Babylon Babylonia
THE JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA
whose tomb
is visited by pilgrims. The ruins of the great temple of E-sagila. (e) Near the village of Jumjuna are small mounds, from one of which have been taken numbers of business tablets whose inscriptions make it plain that the site was once covered with the offices of the firm
saint
cover the
site
of the sons of Egibi. Besides these chief ruins there are numbers of smaller ruin-groups; but their relations to each other are more or lessobscure, and identification of the buildings which they mark is either doubtful or wholly lacking. This mound is now being explored by the expedition undertaken by
German
coth-benoth (II Kings xvii. 30; compare Amos v. After the fall of Samaria, Babylon plays a 26). smaller part in the history of the Hebrews, while the importance of Nineveh increases until the new Babylonian or Chaldean empire. Under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon again becomes an important city, and, as the center of the empire which destroyed Judah, finds frequent mention in the later books. See Assyria, Assyriology and the Old Testament, and Babylokia.
Bibliography For the history of the city see bibliography under Babylonia. The ruins are briefly described, and an
is Riven, in Robert W. Rogers, New York, 1900. i., state of the ruins are to be present Fuller accounts of the found in John P. Peters, Nippur, New York, 1897; Eduard Euphrat und Tiijris, Leipsic, 1900. The topogSachau, raphy of the city is thoroughly discussed in the article Babylon by Baumstark, in Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclnpttdie
account of their exploration
scientists.
History of Babylonia ami Assyria,
Herodotus (i. 178-187) has described the city with a wealth of detail. He says it formed a vast square 480 stades (55£ miles) in circumference.
trees.
best Babylonian description of the city now extant was written by order of Nebuchadnezzar, the greatest patron of the city. This narNative rative of the great works of construe Description and of repair gives a picture of tions. the whole city in bis day. It agrees in the main with Herodotus, and seems to support somewhat the contention that he had a The account first-hand acquaintance with the city. of Ctesias is not quite in accord with the Babylonian
The
description, which makes no mention at all of the hanging gardens. It is therefore probable that Ctesias is in error, and that they were erected by some Assyrian king. For the history of Babylon, see Babylonia. The city of Babylon fills a large place in the literature and life of the Hebrew people. It is true that in the literature it is not always possible to distinguish between the city of Babylon and the country of Babylonia, for the same word (?32) is used for
both; yet in many cases the allusion to the city is In the Book of Genesis there are but two allusions to Babel: the one (Gen. x. 10) In the Old naming it as one of the cities of Shinar Testament. (Babylonia); the other (Gen. xi. 1-9) describing the confusion of tongues and the naming of the city therefrom. The city next finds mention (II Kings xvii. 24) as one of the places from which Sargon brought captives to settle in Samaria, who introduced an image of their god Succlear.
Am
Around
about the city was a moat filled with running water, and beyond this was a wall built like Classical a rampart, 200 cubits high and 50 Descripbroad, the top of which was made into tions. a great street, lined with chambers, and broad enough for a four-horse chariot to turn upon it. In the city were fine streets lined with houses three and four stories in height. The main building was the temple of Belov Marduk, constructed in tower-like form, with a winding ascent on the exterior. There is no mention of the hanging gardens. The description given by Otesias (quoted by Diodorus Siculus, 2, 7 et seq.) differs considerably from that furnished by Herodotus. According to Ctesias, the circuit of the city was 360 stades (about 41-J- miles), and the other dimensions were generally smaller than those given by Herodotus. He describes the hanging gardens as being square in construction and of sufficient size to support full-grown
400
der Oassischen Attertumswtssenschaft, ii., 1896, with which be compared the monograph on Babylon by Delitzsch, published as one of the Mittheilnngen of the Deutsche Orient. Gesellschaft the various other Mittlwilungcn of this Society: and also Jastrow, The Temple and Palaeeof Neb-
may
uchadnezzar, in Harper's Magazine, April, j. jr.
Data
1902.
R.
W.
R.
Darius Hystaspes captured the city of Babylon in 516 B.C., partially razed its walls, and carried its inhabitants into cap-
Post-Biblical
tivity (Herodotus,
iii. 159; Justin, i. 10). said to have either plundered or destroyed the temple of Bclus, and Alexander the Great labored in vain to restore it in connection with this, reference is made to his Jewish soldiers (see
Xerxes
is
Babylonia, Greek Period). When Seleucus Nicator founded Seleucia for his capital, Babylon sank in importance and soon fell into ruins (Pausanias, viii. Dio Cassius, lxxv. 9). The Rabbis neverthe33, 1 Mention is made of basless still knew it as a city. kets taken to Babylon (B. B. 23a), as also of the fact that one could live as well in Babylon as in Sura The Talmud says, " He who sees the Eu(Git. 65a). phrates from the bridge near Babjdon, should say
the benediction,
'
Blessed be the Creator of nature
'
"
meaning that from Babylon the Euphrates has a natural course, being checked further north by artificial dams and canals. This is the probable ex(Ber. 594),
planation of the passage, although there is another view, held by S. Cassel, who thinks that the land of Babylonia is meant here and not the city of Babylon. To the foregoing precept the Talmud adds from a fifth-century point of view that since even at this point the river had been checked by artificial means, the benediction could properly be said only lower down the stream, in Be Sbabur. R. Hamnuna preached that " He who beholds the godless city of Babylon should pronounce five benedictions; the first, on sighting the ruins of the town; the second, when he beholds the house of Nebuchadnezzar the third, when he sees Daniel's den of lions; the fourth, when he looks on the fiery furnace; and the fifth, when before the pillars of Mercury " (ib. 57b less correctly, in Yer. Ber. ix. 12d). The palace of Nebuchadnezzar is a heap of ruins called by the Arabs " El Kasr " (the palace) the " pillars of Mercury " are probably a statue of the god Nebo; the "fiery furnace " is shown next to " the palace " (Layard, " Discoveries," p. 505). Benjamin of Tudela found the ruins of Babylon five miles distant from Hillah, a city which then contained ten thousand Jews. In the
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