Babylon
Capital · Babylon → Hillah, Iraq
The city of the great tower, and later the empire that carried Judah into exile. Daniel served in its courts.
People
- Nimrod
- Nebuchadnezzar II
- Daniel
- Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego
- Belshazzar
- Ezekiel
At a glance
- Realm
- Babylonia (Chaldea)
- Role
- Imperial capital
- Peoples
- Chaldeans
- First mention
- Genesis 10–11 (Babel)
The story
On the plain of Shinar men fired bricks and raised a tower to make a name for themselves, and the LORD scattered them from Babel. Centuries later Nebuchadnezzar built the same city into the wonder of its age, with walls broad enough for chariots and the Ishtar Gate glazed in lapis blue.
Here Daniel and his friends served in the courts of the king and would not bow, and here Belshazzar saw a hand write on the plaster the night the city fell to the Medes and Persians. The prophets made Babylon the very name of human pride, and its fall a picture of every power that lifts itself against God.
Through the eras
- The Patriarchs · standing. Babel of the great tower, in the plain of Shinar; its days of empire were still far off.
- Divided Kingdoms · standing. Merodach-baladan seized this city from Assyria and sent envoys to Hezekiah.
- The Exile · at its height. Nebuchadnezzar’s golden city; Judah wept by its waters.
- The Return · standing. Taken by Cyrus in 539 BC, not destroyed; from here he sent the exiles home.