Babylon: a time line.

The story of Babylon is one of the most fascinating of the ancient world. Rising from the plain of Mesopotamia, the city used its strategic place on the Euphrates River to become an important center for trade, and then a great political power. In the end, it went the way of all of history's great powers. Read this time line, then answer the questions below. (Note: All dates are approximate. Historians differ on dates.)

TIMELINE

2334 B.C. to 2279 B.C. The reign of Sargon the Great of Akkad. Sargon, who conquered the city-states of southern Mesopotamia, is the first great empire builder of history. (The earliest known mention of Babylon was found on a tablet dating to this time.)

1894 B.C. A ruler named Sumuabum establishes a dynasty (ruling family or power) and makes Babylon his capital. His successors extend Babylon's influence as a regional power.

1792 B.C. to 1750 B.C. The reign of Hammurabi, sixth king in the line of Sumuabum. Conquering the surrounding city-states, Hammurabi creates the first kingdom of Babylonia. His legal system, known as the Code of Hammurabi, is among the first and most important ever recorded.

1600 B.C. The last king of Hammurabi's line is defeated by Hittites of Asia Minor, who plunder the city, then leave. Soon afterward, a mountain tribe called the Kassites invades Babylon. They dominate it for the next four centuries but preserve Babylonian culture and worship its chief god, Marduk.

7th century B.C. During a long period of decline, Babylon is dominated for two centuries by a warrior people called the Assyrians. In 689 B.C., King Sennacherib destroys the city. He is killed by his own sons in 681 B.C. and his heir, Esarhaddon, rebuilds the city.

626 B.C. Babylon's comeback as a regional power begins when a leader named Nabopolassar takes control and fights off the Assyrians. Later (in 612 B.C.), Nabopolassar and his allies destroy the Assyrian city of Nineveh.

605 B.C. to 562 B.C. The reign of Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar II, who rebuilds Babylon on a magnificent scale. Nebuchadnezzar conquers most of what is the present-day Middle East to form the second Babylonian empire. A biblical account says that, late in his life, he goes mad and eats grass like an ox.

539 B.C. Cyrus the Great of Persia seizes Babylon without a struggle. (Historians believe that the people of Babylon, fed up with King Nabonidus and his much-despised governor, Belshazzar, opened the city gates to the invaders.)

323 B.C. Babylon the city retains much of its symbolic and cultural significance. When Alexander the Great conquers it in 331 B.C., he rebuilds its temples and plans to make it the center of his empire. After he dies in 323 B.C., Babylon begins its long fade into history.

QUESTIONS

1. The earliest known mention of Babylon comes from a tablet made during which king's reign?--

2. Which king was killed by his own sons eight years after he destroyed the city of Babylon?--

3. Who ruled the longest: Sargon the Great, Hammurabi, or Nebuchadnezzar II?--

4. Which king was so despised that his own people may have opened the city gates for invaders?--

5. Which invaders worshipped a Babylonian god and preserved the culture?--

6. Who rebuilt Babylon and established the second Babylonian empire?--

7. Which of the conquerors known as "the Great" ruled earliest: Alexander, Cyrus, or Sargon?--

8. Which king reportedly suffered mental illness late in life and ate grass like an ox?--

9. Which king established one of the earliest known legal systems?--

10. During which century did Nabopolassar destroy the Assyrian city of Nineveh?--

1. Sargon the Great

2. Sennacherib (7th century B.C.)

3. Sargon the Great, 58 years (Hammurabi, 42; Nebuchadnezzar II, 43)

4. King Nabonidus (539 B.C.)

5. the Kissites (c. 1600 B.C.)

6. Nebuchadnezzar II (605 B.C. to 562 B.C.)

7. Sargon the Great

8. Nebuchadnezzar II (605 B.C. to 562 B.C.)

9. Hammurabi

10. 7th century B.C. (612 B.C.)