Babil Governorate (Muḩāfaz̧at Bābil)
The ancient city of Babylon in present-day Babylon Province was the capital of ancient Babylonia, situated on the Euphrates river south of Baghdad, Iraq.
The city was occupied from the 3rd millennium BC but became important early in the 2nd millennium under the kings of the First Dynasty of Babylon. The sixth king of this dynasty was Hammurabi (1792–1750 BC) who made Babylon the capital of a vast empire and is best remembered for his code of laws.
The city peaked in pre-eminence when Nabopolassar (626–605 BC) and his successor and son Nebuchadnezzar II (605–562 BC) extended the Neo-Babylonian Empire over most of Western Asia.
Bestowing this name on the province is a manifestation of the policy of modern Iraq to link itself to the history of pre-Islamic Mesopotamia.
In 1991 Babil Governorate was the center of a Shia uprising.
Map - Babil Governorate (Muḩāfaz̧at Bābil)
Map
Country - Mesopotamia
Flag of Iraq |
The Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) originating from different areas in present-day Iraq, dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, it became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire. Later the Arameans dominated major parts of Mesopotamia (c. 900 BC – 270 AD).
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
IQD | Iraqi dinar | عد | 3 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
AR | Arabic language |
HY | Armenian language |
KU | Kurdish language |