Babylon lies 90 kilometers south of Baghdad, some 10 kilometers north of Hilla. The road to Babylon branches off the main Baghdad-Hilla highway.

A legendary city in ancient history Babylon figures prominently in the Bible as well as in the writings of travelers and historians for its wealth and magnificence. Its walls and Hanging Gardens were one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

In Akkadian times, around 2350 B.C., Babylon was a small village which in five or six centauries had grown in size and importance, mostly during the reign of the Third Dynasty, until it became the capital of the famous king, law-giver and social reformer Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.). In the next thousand years or so it witnessed the growth of other Mesopotamian cities which surpassed it in power and influence until, in the 2nd Chaldean Kingdom (625-538 B.C.) it flourished again as the capital of a mighty and prosperous country. Kind Nebuchadnezzar (605-563 B.C.) rebuilt it in accordance with a new plan that took especial care of its fortifications, and Babylon thus became the largest and loveliest city of its time.

Penetrated by the Euphrates from north to south, Babylon was surrounded by a moat and a double wall: the outer wall was 16kms long, the inner, 8kms. Straight, wide streets intercrossed, all paved with bricks and bitumen. The most important was the Street of Processions, which passed through Ishtar’s Gate and ended in the Stepped Tower. The remains of this street with its bituminous paving are still there to be seen today.