Babylonia

Babylonia was the dominant civilisation of southern Mesopotamia for more than a millennium and a half, centred on the city of Babylon on the Euphrates. It rose from the Amorite dynasties of the Isin-Larsa period, and under Hammurabi (c. 1792–1750 BCE) Babylon unified most of Mesopotamia and produced one of the most sophisticated law codes of the ancient world. After the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1595 BCE the Kassite dynasty ruled for some four centuries, followed by a long period of Assyrian and Elamite domination. Babylonia rose a final time as the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) Empire (626–539 BCE): Nabopolassar allied with the Medes to destroy Assyria, and his son Nebuchadnezzar II made Babylon the greatest city of the ancient world, conquered Judah and deported its population (the Babylonian Captivity). The empire ended with the peaceful entry of Cyrus the Great of Persia into Babylon in 539 BCE, though the city remained a centre of astronomy, mathematics and learning for centuries afterward.

• Existed: 2000 BCE – 539 BCE
• Type: Entity
• Government: Monarchy
• Capital: Babylon