History Summarized: The Fall of Babylon

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I would write a longer description, but I don't want to babble on... /Joke
Special thanks to our discord community member and Levantine Archaeology extraordinaire Jacob Khan for his assistance on the script, helping me find a few key details I missed and setting me straight where my draft had some mis-characterizations and errors. Any remaining error in the video are mine. Again, thank you Jacob!
SOURCES & Further Reading:
“Babylon” by Joan Oates from “Cities that Shaped the Ancient World” edited by John Julius Norwich - “Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization” by Paul Kriwaczek
“Hammurabi’s Babylon” from “Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations” by Kenneth W. Harl, “End of the Neo-Babylonian Empire” from “Ancient Mesopotamia: Life in the Cradle of Civilization” by Amanda H. Podany
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[@OverlySarcasticProductions]

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[@zeonianking2983]

Could you do a video on Spartacus?

[@chimera9818]

My biggest criticism would be that irl the neo Babylonian empire was so terrible and everyone contemporary thought they were awful but blue presented them has this nice place of everyone living together, also cyrus literally became so nice by growing in the world they and the median formed and decide that his empire will be different

[@TheRezro]

I have theory that odd shape of Ziggurat impacted legend, also in another way. Because it was so unevenly shaped, people looking from outside could assume that it was not finished. Because it somehow does look like half finished tower.

[@JMObyx]

I'd love to see you cover the ancient people who were subsumed and "Celtisized" by the Celtic migrations, such as the Venetii, Ligurians, and other tribes and peoples that came before them.

[@CestuiQueTrustBeneficiary-KING]

Babylon is Rome, and the Roman Empire which has been reestablished as the Second Image now by capitalized NAME Entitlement of Social Party Rank Covenants PEOPLE don't understand. Look at the incidental pledge and the capitalized NAME on YOUR Social Security Card you undersigned agreeing to be YOU. Who owns the Cards? Did YOU read the contract that goes with it? Did YOU read the International Treaties? Did YOU read the UN Charter or The Covenant of The League of Nations? What is the definition of Pledge and Chattel?

[@RanadielMarius]

"So when did Babylon fall? When the rest of the ancient world caught up to it." That is a great line.

[@animalia5554]

Is that Taoist?

[@BlackSunsxz]

i feel like every great civilization somewhat falls in that category...

[@PsiJuicu]

​@@BlackSunsxzbut there aren't direct successor states to Babylon so it applies (except Neo Babylonians)

[@TheCBoysDotCom]

@@animalia5554similar tone perhaps. As a self-described Taoist, I can see what you mean

[@long-hair-dont-care88.]

The greatest trick ever.😊

[@legomaniac213]

I think one of the reasons why Babylon lasted so long was that they knew the value of great brand recognition.

[@TheTacticalHaggis]

And didn't allow diversity or LGBT lot.

[@Jek101-g5d]

@@TheTacticalHaggis both red and blue are LGBTQIA+, so if you are being anti-LGBTQIA+ you should see yourself out.

[@boxcarz]

@@TheTacticalHaggis It says a lot that you think these ancient folk even had any concept of the bullshit dichotomies we've dug ourselves into these days.

[@Mindryon]

One of the big reasons they endured so long that Blue didn't discuss is that they understood the importance of debt forgiveness. Every once in a while, the king would just say all debts are forgiven and land is redistributed from the rich to the poor. This prevented the creation of a wealthy oligarchy that could overthrow the king and prevented the creation of generational poverty.

[@compatriot852]

The history of the fertile crescent is something that seriously needs more attention and investment into archeological efforts

[@evanohlsten7814]

Unfortunately the region is a fucking mess nowadays. Bactria is in the same boat.

[@legomaniac213]

Perhaps once the regions gets over it's nasty case of explosions, then we can go back to doing some archeology.

[@mateuszchoda5560]

Assyriology is one of the oldest, most respected nad most studied subfields of archeology (alongside Egyptology). What it lacks is a place in public consciousness, but the archeological efforts have been ongoing since the 18th century (and aren't stopping any time soon).

[@chimera9818]

Biggest problem is that besides israel it would basically mean sending people to war zone

[@atillanandorfuri3343]

Sadly, even if you look past the massive regional instability, it's very hard to do digs in historical mesopotamia. The ground between and around the two rivers is very humid, and at most places which would be archeologically significant you can't really go sufficiently deep before water starts being a problem.

[@TetsuShima]

Speaking of the roman occupation of Babylon, there's a pretty curious illustration showing the roman soldiers appreciating the remains of the once giant city. It's pretty poetic that the remains of a previous great civilization were seen by another great Empire that, nowadays, is equally extinct and ancient

[@Tophadoodledoo]

Albeit that Rome never really 'fell' in the traditional sense; it changed form (quite a few times) but never vanished entirely.

[@adrianopandolfo]

​@@Tophadoodledoountil 1453. The Turks weren't Roman, neither were the Spanish, English, French or Russian.

[@vaultdweller1386]

@@adrianopandolfo Sure but a lot of the institutions and legacy survived somewhat strongly to the point that there are roman aqueducts and roads which have been used since the empire fell. The bones of Rome were pretty thoroughly were inherited by her children, when her name is invoked the memory of legions and long lost glory come to mind. Rome has not faded in her glories, Her bones were simply bleached white.

[@JMObyx]

@@vaultdweller1386 The bones of Rome were inherited by those Germans who took over and the others, but they were cast aside and burnt by all of the Muslim invaders who came afterward, and ultimately destroyed it.

[@hirocheeto7795]

@@adrianopandolfo What it means to be "Roman" is pretty muddy and hard to define. Were the Byzantines Roman, especially in 1453? That's a rhetorical question, but after all they didn't hold the city of Rome and hadn't for a very long time, they held none of the empire's old heartlands, and, though it still used the Latin language, there is undeniably heavy Greek influence, along with the fact that it was Orthodox and not the old Roman religion. At the same time, however, you'd be hard-pressed to say that the empire *wasn't* Roman. If what it means to be Roman could change so drastically, why couldn't it still adapt even after the legal and political lineage stopped in 1453?

[@jacobwillis7596]

It’s wild how Babylon’s legacy is primarily as villains for biblical characters. Like usually if a Mesopotamian god pulls up in modern pop culture it’s a demon or eldritch horror

[@chimera9818]

Make sense if you go historically even though blue presented the second empire has great it actually really really sucked to live in that Cyrus basically decided to act nice has opposition to them and the Medina empire

[@jacobwillis7596]

@@chimera9818 yeah but I think it’s kinda funny. Rome is depicted as more mortally complex depending on the media but like…they kinda did one really bad thing in the Bible lol

[@alecchristiaen4856]

It may also tap into that bronze age eldritch horror. If a creature has a Babylonian name, it means its name was coined MILLENIA ago, giving the immediate impression that it has plagued humanity for ages. Also, Babylonian names sound nothing like ours, so their names are suitably exotic and unsettling. Case in point: the Lovecraftian god Dagon.

[@merrittanimation7721]

@@alecchristiaen4856 Interesting history with Dagon, because he was initially a god of prosperity and kingship associated with weather and grain. But medieval Jewish and Christian writers misinterpreted his name as coming from the Canaanite word for fish (it probably came from a word for grain). Which is why Lovecraft used him as an evil fish god because that's what scholars thought when he was writing. Especially when Ea/Enki was right there as a god of knowledge associated with fish and subterranean waters.

[@chimera9818]

@@jacobwillis7596first I am Jewish so I don’t view it has part of the book, second my guess is that it became thing because my people was blamed for it rather than Rome when Rome became Christian, third Rome sucked and are the reason for the diaspora

[@jinxcat90]

Babylon losing its prestige simply because of shifting power centers and changing ideals is heartbreaking.

[@chimera9818]

Not really they kinda deserved it for the mess that was the second Babylonian empire that was so bad that Cyrus became what he became has opposition to them and were hated by their contemporaries

[@animalia5554]

@@chimera9818are the two mutually exclusive?

[@cyancat8633]

Seems like Babylon is the china of the west

[@ihdiadgdhwbad1]

Yeah look at Iraq now, my dad was forced to flee, my uncles died (Iran Iraq war)

[@blackkitty420]

Heartbreaking but very human.

[@maiaharlap]

"The Tower of Babel represents Babylon's final place in history: A story in someone else's book." This line hits hard. An entire civilisation, reduced down to a fable. And this is one we have some actual context for. How many civilisations, cultures and peoples were there that history doesn't remember at all, except for vague references in stories that have drifted so much over time that we'd never have any way of knowing?

[@chimera9818]

Probably a lot considering Sumer for example aren’t tie linguistically to any other language that existed prior to it or after it so it is probably relic of far older people that we completely forgotten and has no records of

[@tonyinfinite5174]

Does Carthage count since we only have Roman accounts regarding them despite knowing the Romans TKO them

[@mosesmm5473]

Darm, that is brutal...but honest as while we have plenty of stories of events, kings and Gods from Greece, Rome, Egypt and Persians...how many do we have from Babylon? Outside the Epic of Gilgamesh, how much do we have?

[@theodoremccarthy4438]

It’s particularly poignant as The Tower of Babel is itself an allegory for how imperial hubris always fails. It’s certainly something that Babylon’s most explicit legacy is the lesson that all empires fall in time.

[@JulianLopez-rt6kp]

History is like that: it fades to myth and legend, then to story and fable, before losing itself into oblivion.

[@unitjax9507]

I love the running gag of giving Alexander different epithets each time he is referenced

[@NAATHAAN]

Alexander the Great vs Alexander *THE ALRIGHT*

[@feliperoa5821]

​@@NAATHAAN Alexander the soon to conquer Persia

[@NAATHAAN]

@@feliperoa5821 Alexander the soon to be dead

[@mirage809]

After Blue admitting to practicing some restraint in rambling about architecture while making this video I now want an entire livestream of nothing but Blue rambling on and on about architecture.

[@ThinWhiteAxe]

_yes_

[@jaybonn5973]

Oh he's done it. Multiple times. I'm sure there's a playlist of streams.

[@janpiorko3809]

Mesopotamian streak let's gooo!

[@mahman1565]

How long will it last!?

[@Punaparta]

Hope that Assyria will be next.

[@odd-ysseusdoesstuff6347]

I'm so happy for this ❤❤❤

[@chimera9818]

I think in the podcast they mentioned they want to go through Greek history to modern time so maybe they do it also for Mesopotamia to iraq

[@funghi2606]

We want go back in Italy 😂

[@falconier1118]

It is kind of strange just how little Mesopotamian culture survives - out of all the great ancient cultures, Greece, Rome, Persia, India, and China all have their direct heirs still around, Egyptian, Mesoamerican, and Andean civilizations have the Copts, Nahua and Maya, and Quechua continuing their cultural legacy, and even Phoenicia survives in like 98% of the world’s written languages. But the legacy of Mesopotamia, Sumeria, Akkadia, Babylon, is only important to historians these days…

[@mvalthegamer2450]

Because Mesopotamia was the only one to die because people didn't believe in it anymore. By the time Persia rolled in, no one really cared about Mesopotamia anymore

[@sulphuric_glue4468]

Only the Assyrians survive, though they are under active threat in their own homeland, primarily from Kurds but also Arabs. Most Assyrians live outside of Assyria because of the WW1-era genocide and continuous, often violent repression ever since then.

[@chimera9818]

Well you could argue Persia is last remnant of it (also Assyrian still exist but probably in their worst position in history ) but the main problems is that they were conquered again and again for centuries by empires that cared more for their own cultures than Mesopotamian so over time Mesopotamian culture just disappeared and people became other cultures (like Egypt the last time since antiquity they ruled themselves was when British leave and iraq was formed)

[@nikgokuhil]

We really dont have much idea about what happened to Indus Valley Civilization and its people though

[@bloodfiredrake7259]

That depends on exactly how you define 'heir' and criteria you use.

[@FuzzyStripetail]

The most addictively influential Hittites in the Assyria for Babylon was when their king understood the dangers of contagious diseases ultimately ordering his subordinates to not hang out with sick people and, most importantly, "don't touch their sh*t".

[@chimera9818]

Almost like most of this stuff aren’t new and it is modern people that like to forget it

[@Mister-Thirteen]

@@chimera9818 Sort of. Throughout history humanity has made correct observations but been either unable to explain the cause or secondary effects. The pre-Helenics theorized on the indivisible form (Atoms) but couldn't observe or explain necessary secondary phenomena (particle exchange) to counter critical observations. The same was true for contagious diseases. Many cultures noted that sickness spread via contact but could explain why the sickness would spread in some cases without direct contact. It is to or determent that we often get a deluge of incorrect theories to explain aspects of a phenomena the correct theory couldn't explain in the moment. The theory of miasma for example.

[@juliannesmith4348]

His delivery of that line took me out

[@thedarkgenious7967]

I like the fact you pointed out how Hammurabi's code, as draconian as it seems to todays sensibilities, was in fact a de-escalation from the usual generations-long-blood-feuds that led to whole clans getting wiped out over bullshit one idiot member did, and then whose families backed to the hilt, far beyond the point of sensibility.

[@cybertramon0012]

Something interesting (and hilarious) I found out about Hammurabi's code is that there's one part that said 'if no evidence could be found to support a claim or the plaintiff was found to be using false witness, the plaintiff could be executed. And given that his code wouldn't become a proper legal system until after his reign and was at the time a list of decisions he made, that means Hammurabi really did get so tired of frivolous lawsuits he actually put someone to death over it.

[@alessandrodelogu7931]

So at the end Babylon didn't fall: it crumbled bit by bit, like a biscuit, under every new domination until finally nothing was left. It seems to me an even sadder end than the spectacular destructions of Nineveh and Tenochtitlan. Your final note on the Tower of Babel really sums it up.

[@synkkamaan1331]

And that's how the cookie crumbles...

[@alessandrodelogu7931]

@@synkkamaan1331 Indeed.

[@kbye2321]

It’s like Enkidu’s death, where he said to Gilgamesh that wishes to have to died in the glory and pomp of battle instead of being slowly killed by sickness.

[@alessandrodelogu7931]

@@kbye2321 this is really a good answer.

[@kbye2321]

@@alessandrodelogu7931 I really also like the fact Babylon’s interest in Gilgamesh is the sole reason we have the whole thing today. It just absolutely perfect, just a great example of history being too poetic at times.

[@jeremy1860]

My introduction to Babylon was much the same as my introduction to Troy. A place that existed exclusively to myth and religious tales. So imagine the mind-blowing moment that ten-year-old me experienced when I discovered that those places were actually real 😅

[@StonedtotheBones13]

And just think... They had civilizations they looked back at the same way. It's kinda startlingly funny to see say the Greeks do that

[@jumpingspiderjesusfreak6219]

Wait. Is Blue just gonna talk about the dumb pyramid and ignore the real crowning piece of architecture, Babylon’s spectacular blue gates? I know he showed some pictures, but those things were awesome! They had dragons on them! I once made them out of legos! This is injustice, injustice I say!

[@Christobix]

You can actually go see the smaller of the two gates in Berlin! It was _completely reconstructed,_ along with a significant length of the processional road leading up to it (which uses the same colour and animal motifs), using as many of the original materials as could be found¹. It's housed in the Pergamon museum in Berlin. I visited this March, and standing before it really does feel awe-inspiring... Even this "small" gate looks and, especially, _feels MASSIVE_ - it's almost 15m (that's roughly 50ft, I think?) high. I _highly_ recommend it (also, there's tons of other really cool museums on the "Museum Island" in Berlin well worth a visit); BUT everyone who wants to see it needs to either hurry up or be very patient: that particular museum will close this October for _at least_ 4-5 years for extensive renovations and restoration work. PS: Apparently, the brick fragments of the larger gate are "in storage" - reconstruction of the full thing was (and is) considered impractical (and/or prohibitively expensive), which I can understand, having seen the small gate. Just the prospect of building a suitable museum hall able to house the large gate seems quite daunting. ¹The animal reliefs on the gate are almost entirely original, whereas only a relatively small fraction of the blue "background" bricks could be recovered. The remainder was filled in with replicated blue glazed bricks made using kilns special-made for that purpose, aiming for historical accuracy.

[@jumpingspiderjesusfreak6219]

@@Christobix That’s so cool!

[@Christobix]

@@jumpingspiderjesusfreak6219 By the time this was being done (early 20th century), the gates (and particularly the facades) were largely crumbled ruins, and the excavators found mostly _mere fragments_ of the blue-glazed bricks. That must've been a frustrating jigsaw puzzle where most of the pieces are missing... I suspect one (or even the major) reason that the blue background in particular contains the least original parts is that people had been finding (and removing from the site) these _lovely blue brick fragments_ for *_decades_* before anyone even knew what they were originally a part of... :( Although the newly made bricks really do quite a good job at imitating the original ones, so it doesn't really detract from the appearance of the reconstructed gate. It would just be, you know, _cooler_ if it was more of the original ones.

[@notthemusewere]

@@Christobix Been there. And, yes, amazing.

[@TetsuShima]

6:25 For those interested in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians, there is a tv-movie from the late 90's called "Jeremiah", which tells the desperate attempts of the prophet (played by Patrick Dempsey) to prevent the destruction of the city. The special appearance in the film by Klaus Maria Brandauer as Nebuchadnezzar II (by far the best depiction of the king) and Oliver Reed really make it enjoyable

[@Samthane]

I remember watching this back in high school. I didn't know the movie was that old. :O

[@berilsevvalbekret772]

Jerusalem wasn't that important until 11-13th centuries. 😂

[@LincolnDWard]

@@berilsevvalbekret772 To whom? To Europe? 'cause it was certainly important to the people who lived there!

[@jlev1028]

​@@berilsevvalbekret772Have you read a book before?

[@AnArtistDoesThings]

We need an episode where Blue just rants about architecture. Seriously. I think he would love to have that chance.

[@abdoaboueid8151]

I LIVE for OSP's thrashing of Alexander. "The-Gone from our empires but not from our hearts" might be my new favourite!

[@TetsuShima]

Babylon may have fallen thousands of years ago, but the legacy that this beautiful city left us is simply UNFORGETTABLE. Even when the world ends, we'll still hum "By the Rivers of Babylon" while we do our homework.

[@chimera9818]

I think isis destroyed some of its ruins so we did lost some of what still existed

[@colinmerritt7645]

If the world ends, homework canceled

[@valdonchev7296]

I absolutely agree with you, that blue gate at 5:45 is making me feel some kind of way. It has the imposing shape of a castle wall, but the color pallet of a smurf as opposed to the grey or brown I'm used to. Must have been a beautiful sight to walk past during your daily commute.

[@Christobix]

You can actually go see the smaller of the two gates in Berlin! It was _completely reconstructed,_ along with a significant length of the processional road leading up to it (which uses the same colour and animal motifs), using as many of the original materials as could be found¹. It's housed in the Pergamon museum in Berlin. I visited this March, and standing before it really does feel awe-inspiring... Even this "small" gate looks and, especially, _feels MASSIVE_ - it's almost 15m (that's roughly 50ft, I think?) high. I _highly_ recommend it (also, there's tons of other really cool museums on the "Museum Island" in Berlin well worth a visit); BUT everyone who wants to see it needs to either hurry up or be very patient: that particular museum will close this October for _at least_ 4-5 years for extensive renovations and restoration work. PS: Apparently, the brick fragments of the larger gate are "in storage" - reconstruction of the full thing was (and is) considered impractical (and/or prohibitively expensive), which I can understand, having seen the small gate. Just the prospect of building a suitable museum hall able to house the large gate seems quite daunting. ¹The animal reliefs on the gate are almost entirely original, whereas only a relatively small fraction of the blue "background" bricks could be recovered. The remainder was filled in with replicated blue glazed bricks made using kilns special-made for that purpose, aiming for historical accuracy.

[@Loreweavver]

Watching your progress from a Romantic to one who continues to be fascinated by the broader history has been a pleasant ride. I'm looking forward to the inevitable point where your history studies becomes social and psychological studies and I get to watch your summaries of Jung.

[@rodneysmith873]

Jungian psychology is bunk

[@Loreweavver]

@@rodneysmith873 at the very least it goes into history makers

[@rodneysmith873]

@@Loreweavver sure

[@Amanda-C.]

Your delight would be my horror. There are so many other ways to analyze psychology and society without relying on Jung, and you get so much more interesting results from it, too. Applying Jung to psychology is like applying Campbell's monomyth to anthropology. You end up cutting off or ignoring interesting bits because you're too busy trying to tie everything back into the great, universal story that's supposed to explain everything.

[@rodneysmith873]

@@Amanda-C. I agree. So many people I know are SO INVESTED in the Monmouth thing and they also buy into a ton of other magic woo-woo nonsense.

[@septuagint497]

As someone who is Chaldean (descended from the people of the ancient near East), seeing people talk about our very underrated ancient history makes me incredibly happy. Keep it up! ❤️

[@queerlyvictorian]

Rome: And you are… Babylon: You’ll find out. Someday… METAL. OMINOUS. NO NOTES.

[@darkhorsedouglas4789]

The fact that we lost the tower of babel because Alexander knocked it down but didnt order anyone to get on rebuilding it before he died is honestly infuriating. At least solomons temple was lost in the sacking of the city. Babylon's mega structure survived multiple conquests and was lost the way we lost the original epcot. The creator dies and no one else is skilled enough to complete the vision.

[@StonedtotheBones13]

Tale as old as time it seems

[@a.d.t.mapping]

Fun little anecdote, the later king Seleucus contemplated rebuilding it but after tripping on a brick from the disassembly, he swore to never let anyone rebuild it

[@XXMatt0040XX]

3:00 I'm so glad that was mentioned. Historically the code's been twisted (by both translation and time) but it's less of a "How much" and more of a "No more than" code. Hammurabi's code was what could be the *peak* of punishment, not the default, *only* punishment. So Eye for an Eye can be thought of as "No more than an eye for an eye."

[@thomasrogers8239]

I didn't know that

[@me0101001000]

"When did Babylon fall? When the rest of ancient history caught up with it" That describes the development of a gifted kid, tbh

[@pendragon2012]

Babylon is definitely a very interesting empire. Interestingly, for those of a Biblical mindset, the civilizations we laud as heroes in world history are the villains gallery of the Bible: Babylon, Assyria, Greece, Rome. Persia gets a somewhat nice mention. Nice job on the video!

[@sync9847]

It's ironic because it was the Greeks and Romans that eventually fully embraced Christianity, with most of the Gospels and early churches being located in the Hellenic provinces of the Eastern Mediterranean. On the other hand the Sassanid Persians would end up oppressing the Nestorian Christians in Armenia and Mesopotamia.

[@pendragon2012]

@@sync9847 Very true. After Cyrus, later rulers were much less tolerant.

[@matthewmuir8884]

Describing them as the "villains gallery" is a bit of an oversimplification, as in the Old Testament, Babylon conquering Judah was punishment by God for the Kings of Judah turning away from God and leading the people to worship other nations' pantheons, and the New Testament is almost indifferent to Rome, with Paul and the Apostles using Rome's many trade routes to travel to many places and spread Early Christianity. Of course, most of these empires are not described kindly by the Bible because they behaved as empires typically do to those they conquered, and those that they conquered included Israel and Judah. Persia gets a nice mention because Cyrus was benevolent toward those he conquered, granted freedom of religion, and allowed the Israelites to return to Israel and rebuild the temple.

[@jonathanUnderscore]

In fairness, Israel is portrayed as villainous a lot there too

[@Rukdug]

@@matthewmuir8884 Rome's also treated very, very nicely by the writers of Maccabees since they did kind of help the Maccabean state on the economic and diplomatic side. People in the mediterranean area in second and first century BCE think twice about attacking you when the Roman Republic both recognizes your independence and declares you a friend.

[@trishapellis]

I love Blue's commitment to finding Alexander The Pretty Alright a new epithet for every time he mentions him across ALL videos.

[@Anglomachian]

I’m glad you included the Kassites. They ruled as a second Babylonian empire for 500 years, outperforming the OG and Neo-Babylonian empires by centuries. It always kind of bugs me when people don’t count them

[@silvat1193]

Karduniash is severely underrated

[@katmannsson]

as someone with an autistic special interest in Mesopotamian History, people say Babylonian Empire and my brain instantly thinks of the Kassites, for what ever that may be worth.

[@billywarren007]

Hey want to see Babylonia fall?…. Want to see it fall again?

[@scripsiabiete]

This is the best video to get on my Birthday!!! Thank you Blue and Red for this wonderful channel, I love everything you guys make.

[@haroldearlgray5629]

My condolences to all the Babylonian homies hope y'all and your families recover.

[@nroke1684]

I mean, when every abrahamic religion considers you a symbol of evil... You are probably going to be mostly ignored.

[@seadrona613]

“i can’t articulate why” - blue, not realizing he wishes there were more domes lol 6:17

[@roarytheromanarcanine]

How tragic it is that the poem of Ozymandias applies to so many civilizations.

[@IDontKnowWhatImDoingWithLife]

It's been a while since I watched this channel, I forgot how much I love these videos

[@Beryllahawk]

This was a wonderfully explained video, really. It IS fascinating to understand that Babylon kind of didn't die, just faded away. Nice to learn a little more about the Babylonian kings that do figure into certain parts of the Bible too. Back in the day I took two courses in "bible studies" (meaning, Old Testament and New Testament; I was at a Southern Baptist college) - but I was lucky enough to have an amazing professor who was a Real Archaeologist. (Which is to say he spent nearly every summer in the Holy Land on digs and expeditions and so on.) He had a fantastic sense of humor too, and was able to really make the HISTORY part of the Bible into something interesting and damn near tangible. No teaching of dogma in Dr Browning's class, we read Justinian and learned little factoids about the peculiarities of Hebrew, and covered Nebuchadnezzar II not only during the parts where he "shows up" but the context of his reign and how it impacted the stories that later became the Old Testament. This was just as much fun and just as fascinating as his lectures. VERY well done!!!

[@thanatoast]

There's something to be said about God punishing the Babylonians by making them speak completely different languages and tearing their civilization apart in the process and Babylon being left in the dust as foreigners with different languages and cultures took over.

[@kovarcoley8418]

Sounds like America

[@herickbrandelero2293]

Thats Babel not Babylon

[@ding1466]

The Tower of Babel was before Babylon existed. Babel is just an old Hebrew verb for confuse.

[@chimera9818]

3:00 eye for an eye does mean the maximum and is the main belief about this line in the Tanakh (it basically means that maximum you can take from someone is what was taken from you)

[@chimera9818]

That might not sounds good today but at the time was revolutionary

[@bbh6212]

In the Talmud it's reinterpreted as the fine for damages but equal the value lost.

[@chimera9818]

@@bbh6212basically, most modern people act like it was minimum while contemporary and Jews know it mean maximum

[@colinmerritt7645]

Remember as harsh as the Code seems by modern standards, it's the first time we know of anyone thought to WRITE THIS STUFF DOWN. Don't like eye for an eye? How about an eye for yout life and those of everyone you ever loved.

[@bbh6212]

@@chimera9818 yep

[@gormauslander]

It was glossed over, but I think it's neat that the phrase "eye for an eye" _came_ from Babylon. That's how old it is. Literally one of the first human laws

[@ekrenz5268]

It’s always a good day when Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s Art is shown

[@masterxl97]

If I recall correctly, Babylon’s most recent Fall actually occurred last year and was produced by Platinum Games. Unfortunately, it was a colossal failure both critically and commercially, so I don’t think Babylon will be falling again anytime soon.

[@SpiderwebIntheCorner]

I love how this contrasts with other empires' "falls." The use of fall seems to imply some grand defeat, going out in a great battle or massacre or sack, like with Rome or the Aztecs. But with Babylon, a civilization seen as so great and mighty by every nation around it for centuries, it died or fell simply because people stopped caring. Babylon's last words weren't a cry of a warrior, but a whimper of a ghost all but forgotten, and I find that very poetic.

[@BestSibblingsEver]

This is the first time I have heard it called “humble little Babylon” you make really good videos lol

[@evangrey8179]

I adore this channel so much and its continued production of high quality analyses is a gift to all of us who never wanted to stop learning.

[@CatherineKimport]

Glad this isn't being posted on Twitter because you know that the letter at 3:52 would summon a legion of bluechecks pointing to it and claiming that Babylon fell because its kings went 'woke.'

[@nelsondestefano4150]

“Babylon’s final place in history: a story in someone else’s book” is such a whammer of a line

[@AMoniqueOcampo]

"Babylon has fallen! Babylon the great!" Interesting that the author of Revelations wrote this CENTURIES after Babylon was officially gone.

[@FunnyFany]

At that point the name "Babylon" had become a symbol of oppressive powers to the people who knew the history of the Hebrews. The text is meant to be taken as the oppressors being taken down by the power of God.

[@togerboy5396]

In my religion Babylon in revelation refers to false religion as a whole because of how accepting Babylon was of having other peoples religions. So when it says Babylon has fallen, it’s a prophecy regarding the end of religion.

[@elenazopes8665]

I love your pins 💗 I have never clocked faster in my life to get the Taurus pin. I already preordered Gil-Enki 😊

[@ValeBridges]

8:55 When I heard "mantle" my TES lore brain rot activated and now I'm imagining Babylon as Lorkhan and the Neo-Babylonians as Talos

[@Aury]

I hope that I am not the only aspiring author making notes rn, thank you for keeping the spark of interest in history alive in me!

[@kevinodom8708]

Thank you! I regularly write in immortals in my story, and it was only a matter of time before I forged a character that watched Babylon fall😊

[@TriXJester]

My love of OSP pins is warring with the personal grudge I have for Gilgamesh. Played a ttrpg that was a mythological superhero setting, and Gilgamesh trigger the activation of my character's power but literally stabbing me in the heart, he also stole my wallet which seemed like overkill.

[@merrittanimation7721]

Sounds like something the mythological Gilgamesh would do

[@starsgears9200]

Etemenanki doesn't do it for Blue because the lack of entasis makes it insufficiently like a dome.

[@David-dz1cb]

Fantastic stuff, Hammurabi's Law Codes and general rule fascinated me in college and I'm happy that more folks are learning about him!

[@blazerer2424]

1) loving the topic itself and the presentation as always, A+ stuff 2) Is that Jocat I hear smiting in the distance?

[@daminer1988]

I thought I heard that too, glad I’m not going crazy!

[@IbexWatcher]

I am LOVING the current OSP Mesopotamian streak! Please give us more

[@jacobparry177]

Ever since the Fall of Civilization Podcast did their installments on Sumer and Assyria, I've been obsessed with the truly ancient history of Mesopotamia. But it always feels so hazy because of how staggeringly old its societies were. That being said, I feel like Blue and Red have done pretty good jobs at sumerizing it all so far, whilst still adding information I had no idea about, so, woo

[@MrAlexSan00]

Good timing from y’all. I literally just saw the Ishtar gate in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. What an amazing and beautiful piece of art and construction!

[@kid14346]

This all is fitting really well into my theory that Genesis and Exodus were written during the 2nd Temple Period. Similar myths to the prominent Babylonian religion of the time, the tower of Babel is basically saying how the tower of human strength has fallen and its people been scattered to a new language, and how the Hebrews were forced to live in exile in Babylon until the Persians conquered it and let them have a mass EXODUS. It makes so much more sense that the first two books of the Bible are Founders Myths based on shared cultural struggles/memories similar to how Romulus and Remus's story is for something like Rome.

[@Tempest2005]

Blue's disdain and increasingly hilarious names for Alexander the All Right is one of the best running jokes.

[@seraphi3387]

The reason why Blue was not the biggest fan of Etemenanki's shape structure: IT HAD NO DOME!!! 😱😱😱

[@TetsuShima]

Nebuchadnezzar II: *Goes completely crazy, behaving literally like a animal* Babylonians: "What could have happened to him?! Yesterday, he was fine!" Jews: "God's wrath punished him for destroying Jerusalem. That is the only reason why..." *The previous night* Nebuchadnezzar II: "Those Jews think that their supposedly omnipotent God scares me. How deluded. HAHAHAHA. Well, let's see what's on TV tonight. The Kardashians? I've never heard of that show. Maybe it's entertaining... "

[@Rukdug]

IIRC, there's actually some theories that Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus were put together in folklore, and that the episode in question based on Nabonidus's many years long self-imposed exile from his own capital (leaving his son as regent) which actually did spawn some legends of him going completely insane and acting like an animal.

[@starblade8719]

Curious considering this channel started my interest in history and mythology, but is there ever gonna be a video, Blue or Red, on Goryeo/Silla/Korea? It has a fascinating history and plenty of jokes to make about how many times they use the same name for different parts of their history?

[@Gabriel-eq9tx]

2:15 hamurabi himself has so many cool things that is worth a video just about him, the guy was a monster when it came to ruling

[@nawarb.4226]

There's something always so tragic about the fall of a great civilization

[@Germ_f]

I've been watching your videos for some time now and I decided to subscribe. I love the way you guys make a simple and clear explanation of topics.

[@purplehaze2358]

Considering this video was uploaded _right after_ the Epic of Gilgamesh video, I can't help but wonder if the process of creating one ended up reminding the OSP crew to make the other.

[@ankoku37]

You're right about the bottom layer. It needs to be either shorter to make the whole thing more like a pyramid or taller to make the whole thing more like a tower.

[@RoonMian]

Hey Blue. If you actually want to see the Ishtar Gate you gotta hurry. The Pergamon Museum in Berlin will close in October for renovations and those renovations are gonna take a looooong time, planned are 10 years. This would be a great opportunity to return the original Ishtar Gate and Pergamon Altar to their native lands (especially since the reproductions are much more impressive anyway and what regular people actually want to see) but you know how museums are. 😒

[@martijnvanweele6204]

*Blue:* People don't talk about the fall of Babylon enough... *Blue:* ... *Blue:* Wait a minute, I am people! Thus concludes my headcanon for the making of this video.

[@Artista_Frustrado]

refering to Greg & Enkidu as "best friends" Blue is a certified historian 🤣

[@kraigthorne3549]

5:45 Seeing as how the story of the Tower of Babel is over 2,000 years older than the temple of Etemenanki, I think he is wrong.

[@OmegaOtouto]

love how blue is still referring to that alex guy as anything but "great"

[@Rukdug]

"So when did Babylon fall? When the rest of the ancient world caught up to it." That gave me CHILLS

[@reidwolf8440]

As someone who really likes the history of Mesopotamia, I have very much enjoyed these past three videos. I would like to possibly request one on Assyria as well, given their own importance when studying the broader history of ancient Mesopotamia. In any case, good video!

[@ftwkh85]

makes sense that we forget its fall. It sounds like a slow and complicated decline into entropy rather than the sacking of rome which is easy to make sound simple and explosive

[@tamllinn]

A bit surprised that the problem Blue has with Etemenanki has nothing to do with the fact that it clearly lacks a DOME!

[@jakobraahauge7299]

You keep outdoing yourselves - I think this is one of my favourite vids of yours! But I would honestly love a "very impressive, but this is why I find the Etemenanki visually challenging" I mean... it would make for a great rant some day you find yourself behind schedule - and I would love to hear Red go absolutely ham. on this! Between the two of you - you make having brains show what having intellectual brawn is all about!

[@exbronco]

Isaiah in the Old Testament warns Israel to shape up or Babylon will conquer it. Jeremiah warns Judah to shape up or Babylon will conquer it. Micah warns Israel to shape up or Babylon will conquer it. The Jews's time period in Babylon (70 years) is called the Captivity. Ezekiel takes place during the Captivity. a little bible lesson for you.

[@Campfire_Bandit]

I would watch ancient history summarized every week! Any chance you could do a video on the significance of Xenophon, and especially the cultural significance of Anabasis?

[@uria3679]

Who hopes Red talks about the Myth where Hera gets beaten up by a Spartan Queen, the Myth about the Chinese Femboy defeating the four dragons, or the myth where a Aztec god was tricked into sleeping with their sister

[@colinmerritt7645]

I don't 😊

[@evershumor1302]

I like how hammurabi even centralized the epic of Gilgamesh. Thats some hard core centralization efforts.

[@vowgallant4049]

The mesopotamian city states are my favorite. I wish we knew more about them, and I wish they were presented as a setting in media more often!

[@Hallows4]

My favorite scene in Oliver Stone’s “Alexander” has always been the entry to Babylon. While in retrospect the film has its own issues, the music and pageantry in that scene were spot-on!

[@biggestnoob4704]

Whenever you get the chance, could you do a video on the Pied Piper? Apparently the events actually happened in the fairytale. We even have a date when the Pied Piper took Hamelin's children: 26th of June, 1284, if rumors are correct.

[@shortc1rcuit749]

"The Babylonian civilization literally invented trigonometry-" Instantly the worst civilization.

[@RichMitch]

Surely the Zhou was the first civilization to outlast its own fall through vibes?

[@chewxieyang4677]

The Zhou didn't exactly fall, but more so that they were succeeded by later dynasties. They are ultimately part of the Chinese civilization, as a whole.

[@DukeDukeGo]

0:48 Love that this picture of the hanging gardens is on a thing of meat extract

[@chefboyardee2223]

I don't think I'd trust any meat extracted from Babylon

[@MakeBreezyCringe]

I don't remember covering mesopotamia in history class which is weird! Thankfully we have blue!

[@bbh6212]

9:31 Blue, hey Blue. I see you put Judah on your lost of favorite civilizations. Maybe do a video on it? Please?

[@angela_merkeI]

Just as I finish making my Sumerian beer. Thanks to you and praise to Ninkasi.

[@BJGvideos]

How does Sumerian beer differ from other ancient beer?

[@lawman592]

For starters, it doesn't have any hops. Of course, other ancient beer didn't have hops either since it didn't start becoming an ingredient until around 800 A.D.

[@BJGvideos]

@@lawman592 Oh interesting! Barley then?

[@angela_merkeI]

@@BJGvideos Yes. The recipe I use uses water, barley, dates, yeast, and spices.

[@BJGvideos]

@@angela_merkeI Oh neat! What spices? Was there a lot of variation in that era?

[@NobleWolf]

I really like this repeating notion in history that people from far off lands hear legends of " fill in the blank " go there, and either not realize its the place or were expecting a lot more.

[@someguy2967]

🎶 *By the rivers of Babylon* 🎶

[@FunnyFany]

🎶There we sat down🎵

[@cabsmih7897]

I’ve been waiting for this one since the video on ancient Mesopotamia, THANK YALL SO MUCH!

[@sunrisesparkle6363]

2:37 To be fair, Chamuraphi laws are probably one of the most overrated in history because they are all playground tier in complexity. And in reality even the other contemporary "Empires" and Kingdoms have more interesting law codes.

[@rhydsnow851]

Just watched the Ziggurat of Ur vid this morning, how lucky am I to see this one next!

[@joanderson6880]

Ancient Mesopotamia was the first of the ancient civilization I was taught about in elementary, and then I got to high school and university and suddenly no one talked about Mesopotamia, so I am so here for the recent kick of Mesopotamia videos from you guys