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The richest man in Babylon! History of Ancient Babylon

The richest man in Babylon

Chapter 9: 

Appendix: History of Ancient Babylon

When Gold argues the cause,

eloquence is impotent. — Publilius Syrus

When referring to the prosperity of a country,

many people often think of lavish castles,

lands rich in natural resources

such as forests,

mines

and time mild climate…

But for Babylon, the richest kingdom of antiquity,

that was not the case!

The kingdom of Babylon was located

beside the river Euphrates,

in a valley that was flat,

but arid and dry.

It has no forests,

ores,

and stones for military or civilian construction,

nor is it on a favorable trade route.

Babylon is an outstanding example of man’s ability

to achieve great goals,

using all the means at his disposal.

The development of this vast city

is all nurtured by human hands.

All its wealth is due to people.

Babylon has only one advantage is

that the land is quite fertile

because the Euphrates River brings a lot of alluvium every year.

But to take advantage of this privilege,

the ancient Babylonian engineers had to research

and perform the greatest work of that time.

It was the construction of dams

and countless small canals

to channel water from the main river into all the villages,

turning arid lands into good arable land.

Thanks to that,

the Babylonians were able to cultivate,

cultivate and raise livestock,

and have a prosperous

and rich life in their homeland.

It is one of the first constructions

of great magnitude known in human history.

Fortunately, during its long existence,

Babylon did not produce greedy kings

with a desire to conquer the whole world.

When Babylon fell into war,

most of it was a self-defense war against ambitious enemies

in other countries attracted by Babylon’s treasures of silver,

gold,

and treasures that invaded.

Five thousand years later,

although Babylon is no more,

it has become a legend

that attracts everyone’s understanding.

Today, the remains of ancient Babylon are located in Asia,

about six hundred miles east of the Suez Canal,

north of the Persian Gulf.

It is located about 30 longitude,

above the equator,

has a hot and dry climate.

The citadels and temples have disappeared,

leaving only ruins and deserted.

Once, the valley by the Euphrates River was an agricultural land

with a very large irrigation system,

densely populated,

now it has become an arid desert,

scattered with barren bushes,

the weeds are fighting the sand wind to survive.

The cemeteries of ancient elephants

and the long caravans of Babylonian merchants are also just legends.

Today, in this land,

we sometimes encounter groups of Arab nomads

who struggle to maintain their miserable existence

by raising small herds.

However, many centuries have passed,

the nomads and travelers passing through this land

still do not see anything strange

and do not know that beneath this land are hidden traces,

of a glorious era.

Until geologists collected many pieces of pottery

and broken bricks exposed by the rains.

After that, European

and American expeditions began to rush to excavate

and search.

And they were delighted

to discover the remains of ancient Babylon.

Babylon is one of the ancient kingdoms built

of earth and baked bricks,

over thousands of years, the walls of the sun

and wind have been disintegrated

and returned to sandy soil.

If not for the careful discovery

and excavation of archaeologists,

we may never have known the great works,

the magnificent palaces

and palaces of Babylon were buried. centuries deep.

Many scientists consider the civilization of Babylon

and other cities in the Euphrates valley to be the oldest.

Based on the unearthed artifacts,

including pieces of baked clay describing the eclipse

that the ancient Babylonians witnessed,

modern astronomers have determined the time of occurrence

and confirmed Babylonian civilization

about 8,000 years ago

from our time.

Also thanks to the antiquities,

we can know that 8,000 years ago,

the Sumerites lived in Babylon.

They lived in a territory surrounded by walls.

Scientists can only surmise

that Babylon had to go through a very long time

before such remarkable achievements were achieved.

At this time,

they knew how to build strong walls to protect the country,

and a large-scale irrigation system

to create favorable conditions

for plowing and cultivating.

In addition,

Babylonians also had an education system

with creative and inquisitive people.

The remaining evidence shows

that Babylon was the place

produced the first engineers,

the first astronomers,

the first mathematicians,

the first financiers,

and the first people to have a written language.

Scientists are very interested in the canal system

of the ancient Babylonians.

It has transformed the arid valley into a fertile land

of crops and livestock.

According to the traces left behind,

scientists said,

the canals and ditches are very large,

more than ten horses can run horizontally under the canal.

In terms of size,

they can be compared

with the largest canals in Colorado and Utah today.

In addition to constructing irrigation works

to channel water into the lands within the valley,

Babylonian engineers also completed another project

of an equally large scale.

It is a rather complex

and efficient water drainage system.

With this system,

they dried up the vast marshlands near the Euphrates

and Tigris rivers to turn them into fertile croplands.

Herodotus,

the Greek traveler and historian,

once visited Babylon.

His notes have been of great help to us

in understanding the strange customs,

fertile soil features

and bountiful crops of the inhabitants there.

The Babylonian glories are now gone,

but their knowledge is still valid today.

That knowledge is preserved in the hundreds of thousands

of baked clay tablets that archaeologists have found

– buried safely in the sandy soil.

At that time,

when writing was not available,

the Babylonians carefully inscribed

their knowledge on wet clay tablets.

Then, they cooked it and stored it.

These clay cards are about 15cm x 20cm, 2cm – 3cm thick.

The content engraved on it is very diverse,

including legends,

poetry, history, imperial edicts,

laws of the country,

land securities,

debt repayment promises,

letters written to send to neighboring kingdoms…

In addition to irrigation works,

Babylon has a remarkable achievement

that is often mentioned by everyone.

It was the construction of a large wall

that surrounded the kingdom.

The scale of its construction is comparable

to the great pyramids in Egypt.

For this work,

Queen Semiramis is considered the first person to have merit.

Modern archaeologists have not yet found traces of the original walls,

but according to data from the excavated artifacts,

they are about 15 to 18 meters high,

the outside is covered

with baked bricks,

and the outside is covered with bricks protected outside

by a deep moat.

Later, about six hundred years BC,

King Nabopolassar rebuilt Babylon on a very large scale.

However,

King Nabopolassar died before seeing the work completed.

King Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne

and has continued his father’s unfinished work.

When completed, the height

and length of the wall made many people unbelievable.

According to recorded figures,

they were about 48 meters tall,

equivalent to the height of a 15-story building today.

Its total length is estimated at 14,400 to 17,600 meters.

The surface of the wall is very wide,

maybe enough for six horses to run horizontally on it.

Later, when they captured the Babylonian kingdom,

the Arabs devastated it

by removing bricks and tiles to build temples,

palaces,

houses and other structures.

This massive wall today only traces of the foundation and moat.

The Babylonian kingdom was organized

according to a rather advanced

and rigorous system.

In the city there are roads,

streets and many large fixed shops.

Retailers carry goods everywhere for sale.

Religion is glorified with magnificent temples.

In the middle of the kingdom was an imperial citadel

consisting of royal castles.

The city wall surrounding the imperial citadel is usually higher

than the wall of the kingdom.

In terms of art,

the Babylonians achieved great achievements in architecture,

painting, weaving,

embroidery,

gold and silver work,

metal weapons and agricultural tools.

The jewelers made very beautiful

and sophisticated jewelry.

Currently, the most famous museums in the world are displaying many artifacts unearthed

from the tombs of wealthy citizens

of the Babylonian period.

About 8,000 years ago,

while other groups of ancient people in the world lived only in caves,

cutting trees with primitive axes,

hunting animals with arrows attached to a sharp piece of stone,

or hitting each other with sticks,

the ancient Babylonians began to build castles and citadels;

using iron axes,

spears of steel,

and arrows with brass tips.

Babylonians were financiers,

experienced merchants.

Unearthed documents indicate

that they were the first people to know

how to use gold and silver

as a medium of exchange,

to use debit cards, or to record their possessions.

From about 540 BC onward,

there was not an invading army

strategy to capture Babylon.

Babylon remained strong against any military power.

Later, the cause of the fall of the Babylonian kingdom

was very strange

and quite mysterious.

At that time,

Cyrus, one of the kings who had ambitions

to conquer neighboring kingdoms,

expressed his intention to invade Babylon.

The advisors of the Babylonian king Nabonidus

at the time convinced him that,

instead of waiting for Cyrus’s army to come and besiege the city,

it would be better to go to war.

Nabonidus did not think carefully,

so he sent out.

As a result,

Babylon’s army was repeatedly defeated.

Nabonidus abandoned the city

and fled the kingdom.

Thus, Cyrus took Babylon without any resistance.

Since then,

the power and popularity of Babylon

also gradually waned.

Over time, it became desolate, deserted,

and now just a desert filled with wind and sand.

Once again,

Babylon returned to the land from which it was born.

The magnificence,

magnificence and magnificence of Babylon is only a myth…

It can be said that the majestic citadels

and magnificent temples

and palaces of Babylon have become dust,

but the knowledge,

wise experiences,

and outstanding achievements

of this ancient kingdom are

still handed down

until today until now.

Perhaps,

despite being called impregnable

before the enemy,

but Babylon is still not immune to the law of birth

and death of time.

But either way,

the Babylonian civilization became an important marker

for the great progress of man in later epochs.

Help others achieve their dreams and you will achieve yours. ― Les Brown

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