A History of Babylon, from the Foundation of the Monarchy to the Persian Conquest

Produced by Marc D'Hooghe at Free Literature (Images
generously made available by the Internet Archive.)





A HISTORY

OF BABYLONIA

FROM THE FOUNDATION OF THE MONARCHY
TO THE PERSIAN CONQUEST

BY

LEONARD W. KING, LITT.D., F.S.A.

Assistant Keeper of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities in the British Museum
Professor of Assyrian and Babylonian Archæology in
the University of London

WITH MAP, PLANS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDON

1915




PREFACE


In the first volume of this work an account was given of the early
races of Babylonia from prehistoric times to the foundation of the
monarchy. It closed at the point when the city of Babylon was about
to secure the permanent leadership under her dynasty of West-Semitic
kings. The present volume describes the fortunes of Babylonia during
the whole of the dynastic period, and it completes the history of
the southern kingdom. Last autumn, in consequence of the war, it
was decided to postpone its publication; but, at the request of the
publishers, I have now finished it and seen it through the press. At
a time when British troops are in occupation of Southern Mesopotamia,
the appearance of a work upon its earlier history may perhaps not be
considered altogether inopportune.

Thanks to recent excavation Babylon has ceased to be an abstraction,
and we are now able to reconstitute the main features of one of the
most famous cities of the ancient world. Unlike Ashur and Nineveh, the
great capitals of Assyria, Babylon survived with but little change
under the Achæmenian kings of Persia, and from the time of Herodotus
onward we possess accounts of her magnificence, which recent research
has in great part substantiated. It is true that we must modify the
description Herodotus has left us of her size, but on all other points
the accuracy of his information is confirmed. The Lion Frieze of the
Citadel and the enamelled beasts of the Ishtar Gate enable us to
understand something of the spell she cast. It is claimed that the
site has been identified of her most famous building, the Hanging
Gardens of the royal palace; and, if that should prove to be the case,
they can hardly be said to have justified their reputation. Far more
impressive is the Tower of Babel with its huge Peribolos, enclosing
what has been aptly described as the Vatican of Babylon.

The majority of the buildings uncovered date from the Neo-Babylonian
period, but they may be regarded as typical of Babylonian civilization
as a whole. For temples were rebuilt again and again on the old lines,
and religious conservatism retained the mud-brick walls and primitive
decoration of earlier periods. Even Nabopolassar's royal palace must
have borne a close resemblance to that of Hammurabi; and the street
network of the city appears to have descended without much change from
the time of the First Dynasty. The system which Hammurabi introduced
into the legislation of his country may perhaps have been reflected in
the earliest attempt at town-planning on a scientific basis. The most
striking fact about Babylon's history is the continuity of her culture
during the whole of the dynastic period. The principal modification
which took place was in the system of land-tenure, the primitive
custom of tribal or collective proprietorship giving place to private
ownership under the policy of purchase and annexation deliberately
pursued by the West-Semitic and Kassite conquerors. A parallel to
the earlier system and its long survival may be seen in the village
communities of India at the present day.

In contrast to that of Assyria, the history of Babylon is more
concerned with the development and spread of a civilization than with
the military achievements of a race. Her greatest period of power was
under her first line of kings; and in after ages her foreign policy was
dictated solely by her commercial needs. The letters from Boghaz Keui,
like those from Tell el-Amarna, suggest that, in keeping her trade
connexions open, she relied upon diplomacy in preference to force.
That she could fight at need is proved by her long struggle with the
northern kingdom, but in the later period her troops were never a match
for the trained legions of Assyria. It is possible that Nabopolassar
and his son owed their empire in great measure to the protecting arm of
Media; and Nebuchadnezzar's success at Carchemish does not prove that
the Babylonian character had suddenly changed. A recently recovered
letter throws light on the unsatisfactory state of at least one section
of the army during Nebuchadnezzar's later years, and incidentally it
suggests that Gobryas, who facilitated the Persian occupation, may be
identified with a Babylonian general of that name. With the fall of
Media, he may perhaps have despaired of any successful opposition on
his country's part.

Babylon's great wealth, due to her soil and semi-tropical climate,
enabled her to survive successive foreign dominations and to impose her
civilization on her conquerors.