A visual record of the artistic images of ancient Babylonia, some from Ancient Worlds.
Babylonia
Babylonia (Babylonian Bābili,"gate of God"; Old Persian Babirush), was the ancient country of Mesopotamia, known originally as Sumer and later combining the territories of Sumer and Akkad, lying between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, south of modern Baghdād, Iraq. The earliest mention of Babylon can be found in a tablet of the reign of Sargon of Akkad, dating back to the 23rd century BC.
Historically, two ethnic groups, the Sumerians and Akkadians, dominated the region, an area rich in natural resources, and strategically located for trade routes and commerce. The Babylonian civilization, which endured from the 18th until the 6th century BC, was urban in character, although based on agriculture rather than industry. The country consisted of a dozen or so cities, surrounded by villages and hamlets. At the head of the political structure was the king, a more or less absolute monarch who exercised legislative and judicial as well as executive powers. Under him was a group of appointed governors and administrators. Mayors and councils of city elders were in charge of local administration.
The Babylonians modified and transformed their Sumerian heritage in accordance with their own culture and ethos. The resulting way of life proved to be so effective that it underwent relatively little change for some 1200 years. It exerted influence on all the neighboring countries, especially the kingdom of Assyria, which adopted Babylonian culture almost in its entirety. Fortunately, many written documents from this period have been excavated and made available to scholars. One of the most important is the remarkable collection of laws often designated as the Code of Hammurabi, which, together with other documents and letters belonging to different periods, provides a comprehensive picture of Babylonian social structure and economic organization.
