Babylon’s walls were impregnable and so the Persians cleverly devised a plan whereby they diverted the course of the Euphrates River so that it fell to a manageable depth. In 539 BCE the empire fell to the Persians under Cyrus the Great at the Battle of Opis. The Marduk priesthood hated Nabonidus because of his suppression of Marduk’s cult and his elevation of the cult of the moon-god Sin. The population of Babylonia became restive and increasingly disaffected under Nabonidus.

A number of factors arose which would ultimately lead to the fall of Babylon. Where is Babylon on a modern map? Why was Babylon destroyed?Ĭonditions. During this period, Babylon became a city of beautiful and lavish buildings. The city of Babylon, whose ruins are located in present-day Iraq, was founded more than 4,000 years ago as a small port town on the Euphrates River.

Today, that’s about 60 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq.īabylonia was a state in ancient Mesopotamia. Where is Babylon? Babylon, one of the most famous cities from any ancient civilisation, was the capital of Babylonia in southern Mesopotamia. It grew into one of the largest cities of the ancient world under the rule of Hammurabi. You can see the rebuilt ruins from Saddam Hussein’s area and even Saddam Hussein’s castle which overlooks the ruins is now open to the public. The site was once again open to tourist in 2009, but after years of destruction is there not much left these days. The name is thought to derive from bav-il or bav-ilim which, in the Akkadian language of the time, meant ‘Gate of God’ or ‘Gate of the Gods’ and ‘Babylon’ coming from Greek. Who is the modern day Babylon?īabylon is the most famous city from ancient Mesopotamia whose ruins lie in modern-day Iraq 59 miles (94 kilometres) southwest of Baghdad. Today, that’s about 60 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq. Babylon was located in Shinar, in ancient Mesopotamia on the eastern bank of the Euphrates River. It was one of the cities founded by King Nimrod, according to Genesis 10:9-10. The ancient city of Babylon plays a major role in the Bible, representing a rejection of the One True God. Where is the city of Babylon in the Bible?

Where is babylon today