Description

‘One of our greatest scholars of the ancient world . . . a remarkable feat of urban resurrection’
WILLIAM DALRYMPLE

‘Compelling and authoritative . . . an exhilarating portrait of one of the world’s greatest cities’
SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE

‘A masterpiece’
TRISTAN HUGHES
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Babylon often appears more myth than history. Purportedly the site of the Hanging Gardens and the Tower of Babel, its infamous presence in the Bible has made it a byword for sinful decadence. But Babylon was a real place teeming with life, a bustling mega-city on the Euphrates where schoolteachers, artisans, priests, slaves, prostitutes and soldiers rubbed shoulders in maze-like streets and busy marketplaces.

The city was home to some extraordinary rulers, from Hammurabi the great lawgiver to Nebuchadnezzar II, the conqueror-king, under whose reign the city glistened in gold and lapis lazuli.

In Babylon, Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones brings the city vividly to life, tracing its foundation through to its world domination, and subsequent decline, fall and ruin into dust. From ribald drinking songs to acerbic letters between rival kings, the extraordinary ancient sources help inform what is both a stunning work of scholarship and a fascinating evocation of a long-lost world.

More praise for BABYLON:

‘Engrossing and informative’ DR. ERIC H. CLINE

‘Sweeps you up and carries you off like the River Tigris itself!’ IRVING FINKEL

Publisher Review

Compelling and authoritative, this history of Babylon combines narrative flair with the latest scholarship to deliver an exhilarating portrait of one of the world’s greatest cities. * Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of JERUSALEM * An important reassessment of Babylonian civilisation, literature and science by one of our greatest scholars of the ancient world. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones achieves a remarkable feat of urban resurrection as he reanimates Babylon and shows us how far Mesopotamia’s greatest metropolis rose above its caricature as the City of Sin, the home of the Great Whore, the Antichrist and the Tower of Babel. * William Dalrymple, author of THE GOLDEN ROAD * A masterpiece worthy of the greatest city in the ancient world. * Tristan Hughes, host of THE ANCIENTS * Engrossing and informative, this is a literal “tour de force” of Babylon’s history, and of Babylonian society and culture, from its earliest beginnings to its final end. Highly recommended. * Dr. Eric H. Cline, historian and bestselling author of 1177 B.C. * This book sweeps you up and carries you off like the River Tigris itself! * Irving Finkel, British Museum *