mid-second millennium, Babylonian became the international language of diplomacy,
utilized by the court scribes of all major powers: the Egyptians, Hittites, Mitanni,
as well in various Levantine states. Unlike most of the major players at the time,
Babylonia avoided getting drawn into military conflicts. However, the wave of disrup-
tion and violence that affected especially the western part of the Ancient Near East
in the thirteenth century eventually triggered massive displacements of populations
which destabilized Babylonia too. The end of the second millennium is poorly
documented, one short-lived dynasty followed another, as various tribal groupings
fought for control of the main cities.
Babylonia’s fate in the first millennium was initially determined by the rise of
Assyria as the most powerful state in the region. While Assyrian monarchs acknow-
ledged the religious and scholarly status of Babylonia, it did not stop them from
imposing direct rule which was to last for nearly two centuries and which was fiercely
resisted. A coalition with the neighbours in the east, first Elam and then the Medes,
strengthened Babylonian efforts to end Assyrian domination which succeeded in 612
with the fall of Nineveh. Under the rule of military leaders, such as Nebukadrezzar
II, Babylonia claimed a good portion of Assyria’s wealth, boosted by the conquest of
the old enemy’s dependencies. The money was ploughed into making Babylon the
most fabulous of cities, with its massive ramparts, dazzling ceremonial streets, the
towering ziggurat and vast temple complexes. Babylonian learning reached its zenith
at this period, especially in astronomy and mathematics. The end of Babylonian polit-
ical independence, caused by the integration of the country into the Persian empire
brought little change to Babylonian society and business. Though no longer a centre
of political power, Babylon, as well as many other of the ancient Mesopotamian cities,
retained its religious and cultural importance. It was only when the balance of influence
decidedly shifted to the west in the long Hellenistic aftermath of Alexander’s conquests
that Mesopotamia became marginal, a march between the east, dominated by Persian
kings, and the west, under the rule of Rome.
THE PRESENT VOLUMEWe can only experience the remote past in a tentative and fragmentary way and
through the lens of our contemporary patterns of thought. How we think about history
always reflects our current preoccupations. The Babylonian world seen through the
eyes of the leading specialists in the field at the beginning of the third millennium
ADbrings into focus areas of concern typical for our time: ecology, productivity,
power relations, economics, epistemology, scientific paradigms, complexity. The
general division of the volume proceeds from the general ‘hard facts’ – geography,
ecology, material culture, to the ‘software’ provided primarily by cuneiform tablets,
our richest source of information and, at a time when archaeological research in Iraq
continues to be practically impossible, the only current opportunity for new insights.
The majority of the articles are based on primary epigraphic research.
Some subjects invite a longer perspective of time and more of an overview than
others where the focus is more narrowly defined. I did not wish to enforce a common
approach and manner of writing, in order to allow for variation of voices and accents
and attitudes. There are overlaps and occasionally the same subject is treated several
times but with different perspectives; this helps to give a flavour of the contemporary
— Introduction —