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Babylon, Kingdom of: Called "the land of the Chaldeans"
(Jeremiah 24:5; Ezekiel 12:13) was an
extensive province in Central Asia along the valley of the Tigris from
the Persian Gulf northward for some 300 miles. It was famed for its
fertility and its riches. Its capital was the city of Babylon, a great
commercial centre
(Ezekiel 17:4; Isaiah 43:14) Babylonia was divided into
the two districts of Accad in the north, and Summer (probably the
Shinar of the Old Testament) in the south. Among its chief cities may
be mentioned Ur (now Mugheir or Mugayyar), on the western bank of the
Euphrates; Uruk, or Erech
(Genesis 10:10) (now Warka), between Ur and
Babylon; Larsa (now Senkereh), the Ellasar of
(Genesis 14:1) a little to
the east of Erech; Nipur (now Niffer), south-east of Babylon;
Sepharvaim
(2 Kings 17:24) "the two Sipparas" (now Abu-Habba),
considerably to the north of Babylon; and Eridu, "the good city" (now
Abu-Shahrein), which lay originally on the shore of the Persian Gulf,
but is now, owing to the silting up of the sand, about 100 miles
distant from it. Another city was Kulunu, or Calneh
(Genesis 10:10) The
salt-marshes at the mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris were called
Marratu, "the bitter" or "salt", the Merathaim of
(Jeremiah 50:21) They
were the original home of the Kalda, or Chaldeans. The most famous of
the early kings of Babylonia were Sargon of Accad (B.C.3800) and his
son, Naram-Sin, who conquered a large part of Western Asia,
establishing their power in Palestine, and even carrying their arms to
the Sinaitic peninsula. A great Babylonian library was founded in the
reign of Sargon. Babylonia was subsequently again broken up into more
than one state, and at one time fell under the domination of Elam. This
was put an end to by Khammu-rabi (Amraphel), who drove the Elamites out
of the country, and overcame Arioch, the son of an Elamite prince. From
this time forward Babylonia was a united monarchy. About B.C. 1750 it
was conquered by the Kassi, or Kosseans, from the mountains of Elam,
and a Kassite dynasty ruled over it for 576 years and 9 months. In the
time of Khammu-rabi, Syria and Palestine were subject to Babylonia and
its Elamite suzerain; and after the overthrow of the Elamite supremacy,
the Babylonian kings continued to exercise their influence and power in
what was called "the land of the Amorites." In the epoch of the Kassite
dynasty, however, Canaan passed into the hands of Egypt. In B.C. 729
Babylonia was conquered by the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III.; but
on the death of Shalmaneser IV. it was seized by the Kalda or
"Chaldean" prince Merodach-baladan
(2 Kings 20:12-19) who held it till
B.C. 709 when he was driven out by Sargon. Under Sennacherib, Babylonia
revolted from Assyria several times, with the help of the Elamites, and
after one of these revolts Babylon was destroyed by Sennacherib, B.C.
689 It was rebuilt by Esarhaddon, who made it his residence during part
of the year, and it was to Babylon that Manasseh was brought a prisoner
(2 Chronicles 33:11) After the death of Esarhaddon, Saul-sumyukin, the
viceroy of Babylonia, revolted against his brother the Assyrian king,
and the revolt was suppressed with difficulty. When Nineveh was
destroyed, B.C. 606 Nabopolassar, the viceroy of Babylonia, who seems
to have been of Chaldean descent, made himself independent. His son
Nebuchadrezzar (Nabu-kudur-uzur), after defeating the Egyptians at
Carchemish, succeeded him as king, B.C. 604 and founded the Babylonian
empire. He strongly fortified Babylon, and adorned it with palaces and
other buildings. His son, Evil-merodach, who succeeded him in B.C. 561
was murdered after a reign of two years. The last monarch of the
Babylonian empire was Nabonidus (Nabu-nahid), B.C. 555 whose eldest
son, Belshazzar (Bilu-sar-uzur), is mentioned in several inscriptions.
Babylon was captured by Cyrus, B.C. 538 and though it revolted more
than once in later years, it never succeeded in maintaining its
independence.
