Babylon was one of the first great cities of the ancient world,long before
the Greek city-states. It was settled in prehistoric times,becoming a city and mentioned in documents late in the third millenium B.C.
It was the capital of Babylonia during the first and second millenniums B.C. and remained an important and powerful city until 539 B.C.,when it was captured by the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great.
Babylon's importance as a city declined after the founding of Seleucia
in the third century B.C. by Alexander the Great's successors.
Babylon was the site of the Hanging Gardens,one of the ancient world's
Seven Wonders. The Babylonians invented advanced mathematics long before the Greeks,as well as the aqueduct and they were the first
to make iron commonly used in their armor and weapons.
