Ancient Civilization: Babylon and Tower of Babel

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Babylon and Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel or Migdal Bavel is mentioned in the Old Testament book of Genesis. It is a lesson of human pride build based on Ziggurat model of Babylon. The immense Ziggurat completed by Nebuchadnezzar in about 590 BC. It was dismantled in 484 BC by Persian king, Xerxes after a Babylonian revolt. About 150 years later, Alexander of Macedonia cleared the ruins of the Ziggurat to rebuild it again. But it never happened. For long time, the location was lost but the outlines of huge foundations measuring 91 meters on each side could be seen.

Although the Ziggurat of Babylon was never counted as among the ancient wonders of the world but it is mentioned in Biblical stories. The construction of this tower provides the inspiration to artists of the modern days.     

Some illustrations of the tower here looks more to contemporary drawings or perhaps being drawn in the middle ages Europe. Hopefully readers who stumbled by this modest site enjoy the view. Again disclaimer, these are not my pictures but of others. They are from Christian Assyrian group of friends who happened to capture the pictures. 

We are just stating here through the posts that we, Muslims know who is our patriarch Abraham. In our "congregation", we were taught by our elders that our father Abraham, speaks in either Suryani (Assyrian) or Kaldani (Chaldean) language. Kaldan supposedly to be the designation of a group of astrologers but still they were in the Mesopotamian and Sumeria civilization. In our Glorious Quran, we are taught that father Abraham is not a Jew nor a Christian because these terms came later to refer to some groups of people. He is also not an Arab and our father, Ishmael was also not an Arab. He mingled with the Qahtanite branch Arabs and married to Arab woman. That is why we call his descents as Musta'ariba or the Arabized people. Not all Arabic speaking people are the descent of patriarch Ishmael. This is what non-Arabic speakers need to be aware of before being involved in racist talks.     

Lord, may You rectify our errors we are Your weak servants as You are the Most Knowledgeable amongst all and no one beats You in Your Wisdom. Sealed with prayers for mercy, peace and love, amin!

Ancient Civilization: Assyrian Empire and Military

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Assyrian Empire and Military

The Assyrian Empire was created and maintained through military campaign and might. Assyrian soldiers were among the best equipped soldiers of the ancient world. They were armed with the most advanced battle gear. The army was composed of a highly skilled elite corps of guards together with conscripts from subject peoples.

Assyria and Babylon

Babylon increasingly came under Assyrian control when the Assyrian Empire expanded. Because of its special status as a cultural and holy city, the Assyrian kings tried to avoid Babylon. But in 689 BC, Sannacherib sacked Babylon after four years of Babylonian rebellion. The next Assyrian King, Esarhaddon rebuilt the city again. He appointed his son, Ashurbanipal as the king of the whole Assyria and another son, Shamash-shuma-ukin as the king of Babylon. This bring peace for a while but in 652 BC, Shamash turned against his brother and starting a devastating civil war. Ashurbanipal won but Babylon suffered two years famine and siege.    

After the death of Ashurbanipal in 626 BC, a Babylonian known as Nabopolassar assumed the throne of Babylon. In 612 BC, Babylonian along with the Medes (ancient Kurds) from Western Iran destroyed the city of Nineveh. This marked the end of the Assyrian Empire and the new beginning of Babylon. 

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Ancient Civilization: Mesopotamian Artifacts

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

Mesopotamian Artifacts

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Ancient Civilization: Assyria and Mesopotamia

Assalaamu'alaikum wa rahmatullah

I have no chance to visit the Melbourne Museum in Victoria, Australia. Just saved more than 30 pictures from friends' sharing and sharing it here again on behalf of Assyrian friends. For those who love liberal arts and love to visit museums and you are in Australia, I would suggest you to visit the exhibition to see it for yourselves. I make this humble site a little bit different because I am not like other "orthodox" Muslim guys out there. 

When we talk about history or other topics we had learned such as tafseer. I personally would go and check it from sources for myself. We are talking about nature which involves beings in the universe such as human and civilizations. I prefer not to simply quoting from written books, debates or lectures by other da'ies without researches. I am from art stream as Shari'a is a part of art of life. I wish everyone would be acknowledged what kind of people we are. I could proudly say now that we, the real Shari'a stream students who were forced to accept our weaknesses to live in "modern" society are not backward and we know how to suit ourselves within academic lines besides updating information that we already have. 

Brief Detail of The Exhibition

This exhibition is a temporary exhibition begins from the 4th of May up to 7th of Oct 2012. The title for this exhibition is known as "The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia". I don't know if they collaborated with the British Museum but I think this exhibition is cool. I put it here because Mesopotamia was the first human civilization risen in the Earth and it is related to Biblical stories. Our patriarch Abraham a.s was from this civilization. Special thanks to Melbourne Museum and those who provides the pictures. These pictures are not mine, credits only for those who capture them and the Museum itself for a magnificent exhibition.

Assyria and Mesopotamia

 

What is Assyria? Assyria derives its name from the ancient city of 'Ashur on the Tigris River of Northern Iraq. It is also the name of the guardian god of the city and the Assyrian Empire. The city-state in Assyrian Empire were Ashur, Nimrod, Nineveh and Khorsabad. The objects displayed in the first section of the museum date from the time of Assyrian Empire at its height between the reign of Ashurbanipal II (883-859 BC) and Ashurbanipal (668-631 BC). 

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