Founded over 4,000 years ago as a small port city on the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq, Babylon and by extension, the Babylonia region was one of the oldest and most influential civilizations in the Western hemisphere. As one of the oldest empires in the world, the original Babylonian empire lasted from 1894 to 1595 BCE, and the Neo-Babylonian empire ruled from 626 to 539 BCE. They were the first empires to rise and unite a large portion of Mesopotamia.

The city of Babylon was unlike anything seen before, with massive walls, and temples, and occupying a space of 200 square miles. And under the rule of King Hammurabi from 1792 to 1750 B.C., Babylon became an empire. It was under his rule that the first written laws were created, known as the Code of Hammurabi. Not only that but during 3500 BCE, the first written language, known as cuneiform, was invented. Alongside their invention of writing though, Babylon’s greatest advancement was in the study of mathematics, astrology, and time. Our modern-day understanding of 360 days in a year, 24 hours in a day, 60 minutes in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute are all thanks to the people of Babylon. Numerous other world-changing innovations were done by the people of Babylon, including the development of city-states, the wheel, sailboats, plows, urbanization, and the chariot. However, like so many other empires, Babylon would fall.

Unlike other empires that died out all at once, Babylon’s descent was slow and painful. After Hammurabi’s death, Babylon broke apart, and over the next several centuries found itself victim to countless invading armies such as the Persians and Romans. These empires completely dwarfed Babylon in size, so much so that over time the majesty of Babylon became viewed as unimpressive. Between climate change and a lack of support from their conquerors, Babylon was abandoned and forgotten. As time moved on, the memory of this once great nation was restored, and people can now give thanks to the empire that started it all.

Babylon itself was made up of and inspired by two main groups: the Sumerians and Akkadians. Their religion thusly showed many similarities. Many of their gods had near exact pre-existing counterparts but were retooled to fit the new urbanized system. Many gods that were considered masters of nature like Anu, Enlil, and Enki took back seats to gods focused more on human constructs and concepts. Many of these gods would act as the inspirations for future pantheons. An example of this is Isthar, the goddess of love and war, who over thousands of years would inspire Aphrodite.

Temples for these gods could be found across Babylon, with statues that were believed to not just be representations of the gods, but the gods themselves. Atop of needing to be routinely prayed to, the statues were fed three times a day, given wine, and even dressed in clothes and jewelry. During festivals, the statues would be carried through the streets to be praised. Such loyalty is to be expected as the Babylonians believe that their beautiful civilization was thanks to the gods.

Long ago, before the earth and light existed, the primordial dragon gods Apsu and Tiamat existed inan endless black ocean. The pair sired many children known as the gods, but these gods were loud and rambunctious. This angered Apsu who wanted to kill them but was slain himself by the god Enki. Enraged, Tiamat went to war to avenge her fallen husband. She led a massive army of monsters and threatened to wipe out the gods, but was defeated by Marduk. From her body, the earth and sky were forged, and Marduk took his place as the rightful ruler of the universe. Humans were eventually created to act as servants to the gods, a fact which was mirrored by the subserviance the Babylonians showed towards their dieties.