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Neo-Babylonian Empire

626 BC539 BC

The Neo-Babylonian Empire at its greatest extent

CapitalBabylon

LanguagesAkkadian, Aramaic

GovernmentMonarchy

King

-626605 BCNabopolassar

-556539 BCNabonidus

Historical eraIron Age

-Independence from Assyrian Empire626 BC

-Battle of Opis539 BC

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The Neo-Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC.[1] During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria. A year after the death of the last strong Assyrian ruler, Assurbanipal, in 627 BC, the Assyrian empire spiralled into a series of brutal civil wars. Babylonia rebelled under Nabopolassar, a member of the Chaldean tribe which had migrated from The Levant to south eastern Babylonia in the early 9th century BC. In alliance with the Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians, the city of Nineveh was sacked in 612 BC, and the seat of empire was transferred to Babylonia for the first time since the death of Hammurabi in the mid 18th century BC. This period witnessed a general improvement in economic life and agricultural production, and a great flourishing of architectural projects, the arts and science.The Neo-Babylonian period ended with the reign of Nabonidus in 539 BC. To the east, the Persians had been growing in strength, and eventually Cyrus the Great established his dominion over Babylon.Contents 1 Historical background 1.1 Revival of old traditions 1.2 Cultural and economic life 2 Neo-Babylonian dynasty 2.1 Nabopolassar 626 BC 605 BC 2.2 Nebuchadnezzar II 605 BC 562 BC 2.3 Amel-Marduk 562 BC 560 BC 2.4 Neriglissar 560 BC 556 BC 2.5 Labashi-Marduk 556 BC 2.6 Nabonidus 556 BC 539 BC 3 Achaemenids and later rulers of Babylon 3.1 Cyrus invades in 539 BC 3.2 End of Persian rule 4 See also 5 ReferencesHistorical backgroundBabylonia was subject to, and dominated by Assyria during the Neo-Assyrian period (911-616 BC), as it had often been during the Middle Assyrian Empire (1365-1020 BC). The Assyrians of Upper Mesopotamia had usually been able to pacify their southern relations, whether through military might, installing puppet kings, or granting increased privileges.Revival of old traditionsAfter Babylonia regained its independence, Neo-Babylonian rulers were deeply conscious of the antiquity of their kingdom, and pursued an arch-traditionalist policy, reviving much of the ancient Sumero-Akkadian culture. Even though Aramaic had become the everyday tongue, Akkadian was retained as the language of administration and culture. Archaic expressions from 1,500 years earlier were reintroduced in Akkadian inscriptions, along with words in the now-long-unspoken Sumerian language. Neo-Babylonian cuneiform script was also modified to make it look like the old 3rd-millennium BC script of Akkad.Ancient artworks from the heyday of Babylonia's imperial glory were treated with near-religious reverence and were painstakingly preserved. For example, when a statue of Sargon the Great was found during construction work, a temple was built for itand it was given offerings. The story is told of how Nebuchadnezzar, in his efforts to restore the Temple at Sippar, had to make repeated excavations until he found the foundation deposit of Naram-Suen, the discovery of which then allowed him to rebuild the temple properly. Neo-Babylonians also revived the ancient Sargonid practice of appointing a royal daughter to serve as priestess of the moon-god Sin.Cultural and economic lifeWe are much better informed about Mesopotamian culture and economic life under the Neo-Babylonians than we are about the structure and mechanics of imperial administration. It is clear that for southern Mesopotamia the Neo-Babylonian period was a renaissance. Large tracts of land were opened to cultivation. Peace and imperial power made resources available to expand the irrigation systems and to build an extensive canal system. The Babylonian countryside was dominated by large estates, which were given to government officials as a form of pay. These estates were usually managed through local entrepreneurs, who took a cut of the profits. Rural folk were bound to these estates, providing both labor and rents to their landowners.Urban life flourished under the Neo-Babylonians. Cities had local autonomy and received special privileges from the kings. Centered on their temples; the cities had their own law courts, and cases were often decided in assemblies. Temples dominated urban social structure, just as they did the legal system, and a person's social status and political rights were determined by where they stood in relation to the religious hierarchy. Free laborers like craftsmen enjoyed high status, and a sort of guild system came into existence that gave them collective bargaining power. This period witnessed a general improvement in economic life, agricultural production, and a significant increase in architectural projects, the arts and science.Neo-Babylonian dynastyDynasty XI of Babylon (Neo-Babylonian) Nabu-apla-usur 626 605 BC Nabu-kudurri-usur II 605 562 BC Amel-Marduk 562 560 BC Neriglissar 560 556 BC Labai-Marduk 556 BC Nabonidus 556 539 BCNabopolassar 626 BC 605 BC

The Ishtar Gate of Babylon as reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum in BerlinAfter the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 BC, the Assyrian Empire began to disintegrate, riven by internal strife. Ashur-etil-ilani co-ruled with Ashurbanipal from 630 BC, while an Assyrian governor named Kandalanu sat on the throne of Babylon on behalf of his king. Babylonia seemed secure until both Ashurbanipal and Kandalanu died in 627 BC, and Assyria spiralled into a series of internal civil wars which would ultimately lead to its destruction.. An Assyrian general, Sin-shumu-lishir, revolted in 626 BC and declared himself king of Assyria and Babylon, but was promptly ousted by the Assyrian Army loyal to king Ashur-etil-ilani in 625 BC. Babylon was then taken by another son of Ashurbanipal Sin-shar-ishkun, who proclaimed himself king. His rule did not last long however, and the native Babylonians revolted with the help of the migrant Chaldean tribe (Bit Kaldu), led by the previously unknown Nabopolassar, who had made himself king of Chaldea in the far south east of Mesopotamia. Nabopolassar seized the throne amid the confusion, and the Neo-Babylonian dynasty was born. Babylonia as a whole then became a battle ground between king Ashur-etil-ilani and his brother Sin-shar-ishkun who fought to and fro over the region. This anarchic situation allowed Nabopolassar to stay on the throne of the city of Babylon itself, spending the next three years undisturbed, consolidating his position in the city.[2]However in 623 BC, Sin-shar-ishkun killed his brother the king, in battle at Nippur in Babylonia, seized the throne of Assyria, and then set about retaking Babylon from Nabopolassar. Nabopolassar was forced to endure Assyrian armies encamped in Babylonia over the next seven years, however he resisted, aided by the continuing civil war in Assyria itself which greatly hampered Sin-shar-ishkun's attempts to retake the parts of Babylonia held by Nabopolassar. Nabopolassar took Nippur in 619 BC, a key centre of pro-Assyrianism in Babylonia, and by 616 BC, he was still in control of much of southern Mesopotamia. Assyria, still riven with internal strife, had by this time lost control of its colonies, who had taken advantage of the various upheavals to free themselves. The empire had stretched from Cyprus to Persia and The Caucasus to Egypt at its height.Nabopolassar attempted a counterattack, he marched his army into Assyria proper in 616 BC and tried to besiege Assur and Arrapha (Kirkuk), but was defeated and driven back into Babylonia. A stalemate seemed to have ensued, with Nabopolassar unable to make any inroads into Assyria despite its greatly weakened state, and Sin-shar-ishkun unable to eject Nabopolassar from Babylon due to the unremitting civil war in Assyria itself.However the balance of power was decisively tipped when Cyaxares, ruler of the Iranic peoples (the Medes, Persians and Parthians), and technically a vassal of Assyria, attacked a war weary Assyria without warning in late 615 BC, sacking Arrapha and Kalhu (the Biblical Calah/Nimrud). Then in 614 BC Cyaxares, in alliance with the Scythians and Cimmerians, besieged and took Assur, with Nabopolassar remaining uninvolved in these successes.[3]Nabopolassar too then made active alliances with other former subjects of Assyria; the Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians.During 613 BC the Assyrian army seem to have rallied and successfully repelled Babylonian, Median and Scythian attacks. However in 612 BC Nabopolassar and the Median king Cyaxares led a concentrated coalition of forces including Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians in an attack on Nineveh. The size of the forces ranged against Assyria in its weakened state proved too much, and after a bitter three-month siege,followed by house to house fighting, Nineveh finally fell, with Sin-shar-ishkun being killed defending his capital.An Assyrian general, Ashur-uballit II, became king of Assyria amid the fighting. According to the Babylonian Chronicle he was offered the chance to bow in vassalage to the rulers of the alliance. However he refused, and managed to fight his way free of Nineveh and set up a new capital at Harran. Nabopolassar, Cyaxares, and their allies, then fought Ashur-uballit II for a further five years, until Harran fell in 608 BC; After a failed attempt to retake the city, Ashur-uballit II disappeared from the pages of history.The Egyptians under Pharaoh Necho II had invaded the near east in 609 BC in a belated attempt to help their former Assyrian rulers. Nabopolassar (with the help of his son and future successor Nebuchadnezzar II) spent the last years of his reign dislodging the Egyptians (who were supported by Greek mercenaries and the remnants of the Assyrian army) from Syria, Asia Minor, northern Arabia and Israel. Nebuchadnezzar proved to be a capable and energetic military leader, and the Egyptians, Assyrians and their mercenary allies were finally defeated by the Babylonians, Medes and Scythians at the battle of Carchemish in 605 BC.The Babylonians were now left in possession of much of Assyria, with the northern reaches being held by the Medes, however they appear to have made no attempt to occupy it, preferring to concentrate on rebuilding southern Mesopotamia.Nebuchadnezzar II 605 BC 562 BC

An engraving on an eye stone of onyx with an inscription of Nebuchadnezzar IINebuchadnezzar II became king after the death of his father.Nebuchadnezzar was a patron of the cities and a spectacular builder. He rebuilt all of Babylonia's major cities on a lavish scale. His building activity at Babylon was what turned it into the immense and beautiful city of legend. His city of Babylon covered more than three square miles, surrounded by moats and ringed by a double circuit of walls. The Euphrates flowed through the center of the city, spanned by a beautiful stone bridge. At the center of the city rose the giant ziggurat called Etemenanki, "House of the Frontier Between Heaven and Earth," which lay next to the Temple of Marduk.A capable leader, Nabuchadnezzar II, conducted successful military campaigns in Syria and Phoenicia, forcing tribute from Damascus, Tyre and Sidon. He conducted numerous campaigns in Asia Minor, in the "land of the Hatti". Like the Assyrians, the Babylonians had to campaign yearly in order to control their colonies.In 601 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II was involved in a major, but inconclusive battle, against the Egyptians. In 599 BC, he invaded Arabia and routed the Arabs at Qedar. In 597 BC, he invaded Judah and captured Jerusalem and deposed its king Jehoiachin. Egyptian and Babylonian armies fought each other for control of the near east throughout much of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, and this encouraged king Zedekiah of Judah to revolt. After an 18-month siege, Jerusalem was captured in 587 BC, and thousands of Jews were deported to Babylon, and Solomon's Temple was razed to the ground.By 572 Nebuchadnezzar was in full control of Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia, Israel, Philistinia, northern Arabia, and parts of Asia Minor. Nebuchadnezzar fought the Pharaohs Psammetichus II and Apries throughout his reign, and in 568 BC during the reign of Pharaoh Amasis, invaded Egypt itself.[4]Amel-Marduk 562 BC 560 BCAmel-Marduk was the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar II. He reigned only two years (562 560 BC). According to the Biblical Book of Kings, he pardoned and released Jehoiachin, king of Judah, who had been a prisoner in Babylon for thirty-seven years. Allegedly, because Amel-Marduk tried to modify his father's policies, he was murdered by Neriglissar, his brother-in-law.Neriglissar 560 BC 556 BC

Babylonian wall relief in the Pergamon Museum in BerlinNeriglissar appears to have been a more stable ruler, conducting a number of public works, restoring temples etc.He conducted successful military campaigns against Cilicia, which had threatened Babylonian interests. Neriglissar however reigned for only four years, being succeeded by the youthful Labashi-Marduk. It is unclear if Neriglissar was himself a member of the Chaldean tribe, or a native of the city of Babylon.Labashi-Marduk 556 BCLabashi-Marduk was a king of Babylon (556 BC), and son of Neriglissar. Labashi-Marduk succeeded his father when still only a boy, after the latter's four-year reign. He was murdered in a conspiracy only nine months after his inauguration.[citation needed] Nabonidus was consequently chosen as the new king.Nabonidus 556 BC 539 BCNabonidus's (Nab-na'id in Babylonian) noble credentials are not clear, although he was not a Chaldean but from Assyria, in the city of Harran. He says himself in his inscriptions that he is of unimportant origins.[5] Similarly, his mother, Adda-Guppi,[6] who lived to high age and may have been connected to the temple of the Akkadian moon god Sn in Harran; in her inscriptions does not mention her descent. His father was Nab-balatsu-iqbi, a commoner.[7]For long periods he entrusted rule to his son, Prince Belshazzar. He was a capable soldier but poor politician. All of this left him somewhat unpopular with many of his subjects, particularly the priesthood and the military class.[8]The Marduk priesthood hated Nabonidus because of his suppression of Marduk's cult and his elevation of the cult of the moon-god Sin.[9][10] Cyrus portrayed himself as the savior, chosen by Marduk to restore order and justice.[11]To the east, the Persians had been growing in strength, and Cyrus the Great was very popular in Babylon itself, in contrast to Nabonidus.[12][13]A sense of Nabonidus's religiously-based negative image survives in Jewish literature, in Josephus, for example.[14] Though in thinking about that image, we should bear in mind that the Jews initially greeted the Persians as liberators. Cyrus sent the Jewish exiles back to Israel from the Babylonian Captivity.[15] Although the Jews never rebelled against the Persian occupation,[16] they were restive under the period of Darius I consolidating his rule,[17] and under Artaxerxes I of Persia,[18][19] without taking up arms, or reprisals being exacted from the Persian government.Achaemenids and later rulers of BabylonThe Medes, Persians and Mannaeans, among others, were Indo-European peoples who had entered the region now known as Iran c. 1000 BC from the steppes of southern Russia and the Caucasus mountains. For the first three or four hundred years after their arrival they were largely subject to the Neo Assyrian Empire and paid tribute to Assyrian kings. After the death of Ashurbanipal they began to assert themselves, and Media had played a major part in the fall of Assyria.Persia had been subject to Media initially. However, in 549 BC Cyrus, the Achaemenid king of Persia, revolted against his suzerain Astyages, king of Media, at Ecbatana. Astyages' army betrayed him to his enemy, and Cyrus established himself as ruler of all the Iranic peoples, as well as the pre-Iranian Elamites and Gutians.Cyrus invades in 539 BC

Waste sorting is the process by which waste is separated into different elements.[1] Waste sorting can occur manually at the household and collected through curbside collection schemes, or automatically separated in materials recovery facilities or mechanical biological treatment systems. Hand sorting was the first method used in the history of waste sorting.[2]Waste can also be sorted in a civic amenity site.Waste segregation means dividing waste into dry and wet. Dry waste includes wood and related products, metals and glass. Wet waste, typically refers to organic waste usually generated by eating establishments and are heavy in weight due to dampness. Waste can also be segregated on basis of biodegradable or non-biodegradable waste.Landfills are an increasingly pressing problem.[citation needed] Less and less land is available to deposit refuse, but the volume of waste is growing all time. As a result, segregating waste is not just of environmental importance, but of economic concern, too.Contents[hide] 1 Methods 2 By country 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksMethods[edit]Waste is collected at its source in each area and separated. The way that waste is sorted must reflect local disposal systems. The following categories are common: Paper Cardboard (including packaging for return to suppliers) Glass (clear, tinted no light bulbs or window panes, which belong with residual waste) Plastics Scrap metal Compost Special/hazardous waste Residual wasteOrganic waste can also be segregated for disposal: Leftover food which has had any contact with meat can be collected separately to prevent the spread of bacteria. Meat and bone can be retrieved by bodies responsible for animal waste If other leftovers are sent, for example, to local farmers, they can be sterilised before being fed to the animals Peel and scrapings from fruit and vegetables can be composted along with other degradable matter. Other waste can be included for composting, too, such as cut flowers, corks, coffee grindings, rotting fruit, tea bags, egg- and nutshells, paper towels etc.Chip pan oil (fryer oil), used fats, vegetable oil and the content of fat filters can be collected by companies able to re-use them. Local authority waste departments can provide relevant addresses. This can be achieved by providing recycling bins.By country[edit]In Germany, regulations exist that provide mandatory quotas for the waste sorting of packaging waste and recyclable materials such as glass bottles.[3]