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Posted by dumdoon (U3713703) on Friday, 7th April 2006
Why are there so many contempary refences to Babylon? What made Babylon such a big deal?
Babylon was supposedly one of the most magnificent cities of the ancient world. It contained wonders such as the Ishtar Gate, Tower of Babel, and the Hanging Gardens. No one knows for sure if the gardens really existed, but there are many historical references to them. Alexander the Great was so awe-strucken by Babylon that he made it capital of his vast empire. Plus Babylon produced great men such as Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar.
, in reply to message 2.
Posted by Hossam-Aboulfotouh (U2914961) on Friday, 7th April 2006
Who was Babylon? I mean the king.
As far as I know there wasn't a king named Babylon. Just like there was no king named Nineveh, or no king named Ur. It's just the name of the city.
, in reply to message 4.
Posted by marduk-slayer of tiamat (U2258525) on Friday, 7th April 2006
everyone makes a big deal about such places as they are where civilisation began, along with the nile, indus and yangze(?) civilisations
Beyond that Babylon must had been THE place to be in the middle east. A bit like a combination of Paris, London, New York and Las Vegas - if you were living in the 7th century B.C. then that was the place to be!
Babylon was supposedly the most spectacular city in Mesopotamia. Most people had never seen such a site, so seing such a grand city for the first time must have been astonishing. Alexander the Great's mother begged him to bring her to Babylon. I think just seing the ruins of Babylon today would be amazing.
...though in Alexanders' times Babylon was not exactly what it was in earlier antiquity (had been destroyed and rebuilt), thus I doubt if the Greek soldiers saw any remains of the hanging gardens or of other famous buildings - still it was an important city.
One has to note down that for various reasons, Babylon tends to reminds us a city of 'decadence' and 'corruption' or at best the 'sensuality of middle east', but then Babylon was not exacactly that but it was a city of commerce and above all a city of sciences whose contribution to global civilisation was of foremost importance.
Actually, the hanging gardens(if they ever actually existed), and the Ishtar Gate were both built by king Nebuchadnezzar 2nd in the later part of Babylonian history. Alexander came less than 200 years later, so most of the wonders of the city would still have existed. Most of the destruction of the city took place hundreds of years before Nebuchadnezzar's time.
honestly did not know that (I though the hanging gardens were of the ancient babylon and that is why we still wonder if they existed or not) and thanks for the correction.
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