Babylon

The rise of Babylonia

In it’s over two thousand year history it is cited as ranging from a small town to a flourishing metropolis at the center of an empire or, as rubble. At one point in history it is mentioned as a mere blip by being known as a quarry. Pretty much, people would go there to collect rocks from the rubble to build there own abodes only knowing its name and nothing of its former glory.

Babylonia’s first rise to glory was under king Hammurabi who instituted the first set of laws historically. This first incarnation of the Babylonian empire was short lived and declined under the rule of his son.

Afterward there was a seemingly endless string of conflicts for  control of the city as it was passed back and forth through the hands of different rulers and ruling tribes. some being nomadic,  some being parts of larger kingdoms till it came under rule of the Assyrian empire as a province. 

In a period of decline for the Assyrian empire, around 626 BC,  Nabopolassar, an Assyrian official, declared himself king of Babylon and overthrew the Assyrians. 

Egypt and Assyria had co-existed in a shaky trade relationship up to this time but after the fall of Assyria the Egyptians scrambled to gain territory and were successful for a time but, this ended with the rise of neo-Babylonia under the rule of Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar, who ascended to the throne in 605 BC.

The Babylonian Captivity 

The provinces that lay between the Egyptian empire and the neo- Babylonian empire became caught in the crossfire but eventually under the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar the kingdoms of Israel and Judah fell to the Babylonians and the Phoenician cities became provinces. Still this control was unstable at best. A division in Israeli society existed where one side supported Egyptian rule while the other was pro Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar spent most of his reign putting down rebellions in the kingdom of Israel,  each time his response resulting in an escalation of his brutality that involved the deportation of many Israelites to Babylon including members of the royal family, prominent members of the court as well as the prophets Ezra and Jeremiah and ended finally with the complete an utter destruction of the city of Jerusalem.

The Lachish letters were a series of letters written by a military commander in Lachish to a military leader in a neighboring smaller town during a military incursion by Nebuchadnezzar and his armies after an Egyptian backed rebellion by the king Zedikiah whom Nebuchadnezzar had appointed king of Israel. Lachish, Jerusalem, Azeqah, all where nearby to each other. They were the most prominent cities in the province with smaller towns nearby and around. They communicated through signal fires set on the mountain top. A passage from one of these Lachish letters reads, “and may(my lord)be apprised that we are watching for the signal fires of Lachish according to all the signs which my lord has given because we cannot see Azeqah.”

I cannot help but hear the desperation in these words written. They are a proclamation of impending doom from one gazing into the darkness and not seeing that flicker of hope in a flame extinguished , knowing that there own flame would be out soon enough.

The book of Jeremiah sees the exile as a lost opportunity and certain passages of that book seem to point the finger at Egypt, 

Jeremiah 46:17 “There they will say. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, is a loudmouth who missed his opportunity.”

The book of Kings views  the exile as a temporary end of history.

Second chronicles calls it “ the Sabbath of the land.”

Second Temple and beyond 

Josiah was the father of Jehoiachin and his brothers (born at the time of the exile to Babylon). After the Babylonian exile: Jehoiachin was the father of Shealtiel. Shealtiel was the father of Zerubbabel. Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud. Abiud was the father of Eliakim. Eliakim was the father of Azor. Azor was the father of Zadok. Zadok was the father of Akim. Akim was the father of Eliud. Eliud was the father of Eleazar. Eleazar was the father of Matthan. Matthan was the father of Jacob. Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary. Mary gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah. All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

Matthew 1:11‭-‬17 ‬‬‬‬‬

This verse pretty well puts in perspective the line of kings recognized by Christianity listing Zarubbabel as the grandson of Jeconius and Joseph the husband of Mary, who was Jesus’s mother as the direct descendant of Zarubbabel. When Jeconius was deported and exiled in Babylon where he spent 37 years in prison, his uncle Zedekiah was placed as the new king by Nebuchadnezzar. Jeconius, along with many others never returned from Babylon. 

Zedekiah himself, after his rebellion and alignment with the Egyptians was blinded after his sons were executed in front of him. He too was then deported to Babylon and the city of Jerusalem was destroyed along with the first temple.

Under Nebuchadnezzar’s son, the city of Babylon fell to the Persian king Cyrus the great who ended the exile of all people’s that had been deported to Babylon allowing them to return to their home lands and rebuild their civilization’s and culture both religiously and politically thus began the second temple period of Judea.

Then another angel followed him through the sky, shouting, “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen—because she made all the nations of the world drink the wine of her passionate immorality.” Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand must drink the wine of God’s anger. It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath. And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.”

Revelation 14:8‭-‬11 ‬‬‬‬‬

This passage from Revelations, I feel is a depiction of the impact that Babylon had on the Jewish people. In the six hundred years following the sixty six year reign of neo- Babylonia the city of Babylon stood as a center of technological advancements and an institution of learning under both Persian and Greek rule. 

The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

Genesis 2:15‭, ‬17 ‬‬‬‬‬

The Jews of this time Period, of revelations, including the disputed author of revelations, St John, would have likely viewed Babylon with their pantheon of gods still in place and their dedication to knowledge of all things “good and evil" as “making the world drink of the wine of her immorality.”

The beast in these passages was very likely the God Marduk that was worshipped by Nebuchadnezzar. The beast being the dragon of the processional way and the statue being the statue of Marduk that was used in ritual.

Under Nebuchadnezzar's reign the city of Babylon grew in size exponentially. This included eight gates to enter and exit the city , the hanging gardens which is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and, there was the processional way as mentioned above.

The processional way was connected to the Ishtar gate and once a year to celebrate the vernal equinox the Babylonians of Nebuchadnezzar’s time would hold a new year’s procession. It was over a half a mile long and decorated with relief images of various gods including the dragon of Marduk, and the goddess Ishtar who was the mistress of heaven which represented sexual attraction and protected the ruling class. Sixty lions representing her decorated the walls of the processional way. 

Christianity was introduced to Babylon in the first and second century AD and became the seat of the bishop of the eastern church but, in the seventh century, with the expansion of the Muslim empire, Christianity was marginalized and Babylon became a mere province to later slip into the shadows of history as a source of bricks used to build the cities of Basra and Baghdad.