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Babylonia

Middle East & Central AsiaHeartland today: Iraq

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Babylonia was the Akkadian-speaking kingdom centred on the city of Babylon in southern Mesopotamia. It is known for Hammurabi's law code, four centuries of Kassite rule, and Nebuchadnezzar II's rebuilt capital, until Persia took Babylon in 539 BCE.

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Key events

  1. – Hammurabi has his laws inscribed on a stone stele topped by a relief of the sun god ShamashDisputed

    Sources date the stele only to Hammurabi's reign (World History Encyclopedia suggests c. 1772 BCE), so the bar covers the whole reign.

  2. Hammurabi of Babylon defeats Rim-Sin and takes Larsa, bringing most of southern Mesopotamia under BabylonDisputed

    Wikipedia's Hammurabi article gives 1763 BCE for the fall of Larsa, though one passage says 1764. World History Encyclopedia names no year for Larsa and dates his rule over all Mesopotamia to 1755 BCE. The year shown is 1763 BCE.

  3. A Hittite army sacks Babylon, ending Hammurabi's dynastyDisputed

    Middle-chronology date. The short chronology gives 1531 BCE.

  4. – Kassite kings of Babylon trade letters, brides and gifts with the pharaohs of Egypt
  5. Elamites under Shutruk-Nahhunte's dynasty take Babylon and end Kassite ruleDisputed

    Shutruk-Nahhunte invaded Babylonia in about 1158 BCE; the Kassite dynasty is dated to end in 1155 BCE (short-chronology references differ).

  6. Nebuchadnezzar II besieges Jerusalem, which surrenders, and deports King Jehoiachin to Babylon
  7. Nebuchadnezzar II has the Ishtar Gate built at Babylon, faced with blue glazed brick and animal reliefsDisputed

    Sources date the gate to about 575 or about 569 BCE. The year shown is 575 BCE.

  8. Persian forces under Cyrus enter Babylon, ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire