Babylon

Babylon. "babilu" (gate of god). An ancient city in the plain of shinar on the Euphrates River, about 50 miles south of Modern Baghdad. Babylon was founded by Nimrod of Gen. 10, who developed the world's first organized system of idolatry which God condemned ie. Gen. 11. It later became the capital of Babylonia and the Babylonian Empire. It was of overwhelming size and appearance.

According to the historian Herodotus (Bk 1, 178-186) the city was in the form of a square, 13 miles on each side, and of enormous magnitude. The brick wall was 56 miles long, 300 feet high, 25 feet thick with another wall 75 feet behind the first wall, and multiple towers that were 450 feet high each with a moat that encircled the city. The Euphrates River also flowed through the middle of the city. Inside the city was the "Hanging Gardens" (one of the wonders of the ancient world) and eight massive bronze gates that led to the inner city and there were 50 temples including the "Great Temple of Marduk."

In 539 B.C. Cyrus led the Persian army into victory over Babylon by diverting the Euphrates River during a Feast. Nothing remains today of Babylon except a series of widely scattered mounds to study.

(See Isaiah 13-14)