Three Artifacts which Carry Babylon Legacy into Modern Day History
The Babylonian Empire was a rich and complex kingdom- and one of the largest of its time. It was mixed with unique cultural traditions, lavish temples, and laws of its own. However, in Babylonian civilization, there were few artifacts that continued their legacy into future civilizations and generations. Today, we will be naming those artifacts that represent a carried legacy of Babylon. The first is cuneiform writing, then The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and last, but not least, Hammurabi’s Code. In this blog post, we’ll be discussing the nuances of these artifacts, their backstories, and how they continue their legacy till today. The first artifact we will be looking at is actually found in many different artifacts. It is found frequently in unburied Babylonian ruins and artifacts, written and carved.
The first artifact that left a legacy in history is Babylonian cuneiform writing. Babylonians were among the first civilizations recorded to have developed writing, and their unique and efficient script was known as cuneiform (1). Cuneiform was formerly used for keeping records and for administration purposes, but then it later on transformed into something used for literature, sciences, astronomy, and even religious scripts. This is a historically significant invention because it revolutionized how we communicate and keep records to this very day, creating a method for organizing, sharing, and preserving literature and knowledge for generations to come. Cuneiform went out of use, as other writing systems changed the popularity of cuneiform, but despite this, its legacy is still found- impacting our modern-day alphabets and grammar. This shows the change in written records, but the continuity of the nuances of the cuneiform script. In the 19th century, after a long and hard study, a key moment in Babylonian discoveries was made. A turning point, you could say. The 19th century was when cuneiform was fully deciphered, and it was the century our understanding of Mesopotamia deepened. Knowing cuneiform not only unlocked a treasure full of the beautiful history and culture of ancient Babylon, shedding light onto ancient citizens family life, beliefs, and practices, but it also allowed us to look into their literature, sciences, mathematics, and folklore- all which were written down in cuneiform. The 19th-century decoding of the cuneiform writing allowed us to gain a deeper insight into how Babylonian civilization affected and contributed to the world we see today.
The second legacy of Babylon is one slightly more enchanting. It’s less straightforward than, for example, the cuneiform writing we just discussed. The second artifact which is the legacy of Babylon is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Hanging Gardens are in debate amongst different historians, each arguing about not only just the location of it, but the possibility of its existence. So before we go into its historical significance, we should address the fact that the actual site of the garden is in dispute, as is its existence. However, the stories of the Hanging Gardens are the legacy, not the actual garden itself. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon is a tale, or perhaps a truth, associated with Babylon, wherein King Nebuchadnezzar II in the 6th century BCE built a garden out of love for his wife (2). His wife longed for more greenery, as her homeland was full of lush and rich vegetation, unlike the castle. And so this King built what writers described as a masterpiece of architecture- a marvel of engineering. The beautiful Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Whether real or folklore, the Hanging Gardens symbolize a rich history of ingenuity and lavishness in Babylonian architecture- because even if it wasn’t Babylonian, the fact that past civilizations associated the Hanging Gardens to Babylon spoke its own levels (3). The depiction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon in ancient texts and even ancient art, has for decades, and to this day, inspired the concept and medium of lavish gardens (2). Whether it inspired writers, architects, painters, or gardeners, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon left a lasting and continuous legacy on the medium of gardens in our art and literature today- such as in the famous book “The Secret Garden”.
The third, last- and not least- artifact we will be talking about in this post, is Hammurabi’s Code. It was briefly mentioned in a previous post, but today we’ll dive into its historical significance, changes, and perspective. Hammurabi’s Code is one of the most continuous and impactful of Babylon’s many legacies (4). It is an artifact that has left a dent in civilization, up until this very day. Engraved on a stele- an upright dark-coloured stone slab decorated with figures or inscriptions- it is the earliest recorded (or rather, inscribed) set of laws. It was created by the Babylonian King Hammurabi, hence Hammurabi’s code, in around 1754 BCE. This code consisted of exactly 282 laws that governed people in realms of their life, whether it was in their farming, inheritance, marriage, business, or trading. The law even extended onto court rules, giving guidance over different criminal behaviour (5). When it was created, it is said to have had a massive impact on Babylonian society, creating a list to go off of for justice and governance. Hammurabi’s Code actually even went beyond Babylon at the time, being a legal base for places beyond Mesopotamia. The concept of laws recorded down in codes, and the principles of justice created in Hammurabi’s Code is what was the foundation for building up the legal systems that are in our modern societies (6). Of course, not all societies are the same or hold the same laws, but the most popular act of recording rules down was first found in Hammurabi’s code, and this act continues today across the world. It may not have been the first civilization to do so, but the laws in Hammurabi’s Code were the most popular in ancient civilization. It had a profound effect then, and its effect continues in our courts and rules in North America today.
In conclusion, in Babylonian civilization, there were few artifacts that continued their legacy into future civilizations and generations. Today, we covered three. The first is cuneiform writing, which became the baseline for the way we chose to record things in the future, and even in our English language. The second artifact was more mythical, but the profound effect of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon influenced literature and grand architecture to be as enchanting as we see it today. Lastly, was Hammurabi’s Code, which is the base for all our modern-day ways of creating and keeping law and order in our societies. These three, cuneiform writing, the Hanging Gardens, and Hammurabi’s Code are three innovations from Babylonian civilization which made its mark in history, continuing its legacy across the world to this day.
-Fatimah Bass
BIBLIOGRAPHY----
(2) Cartwright, Mark, and Martin Heemskerck. “Hanging Gardens of Babylon.” World History Encyclopedia, October 7, 2022. https://www.worldhistory.org/Hanging_Gardens_of_Babylon/.
(4) Onion, A. (2023, April 24). Code of Hammurabi: Laws & Facts | HISTORY. HISTORY. https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-middle-east/hammurabi
(5) Mark, Joshua J., and Larry Koester. “Code of Hammurabi.” World History Encyclopedia, May 15, 2024. https://www.worldhistory.org/Code_of_Hammurabi/.
(1) STELE definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary. (2024). In Collins Dictionaries. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/stele
(6) “The Avalon Project : Code of Hammurabi,” n.d. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/hamframe.asp.
(3) Trust, View All Posts by Gardens. “The Hanging Gardens of Babylon.” The Gardens Trust, December 18, 2021. https://thegardenstrust.blog/2021/01/02/the-hanging-gardens-of-babylon/.
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