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Neo Babylonian

The Neo-Babylonian Empire rose to power in 626 BCE and ruled much of the Near East until its fall to the Persian Empire in 539 BCE. It began as the successors to the Assyrian Empire and was founded by Nabopolassar. The Neo-Babylonian Empire reached its peak under King Nebuchadnezzar II, who rebuilt Babylon and constructed famous landmarks like the Hanging Gardens and the Ishtar Gate. However, the Neo-Babylonian Empire fell after its defeat by the Persian Empire led by Cyrus the Great at the Battle of Opis in 539 BCE, ending its rule over the Near East.

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216 views

Neo Babylonian

The Neo-Babylonian Empire rose to power in 626 BCE and ruled much of the Near East until its fall to the Persian Empire in 539 BCE. It began as the successors to the Assyrian Empire and was founded by Nabopolassar. The Neo-Babylonian Empire reached its peak under King Nebuchadnezzar II, who rebuilt Babylon and constructed famous landmarks like the Hanging Gardens and the Ishtar Gate. However, the Neo-Babylonian Empire fell after its defeat by the Persian Empire led by Cyrus the Great at the Battle of Opis in 539 BCE, ending its rule over the Near East.

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NEO - BABYLOnian

Empire
Rise & Fall

End : around 600 B.C.E.

Began in 626 B.C.E.

● Rose to power in the late 7th century


● Heirs of the urban traditions : long existed in
southern Mesopotamia
● Ruled an empire as dominant in the Near East
as that held by the Assyrians before them
2
Rise & Fall
Battle of Opis

End : October of 539 B.C.


Fought in September 539 BC

Persian invasion of Mesopotamia

Armies of Persia under Cyrus the Great x Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nabonidus
3
Map - Geography

4
Map - Geography

After the fall of Assyria, a territory was divided:

● Babylonia : central part of the former Assyria


● Medes : north – eastern part
● At that time Lydia raised : western Asia Minor
CITIES

6
Inventions
The Sundials
● The oldest known devices that are used to measure time

● Showing the hours each day

○ discovery led to the present time measuring system

● Invented around 3500 BCE : used in Neo - babylonian period

● Helped Neo-Babylonians keep track of their day

● Helped them have a consistent schedule


Inventions
The Hanging Gardens

● One of the seven wonders of the ancient world

● Large structure with plants decorating the whole place

● Built by Nebuchadnezzar II at around 600 BCE

● Gift for A Homesick Wife > Medes

● Impressive irrigation system


Inventions
Ishtar Gate
● Entrance to the city of Babylon

● Nebuchadnezzar II built it in around 575 BCE

● The height is over 38 feet and still stands today


Inventions
The Ziggurat
● Nebuchadnezzar had rebuilt the ziggurat : 605 to 562 BCE

● Temple that had many floors sort of resembling the shape of a pyramid

● Made out of sun-baked bricks

● Neo-Babylonia called

"House of the Platform Between Heaven and Earth"


Art & Architecture
Art
Invoke the styles and iconography of the 3rd millennium rulers

Architecture
Nebuchadnezzar (604-561 B.C.E.) largely rebuilt this ancient city
The Ishtar Gate
was constructed in Babylon in antiquity.

● Whole gate was covered in lapis lazuli glazed bricks.


■ walls 12 meters high
■ flanked by square towers and covered by
glazed bricks
■ molded with the figure of sacred animals.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Government & Laws
Government
● Cities had local autonomy and received special privileges
from the kings : Monarchy

● Centered on their temples

● Actual legal decisions given by the judges in the law courts

● Cases were decided in assemblies


Government & Laws
Government
● Temples dominated urban social structure

● A person's social status & political rights


were determined by where they stood in
relation to the religious hierarchy

● 6 kings
Government & Laws
Government 1

4
3 6

5
Government & Laws
Cuneiform law
● legal codes written in cuneiform script

● The Code of Hammurabi : the most well-known of


the cuneiform laws

● Consist of specific "if... then..."


○ example or precedent

● Punishments for crimes vary from code to code


○ not all prescribe vengeance
Public Works
● Dams and Dikes = Control flooding
● Canals use to bring water to the fields
● City walls was built to protected the city
from other army’s attack
● Warehouses used to store food
● Corvee labor
○ workers would be drafted from the
general population and put to work
as a form of a taxation by the state

18
Social Classes
● Royalty(King and high priests)
● Middle Class (Average Jobs)
● Upper Class (Best Jobs)
● Lower Class (Bad Jobs)
● Slaves
Specialized Job / Division of Labor
Farmers (Peasants) Weavers Potters
● Irrigation systems and ● Built in multiple methods
● Evidence on sculptures,
yearly flooding helped ○ Coil building
pottery, & in writings left on
farmers grow their crops. ○ slab building
tablets indicates that a
○ pinch potting
thriving textile industry
● Important role as they fed
everyone ● Potter's hands were one of
the valuable tools

20
Specialized Job / Division of Labor

Craftsmen & Marchants


● enjoyed high status & a sort of guild system
Scribes
● Nearly always men
came into existence
● Babylonian scribal education
● gave them collective bargaining power
○ concentrated on learning to write
Sumerian and Akkadian
○ Using cuneiform

21
Language & Writing

● Introduced the Akkadian language (the "language of Akkad")


as a written language

● Adapting Sumerian Cuneiform orthography for the purpose

● The cuneiform script


○ writing system of ancient Mesopotamia

● The symbols were written on wet clay tablets which were baked in
the hot sun
Religions
● Babylonian mythology was greatly influenced
by their Sumerian counterparts

● Polythestic (Many goddess)


Marduk

23
TIMELINE
605 BCE - 562 BCE

Unsuccessfully ★ Fall of
besieges Tyre Babylonia
626 BCE 601 BCE 575 BCE

585 BCE - 572 BCE 539 BCE


★ Rising of Unsuccessfully built the Ishtar Gate
Neo-babylonia attempts to and great walls of
invade Egypt Babylon

Nebuchadnezzar II reign began


★ built Hanging garden
Reference
https://neobabylonianachievements.weebly.com/achievements.html

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/ancient-near-east1/babylonian/a/neo-babyloni

an

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Babylonian_Empire#Fall_of_Babylon

https://www.britannica.com/place/Neo-Babylonian-Empire

https://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ARTH110-2.4-NeoBabylonia.pdf

http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub363/item1527.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_law

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Babylonian_Empire#Revival_of_old_traditions

https://ahsmesopotamia5th.weebly.com/job-specialization-and-public-works.html

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