Biblical city
Babylon
Hillah, Iraq · Mesopotamia
Capital of the Neo-Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar, Babylon destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC and carried Judah into exile. Daniel served in its court, and the prophets made the city a symbol of proud human power, an image Revelation later takes up. The mounds near Hillah preserve the Ishtar Gate foundations and processional way.
History in Scripture
Babel appears in Genesis 11; Babylon rose to empire under Nebuchadnezzar, who destroyed Jerusalem and deported Judah in 586 BC. Daniel served in its court, the exiles wept by its rivers, and Persia took it in 539 BC. Scripture ends by using Babylon as the symbol of proud, godless world power.
The ancient city
Babylon lay on the Euphrates in southern Mesopotamia, with monumental walls, ziggurats and the Ishtar Gate; its scribes produced astronomical and legal texts of lasting influence.
The site today
The ruins near Hillah in Iraq are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, damaged by twentieth-century reconstruction and later military use, and now the subject of conservation work. The Ishtar Gate reconstruction stands in Berlin.
Key passages
Sources & notes
Description summarizes standard historical and archaeological reference works. Imagery is added separately and is labeled by type.