Babylon and Chaldea of Ancient Mesopotamia

ShayanSam

TatianaAlexis

AlexMark

Table of Contents● Location/Geography

○ River Systems○ Land Formations○ Agriculture

● History ○ Main Events & Dates○ Key Figures○ Day to Day Lives○ Rise and Fall of Chaldea

● Biblical References

● Government, Social Class ○ Specialisation in Occupation ○ Military○ Law○ Economy & Trade○ State Religion

● Science & Societal Advancements ○ Literature○ Mathematics○ Medicine ○ Architecture

In Ancient Babylonia, citizens were known to drink a concoction created from the fruits of native trees and different types of wheats and grains, which is similar to beer. Beer was an important export and considered to be the drink of the Gods.

Fun Fact

Location & Geography

Location● Significant City within Ancient

Mesopotamia○ The civilisation was started in the fertile plain

between the Tigris and Euphrates River

● Its relative location is in modern day Iraq, about 94 kilometres from Baghdad

● The Chaldean Empire was located in relatively the same geographical position

River Systems & Land FormationsRiver Systems

Located in fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates River

Mountains surround the East and North sides of the plain

South and West was guarded by the Syrian and Arabian desert

Climate

During Summer it was hot and dry then cold and moist in the Winter months

Spring was commonly known as the flooding season

Mountain range to the East and North

Desert to the West and South

Fertile plain next to the river

Dry climate due to lack of nutrients

Agriculture Babylonians established early forms of irrigation which highly present in today’s modern techniques used. Control of the flooding and river systems provided the base for the great empire.

Farming used a various amounts of tools including :

● Seeder plough● Irrigation paths● Shovels, Axes,

pitchforks/Knives, Sickle● Shears

There was a high production of the several items:

● Palm trees & Figs● Barley● Wheat ● Sesame

Livestock included:

● Sheep● Cattle● Goats

All taken care of by farmers, within lush meadows of grass

History

● 1792 B.C. (B.C.E.) King Hammurabi ascended the throne

● 1749 B.C. signaled the fall of Babylon after death of Hammurabi

● 1595 B.C. Babylon came under Kassite Dynasty from Asia Minor, and city was renamed Kar-

Duniash

● 1157 B.C. Elamites came into power and territorial control of Babylon, ending the Kassite

Dynasty

● 1050 B.C. Assyria descended into a period of civil war, followed by constant warfare, allowing

Babylonia to once more largely free itself

● 911 B.C. Babylon was under Assyrian control

● 622 B.C. Chaldea took control of Babylon

● 539 B.C. Chaldeans (not to be mixed up with modern day Christian Chaldeans) were assimilated

and disappeared. Persia conquered Babylon without resistance

Main Events & Dates

Key FiguresThe most notable character from Ancient Babylon was the sixth King, Hammurabi. A man of incredible power, a strategic and tactical war genius, as well as the man to make Babylonia the the strongest within Mesopotamia. He is well known from introducing taxes and several laws.

● King Hammurabi was born 1810 BC and died 1750 BC. Cause of death is unknown.

● Reigned as King from 1792 to 1750 BC

Day to Day LivesHomes and Shelter

The average house was a small one story, mud-brick structure, consisting of several rooms around a central room.

Rooms included

● Reception room ● Kitchen● Servant’s Quarters

Furniture & Decoration

● Low tables● Chairs ● Beds● Clay/Stone/

Copper/Bronze baskets

● Skin carpets

Day to Day LivesSocial Class

Society was roughly divided into three classes: Awilu (Upper class), Musheknu ( Free Citizens), Wardu (Slaves). Each class lived very different lives, although it's said that there was mutual respect between people

Awilu

Typically landowners, Government officials, high ranking army members and Religious personnel

Tend to own multiple slaves, with lots of influential power in their own district

Musheknu (Free Citizens)

Could be part time slaves, slaves who bought their freedom or simply men or women who worked for an Awilu

Wardu (Slaves)

Slaves, whose rights belonged to the master, were often treated as objects, were sold and bought at auctions

Slaves were typically treated well due to how a healthy slave worked better

Government

As societies became larger and more complex, individuals began to specialise in different types of jobs.

● The quality of their pottery, cloth, and other products started to gradually become better. As a result, the standard of life for civilians increased dramatically. .

● As civilizations grew, becoming more advanced, the demand for certain products increased. This resulted into introducing early forms of trade and barter.

Specialization in Occupation

Military Little is known of the Babylonian military from either the Old or New Empires, although Hammurabi’s army of the Old Empire may have made important use of chariots when these were first coming into use.

Weapons:Made extensive use of cavalry .

● Mounted bowmen● Foot troops ● Both used iron weapons,

helmets and some chain mail armor.

Strategies:It is noted that Babylonians used a variety of strategies

● Storming Cities● Redirecting sources of food

and water● Surprise attacks

LawLaw played a major role in Babylon. Babylon was one of the first societies to establish rules and laws as a way to regulate actions and punishments in retaliation to offenses.

The Code of Hammurabi

● Consisted of 282 laws○ Followed principle, “eye

for an eye, tooth for a tooth”

● Regulated: Business, labor, property destructions, criminal punishment and family relations

Court

● Courts were operated at designated government office

● Held with 1 to 4 judges

● King was held as the superior judge and overruled all others

Interesting fact:

● Similar to how oath is taken in modern time, Babylonians took an oath to the Sun God Shamash

Hammurabi’s codes Written in stone

Possibly a judge listening to a citizen

and his case

Economics and TradeBabylonian economy was highly reliant on the trade and markets of:

● Agriculture● Textiles● Clay goods

Buying and selling could be done individually, but for the most part was done at an economic institution in which a tax was paid to the landowner for using his space as one’s store. Most trades were exchanged under a barter system with the use of silver. Specialised traders known as merchants organized caravans that covered distances of thousands of miles, bringing the goods and products of one society to trade them for goods and products from another society.

State Religion

● Babylonians celebrated annual harvest by giving thanks to the Gods as well as the birth of the year

Gods were humanised and often portrayed negative behaviour

Basic principles of religion states, that

holy behaviour resulted in a better

afterlife

Babylonians believed in an afterlife which

was decided by holy actions in their first life

Marduk was represented by a dragon in the artwork

that decorated the city. Festivals were held

throughout the year in honor of specific gods to

assure their favor.

Babylon had its own religion which was popular throughout the entirety of Mesopotamia.

● Polynomic religion (believed in multiple gods)○ Main gods being: Shamash, Ishtar, and Marduk

Ishtar: Goddess of love and war

Shamash: God of sun, Truth and Justice

Festival Day of Spring Equinox

Science & Societal Advancements

Fun Fact: Architecture Ishtar Gate

Located 55 miles south south of modern BaghdadBabylon was the capital city of the Babylonian EmpireThe largest and most prominent feature that gave the city characterThe large blue gate is called an Ishtar. The gates purpose was to be an entrance feature for the processional way that lead to many of the cities temples.

The colour came from tile glazed with blue ceramic. The initial structure has been lost to time but the leftover tile and structure has allowed many historians to create very accurate recreations

Dedicated to the Babylonian god IshtarThe Babylonians depicted many powerful figures and symbols on the gate to represent the strength of the city

Fun Fact: Ishtar GateMost symbols depicted on the gate were in dedication to the Babylonian God Ishtar.

Dragons - Marduk - Patron

Aurochs - Adad - Storm

Literature ● Original documents and records

were kept in Sumerian in the Akkadian language ○ This lasted for the most part of 3000

B.C. to 2000 B.C .

● Around 1500 B.C. Babylon adapted cuneiform.

● Cuneiform was a form of literature written on wet clay tablets which hardened once exposed to the sun for long periods of time

Mathematics ● Incredibly advanced in mathematics● Created a base 60 numerical system● Strong sense of angles and geometry

Base 60 number system(Sexagesimal)

● Were perhaps one of the first civilisations to strongly understand time○ Had 60 minutes in and hour

with 60 seconds

Water clock: Could measure short durations of time

Medicine Medicine was broken into two group equally important to society

● The Asu (Physician)● The Dispu (Exorcist)

The Asu had a more practical purpose and used herbs to form remedies for common illnesses or injuries. Some believe that Babylonians practiced on animals.

The Dispu held a more religious purpose and acted on behalf of religious officials in expelling evil spirits.

Astronomy Played a huge role in Babylonian society:

● Helped to form a calendar system● Helped to measure time with sun clocks (sun dials)

Babylonians used the moon and sun’s relative location to plan lunar and solar calendars.

● Not very accurate● Allowed for estimated

time for farming and weather patterns

Interesting fact:

The Babylonian year began on the spring equinox

Architecture The city of Babylon was destroyed and rebuilt several times, usually on top of the ruins. However each time, it was built into something even more astonishing than the last time. Buildings and walls were constructed of mud bricks, first sun-baked, and then baked with fire. Later dyes were introduced to add colour and beauty.

Water

Water served an architectural purpose as well. It was used for moats and defense.

Euphrates River passed through the middle of the city and was directed around its four sides

Districts and Gates

Several city gates, each named after an important god.

● East side contained the palace and temples, and religious buildings○ This includes the construction of the Hanging

Gardens of Babylon ● West side was known of economic, trading and

merchant centres including centre market

Hanging Gardens

Ruins of residential building

Tower of Babel

Ruins of a religious temple

Biblical References http://www.angelfire.com/empire2/unkemptgoose/Babylonian.html

Kleiner, Fred (2005). Gardner's Art Through the Ages. Belmont, CA: Thompson Learning, Inc. p. 49. ISBN 0-15-505090-7