Table Of ContentShort Histories are authoritative and elegantly written introductory
texts which offer fresh perspectives on the way history is taught
and understood in the twenty-first century. Designed to have
strong appeal to university students and their teachers, as well as to
general readers and history enthusiasts, Short Histories comprise
novel attempts to bring informed interpretation, as well as factual
reportage, to historical debates. Addressing key subjects and topics
in the fields of history, the history of ideas, religion, classical studies,
politics, philosophy and Middle East studies, these texts move
beyond the bland, neutral ‘introductions’ that so often serve as
the primary undergraduate teaching tool. While always providing
students and generalists with the core facts that they need to get to
grips with, Short Histories go further. They offer new insights into
how a topic has been understood in the past, and what different
social and cultural factors might have been at work. They bring
original perspectives to bear on current interpretations. They raise
questions and – with extensive bibliographies – point the reader to
further study, even as they suggest answers. Each text addresses a
variety of subjects in a greater degree of depth than is often found
in comparable series, yet at the same time in a concise and compact
handbook form. Short Histories aim to be ‘introductions with
an edge’. In combining questioning and searching analysis with
informed historical writing, they bring history up-to-date for an
increasingly complex and globalized digital age.
For more information about titles and authors in the series, please
visit: https://www.bloomsbury.com/series/short-histories/
A Short History of …
the American Civil War Paul Anderson (Clemson University)
the American
Revolutionary War Stephen Conway (University College London)
Ancient China Edward L Shaughnessy (University of
Chicago)
Ancient Greece P J Rhodes, FBA (Durham University)
the Anglo-Saxons Henrietta Leyser (University of Oxford)
Babylon Karen Radner (University of Munich)
the Byzantine Empire Dionysios Stathakopoulos (King’s College
London)
Christian Spirituality Edward Howells (Heythrop College,
University of London)
Communism Kevin Morgan (University of Manchester)
the Crimean War Trudi Tate (University of Cambridge)
English Renaissance
Drama Helen Hackett (University College London)
the English Revolution
and the Civil Wars David J Appleby (University of Nottingham)
the Etruscans Corinna Riva (University College London)
Florence and the Brian Jeffrey Maxson (East Tennessee State
Florentine Republic University)
the Hundred Years War Michael Prestwich (Durham University)
Irish Independence J J Lee (New York University)
the Italian Renaissance Virginia Cox (New York University)
the Korean War Allan R Millett (University of New Orleans)
Medieval Christianity G R Evans (University of Cambridge)
Medieval English
Mysticism Vincent Gillespie (University of Oxford)
the Minoans John Bennet (University of Sheffield)
the Mongols George Lane (SOAS, University of London)
the Mughal Empire Michael H Fisher (Oberlin College)
Muslim Spain Amira K Bennison (University of Cambridge)
New Kingdom Egypt Robert Morkot (University of Exeter)
the New Testament Halvor Moxnes (University of Oslo)
Nineteenth-Century
Philosophy Joel Rasmussen (University of Oxford)
the Normans L eonie V. Hicks (Canterbury Christ Church
University)
the Ottoman Empire Baki Tezcan (University of California, Davis)
the Phoenicians Mark Woolmer (Durham University)
the Reformation Helen L. Parish (University of Reading)
the Renaissance in
Northern Europe Malcolm Vale (University of Oxford)
Revolutionary Cuba Antoni Kapcia (University of Nottingham)
the Risorgimento Nick Carter (Australian Catholic University,
Sydney)
the Russian Revolution Geoffrey Swain (University of Glasgow)
the Spanish Civil War Julián Casanova (University of Zaragoza)
the Spanish Empire Felipe Fernández-Armesto (University of
Notre Dame) and José Juan López-Portillo
(University of Oxford)
Transatlantic Slavery Kenneth Morgan (Brunel University London)
the Tudors Richard Rex (University of Cambridge)
Venice and the
Venetian Empire Maria Fusaro (University of Exeter)
the Vikings Clare Downham (University of Liverpool)
the Wars of the Roses David Grummitt (University of Kent)
the Weimar Republic Colin Storer (University of Nottingham)
iv
BABYLON
Karen Radner
BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
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BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY ACADEMIC and the Diana
logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain 2020
Copyright © Karen Radner, 2020
Karen Radner has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.
For legal purposes the Acknowledgements on p. xix constitute an
extension of this copyright page.
Cover design: Terry Woodley
Cover image © Dragon from the Ishtar Gate. Pergamon Museum, Berlin,
Germany. Photo by: Prisma/UIG via Getty Images
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval
system, without prior permission in writing from the publishers.
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc does not have any control over, or responsibility
for, any third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet
addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press.
The author and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses
have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no
responsibility for any such changes.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-8386-0169-0
PB: 978-1-8386-0170-6
ePDF: 978-1-3501-3828-5
eBook: 978-1-3501-3827-8
Series: Short Histories
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To my inexhaustibly curious father, with love
viii
Contents
List of Illustrations xi
Acknowledgements xix
Timeline xxi
Introduction 1
Chapter 1: Babylon in time and space 7
Chapter 2: Babylon’s loss and rediscovery 15
Chapter 3: Capital: Hammurabi’s Babylon 35
Chapter 4: Font of Knowledge: Burnaburiaš’s Babylon 55
Chapter 5: Linking Heaven and Earth: Marduk’s Babylon 75
Chapter 6: Negotiating Power: Babylon and the Assyrians 89
Chapter 7: Megacity: Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylon 111
Chapter 8: Clipped Wings: Babylon and the Persians 139
Chapter 9: Slow Fade: Babylon after Alexander the Great 151
Notes 161
Bibliography 199
Index 229
