Babylonia Timeline

[Sumer Timeline]

Late 3rd Millennium B.C.

Babylon exists as a city.
Shamshi-Adad I (1813 - 1781 B.C.), an Amorite, has power in northern Mesopotamia, from the Euphrates River to the Zagros Mountains.

1st Half of 18th Century B.C.

1792 - 1750 B.C.

Collapse of Shamshi-Adad's kingdom after his death. Hammurabi incorporates all of southern Mesopotamia into the kingdom of Babylon.

1749 - 1712 B.C.

Hammurabi's son Samsuiluna rules. The course of the Euphrates River shifts for unclear reasons at this time.

1595

Hittite king Mursilis I sacks Babylon. Sealand Dynasty kings appear to rule Babylonia after the Hittite raid. Almost noting is known of Babylonia for 150 years after the raid.

Kassite Period

Mid-15th Century B.C.

The non-Mesopotamian Kassites take power in Babylonia and re-establish Babylonia as the power in the southern Mesopotamian area. Kassite-controlled Babylonia lasts (with a short break) for about 3 centuries. It is a time of literature and canal building. Nippur is rebuilt.

Early 14th Century B.C.

Kurigalzu I builds Dur-Kurigalzu (Aqar Quf), near modern Baghdad probably to defend Babylonia from northern invaders. There are 4 major world powers, Egypt, Mitanni, Hittite, and Babylonia. Babylonian is the international language of diplomacy.

Mid-14th Century

Assyria emerges as a major power under Ashur-uballit I (1363 - 1328 B.C.).

1220s

Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (1243 - 1207 B.C.) atttacks Babylonia and takes the throne in 1224. Kassites eventually depose him, but damage has been done to the irrigation system.

Mid-12th Century

Elamites and Assyrians attack Babylonia. An Elamite, Kutir-Nahhunte, captures the last Kassite king, Enlil-nadin-ahi (1157 - 1155 B.C.).

1125 - 1104 B.C.

Nebuchadrezzar I rules Babylonia and retakes the statue of Marduk the Elamites had taken to Susa.

1114 - 1076 B.C.

Assyrians under Tiglathpileser I sack Babylon.

11th - 9th Centuries

Aramaean and Chaldean tribes migrate and settle in Babylonia.

Mid-9th to End of the 7th Century

Assyria increasingly dominates Babylonia.
Assyrian king Sennacherib (704 - 681 B.C.) destroys Babylon. Sennacherib's son Esarhaddon (680 - 669 B.C.) rebuilds Babylon. His son Shamash-shuma-ukin (667 - 648 B.C.), takes the Babylonian throne.
Nabopolassar (625 - 605 B.C.) gets rid of the Assyrians and then strikes against the Assyrians in a coalition with Medes in campaigns from 615 - 609.

Neo-Babylonian Empire

Nabopolassar and his son Nebuchadrezzar II (604 - 562 B.C.) rule the western part of the Assyrian Empire. Nebuchadrezzar II conquers Jerusalem in 597 and destroys it in 586.
Babylonians renovate Babylon to suit the capital city of an empire, including 3 square miles enclosed in city walls. When Nebuchadnezzar dies, his son, son-in-law, and grandson assume the throne in rapid succession. Assassins next give the throne to Nabonidus (555 - 539 B.C.).
Cyrus II (559 - 530) of Persia takes Babylonia. Babylonia is no longer independent.

Source:

James A. Armstrong "Mesopotamia" The Oxford Companion to Archaeology. Brian M. Fagan, ed., Oxford University Press 1996. Oxford University Press.