The enemies sometimes invaded Babylonia, and in 1595 (?), the Hittite king Mursilis I advanced along the Euphrates, sacked Babylon, and even took away the statue of the supreme god of Babylonia, Marduk, from its temple, the Esagila. In the deep south, we find independent rulers (the Sea Land Dynasty). It was impossible for the successors of Hammurabi to fight against all these enemies at the same time, and they started to loose grip. After the annexation of Mari in the northwest and Ešnunna in the east, there was no buffer against the increasing power of the Hittite Empire (in Anatolia) and the Kassite tribes in the Zagros. Hammurabi's successes became the problems of his successors. Babylon now was the capital of the entire region between Harran in the northwest and the Persian Gulf in the southeast.

Other wars were fought against Jamšad (Aleppo), Elam, Ešnunna, and the mountain tribes in the Zagros. Together with king Zimrilim of Mari, Hammurabi waged war against Aššur, and after success had been achieved, the Babylonians attacked their ally. After this war had been brought to a successful end, Hammurabi turned against Larsa, and defeated its king Rim-Sin. It is one of the most fertile and rich parts of the ancient world.įirst, Babylon and its ally Larsa fought a defensive war against Elam, the archenemy of Akkad. From his reign on, the alluvial plain of southern Iraq was called, with a deliberate archaism, Mât Akkadî, 'the country of Akkad', after the city that had united the region centuries before. The area was reunited by Hammurabi, a king of Babylon of Amorite descent (1792-1750?). Their kings are known as the First Dynasty of Babylon (1894-1595?). One of these was the nation of the Amorites ('westerners'), which took over Isin, Larsa, and Babylon. An agricultural crisis meant the end of this centralized state, and several more or less nomadic tribes settled in southern Mesopotamia. The city of Babylon makes its first appearance in our sources after the fall of the Empire of the Third Dynasty of Ur, which had ruled the city states of the alluvial plain between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris for more than a century (2112-2004?).

Old Babylonian Period Upper part of the Codex of Hammurabi taken from Babylon to Susa, it was excavated in what is now Iran. Even after the Babylonian Empire had been overthrown by the Persian king Cyrus the Great (539), the city itself remained an important cultural center. Its capital Babylon was beautifully adorned by king Nebuchadnezzar, who erected several famous buildings. The Babylonian Empire was the most powerful state in the ancient world after the fall of the Assyrian empire (612 BCE).

Where is babylon today