babylonian

Babylonian refers to the inhabitants of ancient Babylon and to the culture, language, and material record of southern Mesopotamia centered on the city of Babylon. Over several centuries, the Babylonian sphere gave rise to successive empires—the Old Babylonian, Middle Babylonian, and Neo-Babylonian—often using the Babylonian dialect of the Akkadian language. The term also designates artifacts, institutions, and religious traditions associated with Babylon.

Historically, Babylon rose as a prominent city in the early 2nd millennium BCE. Under Hammurabi (c. 1792–1750 BCE) it became a political and legal center, and the Old Babylonian period is known for codification and bureaucratic administration. The Middle Babylonian era followed, and the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) kingdom flourished from roughly 626 to 539 BCE, reaching its height under Nebuchadnezzar II before falling to the Persian Achaemenid Empire in 539 BCE.

Babylonian intellectual life made lasting contributions in law, astronomy, and mathematics. The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest complete legal codes. Babylonian astronomers compiled systematic observations and created detailed calendars; the sexagesimal (base-60) system influenced later mathematics and astronomy. Cuneiform writing on clay tablets transmitted literary and religious works such as the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Modern scholarship treats Babylonian as an umbrella term for texts, sites, and traditions associated with Babylon. Archaeological remains at its site in present-day Iraq's Hillah region have yielded important information about Mesopotamian urbanism, religion, and daily life. The term is distinct from, but often linked to, Chaldean in historical contexts, which refers to the Neo-Babylonian state and its language.