Babylon

(bub'e-lon,) the earliest post-diluvial city, and the oldest in the world of which there are any traces remaining, in an extensive plain on the Euphrates, 60 m. S. of Bagdad. The modern town Hillah occupies a portion of its site; Lat. 32° 28′ 30″ N., Lon 44° 9′ 45″ E. According to Hero dot us, the walls of B. were 60 m. in circumference, 87ft. thick, and 350ft. high, built of brick, and containing 25 gates of solid bra , and 250 towers. Its suspended gardens were one of the wonders of the world. Its most remarkable ruins are the Kasr or palace, and the Birs Nimroud (see BABEL). Founded by Nimrod, B. became, under Belus, the C. of the A yrian empire. In the time of Hero dot us it was still the most important city in the world. It declined afterwards till the time of Alexander the Great, who chose it for the C. of his empire in Asia. He would have made it more magnificent than it had been, but his untimely death and the founding of Seleucia precipitated its decay. The Jews were in captivity at B. from 604 to 536 B. c. See BABYLONIA. [s. 66]