchadnezzar II , in his efforts to restore

18900-646: 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

19075-630: The fall of the Old Babylonian Empire. At the top of the Neo-Babylonian Empire social ladder was the king ( šar ); his subjects took an oath of loyalty called the ade to him, a tradition inherited from the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The Neo-Babylonian kings used the titles King of Babylon and King of Sumer and Akkad . They abandoned many of the boastful Neo-Assyrian titles that claimed universal rule (though some of these would be reintroduced under Nabonidus), possibly because

19250-739: 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 a century before the Iranian elites of the central plateau reclaimed power under the Parthian Empire . The Achaemenid Empire borrows its name from

19425-473: The foremost ruler in this narrative. The Book of Revelation in the Christian Bible refers to Babylon many centuries after it ceased to be a major political center. The city is personified by the " Whore of Babylon ", riding on a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns and drunk on the blood of the righteous. Some scholars of apocalyptic literature believe this New Testament "Babylon" to be

19600-401: The goddess Ishtar ) flowers, mušḫuššu (a mythological creature associated with the god Marduk) and oxen (associated with the god Adad ). After Babylonia regained its independence, Neo-Babylonian rulers were deeply conscious of the antiquity of their kingdom and pursued a highly traditionalist policy, reviving much of the ancient Sumero-Akkadian culture. Even though Aramaic had become

19775-414: The gods and for conducting various rituals. Because of their religious significance, temples were present in all major cities, with trade and population growth being stimulated by the presence of a temple. Workers within the temples had to be "fit" for service and were not slaves or temple dependents (unlike those who served the temples by cultivating food and other supplies). These temple workers, who created

19950-469: The gods in defeating and holding off the forces of chaos and thus maintain order on Earth. The Statue of Marduk was the physical representation of Marduk housed in Babylon's main temple, the Esagila . Although there were actually seven separate statues of Marduk in Babylon; four in the Esagila, one in the Etemenanki (the ziggurat dedicated to Marduk) and two in temples dedicated to other deities,

20125-511: 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

20300-463: 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

20475-566: 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

20650-475: The huge Persian army, but the Babylonian forces were overwhelmed at the Battle of Opis . On 12 October, after Cyrus's engineers diverted the waters of the Euphrates, the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without the need for battle. Nabonidus surrendered and was deported. Gutian guards were placed at the gates of the great temple of Marduk, where services continued without interruption. Cyrus claimed to be

20825-717: 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

21000-400: 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

21175-400: The legitimate successor of the ancient Babylonian kings and the avenger of Marduk, who Cyrus claimed to be wrathful at Nabonidus's supposed impiety. Cyrus's conquest was welcomed by the Babylonian populace, though whether it was because he was genuinely seen as a liberator or out of fear is unknown. Cyrus's invasion of Babylonia may have been helped along by the presence of foreign exiles such as

21350-446: The local courts would be headed by royal representatives, usually titled sartennu or šukallu . For the most part, surviving sources related to the Neo-Babylonian justice system are tablets containing letters and lawsuits. These tablets document various legal disputes and crimes, such as embezzlement , disputes over property, theft , family affairs, debts and inheritance and often offer considerable insight into daily life in

21525-518: The main places of worship of the god Sîn (associated with the moon). For this, Nabonidus may have faced opposition from the Babylonian clergy. Nabonidus was also opposed by the clergy when he increased governmental control over the temples in an attempt to solve ongoing management problems with the empire's religious institutions. Nabonidus left Babylonia to campaign in the Levant and then settled for ten years in Tayma (which he had conquered during

21700-416: The means to carry out their trade (for instance second sons who had not inherited as much money as first-born sons). Records show that some junior partners worked their way up through their businesses to eventually become senior partners in new harrānu arrangements. The Neo-Babylonian period saw marked population growth in Babylonia, with the number of known settlements increasing from the previous 134 to

21875-484: The middle of the 1st century BC. It is likely that only a small number of scholars knew how to write Akkadian by the time of the Parthian kings, and the old Babylonian temples became increasingly undermanned and underfunded as people were drawn to the new Mesopotamian capitals, such as Seleucia and Ctesiphon . The latest dated document written in accordance with the old scribal tradition in Akkadian cuneiform

22050-408: 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

22225-459: The native Babylonians (composed of the descendants of the Sumerians and Akkadians and the assimilated Amorites and Kassites) and recently arrived, unassimilated tribesmen from the Levant ( Suteans , Arameans and Chaldeans ). By the 8th century BC, the constituent groups of the native Babylonians, the main population in the large cities, had lost their old identities and had assimilated into

22400-562: 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

22575-599: 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 a rebellion against Cyrus. Cyrus sent

22750-399: 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 ,

22925-578: 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

23100-580: 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

23275-518: The one it had from inside the temple. The statue was traditionally incorporated into the coronation rituals for the Babylonian kings , who received the Babylonian crown "out of the hands" of Marduk during the New Year's festival, symbolizing them being bestowed with kingship by the patron deity of the city. The temples of southern Mesopotamia were important as both religious and economic centers. The temples were chiefly institutions for caring for

23450-415: The one which functioned during the Old Babylonian Empire a thousand years prior. Throughout Babylonia, there were local assemblies (called puhru ) of elders and other notables from society which among other local roles served as local courts of justice (though there were also higher "royal" and "temple courts" with greater legal prerogatives). In these courts, judges would be assisted by scribes and several of

23625-500: 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 the country of the people originating from Persis ( Old Persian : 𐎱𐎠𐎼𐎿 , romanized:  Pārsa ). The Persian term 𐎧𐏁𐏂 Xšāça , literally meaning "The Kingdom",

23800-477: The plunder had already begun and met with Cyaxares, allying with him and signing an anti-Assyrian pact. In April or May 612 BC, at the start of Nabopolassar's 14th year as King of Babylon, the combined Medo-Babylonian army marched on Nineveh. From June to August of that year, they besieged the Assyrian capital and in August the walls were breached, leading to another lengthy and brutal sack during which Sinsharishkun

23975-500: The political history, society and appearance of ancient Babylonia was largely a mystery. Western artists typically envisioned the city and its empire as a combination of known ancient cultures—typically a mixture of ancient Greek and Egyptian culture—with some influence from the then-contemporary Middle Eastern empire, the Ottoman Empire . Early depictions of the city show it with long colonnades , sometimes built on more than

24150-425: 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

24325-457: The royal family. Possibly due to old age, Neriglissar's reign was also short, some of its few recorded activities being the restoration of some monuments in Babylon and a campaign in Cilicia . Neriglissar died in 556 BC and was succeeded by his underage son, Labashi-Marduk . Labashi-Marduk's reign was even briefer; he was assassinated after reigning for just nine months. The perpetrators of

24500-513: 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

24675-478: 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

24850-524: 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 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

25025-442: 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

25200-434: The southern official or general Nabopolassar used ongoing political instability in Assyria, caused by an earlier brief civil war between Sinsharishkun and the general Sin-shumu-lishir , to revolt. In 626 BC, Nabopolassar assaulted and successfully seized the cities of Babylon and Nippur . Sinsharishkun's response was quick and decisive; by October of that year the Assyrians had recaptured Nippur and besieged Nabopolassar at

25375-450: 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

25550-431: The temple as compensation. Although animal husbandry was practiced throughout Mesopotamia, it was the most common form of farming in the south. In Uruk, animals, rather than some type of plant, were the main cash crop . Shepherds could be temple dependents or independent contractors and were entrusted with herds of either sheep or goats. Similar to other farmers working in connection to the temples, these shepherds had

25725-471: The temples began hiring "rent farmers". These rent farmers were given a portion or all of a temple's farming grounds and fields, including the temple dependents and equipment there, in exchange for money and a fixed quota of commodities to supply to the temple. Rent farmers were personally liable for accidents and falling short of the quota and there are many records of rent farmers giving up or sometimes being required to sell their own possessions and assets to

25900-497: The temples. The technique of colored glaze was improved and perfected by Neo-Babylonian artists. In reliefs, such as the ones on the Ishtar Gate in Babylon and along the city's Processional Street (where parades passed through during religious festivals in the city), colored glaze was combined with bricks molded in various shapes to create decorations in color. Most of these decorations are symbols of lions (associated with

26075-519: The then incumbent Pharaoh, Amasis II , r.   570–526 BC). A stele of Amasis, also fragmentary, may also describe a combined naval and land attack by the Babylonians. But the evidence for this campaign is scant, and historians believe that if Nebuchadnezzar launched another campaign, he was unsuccessful. In addition to his military exploits, Nebuchadnezzar was a great builder, famous for his monuments and building works throughout Mesopotamia, such as Babylon's Ishtar Gate and Processional Street. He

26250-478: 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

26425-456: 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

26600-642: 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

26775-519: 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

26950-484: 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

27125-500: The two major rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris, for use in irrigation. These rivers tended to flood at inconvenient times, such as at grain harvest time. To solve these issues and allow for efficient farming, Mesopotamia required a sophisticated large-scale system of canals, dams and dikes, both to protect from floods and to supply water. These structures required constant maintenance and supervision to function. Digging and maintaining

27300-460: 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 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

27475-414: 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

27650-751: Was a creator god . Going by the Enûma Eliš , the Babylonian creation myth, Marduk was the son of Enki , the Mesopotamian god of wisdom, and rose to prominence during a great battle between the gods. The myth tells how the universe originated as a chaotic realm of water, in which there originally were two primordial deities; Tiamat (salt water, female) and Abzu (sweet water, male). These two gods gave birth to other deities. These deities (including gods such as Enki) had little to do in these early stages of existence and as such occupied themselves with various activities. Eventually, their children began to annoy

27825-578: Was among the most powerful in the world and he quickly reinforced his father's alliance with the Medes by marrying Cyaxares's daughter or granddaughter, Amytis . Some sources suggest that the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , were built by Nebuchadnezzar for his wife as to remind her of her homeland (though the existence of these gardens is debated). Nebuchadnezzar's 43-year reign brought with it

28000-557: Was besieged at the beginning of the Peloponnesian War and taken in the Battle of Potidaea in 430 BC. The Athenians retook the city in 363 BC, but in 356 BC Potidaea fell into the hands of Philip II of Macedon . Potidaea was destroyed and its territory handed to the Olynthians . Cassander built a city on the same site which was named Cassandreia . It was probably at this time that the canal, which still exists today,

28175-451: 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

28350-411: Was catastrophic for the independent Babylonian kingdom, with many weak kings either failing to control all the groups composing Babylonia's population, failing to defeat rivals, or failing to maintain important trade routes. This collapse eventually resulted in Babylonia's powerful northern neighbor, the Neo-Assyrian Empire , incorporating Babylonia into its empire in 729 BC. The Assyrian conquest began

28525-514: 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

28700-631: Was decisively wiped out c.   230 AD with the religious reforms introduced in the Sasanian Empire . By this time, the ancient Babylonian cult centres had already been closed and razed. Some temples had been closed during the early Parthian period, such as many temples in Uruk, whilst others lingered on to near the end of the Parthian Empire, such as the Esagila in Babylon. Before modern archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia,

28875-403: Was dug through the sandy soil at the narrowest part of the isthmus, perhaps with the aim of making the city a naval base. In 43 BC a Roman colony was settled by the proconsul of Macedonia, which in 30 BC was resettled by Octavian (the future Augustus ) and took the official name Colonia Iulia Augusta Cassandrensis. The modern settlement of Nea Poteidaia , built for refugees from Asia Minor after

29050-407: Was first under the rule of the Parthian Empire that Babylon was gradually abandoned as a major urban center and the old Akkadian culture truly disappeared. In the first century or so of Parthian rule, Babylonian culture was still alive, and there are records of people in the city with traditional Babylonian names, such as Bel-aḫḫe-uṣur and Nabu-mušetiq-uddi (mentioned as the receivers of silver in

29225-412: Was no different from other Mesopotamian cities, who similarly conflated their gods with the representations used for them in their temples. During the religiously important New Year's festival at Babylon, the statue was removed from the temple and paraded through Babylon before being placed in a smaller building outside the city walls, where the statue received fresh air and could enjoy a different view from

29400-471: 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

29575-540: 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

29750-412: 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

29925-403: 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

30100-402: 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

30275-476: 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

30450-518: 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

30625-690: 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 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

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