History Hound Travels

I said we would discuss Babylon soon, and here we are. It’s interesting that this entry follows the one on the ancient calendar site, because the Babylonians were great astronomers, and were able to predict eclipses, and of course the first calendars were lunar based.

The two most famous kings of Ancient Babylon were Sargon and Hammurabi. Sargon is the first one that we know very much about, and he reigned about the time the pyramids were being built in Egypt. Hammurabi, of course, is remembered for his laws, and he ruled about 1750 BC.

Of course, there is no better time to mention the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. And let’s bring this back to the present by mentioning that ancient Babylon was located near what is now Baghdad, Iraq.

Technorati Tags: Babylon, Sargon, Hammurabi

Oh what a list of names! The last time I actually discussed history on this blog, we were speaking of Joseph, how he was sold into Egyptian slavery, and how the Israelites came to settle in Egypt. This occurred around 1700BC.

For points of reference, lets talk about a couple of the Egyptian Pharaohs. (Egyptians are descendants of Noah’s son Ham, by the way.) The first one we know the name of is Menes. He united upper and lower Egypt and reigned around 3100 BC. Cheops, who we associate with the Sphinx, reigned around 2900BC.

Around 1300BC, the Israelites left Egypt, led by Moses. There is some debate over who was Pharaoh at that time. One possibility is Akhenaten. He was married to Nefertiti and tried to persuade the Egyptians that there was only one God, as opposed to the multiple gods that they worshiped. He reigned from 1378 to1362 BC. Most people, however, believe that Pharaoh was Ramses the Great who reigned from 1304 to 1237.

We’ll leave Egypt and the Israelites now, and find out about what was going on in other areas. I’ll see you soon in Babylon!

Technorati Tags: Joseph, Menes, Moses, Akhenaten, Ramses the Great