Babylonia

(Hist.) An anc. empire of Middle Asia, was b. N. by Me so pot am i a, E. by the Tigris, S. by the Persian Gulf, and W. by the Arabian desert, nearly corresponding with the actual p. of Bagdad. The country, now a desolate waste, was, in ancient times, famous for its fertility. According to Scripture, the empire of B. was founded by Nimrod, B. c. 2640. Abt. 1993, Belus, who reigned in Nineveh, made Babylon the C. of his empire, called the First Empire of As syria. He had for succe ors, Ninus, Semi ram is. Ninyas, and a number of other unknown kings, till Sardana pal us, who perished in 759. A. was then almost separated from Nineveh, and had a series of kings, the most celebrated of whom is Nabona ar. In 680, B. was again submitted to Nineveh; but in 625 Nineveh was, in its turn, submitted to it, and As syria became a province of B. till its subjugation by Cyrus. B. was conquered by Alexander the Great, 331 B. c.; by the Arabs, 632 A. D.; and finally by the Turks, who still po e it.. [s. 66]