Babylonia

MARJUN ANTHONETTE P. ILAGANGROUP 1GRADE 7 - DESCARTES

BABYLONIA

The Babylonian Empire lasted from the 18th

century BC to the 6th century BC

Known originally as Sumer and later as Sumer

and Akkad

It lies between the Tigris and Euphrates

rivers, south of modern Baghdâd,

Iraq.

There were between 10-15 cities with

approximately 10,00 to 50,000 inhabitants (no one really knows if its

real)

Babylonian Legacy

The first Babylonian empire is best known for the Law Code of King Hammurabi, circa 1750 BC, purportedly handed down by the god Shamah.

The New Empire of Babylon was noted especially for its wealth and grandeur. This was reported in Old Testament accounts from the period of the Hebrew Babylonian Captivity and by the Greek historian Herodotus who visited the city.

The most impressive features of the city were its walls, the Ishtar Gate, the ziggurat and temple to Marduk, the Processional Way, and the Hanging Gardens.

Hammurabi

Hammurabi Code

If a man’s wife has the finger pointed at her on account of

another, but has not been caught lying with him, for her husband’s

sake, she shall plunge into the sacred river.

If a man has struck a free woman with child, and has caused her to miscarry, he shall pay ten shekels for her miscarriage. If that woman dies, his daughter shall be killed.

If it be the daughter of a plebeian that has miscarried through his

blows, he shall pay five shekels of silver. If that woman dies, he shall

pay half a mina of silver.

If the surgeon has treated a serious injury of a plebeian’s slave, with the

bronze lancet, and has caused his death, he shall render slave for

slave.

If a son has struck his father, his hands

shall be cut off.

If the surgeon has treated a serious injury of a plebeian’s

slave, with the bronze lancet, and has caused his death, he shall render slave for slave.

If a slave has said to his master, “You are not my master,” he

shall be brought to account as his slave, and his master shall

cut off his ear.

If a man, after his father’s death, has lain in the bosom of his mother, they shall both of

them be burnt together.

Religion

Po

lyth

eist

ic

The Babylonians believe in many Gods.

Several religious cults through out the city with their own

ways of worship, fought often.

Marduk is the supreme God and God of the city of Babylon

Architecture (Temples, ziggurats, gates) and art were

dedicated to their Gods.

Religious Practices

Giving offerings of food and artifacts. Human

sacrifices were possible as well

Practices of healing magic, magic charms and

divination.

People or families had individual gods for personal

prayer. They could leave their god and worship[ a new one if they had bad luck with their last god.

Gods and GoddessesMarduk

• King of Gods

• God of the rising sun

Ea• God of wisdom

Shamash

• God of justice

• Sun God

Ishtar

• God of love

• God of war

Tiamat

• Dragon goddess

• Slain by Marduk

• Corpse made into the Earth

Nabu• Son of Marduk

Government

Government

The main form of government was a

monarchy with one king.

The king used governors to

maintain order and control over

different provinces of the empire.

An effective tool used by the government was

Hammurabi's Code, the first uniform code of laws

which, reinforced class distinction.

Patriarchy authority was

enforced by the code but women still had laws to

protect them

SOCIETY

•King

•Nobles

Awilu, a free person of

the upperclass.

•Free Men

•Military personnel and civil servants

Mushkenu, a free person of

low estate.

•Debt SlavesWardu, or slave

Fam

ily a

nd

Tri

be The basic units of

their society.

Basis of an individual’s class and station.

On marriage…

Babylonian marriages we’re arranged by

parents. The ceremony was concluded with a

contract inscribed on a tablet.

A Legal contract.

On women…

A Babylonian women could hold

property, engage in business and qualify

as witness.

On children…

In the normal course of events, children were loved

and at the death of their parents, inherited their

property. Though in some cases they could be sold

into slavery.

Adopted children were

not uncommon.

Economic Life and Trade Relations

Babylon was a very prosperous city and empire

Babylon traded surplus' of food and manufactured goods such as furniture

and pottery

In return they received goods from around the ancient world:

• From the south they received cotton.

• They imported wood from Persia and India in the east.

• Babylon traded for wood from Syria in the north.

• They imported minerals such as gold, copper, and stone from Egypt, Sinai, and Yemen in the west.

Babylonian Economy was based on Agriculture.

They raised cattle and sheep.

Relationship to surrounding people

The Babylonians adopted the Akkadian language for their official use, and the Sumerian

language for religious purposes.

Babylonians also traded with Anatolia, Syria, and Palestine.

Hammurabi, united many of the surrounding civilizations under Babylonian rule, including the

Assyrians, the Akkadians, and the Sumerians.

EDUCATION

Babylonian education starts at the age of

eight.

Education is exclusive for children of wealthy families.

They were taught in so called “tablet

house”.

There they were trained to exercise knowledge over scripts, cuneiform

and language.

If a student passes final

examinations he/she will

become a scribe.

Major Achievements and Facts

The most famous innovation of

ancient Babylonian culture was

astronomy, which began as a study

of astrology

Created calendar which perfectly predicted eclipses

Sexagesimalsystem for the calculation of

time and angles, which is still

practical because of the multiple

divisibility of the number 60

Cuneiform on clay tablets revealed their knowledge

of science, math, and literature. That Babylonians

recorded on these tablets songs, prayers, and poems

along with history and laws. The Babylonians

performed complicated

surgeries and had extensive

knowledge on medicine. They

even did operations of

eyes

The Babylon’s used cuneiform. However, they used more than

350 signs in their writing.

The literature of Babylon was very rich. They wrote around 2000 books. They composed books on religion, science, mathematics, and astrology.

• One of the books of the Babylonians which was known to the world was “The epic of Gilgamesh”

Code of Hammurabi

The use of sun dial and water clock to know the time.

The Babylonians also excelled in the field of science. Like the Sumerians, they adopted the Lunar Calendar. They divided one year into 12 months and each month was divided into 30 days.

The Great Ziggurat which was built by Hammurabi in honor of Marduk.

Varieties of Seals

Architecture

Though the city of Babylon stands today, it is in ruins compared to what it used to be.

• The most impressive parts of the city that stand today are the various temples and ziggurats, the multiple gates, most notibly the rebuilt Gate of Ishtar, the Processional Road, the largest and only paved road in the city, and the kings palace.

The more famous examples of the city's architecture are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Tower of Babel, but neither stand today and many debate their existence.

Art

Most art were terra-cotta or stone carvings

of gods, kings and animals.

Their most notable contribution is the use of polychrome glazed bricks, which gave the

bricks a shiny blue coating and

protected them from damage for 1,000's of

years.

Archaeology in Babylonia

Archaeology in Babylonia

Much of the western part of Babylon is under water

because the Euphrates River has changed it's course over time, so excavation of much of the city is difficult to do.

Some prominent sites found in

Babylon include:

Kasr (Castle/Palace): the burial place of

Nebuchadnezzar

Amran Ibn Ali: the site of a temple of Marduk, also

called Esagila, which contained shrines to the

deities Nabu and Ea.

Babil: site for a palace of Nebuchadnezzar's

Archaeology in Babylon and other parts of Babylonia are still being excavated today but much of what we know about Ancient Babylonia is from archaeology,

such as the layout of their cities, their knowledge of math, and

the natural disasters that occurred.

Source

file:///C:/Users/Marjun/Downloads/ancientbabylon-1-100308083255-phpapp01.pdf Lendering, Jona. "Babylonian Empire". Livius: Articles on Ancient History. 02/24/2010

http://www.livius.org/babd/babylon/babylonian_empire.html. Gappa, Andrew. "Babylonia". Emuseum. 02/24/2010 http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/oldworld/middle_east/ babylonians.html. Babylonian Empire." Livius. Articles on Ancient History. Web. 05 Mar. 2010. http://www.livius.org/babd/babylon/babylonian_empire.html. "Hammurabi's Code." Center for History and New Media. Web. 05 Mar. 2010. http://chnm.gmu.edu/worldhistorysources/d/267/whn.html. History World International. "A History of Babylon." Http://history-world.org. History World International, 2004. Web. 6 Mar. 2010. Russell, Rusty. "Ancient Babylonia." Http://www.bible-history.com. Bible History Online. Web. 6 Mar. 2010. http://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/unkemptgoose/Babylonian.html http://www.mythicjourneys.org/bigmyth/myths/english/eng_babylonian_culture.htm http://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plan/life-old-babylonia-importance-trade http://www.historydiscussion.net/essay/contributions-of-the-babylonian-civilization/1897 http://history-world.org/babylonia.htm

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