bā ́bel, bab ́i-lon (Topographical): Babylon was the Greek name of the city written in the cuneiform script of the Babylonians, bab-ili, which means in Semitic, “the gate of god.” The Hebrews called the country, as well as the city, Bābhel. This name they considered came from the’ root, bālal, “to confound” (Genesis 11:9). The name in Sumerian ideographs was written Din-tir, which means “life of the forest,” and yet ancient etymologists explained it as meaning “place of the seat of life” (shubat balâṭe). Ka-dingirra, which also means “gate of god,” was another form of the name in Sumerian. It was also called Su-anna (which is of uncertain meaning) and Uru-azagga, “the holy city.”
Herodotus, the Greek historian, has given us a picture of Babylon in his day. He says that the city was a great square, 42 miles in circuit. Ctesias makes it 56 miles. This, he writes, was surrounded by a moat or rampart 300 ft. high, and 75 ft. broad. The earliest mention of Babylon is in the time of Sargon I, about 2700 BC. That monarch laid the foundations of the temple of Annnit, and also those of the temple of Amal. In the time of Dungi we learn that the place was sacked. The city evidently played a very unimportant part in the political history of Babylonia of the early period, for besides these references it is almost unknown until the time of H̬ammurabi, when its rise brought about a new epoch in the history of Babylonia. The seat of power was then transferred permanently from the southern states. This resulted in the closing of the political history of the Sumerians. The organization of the empire by H̬ammurabi, with Babylon as its capital, placed it in a position from which it was never dislodged dur ing the remaining history of Babylonia.
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Babel, Babylon
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.