Babylon's population was deported to Nineveh and the site was left alone for some time. However, the Babylonians revolted under Marduk-apla-iddin (703 the Biblical Merodach Baladan), and king Sennacherib sacked the city in 689 - an act of terrible impiety, because he broke the 'axis' between heaven and earth. From Tiglath-pileser III (r.744-727) on, they had themselves enthroned as kings of both Assyria and Babylon: by uniting the city in a personal union with their empire, they wanted to express their respect for the Babylonian civilization, institutions, and science. Cultural Capital Map of BabylonДЄs cultural capital of the ancient Near East, even a politically powerless Babylon was an important city, which created a problem to the Assyrian kings, who conquered Babylonia in the eighth century. Several quarters of Babylon received the name of important Babylonian cities (e.g., Eridu), as if Babylon were some sort of microcosm. One of these was the New Year's Festival ( Akitu), during which gods left their cities, visited Marduk, and announced their plans for the new year. The theological fact that Babylon was the center of the world, was reflected in several aspects. In the creation epic EnГ»ma ГЄliЕЎ, Babylon is the center of the universe, an idea that is also implied (or parodied?) in the Biblical account of the 'tower of Babel', in which the confusion of languages is followed by people spreading all over the world out of Babylon. The famous temple of Marduk, Esagila, and its ziggurat, Etemenanki, were considered to be the foundation of heaven on earth. The syncretism is expressed in the words that Marduk is 'the enlil of the gods', an expression that is perhaps best translated as 'president of the council of gods'. He superseded the Sumerian supreme god Enlil, took over many of his attributes, and now became the head of the pantheon. One of the results was that the hitherto unimportant city god of Babylon, Marduk, gained prestige. Mesopotamia, and even though the political power of Babylonia had its ups and downs in the next millennium or so, Babylon remained the cultural capital of the ancient Near East.

From written sources, however, we know that the city became important after the fall of the empire of the Third dynasty of Ur, when the Amorites had invaded the area.

The city was (and the ruins are) situated on the banks of the river Euphrates, and the remains of the oldest city are below groundwater level. The oldest building phase of Babylon cannot be recovered. (A similar etymology was invented for Arbela.) When Mesopotamia was infiltrated by people who spoke a Semitic language (Akkadians or Amorites), they recognized their own words BГўb ('gate') and ili ('gods') and concluded that this place was 'the gate of the gods'. The Greek word Babylon is a rendering of Babillu, a very old word in an unknown language. In front: the Procession Street center: the IЕЎtar Gate on the horizon: the Etemenanki.

Babylon map