Furthermore, the citizens, grown wealthy through commerce, benefitted from an imperial power able to protect international trade but suffered economically at the hands of disruptive tribesmen. Its citizens claimed privileges, such as exemption from forced labour, certain taxes, and imprisonment, which the Assyrians, with a similar background, were usually readier to recognize than were immigrant tribesmen. From this period to the fall of Assyria in the late 7th century bce, there was a continual struggle between Aramaean or associated Chaldean tribesmen and the Assyrians for political control of the city. Just before 1000, pressure from Aramaean immigrants from northern Syria brought administrative dislocation inside Babylon. Its political importance, together with its favourable location, made it henceforth the main commercial and administrative centre of Babylonia, while its wealth and prestige made it a target for foreign conquerors. The sixth and best-known of the Amorite dynasts, Hammurabi (1792вЂ“50 bce), conquered the surrounding city-states and raised Babylon to the capital of a kingdom comprising all of southern Mesopotamia and part of Assyria (northern Iraq). After the fall of the 3rd dynasty of Ur, under which Babylon had been a provincial centre, it became the nucleus of a small kingdom established in 1894 bce by the Amorite king Sumuabum, whose successors consolidated its status. Though traces of prehistoric settlement exist, BabylonвЂ™s development as a major city was late by Mesopotamian standards no mention of it existed before the 23rd century bce. Its extensive ruins, on the Euphrates River about 55 miles (88 km) south of Baghdad, lie near the modern town of Al-бё¤illah, Iraq. It was the capital of southern Mesopotamia ( Babylonia) from the early 2nd millennium to the early 1st millennium bce and capital of the Neo-Babylonian (Chaldean) empire in the 7th and 6th centuries bce, when it was at the height of its splendour. Contunico В© ZDF Enterprises GmbH, Mainz See all videos for this articleД«abylon, Babylonian Bab-ilu, Old Babylonian BДЃb-ilim, Hebrew Bavel or Babel, Arabic Aб№lДЃl BДЃbil, one of the most famous cities of antiquity. Overview of the ancient metropolis of Babylon, with its vast walls and (according to Herodotus) the Tower of Babel, as well as of scientists' efforts to separate truth from fiction. Britannica Explains In these videos, Britannica explains a variety of topics and answers frequently asked questions.

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Babylon map