BABYLONIAN CULTURAL INFLUENCE The evidence of Babylonian influence on other nations is more apparent in religion and in literature than in archaeological re mains. Some of the themes of pre-dynastic and early dynastic art in Egypt were clearly borrowed from Sumer, and there is evidence of early Sumerian civilization in Syria in objects found there. At a later date, perhaps not earlier than the middle of the second millennium, the themes of Hittite and north Syrian art were derived from Babylonian mythology, but a direct derivation of the artistic style cannot be proved except in the case of seals. In the first millennium all the Assyrian provinces, especially southern Syria, were affected by the dominant race ; a curious hybrid art arose in Phoenicia from a mixture of Egyptian and Assyrian elements. The art of Persia was at first quite dependent on Assyria, and the Lydians were also affected, to judge by the monument of Cyrus at Ephesus. This is all, or nearly all, that can be stated with certainty on this subject. But further discovery may prove a wider range of influence through trade. Isolated cylinder seals of Syrian or Babylonian origin have been found in Crete, and some believe that the use of clay tablets in that island must have originated by borrowing from Babylonia or Asia Minor. Another difficult question is that of glass manufacture. When Thothmes III. collected tribute from Assyria and some Assyrian provinces, he took "genuine lapis" and "Babylonian lapis lazuli"; if this latter was, as seems probable, a manufactured product, it is difficult to see what it can be other than an opaque glass. In that case Babylonia had an important influence on the early glass trade. In short, though the cultural influence of Babylonia was far more restricted than was at one time thought, it played an important part in the development of early civilization and should never be neglected.
At the end of the i8th century the abbe Beauchamps encour aged some native diggers at Babylon, who frequented the site to obtain mortar, to keep certain antiquities, and obtained some himself. Some of these passed into the possession of C. J. Rich, the British resident at Baghdad, whose report on the antiquities of the country was the direct inspiration of Botta and Layard, the first European excavators. The principal aim of these pioneers at first was to discover the site of Nineveh; they did not suffi ciently rely upon Rich's well-grounded judgment that the Assyrian capital must lie under the twin mounds of Quyunjiq and Nabi Yunis. Botta, with the aid of funds from the French government, turned from Quyunjiq, owing to Turkish restraints, to Khorsabad, the ancient Dur-Sharrukin, which Sargon II. of Assyria built, and claimed that this was Nineveh ; Layard, digging for Stratford Canning, thought that Nimrud, the ancient Calah, the Assyrian capital in the 9th century, was the same city, though he retained a firman for Quyunjiq.
Since these earliest expeditions in 1841-45 revealed the rich ness of the land in every kind of antiquity, many sites have been excavated, more have been located, and some are well known from native diggings. At various intervals Quyunjiq has been worked upon, and the excavations still in progress have only touched a small part of the site of Nineveh. That city existed in prehistoric times, but the most important finds, the palace sculp tures and the library tablets, belong to the 7th century B.C. Khorsabad is a small site, excavated by Botta and Place; the remains belong exclusively to the 8th century, and are important because they reveal the most complete evidence for the architec ture of the Assyrian period known. Nimrud was very thoroughly plundered of large objects, but at the time of its excavation little was understood of the subject, and much may yet be unearthed there; the city was rebuilt and much enhanced in importance in the 9th century, but it existed at the end of the second millennium. Other sites identified are Sharif Khan, the ancient Tarbisi ; Irbil, once Arbela, the only old Assyrian town still of importance when Alexander conquered Darius III. ; Shemamokh, once called Alshe ; and Sadawa, formerly Kakzi.
The earliest capital of the kingdom, the city of Ashur, near the village called Qal`at Shirqat has been thoroughly excavated by a German expedition, and from it remains of every period have been recovered, down to the early centuries of the Christian era, when the poverty-stricken villagers still kept old Assyrian names. Archaeological finds there can be compared with the history of the time revealed in inscriptions, and the two sources of evidence combine to form a true picture. The thorough investigation of any Assyrian site is always rewarded with a wealth of exact his torical information.
Some light on lands east of Tigris has been obtained from the district of Kirkuk, where two small sites have been attacked, one representing the important city of Arrapkha. This was the centre of a Subaraean population in the 14th century, and the personal names show that only a few Assyrians lived in the city. The place was generally an Assyrian province, but managed occasionally to secure independence ; Assyrian legal customs and the Assyrian language had been adopted. The work was commenced by native diggers, and is being continued on scientific lines by American excavators.
Antiquities of the Assyrian period have also been found at Wan and Toprak Kaleh in Armenia and at various sites in Syria and Palestine.
In Babylonia, Rassam obtained an important series of collec tions of tablets from Sippar of Shamash, now Abu Habbah, and from Babylon itself. Many years later a German expedition spent many years uncovering the deeply buried remains of Nebu chadrezzar's city at the last named site ; except in the town quarter no remains much earlier than the 8th-7th century have appeared, and it would seem that the earlier levels are now sunk beneath the water level. A certain number of tablets and other antiquities have been obtained from time to time at Borsippa, now called Birs Nimrud, and considerable attention has been paid to the ruined ziggurat there. The remains from Sippar, where Rassam's work has been continued by a French expedition, are of very various dates, from the time of the 1st dynasty of Babylon to the Seleucid era ; there was an important astronomical school there in the later centuries. Slightly north-east of Babylon Tall al 'U khaimir marks the position of Kish, where a French expedi tion commenced work in the first decade of the 20th century which has been carried on by a combined British and American expedition; adjoining Kish lies the city called Khursag-kalamma. Both places were inhabited at the earliest period, and have yielded information concerning the centuries previous to the 1st dynasty of Babylon. The other important site in northern Babylonia, the ancient Akkad, scientifically examined is Nippur, the modern Nuffar, where an American expedition recovered a great store of very early documents, and a series of dedications and building inscriptions of kings from the earliest to late Assyrian times prove the long continuance of the temple there as a central shrine for all Sumer and Akkad.
The southern country, Sumer, was first made known by the excavations of Captain Taylor and W. K. Loftus in they discovered the sites of Ur (Tall al Muqayyar), Eridu (Abu Shahrain) and Erech (Warka). The two first named cities have been partly revealed by subsequent British excavations, and a combined British and American expedition now at work at Ur has revealed historical monuments earlier than any previously known. But the nature of the early Sumerian civilization was first discovered owing to the French expedition to Tall Loh, the ancient Lagash at the end of the 19th century; subsequent dis coveries have to be grouped around the important group of early city governors there, whose genealogies can be traced through many centuries.
The nature of other sites has been determined by hasty trial trenches; Dur-Kurigalzu lay at `Aqarquf, immediately west of Baghdad; Kuthah at Tall Ibrahim. Shuruppak, the city of the Babylonian Noah, is known to be Farah, where there are ex tensive early cemeteries, Kisurra is Tall Surghul, Kutalla is Tall Sifr, perhaps one of the towns called Sippar was situated at Dair. Native diggings have resulted in great collections of tablets and antiquities of all ages from Erech reaching European and Ameri can museums. Erech was, according to Sumerian tradition, a royal city before the Flood ; it was a flourishing centre of in dustry in the Seleucid era, and no city promises more interesting results in Babylonia than this. Larsa, the modern Sankarah, has also been extensively plundered by native workers : the school of scribes active there between 2200 and 2000 B.C. 15 now well known to have produced an extensive and important series of editions of older texts.
At sites outside Babylonia but closely connected with it, in Susa, one of the Achaemenian capitals, perhaps the earliest known painted pottery has been discovered ; apart from the important objects throwing light upon the history of Elam, some of the most important Babylonian monuments such as Naram-Sin's stele of victory and Hammurabi's Code of Laws have been found there by the great French expedition in Persia. It is, perhaps, the site with the most complete historical sequence of "strata" yet known in this region. North-west of Babylonia a promising commencement has been made at the site called Tall `Asharah, which conceals Tirqa, or Sirqu, the ancient capital of the small kingdom of Khana ; this place lies a little south of Dair-az-Zur, political history both of Babylonia and Assyria.
Of the cities which arose in Seleucid and Parthian times there are imposing remains to be seen at Seleucia, Ctesiphon and Ha trah. No scientific work has yet been done upon sites of the "classical" period except Hatrah, and much good would result from more attention to the possibilities of these sites. An early parchment inscribed with a Greek text recording a business trans action has been found at a village in the Zagros range. Scientific excavations at the ancient Doura, the modern Tall-as-Salihiyyah, on the Euphrates, 20 odd miles south of Dair-az-Zur, have re vealed important paintings of the Roman period, which anticipate the Byzantine style, and some early parchments, one dated to 1J9 B.C., in Greek. Occasionally broken inscriptions coming from Babylonia are published, but statements as to their provenance are generally suspect.
In the earliest period of which we have any knowledge Baby lonia was divided into several independent states, the limits of which were defined by canals and boundary stones. Its culture may be traced back to two main centres, Eridu, which had once been a seaport, in the south and Nippur in the north.
We may call the early civilization of Babylonia Sumerian. The race who first developed it spoke an agglutinative language, and to them was due the invention of the pictorial hieroglyphs which became the running-hand or cuneiform characters of later days, as well as the foundation of the chief cities of the country and the elements of its civilization.
The earliest monuments that can be approximately dated come from Lagash (Tello). We hear of a "king of Kengi," as well as of a certain Me-silim, king of Kis, who had dealings with Lugal suggur, high-priest of Lagash, and the high-priest of a neighbour ing town. A dynasty was later founded at Lagash by the high priests and the dynasty of Ur-Nina. was set up.
The campaigns of E-anna-du, grandson of Ur-Nina, extended beyond the confines of Babylonia. He overran a part of Elam and took the city of Az on the Persian Gulf. Temples and palaces were repaired or erected at Lagash and elsewhere, the town of Nina— which probably gave its name to the later Nina or Nineveh—was rebuilt, and canals and reservoirs were excavated. He was suc ceeded by his brother En-anna-tum I. His son and successor Ente mena restored the prestige of Lagash.
The eighth successor of Ur-Nina was Uru-duggina, who was overthrown and his city captured by Lugal-zaggisi, the high-priest of Gis-ukh. Lugal-zaggisi was the founder of the first empire in Asia of which we know. He made Erech his capital and called himself king of Kengi.
Sargon's son and successor, Naram-Sin, followed up the suc cesses of his father by marching into Magan, whose king he took captive. He assumed the imperial title of "king of the four zones," and, like his father, was addressed as a god. He is even called "the god of Agade" (Akkad).
Bingani-sar-ali was the son of Naram-Sin, but we do not yet know whether he followed his father on the throne. Another son was high-priest of the city of Tutu. The fall of Sargon's Empire seems to have been as sudden as its rise and the seat of supreme power in Babylonia was shifted southward to Ur.
This dynasty of Ur was Semitic, not Sumerian, notwithstanding the name of Dungi. Dungi was followed by Bur-Sin, Gimil-Sin, and Ibi-Sin, and their power extended to the Mediterranean.
After the fall of the dynasty, Babylonia passed under foreign influence. Sumuabi ("Shem is my father"), from southern Arabia (or perhaps Canaan), made himself master of northern Babylonia, while Elamite invaders occupied the south. After a reign of 14 years Sumuabi was succeeded by his son Sumu-la-ilu, in the fifth year of whose reign the fortress of Babylon was built, and the city became for the first time a capital. The Elamite supremacy was at last shaken off by Hammurabi who was the Amraphel of Gen. xiv. I, and who, in the thirtieth year of his reign (in 2037i' B.c.), overthrew the Elamite forces in a decisive battle and drove them out of Babylonia. The next two years were occupied in adding Larsa and Yamutbal to his dominion, and in forming Babylonia into a single monarchy, the head of which was Babylon. A great literary revival followed the recovery of Babylonian independence, and the rule of Babylon was obeyed as far as the shores of the Mediterranean. Constant intercourse was kept up between Baby lonia and the west, Babylonian officials and troops passing to Syria and Canaan, while "Amorite" colonists were established in Babylonia for the purposes of trade.
One of the most important works of this "First Dynasty of Babylon," as it was called by the native historians, was the corn pilation of a code of laws (see BABYLONIAN LAW). This dynasty was followed by another of I I Sumerian kings, who are said to have reigned for 368 years, a number which must be much exaggerated. As yet the name of only one of them has been found in a contemporaneous document. They were overthrown and Babylonia was conquered by Kassites or Kossaeans from the mountains of Elam, with whom Samsu-iluna had already come into conflict in his 9th year. The Kassite dynasty was founded by Kandis, Gandis or Gaddas (about 1743 B.c.), and lasted for years. Under this foreign dominion, which offers a striking analogy to the contemporary rule of the Hyksos in Egypt, Babylonia lost its empire over western Asia, Syria and Palestine became inde pendent, and the high-priests of Assur made themselves kings of Assyria.
For 7 years Tukulti-In-aristi ruled at Babylon with the old imperial title of "king of Sumer and Akkad." Then the Baby lonians revolted. The Assyrian king was murdered by his son, Assur-nazir-pal I., and Hadad-nadin-akhi made king of Babylonia. But it was not until several years later, in the reign of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Assur, that a reconciliation was effected between the two rival kingdoms. The next Assyrian monarch, Bel-kudur uzur, was the last of the old royal line. He seems to have been slain fighting against the Babylonians, who were still under the rule of Hadad-nadin-akhi, and a new dynasty was established at Assur by In-aristi-pileser, who claimed to be a descendant of the ancient prince Erba-Raman. His fourth successor was Tiglath pileser I., one of the great conquerors of Assyria, who carried his arms towards Armenia on the north and Cappadocia on the west; he hunted wild bulls in the Lebanon and was presented with a crocodile by the Egyptian king. In 1107 B.C., however, he sus tained a temporary defeat at the hands of Merodach-nadin-akhi (Marduk-nadin-akhe) of Babylonia, where the Kassite dynasty had succumbed to Elamite attacks and a new dynasty reigned.
Of the immediate successors of Tiglath-pileser I. we know little, and it is with Assur-nazir-pal III. (883-858 B.c.) that our knowl edge of Assyrian history begins once more to be fairly full. His son Shalmaneser III. had a long reign of 3 5 years, during which the Assyrian capital was converted into a sort of armed camp. The last few years of his life were disturbed by the rebellion of his eldest son, which well-nigh proved fatal. Assur, Arbela and other places joined the pretender, and the revolt was with difficulty put down by Samsi-Raman (or Samsi-Hadad), Shalmaneser's second son, who soon afterwards succeeded him (824 B.c.). In 804 B.C. Damascus was captured by his successor Hadad-nirari IV., to whom tribute was paid by Samaria.
With Nabu-nazir, the Nabonassar of classical writers, the so called Canon of Ptolemy begins. When he ascended the throne of Babylon in 747 B.c. Assyria was in the throes of a revolution. Civil war and pestilence were devastating the country, and its northern provinces had been wrested from it by Ararat. In 746 B.C. Calah joined the rebels, and on the 13th of Iyyar in the follow ing year, Pulu or Pul, who took the name of Tiglath-pileser III., seized the crown and inaugurated a new and vigorous policy.
Esar-haddon, who succeeded him, was commanding the army in a campaign against Ararat at the time of the murder ; forty-two days later the murderers fled from Nineveh and took refuge at the court of Ararat. But the Armenian army was utterly defeated near Malatia on the I2th of Iyyar, and at the end of the day Esar haddon was saluted by his soldiers as king. He thereupon returned to Nineveh and on the 8th of Sivan formally ascended the throne. Under him Babylon became the second capital of the Empire.
Esar-haddon's policy was successful and Babylonia remained contentedly quiet throughout his reign. In February (674 B.c.) the Assyrians entered upon their invasion of Egypt (see also EGYPT : History), and in Nisan (or March) 670 B.C. an expedition on an unusually large scale set out from Nineveh. The Egyptian frontier was crossed on the 3rd of Tammuz (June), and Tirhaka, at the head of the Egyptian forces, was driven to Memphis of ter fifteen days of continuous fighting. On the 22nd of the month Memphis was entered by the victorious army and Tirhaka fled to the south. Two years later (668 B.c.) Egypt revolted, and while on the march to reduce it, Esar-haddon fell ill and died (on the loth of Marchesvan or October) . Assur-bani-pal succeeded him as king of Assyria and its empire, while his brother, Samas-sum yukin, was made viceroy of Babylonia. The arrangement was evidently intended to flatter the Babylonians by giving them once more the semblance of independence. But it failed to work. Samas-sum-yukin became more Babylonian than his subjects; the viceroy claimed to be the successor of the monarchs whose empire had once stretched to the Mediterranean; even the Sumerian language was revived as the official tongue, and a re volt broke out which shook the Assyrian empire to its founda tions. After several years of struggle, during which Egypt re covered its independence, Babylon was starved into surrender, and the rebel viceroy and his supporters were put to death. Next followed the contest with Elam, in spite of the efforts of Assur bani-pal to ward it off. Assyria, however, was aided by civil war in Elam itself ; the country was wasted with fire and sword, and its capital Susa or Shushan levelled with the ground. But the long struggle left Assyria maimed and exhausted, and she was ill prepared to face the hordes of Scythians—or Manda, as they were called by the Babylonians—who now began to harass the fron tiers. A Scythian power had grown up in the old kingdom of Ellip, to the east of Assyria, where Ecbatana was built by a "Manda" prince ; Asia Minor was infested by the Scythian tribe of Cimmerians, and the death of the Scythian leader Dugdamme (the Lygdamis of Strabo i. 3, 16) was regarded by Assur-bani-pal as a special mark of divine favour.
The seat of empire was now transferred to Babylonia. Nabopo lassar was followed by his son Nebuchadrezzar II., whose reign of 43 years made Babylon once more the mistress of the civilized world. Only a small fragment of his annals has been discovered relating to his invasion of Egypt in 567 B.C., and referring to "Phut of the Ionians." Of the reign of the last Babylonian king, Nabonidos, however, and the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrus, we now have a fair amount of information. This is chiefly derived from a chronological tablet containing the annals of Nabonidos, which is supplemented by an inscription of Nabonidos, in which he recounts his restoration of the temple of the Moon-god at Harran, as well as by a proclamation of Cyrus issued shortly after his formal recognition as king of Babylonia. It was in the sixth year of Nabonidos (549 B.c.)—or perhaps in Cyrus, "king of Anshan" in Elam, revolted against his suzerain Astyages, king of "the Manda" or Scythians, at Ecbatana. The army of Astyages betrayed him to his enemy, and Cyrus (q.v.) established himself at Ecbatana, thus putting an end to the empire of the Scythians, which the Greek writers called that of the Medes, through a con fusion of Mada or "Medes" with Manda. Three years later we find that Cyrus has become king of Persia and is engaged in a campaign in the north of Mesopotamia. Meanwhile Nabonidos has established a camp at Sippara, near the northern frontier of his kingdom, his son—probably the Belshazzar of other inscriptions— being in command of the army. In 538 B.C. Cyrus invaded Baby lonia. A battle was fought at Opis in the month of June, in which the Babylonians were defeated, and immediately afterwards Sip para surrendered to the invader. Nabonidos fled to Babylon, whither he was pursued by Gobryas, the governor of Kurdistan, and on the I 6th of Tammuz, two days after the capture of Sippara, "the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylon without fighting." Na bonidos was dragged out of his hiding-place, and Kurdish guards were placed at the gates of the great temple of Bel, where the services continued without intermission. Cyrus did not arrive till the 3rd of Marchesvan (October), Gobryas having acted for him in hi,s absence. Gobryas was now made governor of the province of Babylon, and soon afterwards the son of Nabonidos, according to the most probable reading, died. (See MESOPOTAMIA; 'IRAQ; CYRUS ; DARIUS and PERSIA, History.) (A. H. S. ; A. N. J. W.)