Babylonia

Babylonia is a plain which is made up of the alluvial deposits of the mountainous regions in the North, where the Tigris and Euphrates have their source. The land is bounded on the North by Assyria and Mesopotamia; on the East by Elam, separated by the mountains of Elam; on the South by the sea marshes, and the country Kaldu (Chaldaea); and on the West by the Syrian desert. Some of the cities of the lower country were seaport towns in the early period, but now are far inland. This land-making process continues even at the present time at the rate of about 70 ft. a year.

This plain, in the days when Babylonia flourished, sustained a dense population. It was covered with a network of canals, skillfully planned and regulated, which brought prosperity to the land, because of the wonderful fertility of the soil. The neglect of these canals and doubtless, also, the change of climate, have resulted in altered conditions in the country. It has become a cheerless waste. During some months of the year, when the inundations take place, large portions of the land are partially covered with swamps and marshes. At other times it looks like a desolate plain.

Throughout the land there are seen, at the present time, ruin-hills or mounds of accumulation of débris, which mark the site of ancient cities. Some of these cities were destroyed in a very early era, and were never rebuilt. Others were occupied for millenniums, and their history extends far into the Christian era. The antiquities generally found in the upper stratum of the mounds which were occupied up to so late a period, show that they were generally inhabited by the Jews, who lived there after the Babylonians had disappeared.

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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia

Keywords: Babylonia, Babylon, Marduk, Nabu, Ninib, Shamash, Anu, Bel, Nebuchanezzar, Nebuchadrezzar, Nebuchadnezar, Tammuz, Gilgames, Gilgamesh, Hammurabi, Nergal, Ishtar, Enlil, Religion of Babylon, Babylonian gods, Babylonian religion, Religion in Babylon, Sumerian, Sumeria

Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.

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