Dalley, Stephanie. 2021. The City of Babylon: A History, c. 2000 BC – AD 116. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
The 2000-year story of Babylon sees it moving from a city-state to the centre of a great empire of the ancient world. It remained a centre of kingship under the empires of Assyria, Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Alexander the Great, the Seleucids and the Parthians. Its city walls were declared to be a Wonder of the World while its ziggurat won fame as the Tower of Babel. Visitors to Berlin can admire its Ishtar Gate, and the supposed location of its elusive Hanging Garden is explained. Worship of its patron god Marduk spread widely while its well-trained scholars communicated legal, administrative and literary works throughout the ancient world, some of which provide a backdrop to Old Testament and Hittite texts. Its science also laid the foundations for Greek and Arab astronomy through a millennium of continuous astronomical observations. This accessible and up-to-date account is by one of the world’s leading authorities.
Table of Contents:
1 – Land and Peoples
2 – Discoveries and Excavations pp
3 – First Kings to the End of the Great Rebellion, c. 1894–c. 1732
4 – Law, Education, Literature, and the Path to Supremacy
5 – From the Great Rebellion to the End of the First Dynasty, c. 1732–1592
6 – The Next Six Centuries: Kassite Sealand Isin And Elamite Kings C 1592- 979
7 – In the Shadow of Assyria, 978–625
8 – Empire: Nabopolassar And Nebuchadnezzar II 625 5621
9 – From the Death of Nebuchadnezzar II to the Death of Cambyses, 561–522
10 – Darius I to Alexander, and Seleucid to Parthian Rule
11 – First Parthian Conquest, 141 BC, to the Visit of Trajan in AD 116
Appendix: Genesis 14:1–16 and Possible Links with Foreign Rulers Early in the Reign of Hammurabi
Bibliography
Index