As early as the mid-4000 BC, graphic characters similar to those of ancient Egypt appeared in the two river basins. This kind of writing is carved on clay tablets with reed pipes and dried to become an enduring document. The strokes carved by the reed pipe are like wedges, so they are called cuneiform. Cuneiform was later adopted by ancient West Asian countries. During this period, oral and written myths and legends became derivatives of religious myths, which laid the foundation for the establishment and demonstration of other religions in the world. On the other hand, the worship of stars prevailed in Babylon, and the custom of observing astronomical phenomena and predicting good and bad luck promoted the development of astrology, which in turn led to the establishment and prosperity of other disciplines.
In Babylonian times, science was developed with the knowledge of mathematics and astronomy, and the counting method used decimal and hexadecimal methods. The hexadecimal method is used to calculate the degree and timing of the day of the week, which has been used all over the world so far. Although the ancient Babylonians calculated pi as 3, which was not as accurate as the ancient Egyptians, it was known that Pythagoras theorem could be used to calculate the volume of truncated square cones. In the field of algebra, the Babylonians could solve ternary equations. In astronomy, we know how to distinguish stars from planets, and we also name known stars. At that time, the lunar calendar divided a year into 12 months, a day and night into 12 hours and a year into 354 days. In order to adapt to the difference of the earth's revolution, it is well known to set up a leap month. The Babylonians' long-term accumulation in astronomical observation enabled the later Babylonians to predict solar eclipses and planetary collisions, and further calculated that the year on 365 was 6: 06, 15, 4 1 sec, only 26 minutes and 55 seconds more than the modern calculation.
In the 8th century BC/kloc-0, during the reign of hammurabi of Babylonian dynasty in Cuba (BC 1792- 1750), a code was compiled, which was called code of hammurabi in history. This is considered to be the first code in the history of human society, with cuneiform characters and portraits carved on the 2.25-meter-high stone pillars. This code stipulates in detail the class relations among kings, slave owners, freemen and slaves, and also stipulates the protection of widows and orphans, shortening the period of debt slavery to three years, and so on. This is not only of progressive historical significance, but also a pioneering work in the field of human social code.
From the unification of the two river basins by the Kingdom of Babylon in 19 BC to the 6th century BC, Babylon has been the most prosperous and spectacular city in West Asia. Especially in the dynasty of Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 BC), the new town of Babylon entered its heyday. At that time, the unprecedented expansion project made Babylon famous for its magnificent cities and luxurious palaces. According to historical records, the new Babylonian city expanded by Nebuchadnezzar II is square, each side is about 20 kilometers long, and there are moats and tall walls outside. The main wall has a tower every 44 meters. There are more than 300 towers in the city, 100 bronze gates, a wide avenue paved with slate, a 90-meter-high Marduk Temple, and the Euphrates River passes through the city with stone piers. The palace is extremely luxurious. The walls of the palace are decorated with colorful tiles and exquisite lion statues. The palace is also decorated with "Hanging Gardens", which was called "Hanging Gardens" in ancient times. This square "hanging garden" is more than 500 meters in circumference and built on a 23-meter-high man-made mountain. The garden is full of exotic flowers and grasses, just like a fairyland on earth. At that time, the "Hanging Garden" of the New Babylon Palace was listed as the Seven Wonders of the World.
Mesopotamia (Greek: the place between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River) gave birth to the earliest civilization in human history-the ancient Babylonian civilization in about19th century BC (when China was in the dynasty); Because there is no natural barrier in this area, Babylon presents a diversified cultural development trend.
The place between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River is called Mesopotamia, which means "between the two rivers". Every spring, the snow on the plateau melts, and these two rivers flood in Mesopotamia. Especially in the downstream area, the terrain is low and concave, almost completely submerged. A Babylonian myth that has been handed down to this day vividly reflects this situation: an ancestor of a Babylonian king dreamed that he met a fairy. God told him that the flood would flood the earth to punish human sins. Because he has always been devout to God, and God wants to save him. The man obeyed God's command, built an ark, moved his family to the boat, and took some animals and some seeds with him. Soon, dark clouds filled the sky, darkness covered the earth, storms hit, floods flooded all life, and only the ark floated on the boundless water. On the seventh day, the wind stopped and the river was calm. At this time, the ark floated to a mountain. The people on board released the animals from the ark, scattered seeds on the mountains, and life on earth began again. Many myths of human nations are influenced by ancient Babylonian legends. The story of the famous Noah's Ark in the West also evolved from this legend: a man named Noah built an ark according to God's command, and the whole family sat on it to escape the flood. After the flood receded, Noah released a pigeon. Soon, the pigeon came back with a freshly twisted olive in its mouth, Ye Fei, to let Noah know that the flood had receded and everything was back to life. Later, westerners regarded pigeons and olive branches as symbols of peace.
Of course, neither the immortal nor the dove of peace can bring real peace and happiness to people. To overcome the flood, people must rely on themselves. Babylonians learned to build dams, canals and rivers in the struggle against floods. After the flood subsided, like the Egyptians, they also enjoyed the benefits of regular flooding of the river. The flood brought a lot of silt, which made the soil on both sides very fertile. Coupled with strong sunshine and abundant water resources, crops are harvested every year. It is said that wheat was first planted in Babylon.
The Assyrians who lived in the north of Babylon were very powerful. In the 8th century BC (China has entered the Spring and Autumn Period), Assyria became a huge military empire. Babylon was conquered by it, and Syria, Phoenicia, Palestine, Asia Minor and Egypt were also included in its territory. Except Greece and Italy, it occupied almost the whole Mediterranean coast. The capital of Assyria is Nineveh, where many magnificent palaces have been built.
In 6 12 BC, the Chaldeans living in Babylon joined forces with the Medes in the east to attack Ada. They rushed into Nineveh with bloody spears and shields. The residents of the whole city were slaughtered, even the children were not spared. The last king of Assyria, Sinsarikhon, and his palace were burned to ashes. Since then, this huge empire and its capital have disappeared from the ground.
There are two barren hills along the Tigris River, which are said to be the ruins of Nineveh. 1845, Layard, an Englishman, excavated two Assyrian palaces here, and found giant statues of famous winged cows and many exquisite stone carvings. Later, he continued to dig and dug up 28 palaces and halls in three years. However, this is not Nineveh, but another city in Assyria called Kara. The real Nineveh is sixty or seventy kilometers north of Kara. 1849, Layard discovered the ruins of the grand palace of King Sinukili (more than 700 BC) here. This palace was burned by the Medes. Many clay tablets engraved with pictures and cuneiform characters have traces of fire. The two libraries in the palace are full of clay tablets engraved with cuneiform characters. The largest piece is 3 meters long and more than 2 meters wide, and the smallest piece is less than 1 inch long, with only one or two lines engraved. These clay tablets are Assyrian books more than 2,500 years ago, which are rich in content, including knowledge of history, law, religion and natural science. A few years later, archaeologist Russum discovered the palace hall and another library of King Subanj. There are many myths about Assyria and Babylon engraved on the clay tablets collected in the library. Assyrian palaces were built by thousands of slaves, most of whom were captured by Assyrians in the war. When slaves work, some wear chains and fetters, and some are firmly tied together by chains. There are soldiers with weapons watching. Pictures reflecting these scenes have also been unearthed. A large number of cultural relics excavated by Nineveh enable us to clearly understand the history of the rise and fall of the Assyrian Empire.
The Chaldeans who defeated Assyria established a new country in Babylon. In order to distinguish it from Babylon Wang Guoxiang, which was destroyed by Assyria, people called it the New Babylonian Kingdom. King Nebuchadnezzar of new Babylon built the capital of Babylon into a fortress-like city. Even by today's standards, its scale is amazing. The city is square, each side is 22.2 kilometers long. The wall around the city is about 8.5 meters high and is made of brick and paint. Four horse-drawn chariots can run on the wide wall. There are 100 bronze gates in the city. There is also a deep moat around the city wall. The Euphrates River flows under the city walls and through the city. There is also a big palace in the city of Babylon. There is a "hanging garden" in the palace, which is called one of the seven wonders of the world by later generations.
During the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC), Babylon was the most powerful country. He led troops to attack Syria, sent troops to Palestine, seized Jerusalem, destroyed the Jewish kingdom, forced Jews to move to Babylon as slaves and became "prisoners of Babylon". In his later years, he also invaded Egypt. In recent decades, the population of Babylon has reached more than 65,438+10,000, with merchants from all over Asia, and the slave economy has developed greatly. However, behind the prosperity, there has been a crisis lurking. The hatred and resistance of conquered foreigners against the slave owners in Babylon continued to occur. The poor and peasants in their own families became slaves because of bankruptcy, which aggravated the class contradiction in China, and the contradiction between slave owners' classes for power and interests became increasingly fierce. After Nebuchadnezzar's death, the domestic political situation immediately became turbulent. In six years, eight kings were abolished and two were killed. In the East, the increasingly powerful Persian Empire conquered Medea, an ally of Babylon, and formed a situation where the army was under siege.
The slave owners in Babylon were busy fighting for power and profit and enjoying themselves. They think their walls are so high and strong that no one can break them. They never imagined that the enemy would use the Euphrates River across the city wall to break into houses. One night, a young prince in Babylon was holding a carnival party. King Ju Lushi of Persia ordered the construction of a dam on the Euphrates River, and put water on one side of the dam. His army sneaked into the city from the riverbed on the other side and captured Babylon without fighting. It is said that some Babylonian businessmen were inside the Persians. This happened in 538 BC (the late Spring and Autumn Period in China).
In 88, the new Babylonian kingdom perished. Babylon's prosperity, Babylon's miracle, Babylon's high walls and bronze doors and its "hanging gardens" have all become piles of barren hills and wasteland. Babylonian ruins were gradually excavated from 1899, enabling people to study its past more accurately. However, the excavation work encountered difficulties, and the influence of groundwater made the city of Babylon in Cuba face the danger of being completely destroyed. How to reduce the water level of rivers has become a research topic for experts in many countries.
However, people are always worried that in this ancient and magical land, with civilization, the war has never stopped. This land which is very suitable for human habitation is said to be the prototype of the Garden of Eden in the Bible. However, perhaps because of its superior geographical location, it has also become a stage for politics and war. When Baghdad has become the most exquisite city in the world, the whole of Europe is still in a wild state. It was once a world-famous metropolis and the hometown of Arabian Nights. Its achievements in science, philosophy and literature are rare in the history of civilization. Throughout the history of the rise and fall of the two river basins for thousands of years, which war is not the destruction of civilization?
Note: ancient Babylon is the name of the birthplace of civilization; The principle of Mesopotamia is the position of Babylon today.
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