![]() ![]() (This was possibly the inspiration for the Babylon Festival, a recently revived cultural happening that began in 1987 at the time of Saddam’s reconstruction.) In 539 BCE, the ancient world’s then capital of scholarship and science fell to the Persian king Cyrus the Great. The Esaglia, the temple dedicated to Marduk, was rebuilt by Nebuchadnezzar and the akitu - an 11-day festival - paid homage to the god with sacrifices and the recital of an epic poem about the creation of the world and the triumph of order over chaos. After the Assyrian King Esarhaddon rebuilt the holy city, amid fear of divine retribution, Babylonians regained control in 612 BCE. Sacked by the Hittites in 1595 BCE, and conquered by the Kassites in 1570 BCE, it became a center for worship of the god Marduk for four centuries. The city is also believed to be the site of the mythical Hanging Gardens - one of the “seven wonders of the world” - said to be a legacy of King Nebuchadnezzar, who ordered the complete reconstruction of the imperial grounds, including the 300-foot Etemenanki ziggurat (believed to be the legendary Tower of Babel), and the building of the Ishtar Gate, the most prominent of eight gates around Babylon.īefore its glory years under Nebuchadnezzar, it was the most important city in Mesopotamia during the reign of Hammurabi (1792-1750 BCE). It was here that King Hammurabi produced the world’s first written law. Between 626 and 539 BCE, the city was the capital of the Neo-Babylonian empire and the largest metropolis in the world. ![]() The 2500-acre site, 50 miles south of Baghdad, comprises both the ruins of the ancient city as well as surrounding villages and agricultural areas. ![]() From its peak as the Neo-Babylonian capital under King Nebuchadnezzar through its heavy-handed 1987 reconstruction by Saddam Hussein to its post-invasion demise when American and Polish troops ran roughshod over its ruins and ISIS threatened its very existence, the ancient city has witnessed empires come and go. ![]()
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