Babylon was one of the most splendid and prosperous cities in the ancient world. Herodotus once traveled to the city of Babylon after Babylon was conquered by the Persians in 450 BC, and he couldn't help expressing this emotion, "its magnificence is unprecedented in human history." The most famous city of Babylon is famous for its majestic and peculiar tower of Babylon, the splendid palace with golden walls, the magnificent Ishtar Gate and the Hanging Garden, one of the seven wonders of the world.
Babylon in the Babylonian Period
The ruins of the ancient city of Babylon are located 90 kilometers south of Baghdad, the capital of modern Iraq, on the Euphrates River. From 2000 BC to 500 BC, it was the capital and religious trade center of the Babylonian Empire. From 1899 to 1913, the German archaeologist Koldwei led a team to excavate the ruins of Babylon.
Although the city of Babylon has a long history, before King Hammurabi, it was only a small and unknown city. With the domination of King Hammurabi, as the empire grew stronger and richer, Babylon, the capital of the empire, gradually became an international metropolis. According to the archaeological research of Koldway, the Babylonian city in the Hammurabi period not only had exquisite temples and luxurious palaces, but also criss-crossed alleys and houses along the streets. All buildings are based on bricks, with adobe as walls, and a solid city wall is built around the city.
After Hammurabi's death, Babylon gradually declined. In 1595 BC, the city of Babylon was sacked by the Hittite kingdom in the northwest, and then the city of Babylon fell into the hands of the Kassites for more than 400 years. In the late twelfth century BC, Babylon was conquered by the Assyrians, and the city of Babylon suffered another disaster, and the ancient city was severely damaged. Until the end of the seventh century BC, the new Babylonian kingdom rose again, and the city of Babylon entered a golden age.
Babylon in the Neo-Babylonian Period
"Majestic and beautiful Babylon, I regard you as my life... I will do my best to make you a great city that has never been seen before, incomparably prosperous, and prosperous. You will receive tribute from all nations, and all The worship of mankind.”
—From the inaugural proclamation of Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II
Nebuchadnezzar II's great military exploits enabled him to establish an unprecedented Neo-Babylonian empire, bringing the Babylonian culture to a splendid peak. And another of his outstanding contributions was the reconstruction of the city of Babylon, the unparalleled city of Babylon, which made him leave a strong legacy in the history of architectural art. In the Bible and other Jewish and Greek accounts, Nebuchadnezzar II appears as the builder of one of the most magnificent cities in the world. In order to get rid of the erosion of the groundwater of the Euphrates, Nebuchadnezzar II filled up the city walls and palaces built by his ancestors, rebuilt the new city on this higher foundation, and made pilgrims from all over the world prostrate at its feet. The existing city ruins of Babylon are the Babylonian city of this period.
By the time of Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon had reached 2,100 acres, larger than many towns today, and at its peak had a population of 250,000. A wall about 18 kilometers long and 3 meters high surrounds the entire city. There are towers every 44 meters, and there are 360 towers in the entire inner city. The entire city wall is divided into two layers: inside and outside. The outer city wall is divided into three layers, the thickest is 7.8 meters, and the thinnest is 3.3 meters. The inner city wall consists of two brick walls inside and outside, with trenches and earthen enclosures built in between. There is a moat along the inner city wall, and the width of the river varies from 20 meters to 80 meters. The Euphrates River passes through the city, which not only adds beauty to the city, provides a water source, but also sets up a natural barrier for the safety of the city. The river divides the whole city into two parts. The west of the river is the new city, and the east of the river is the old city, connected by a bridge supported by five stone piers on the river.
Ishtar Gate
According to Herodotus, Babylon had more than 100 gates, so people called Babylon the city of a hundred gates. The main 8 gates span the thick double wall of ancient Babylon, and each gate is named after one of the city's gods. One of the most majestic gates is dedicated to the goddess Ishtar, so it is called the Ishtar Gate. The entire city gate is composed of two parallel gates of the same form and scale, 12 meters high. Each door has 4 watchtowers, and there are arched passages between the watchtowers and the watchtowers. The outer walls are made of colorful glazed bricks. The bricks are decorated with animal reliefs that symbolize the Babylonian gods. Ishtar, the god of love and war, was given the image of a lion; Adad, the god of storms, was shaped like a bull; the horned beast symbolized Marduk, the patron saint of Babylon. Each relief is about 90 cm high, and there are about 575 pieces in total. The whole Ishtar Gate looks majestic, dignified, and colorful, giving people a majestic and indestructible impression.
The "Holy Way" and the Tower of Babita
Entering the Ishtar Gate is a central avenue from south to north. It is like a central axis that connects the dotted buildings in the city in turn, forming a regular and symmetrical pattern. This street is used for religious processions and is called "Holy Way". It is paved with limestone 1.05 meters square, the central slab is white and rose, and the sides are red. There are also cuneiform inscriptions on the slate. White and gold lions adorn the walls on either side of the "Holy Way". When Coldway excavated the site of the "sacred way", he exclaimed that it was wider than any Roman avenue. At the end of the "Holy Way" is the famous Temple of Marduk. The city's most important 11-day religious festival "New Year's Festival" was held in the temple. At the climax of the festival, the king will lead a guard of honor carrying the statue of Marduk through the "Holy Way" and the Ishtar Gate to a shrine outside the city.
To the north of the Temple of Marduk is a towering brick tower of ziggurat. According to Herodotus' description, the tower has a solid main tower, about 201 meters high, with a total of 4 floors. There is a spiral channel outside, going up around the tower and reaching the top of the tower. The tower base is about 90 meters on each side and about 90 meters high. He also recounted that on the Tower of Babita "there was a great temple with a large and elaborate couch, richly laid, and a golden table beside it". The records of Herodotus roughly describe the majesty and majesty of the Tower of Babies. In 1899, during an archaeological excavation of Babylon, Coldway actually unearthed the huge base of a tower. Coldway believes that this tower is the tower of Babita depicted in the Bible.
The Royal Palace and the "Hanging Garden"
Nebuchadnezzar II had a palace on the inner and outer walls of Babylon, called the North Palace Garden and the South Palace Garden. The North Palace Garden on the outer wall is mainly used to display statues and rare treasures moved from various places, so it is called a museum. The Nangong Garden is located within the Ishtar Gate and north of the Marduk Temple. It is the residence of the king and his concubines. It is 50 meters long and 15 meters wide. There are 5 courtyards in the whole palace. During this period, various forms of buildings are stacked and scattered. The third courtyard is the main hall of King Nebuchadnezzar, and the throne is placed in the middle of the south wall of the main hall. In the northeast corner of Nangongyuan is the famous "Hanging Garden".
According to legend, Nebuchadnezzar II married the Median princess Tis as queen. The princess was beautiful and lovely, and was favored by the king. But the queen from a country full of lush green mountains saw that Babylon was peaceful and peaceful, without mountains and forests, and was unhappy. So, in order to please the queen, Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the craftsmen to build tiered gardens on the side of his palace according to the scenery of the Median Mountains, which were filled with exotic flowers and plants, and placed on the side of his palace. A quiet mountain trail has been opened in the garden, and there is a gurgling stream beside the trail. The craftsmen also built a watchtower in the middle of the garden, standing in the air. The total height of the garden is close to 30 meters. Due to the lush vegetation on each floor, it looks like hanging in the air, so it is called "Hanging Garden" or "Hanging Garden". In the 2nd century AD, Greek scholars listed the "Hanging Gardens" as one of the "Seven Wonders of the World" when evaluating famous buildings and sculptures around the world. Since then, the "Hanging Garden" has become even more famous. However, it is a pity that the "Hanging Garden", like other buildings in the Babylonian civilization, has long been buried in the rolling yellow sand.
In 539 BC, the Persians occupied the city of Babylon, and the city of Babylon began to lose its former glory. By the time of Alexander the Great, the city of Babylon gradually became a battlefield, and agriculture declined. By the time of the Seleucid dynasty, the city of Babylon began to desertify, and the city's inhabitants gradually left. Later, the rolling yellow sand completely obliterated the once glorious city of Babylon. The ancient city slowly disappeared in people's memory. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that this famous city, which had been buried for more than 2,000 years, began to rebuild.
The current city of Babylon
In 1978, the Iraqi government started the reconstruction project of the ancient city of Babylon. The first phase of the reconstruction project included 23 buildings including the Ishtar Gate, the Temple, the Nanguan Garden, the Hanging Garden, and the Arc de Triomphe.
The Ishtar Gate has been restored, and a museum has been built inside the city gate to collect 250,000 cultural relics recovered from abroad and display two models of Babylonian cities. There is still a stone lion near the Nangong. It is carved from a whole piece of limestone. The lion's body is 3 meters long, 2 meters high, and 1.5 meters wide. It stands on a rectangular stone mat, majestic and majestic. stone man. The seven-level amphitheater left in the Macedonian era has been restored with modern materials, but the "ancient" flavor is no longer strong.
The city of Babylon had just recovered a little bit of life, but it had to suffer once again. The outbreak of the Iraq War, the relentless bombardment of artillery fire, and man-made destruction, I don't know what the current Babylon looks like. We are looking forward to another splendor of the ancient city.
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