Babylonia

Babylonia

The Babylonians had a massive empire which stretched from the beginning of the Nile river to the middle of Saudi Arabia to the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and to the Eastern part of Turkey.



Gods


 * Anu**: the god of heaven
 * Marduk**: national god of the Babylonians
 * Tiamat**: dragon goddess
 * Kingu**: husband of Tiamat
 * Enlil**: god of weather
 * Nabu**: god of art
 * Ishtar**: goddess of love
 * Ea**: god of wisdom
 * Enurta**: god of war
 * Anshar**: father of heaven
 * Shamash**: god of the sun and of justice
 * Ashur**: national god of the Assyrians
 * Kishar**: father of earth[[image:http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/images/de/DESMYbabylonian_chelius.jpg width="178" height="235" caption="http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/images/de/DESMYbabylonian_chelius.jpg"]]

Facts

The areas of astronomy and astrology were the greatest parts of the sciences that the Babylonians practiced. The earliest known artifacts of Babylonia were before 3500 B.C. and was virtually unknown during early times but around 19th century B.C. it was at a rise to prominence when the Amorities found a dynasty. For two centuries, Babylon was one of the most important cities in the Achaemid Empire and the Babylonians shared in the ups and downs of the Persian monarchy.

Time Line

2000 B.C.
 * Hammurabi founds Babylonia (c. 1763 B.C )
 * Hammurabi of Babylon conquers Ashur ending the first Assyrian empire (c. 1760 B.C.)
 * Kassite dynasty established in Babylon (c. 1595 B.C.)

800 B.C.
 * Chaldaeans enter Babylonia and compete for the Babylonian throne (c. 721 - 703 B.C.)

700 B.C.
 * Assyrians destroy Babylon (689 B.C.)
 * Medes ally with Babylonia to conquer Assyria (612 B.C.)

600 B.C.
 * exile of the Jews to Babylon (586 B.C.)
 * Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylonia burns Jerusalem (581 B.C.)
 * Cyrus the Great of Persia conquers Babylonia absorbing Babylon into the Persian empire (539 B.C.)
 * Cyrus the Great of Persia frees the captive Jews from Babylonia (539 B.C.)

Babylonian Numerals

It uses just two symbols for the first 59 numbers or so.