Babylonian Empire
Notes:
Babylon was based in what is now the southern part of the country of Iraq. Babylon was first an important power in about 1850 BC and then later in about 650 BC when they overcame the Assyrian empire. Although the oldest known alphabet comes from the Canaanites, the oldest known writing comes from the Babylonians.
DISCUSSION QUESTION: What prophet of God was taken captive by the Babylonians? What happened to him in Babylonia?
The book of Daniel tells us “1:1 In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. 2 And the Lord delivered Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, along with some of the articles from the temple of God. These he carried off to the temple of his god in Babylonia and put in the treasure-house of his god. 3 Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility-- 4 young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king's palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. 5 The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table. They were to be trained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king's service. 6 Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah . . .” Thus the story of the capture of Judah by the Babylonians is related to the story of Daniel.
King Nebuchadnezzar boasted of his greatness in Daniel 4 and God struck him down. Later, Belshazzar became king. Finally, The Persians conquered the Babylonian empire.
The Babylonian religion was polytheistic. They have a story of a great flood and a family that escaped with animals in a great boat that closely follows the flood story in the Bible.