How The Richest City In History Collapsed?

the city of Babylon was the richest city in the world and a center of power for over 400 years even though it was one of the most influential cities in history it managed to crumble to dust thanks to constant conquering forces in one king who let his pride get the best of them the true beginning of the city of Babylon is unclear we know that it

trade in the area this gave it the necessary wealth and power to slowly grow into the city we see the sad ruins of the greatest achievements of this empire were true benchmarks in the rise of human society the rule of law was codified and preserved in rock with the Code of Hammurabi this is one of the greatest sets of laws ever brought forth in the ancient

world it was a place of advancement in the fields of mathematics medicine astronomy and so much more as far as daily life was concerned people typically lived in three-story buildings with rooftop patios that offered them cool breezes from the heat where they drank beer slept and relaxed from A Hard Day's labor it was the single richest city in the ancient world until one king pretty much

ruined it for everybody the final failure of Babylon all came down to the rise of its last king nebonitus the line of Kings was quite a big deal in what's known as the neo-babylonian Empire that's largely to do with the great King Nebuchadnezzar II he was a great conqueror known for going to war with Egypt and was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem he was a

villain by Biblical history but one of babylon's greatest heroes he also brought forth an age of growth his Reign saw a massive advancements in astronomy Arts culture and science not to mention the work he did revitalizing the city of Babylon including rebuilding the Ishtar gate which is one of the most influential building projects in history he was also responsible for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon the

tiered artificial Garden made of dozens of different kinds of trees flowers and other plants as a gift to his own wife it was considered to be one of the wonders of the ancient world so breaking this line was considered to be a big deal and the first big way that nebonitis sealed his own fate the new king nabanatus had quite the Legacy to contend with and

he really failed to do so as you'll see nabana just sealed his own fate not once not twice but three times the fall of Babylon came from perhaps the least epic battle in the ancient world the Persian Empire led by Cyrus the Great by all accounts practically waltzed into the city with Little Resistance this is a far cry from The Glory Days of the city it

was once considered a fearsome City that made many military advancements that allowed it to stay in power for so long that Society not only created incredible defensive structures that have even still It Up Against Time itself but pushed forward Siege tactics cavalrys and the training of professional Soldiers the Battle of carcamesh against ancient Egypt is one of the most important conflicts in ancient history it paved

the way for Babylon gaining the influence it would be known for once again this Fall From Grace was due to the ineptitude of the city's final King it seems as though nebonitus was in no way a strategic genius in fact he left the defense of the Kingdom to his Crown Prince belshazzar while he himself focused more on religious duties that you'll see in a minute were

also wildly unpopular the prince may have been a capable soldier in his own right but the king's lack of interest in the defense of his own kingdom made him extremely unpopular when it came to his own soldiers and Military advisers and so King nebonitus sealed his own fate for the second time perhaps the greatest mistake of King nebonadus was his rejection of Babylonian religion The Cult

of the god king Marduk was Central not only to the founding of Babylon but the actual creation of the world itself like the Greeks and Romans the Mesopotamians had a vast Pantheon of gods that formed their specific creation mythology called the anuma Elish according to their history the world was formed when the vengeful primordial goddess Tiamat battled the great God Marduk mardok was a young God

who volunteers to fight Tiamat and her horde of monsters but only if he has made the Supreme deity once he defeats Tiamat he takes her body and uses it to create the sky and the Earth Benny forges Humanity itself and founds the great city of Babylon as his home he even builds a temple in his own honor this just feeds into the legend of what Babylon

was a supreme city of military might technological progress and religious ecstasy the citizens of Babylon literally believed that their city was forged by the greatest god Warrior that ever lived so imagine how happy they were when their King rejected Marduk completely King nabanatus instead believed that the god of the moon sin was the actual head of the pantheon during his Reign nebonitis raised the temples to

what he believed to be the true God and insult to Marduk and all those who believed in him and so nebonitus sealed his fate a third time to be a little fair to King nebonitus the slow degradation of babylon's power wasn't all his fault the true power of Babylon wasn't really their advancements their gods or their rooftop parties it was their location the city was a

hub of trade and therefore a hub of power as time moved on more civilizations began to spring up that offered better hubs of trade not only that but they didn't have to deal with the constant droughts and harsh weather of ancient Mesopotamia one of those Empires was the Persian Empire led by Cyrus the Great yes this is the time in history where rulers were hyping themselves

up with titles like they were modern day rappers or Guardians of the Galaxy Cyrus was the founder of the Persian Empire and under his rule he conquered most of Western and Central Asia while that makes them sound like some sort of monstrous warlord be real you're picturing Xerxes from 300 he was really well known for respecting the religious customs of the people he conquered Cyrus had

engaged the empire in several massive conflicts but the one that really decided it was the Battle of Opus which is said to have allegedly featured the fall of military commander belshazzar you know the prince in charge of all the armies of course they are not incredibly clear pictures of what happened back in 539 BC so when the massive Persian army reached Babylon the city was practically

handed over to him Cyrus then proved himself to be much wiser than the bonitus was the King was surrendered to Cyrus and by some accounts lost his life but by others was sent away in Exile either way it was considered to be a good riddance Cyrus then ingratiated himself to his new subjects by declaring himself to be a part of the line of Kings a savior

of the cult of Marduk and then rebuilt much of the city's defenses and architecture in all ways possible the reign of nebonitis was swept away though that would not signal Eternal peace in Babylon no no there were still rebellions to be had and another great ruler to call Babylon his own one who was named Alexander during the reign of Darius the first king of the Persian

Empire Babylonia revolted against the empire in 522 BC this was common at the time of Darius the first who saw many revolts upon his rise to power they were briefly ruled by a man who declared himself to be Nebuchadnezzar III and the son of nebonitis his Reign only lasted a few brief independent months before the Persian Empire retook Babylon in a much bloodier conflict that saw

Nebuchadnezzar III executed once Darius left the city another Revolt was held by a man declaring himself to be Nebuchadnezzar IV who also just so happens to be the son of nebonitus Nebuchadnezzar IV's reign went to Belt as well with him getting crucified or possibly just impaled to Stave off further Rebellion which seemed to work wonders it would take another Empire to take control of the city

from the Persian Empire for good 331 BC saw the city fall against the Macedonian King Alexander the Great while he seemed to have loved the city his Reign Over It would see the age of Babylon truly come to an end in 323 BC Alexander perished at the age of 32 in the palace once lived in By the Great Nebuchadnezzar II this led to what's known as

the partition of Babylon this was the dividing up of Alexander's vast Empire which spanned about 2 million square miles from ancient to Greece to Persia this led to a period of warfare over his Empire which turned the region into a Battleground over foreign territory Babylon would never rise again from the conflict the Empire saw great leaders like Nebuchadnezzar II Cyrus the Great and Alexander of Macedonia

before finally crumbling to dust for good judging from all the movies they've made about ancient to Roman ancient Greece I think that babylon's been slept on by Hollywood do you agree I would love your support in the comments below see ya [Music]