BABYLONIAN

PERIOD
 INTRODUCTION
Its remains can be still The word BABYLON is a Greek
found in present day AL variant of AKKADIN BABILY
HILLAH, BABIL ( BABILY meaning “GATEWAY
PROVINCE, IRAQ, about OF GOD”).
85kms south of BAGHDAD.
But in
HEBREW
BIBLE the
word
BABYLON
means
“CONFUSION”.
L
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CURRENT LOCATION

BABYLON

`
At the beginning
of 19 TH CENTURY
a nomadic people
HISTORY
The fifth king of the first
HAMMURABI’S
EMPIRE extended up
to PERSIAN gulf in
from SYRIAN dynasty was south, ASSYRIA in
desert founded the HAMMURABI ( 1792 – north,
first dynasty in 1750 B.C ). In his reign the MEDITERRANEAN
BABYLON ( old city reached the pinnacle in the west.
BABLIA ) of its glory as the
IMPERIAL CITY.
HAMMURABI was famous for his
CODE OF LAWS nearly 300 laws,
dealing with crime, trade, wage,
marriage, and etc. it was based on
the principle of “ EYE FOR AN EYE &
TOOTH FOR A TOOTH”
Later in 605 B.C
NEBUCHADNEZZA II became the
KING of Babylon, and the city
regained its shine back which it lost
after Hammurabi's reign.
 CLASSIFICATION
BABYLONIAN

PERIOD

NEO BABYLONIAN
OLD BABYLONIAN
PERIOD
PERIOD (HAMMURABI
(NEBUCHADNEZZAR II
1792-1750 B.C)
605 – 563 B.C )

Art and Hammurabi’

Architecture
literature s code of law
 SOCIAL HISTORY
SOCIAL CLASSES:
 Kings. OCCUPATIONS
 Priests.  There main
 Middle class occupation was
merchants, agriculture.
landowners,  The people were even
craftsman etc. warriors & good traders.
 Slaves.

TRADE & COMMERCE

 There prosperity largely
depended on foreign trade
( with Indus valley,
Egypt, China).
 They used coins & wheeled
carts ( for transportation
of goods) for efficient
trade.
 INVENTIONS
They were first one to In terms of
use GLAZED ASTROLOGY
BRICKS. they were first
They made BRONZE one to study
by mixing copper and heavenly body
zinc. and eclipse.

HAMMURABI’S
CODES OF LAW They invented
was invented in phonetic script
Babylonian called
period. There were CUNEIFORM
about 300 laws in
that code…..
 PHILOSOPHY
Believed in many The TEMPLES
GODS but every were the center of the
city had one community. The
special god as the political & economic
protector. control went in the
hands of the kings.

Believed that
HEAVENLY BODIES
CONTROLLED THE
DESTINY OF MAN
 MATERIALS &
CONSTRUCTION
 MAINLY CLAY WAS
USED for making bricks of
different kind – Crude
sundried, kiln burnt,
coloured, glazed….
 TIMBER and STONE were
less available & USED
RARELY….
 Vaulted roofs were
constructed over small span
of elongated shape and flat
roof on the top….
 The brick construction led to
the evolution of the ARCH,
VAULT AND DOME…..
 The arch was formed by
corbelled horizontal courses or
with radiating bricks….
 The MAIN ARCH
ENTRANCE of the palace
courts were about 24M TO
28M HIGH……
TOWN PLANNING OF
BABYLON
 It was spread on
both the sides of
EUPHRATES
river…

It covered the land

of “500
ACRES”…..

Most of the streets ran parallel or at

right angles to the
river….STREETS were very
NARROW, from 4.5 FEET TO 20
FEET….They not only provide access
to the house but served as depositories
of rubbish, excrete and filth…
Inner and outer part HEAVILY
FORTIFIED inner town approx.
square in plan 1300m ( 4350ft ) sides,
containing principal buildings and
EUPHRATES RIVER ON
WEST…
 Periodically the debris was
covered with the layer of
clay….
In this fashion, as the level
of the STREETS
CONTINUALLY ROSE with
the debris, it became
necessary to BUILD
STAIRS to go down until
the houses were rebuilt at
the new level….

The city had a CIRCUMFERENCE of at

least 18 KM….

The city was surrounded by a canal

acting as a moat. It was also protected
by HUGE RAMPART walls which were
more than 86 KM in length.an provided
with 100 BRONZE GATEWAYS….
 Many houses were THREE STORIED
HIGH whose flat roofs were buttressed
with timbers packed with mud and
for poor who CANNOT AFFORD
WOOD, there were circular MUD-
BRICK HUTS, supported by a center
post, the walls packed with reeds and
mud.

They constructed brick

corbelled ARCHES, barrel
VAULTS, sometimes
DOMES….

No columns were used due to

ABSENCE OF STONES….
TOWER OF BABEL
 Its Babylonian name It was situated in the
was ELEMANANKI HEART OF THE
which in English CITY......
means “ HOUSE OF
THE PLATFORM OF
HEAVEN AND Over the centuries it
EARTH”.
was DESTROYED,
then REBUILT and
DESTROYED again….
The main structure of
ziggurat was trodden
clay but there was a
LAYER OF BRICK on
outside..

The LAST RESTORATION was finished

by NEBUCHADNEZZAR….
 Tower of babel was built 100 years before the reign
of Nebuchadnezzar, which soared more than 90M
ABOVE the surrounding countryside…

Its plan at the base was square of 90m and had 7

storeys crowned with a temple or a sacred house
DEDICATED to GOD MURDUK. The temple was
enriched with blue glazed tiles..

Its monumental triple stair-ways were the

GATEWAYS TO HEAVEN…

The dimensions of each row of steps is as

follows:
1st 300ft X 300ft X 110ft
2nd 260ft X 260ft X 60ft
3rd 200ft X 200ft X 20ft
4th 170ft X 170ft X 20ft
5th 140ft X 140ft X 20ft
6th ? X ? X 20ft
7th 70ft X 80ft X 50ft
HANGING GARDENS
It was built by king
NEBUCHADNEZZAR,
according to one story,
to please his Persian
wife, who was home
sick for the hills and
the woodlands of her
native country….

They occupied an AREA

of 275M X 183M and
situated near Euphrates
river, in the great
palace of
Nebuchadnezzar, 96km
south of the present city
IT WAS ONE OF THE SEVEN
of Baghdad… WONDERS OF ANCIENT WORLD….
 According to the Diodorus of
Sicily, hanging gardens
were an ANNEX TO THE
PALACE, a series of terrace
supported by arcades to the
height of the city wall from
the bank of Euphrates……

The arcades were constructed

with BRICKS and
BITUMEN….

The WALLS were about 6M

TO 7M THICK with
PASSAGE between them
about 3M WIDE….

The terraced gardens planted with FLOWERS and TREES, with the
BEAUTIFUL FOUNTAINS were 25m to 100m above the ground….

Water was stored in the reservoir on the top and supplied through pipes to the
gardens…
ISHTAR GATES
 This gate was dedicated to
ISHTAR, THE GODDESS OF
LOVE AND BATTLE…..

It was built in KILN-BURNT

BRICKS, cemented with pitch.

The Ishtar gates was patterned by HORNED

DRAGONS; YELLOW and WHITE BULLS
in relief on the BLUE BACKGROUND
 The gates consisted of
TWO PORTALS one
behind the other,
each flanked by
huge tower

The outer surface was covered by ENAMELED BRICKS with coloured

figures of DRAGONS and BULLS each one about one metre high and there
were 575 of these animals….
ZIGGURATS OF UR

This ziggurat or HOLY
MOUNTAIN was erected by the
king UR-NAMMU, the founder
of third dynasty of UR.
It is dedicated to the moon God
NANNA, the patron deity of
UR…….
It serves as the LINK between THE
EARTH AND HEAVEN.
It was a man made
mountain where the
PLAIN DWELLER could
be brought CLOSER TO
their GODS.
It stood on rectangular plan
60m X 60m and 17 m high. The
whole mass was solid, with a
core of SUN-DRIED BRICKS
and outer covering of burnt
bricks of 2.5m thick
CEMENTED with BITUMEN.
 It had 3 TERRACES
and the ASCENT was
made from the larger
side by THREE STEEP
STAIR WAYS, 2 at the
sides and one in the
middle, all meeting at
common landing.

The temple had INNER COURTYARD surrounded by a NUMBER OF

ROOMS which included rooms for animal sacrifice, cooking places,
work-shops and store room etc.

The MAIN LINES of ziggurats were

built with SLIGHT CURVES TO
CORRECT ILLUSION OF BEND in
the middle. But the credit of the
technique goes to the Greeks who
were to us it only 20 century later.
BY:
ANU.
ISHITA.
PRABHU.
SCHWARZ.
SHIVDANU.
MANOJ.