Hammurabi's Conquests
"Hammurabi had realized his goal of ruling a united Mesopotamia with Babylon as its capital city. Having brought Babylon to a new level of greatness, the whole area became known as Babylonia. Proud of his achievement, Hammurabi proclaimed that Babylonia was 'supreme in the world.' He described his position and that of Babylonia as being 'as firm as those of heaven and earth.' And during his lifetime, this appeared to be true."
- Elaine Landau, The Babylonians
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In 1792 B.C.E., Hammurabi ascended to the throne as the ruler of a minor kingdom, surrounded by rival city-states that were reputed to be cunning. By carefully fortifying Babylon's defenses, creating favorable and breaking unfavorable trade agreements, and conquering his neighbors, Hammurabi finally ruled the lands stretching from modern-day Turkey to the Persian Gulf.
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An image showing Babylonia before and after Hammurabi's ascension to the throne. Hammurabi's Babylonia was 70,000 square miles.
Image courtesy of: Wikipedia.org
An image of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, 858–627 BCE
Image courtesy of: Encyclopedia Britannica
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Images courtesy of: Wikipedia.org
Video Courtesy of: Caesarfabella, Youtube.com
