The Neo-Babylonian Empire

Lia Gubau Llibre November 16, 2012 History 7

The Neo-Babylonians were the leaders from 605 to 562 B.C. (75 years). They conquered from Ur all the way to Jerusalem. No one really wanted to conquer Saudi Arabia at that time, because it is was all deserts. It was situated between two rivers called Tigris and Euphrates, receiving the name of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia means land between two rivers. The capital of the Neo-Babylonian Empire was Babylon and they had a great king named Nebuchadnezzar. The word neo in NeoBabylonian Empire means New. My opinion is that the Neo-Babylonian Empire is the best one because they accomplished the most in just 75 years. One of greatest achievements of the Neo-Babylonian Empire was the creation of the sundial by the Babylonian astronomers. It was a system to know the hour of the day by looking at the shadow that the sun created with an object like an obelisk. Another reason is that they invented the 60-minutes hour, the 24-hours day and the 7-days week (the calendar). Babylon was a center of science and astronomy. Chaldean astronomers believed changes in the sky revealed the plans of the gods, so they studied the stars, planets and moon. Another great accomplishment that they made was the Hanging Gardens and their ziggurat. A ziggurat is a stepped pyramid several stories high and they called it the House of the Platform Between Heaven and Earth. From 605 to 562 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the ziggurat. Nebuchadnezzar also decorated the citys ziggurat with fabulous gardens, they are known as the hanging gardens. They were planted on rooftops and tall terraces. The Hanging Gardens even had a watering system to keep the plants fresh and green. We still have a lot of things from the Neo-Babylonian Empire, like the 60minutes hour, the 7-days week and the 24-hours day. These things are still very important now, because almost all countries still use this system. We also still have the watering system that they had used on their citys ziggurat. A lot of people still have a watering system at their gardens. Those are the reasons why I think that the Neo-Babylonian Empire is the best one.