. The eastern nations and Greece. ed acode of laws which in somerespects is remarkably like theMosaic code of the Hebrews. Concerning this oldest system of lawsin the world we shall say something a little farther on (sect. 60). 49. The Old Babylonian Empire Eclipsed by the Rising AssyrianEmpire. For more than fifteen hundred years after Hammurabi,Babylon continued to be the political and commercial center of anempire of varying fortunes, of changing dynasties, and of shiftingfrontiers. This long history, still only very imperfectly known tous, we pass without notice. Meanwhile a Semitic power
. The eastern nations and Greece. ed acode of laws which in somerespects is remarkably like theMosaic code of the Hebrews. Concerning this oldest system of lawsin the world we shall say something a little farther on (sect. 60). 49. The Old Babylonian Empire Eclipsed by the Rising AssyrianEmpire. For more than fifteen hundred years after Hammurabi,Babylon continued to be the political and commercial center of anempire of varying fortunes, of changing dynasties, and of shiftingfrontiers. This long history, still only very imperfectly known tous, we pass without notice. Meanwhile a Semitic power had been slowly developing in thenorth. This was the Assyrian Empire, thus called from Assur(Ashur), its early royal city. Later, the city of Nineveh grew to beits populous center and capital. The earlier rulers of Assyria werevassals of the kings of Babylonia; but late in the eighth century b. was conquered by an Assyrian king, and from that time onto 625 the country was for the most part under Assyrian Fig. 36. UooR Socket of Sargon I §50j REMAINS OF THE BABYLONIAN CITIES 53 II. ARTS AND GENERAL CULTURE 50. Remains of the Babylonian Cities and Public Buildings. TheBabylonian plains are dotted with enormous mounds, generally in-closed by vast ramparts of earth. These heaps are the remainsof the great walled cities, the palaces and shrines of the ancientBabylonians. The peculiar nature of these ruins arises from thecharacter of the ancient Babylonian edifices and the kind of materialused in their construction. In the first place, in order to secure for their temples and palacesa firm foundation on the water-soaked land, as well as to lend tothem a certain dignity and to render them more easily defended, theBabylonian kings raised their public buildings on enormous plat-forms of earth or adobe. These substructures were often manyacres in extent and were raised generally to a height of forty ormore feet above the level of the plain. Upon these immense
Size: 1734px × 1441px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjecthistoryancient, booky
