Babylonia

historical country

36 dated entries naming Babylonia, drawn from 34 separate years between 1792 BCE and 50 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Babylonians in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

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18th century BC

1792 BCEc. 1792 BC – 1750 BC: (middle chronology) – Hammurabi rules Babylonia and has to deal with Mari, which he conquers late in his career.source
1770 BCE1770 BC: Babylon, capital of Babylonia becomes the largest city of the world, taking the lead from Thebes, capital of Egypt.source
1749 BCE1749 BC: Samsu-iluna succeeds Hammurabi as king of Babylon. However, his rule is not very effective, and Mesopotamia endures turmoil during his reign.source
1740 BCEc. 1740 BC: Akkadian-Assyrian governor Puzur-Sin drives the Babylonians and Amorites into the north, out of the land of Assyria.source
1736 BCE1736 BC: According to the ultra-long chronology of the ancient Near East, this is the year the sack of Babylon occurred.source

11th century BC

1082 BCE1082 BC- Babylonia suffers from a severe famine.source

8th century BC

747 BCE747 BC – February 26 – Nabonassar becomes king of Babylon.source
727 BCE727 BC: Babylonia makes itself independent of Assyria.source

7th century BC

700 BCE700 BC—Assyrian king Sennacherib launches another campaign into the Chaldean region, where the Babylonian rebel Merodach-Baladan II has been conspiring against him. Merodach-Baladan takes refuge in Elam, north of the Persian Gulf.source
699 BCE699 BC—Sennacherib carries out his fifth military campaign in Babylonia, a series of raids against the villages around the foot of Mount Judi, located to the northeast of Nineveh.source
693 BCE693 BC—Death of Nergal-ushezib, king of Babyloniasource
681 BCE681 BC—King Sennacherib of Assyria is assassinated by one or two of his sons in the temple of the god Ninurta at Kalhu (Northern Mesopotamia) after a 24-year reign in which he defeated the Babylonians, made Nineveh (modern Iraq) a showplace, and diverted the waters of the Tigris River into a huge aqueduct to supply the city with irrigation.source
675 BCEThe Elamite king Urtaku comes to power; during his reign, relations between Elam and Babylonia worsen.source
665 BCEElamite king Urtak launches a surprise attack against Babylonia but is successfully driven backsource
648 BCEShamash-shum-ukin, Assyrian king of Babylonia.source
614 BCEThe Medes and Babylonians sack Assur.source
612 BCEBattle of Nineveh: An allied army of Babylonians, Medes, Scythians, and Susianians besieges and conquers Nineveh, capital of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Sinsharishkun, King of Assyria, is killed in the sacking.source
609 BCEThe Medes and the Babylonians defeat the Assyrians under Ashur-uballit II and capture Harran. Ashur-uballit II, the last king of Assyria, disappears from history.source
605 BCENebuchadnezzar II succeeds his father Nabopolassar as king of Babylonia.source
601 BCEThe Jewish–Babylonian war begins between the Kingdom of Judah and Babylonia. It ends in 586 BC.source

5th century BC

401 BCECyrus the Younger uses a quarrel with Tissaphernes over the Ionian cities as a pretext for gathering a large army and also pretends to prepare an expedition to Pisidia, in the Taurus Mountains. Cyrus starts out with about 15,220 men, of whom 10,400 are Greek mercenaries. When he reaches the Euphrates River at Thapsacus, he announces that he is marching against Artaxerxes II. He advances unopposed into Babylonia; but Artaxerxes, warned at the last moment by Tissaphernes, hastily gathers an army. The two forces meet in the Battle of Cunaxa, north of Babylon, where Cyrus is slain.source

4th century BC

383 BCEThe 19 year lunar cycle is introduced into the Babylonian calendar.source
323 BCEArchon of Pella controls Babylonia; andsource
320 BCEAlexandria in Macedonian Egypt becomes the largest city of the world, taking over the lead from Babylon in Macedonian Babylonia.source
316 BCEEumenes and Antigonus, rivals to Cassander for control of Macedonia, meet in the Battle of Gabiene in Media to the northeast of Susa. Antigonus defeats Eumenes, with the aid of Seleucus and Peithon (the satraps of Babylonia and Media, respectively). The result is inconclusive. However, some of Eumenes' soldiers take matters into their own hands. Learning that Antigonus has captured many of their wives, children and the cumulative plunder of nearly 40 years of continuous warfare, they secretly open negotiations with Antigonus for their safe return. They hand over Eumenes and his senior officers to Antigonus in return for their baggage and families. Eumenes is put to death by Antigonus after a week's captivity.source
311 BCESeleucus reestablishes himself as satrap of Babylonia and asserts control over Media and Susiana (Elam).source
311 BCEThe remaining Antigonid loyalists in Babylonia retreat to the citadel of Babylon. They also put Seleucus' remaining friends in Babylon there (under a strong guard). Seleucus besieges the citadel and manages to take it by storm.source
311 BCEUpon entering Mesopotamia Seleucus manages to persuade some of the Macedonian veterans settled at Carrhae to join his cause. He then marches on to his old satrapy (province) of Babylonia gathering additional force along the way.source
310 BCEAntigonus orders Nicanor, one of his generals, to invade Babylonia from the east and his son Demetrius Poliorcetes to attack it from the west. Nicanor assembles a large force but is surprised and defeated by Seleucus at the river Tigris, and his troops are either cut to pieces or defect to the enemy. Similarly, Demetrius Poliorcetes fails to oust Seleucus.source
308 BCEAntigonus marches his main army east to confront Seleucus. The Antigonid and Seleucid armies meet somewhere in southern Mesopotamia or northern Babylonia and a battle is fought to a draw. The next morning Seleucus launches a surprise attack on Antigonus' camp and wins a simple victory. After his defeat Antigonus gives up on his ambitions to reconquer the eastern provinces.source
302 BCEFollowing their agreement to work together to defeat Antigonus, Seleucus invades Asia Minor from Babylonia, while Ptolemy attacks Syria and Lysimachus moves into the western part of Asia Minor.source

3rd century BC

221 BCEThe satrap of Media, Molon, and his brother, Alexander, revolt against Antiochus III, primarily due to their hatred towards Hermeias, Antiochus' chief minister. Molon is able to become master of the Seleucid domains to the east of the Tigris. He is stopped by Antiochus III's forces in his attempts to pass that river. Xenoetas, one of Antiochus' generals, is sent against Molon with a large force, but is surprised by Molon's forces and his whole army is cut to pieces and Xenoetas is killed. The rebel satrap now crosses the Tigris, and makes himself master of the city of Seleucia on the Tigris, together with the whole of Babylonia and Mesopotamia.source

2nd century BC

187 BCEThe Seleucid king, Antiochus III, attempts to collect tribute from a temple near Susa, Persia, where he was killed. He is succeeded by his son, Seleucus IV, who inherits an empire consisting of Syria, Mesopotamia, Babylonia, western Iran.source
161 BCEThe rebel Seleucid general and ruler of Media, Timarchus, who has distinguished himself by defending Media against the emergent Parthians, treats Demetrius I's violent accession to the Seleucid throne as the excuse to declare himself an independent king and extend his realm from Media into Babylonia.source
160 BCEDemetrius I defeats and kills the rebel general Timarchus and is recognized as king of the Seleucid empire by the Roman Senate. Demetrius acquires his surname of Soter (meaning Saviour) from the Babylonians, for delivering them from the tyranny of Timarchus. The Seleucid empire is temporarily united again.source

1st century

50Gamaliel the Elder, Jewish ruler (Nasi) in Babylonia (approximate date)source