What was it like to live in Old Babylon?

National Geographic

3 days ago

At its peak, the Old Babylonian Empire rose to be one of the biggest civilizations the world had seen–but what was daily life like? Along with the pioneering legal code of Hammurabi, a wealth of tablets provide rich details on how Babylonians settled disputes, managed family life, and celebrated festivals. MIGHTY BABYLON This rendering of Babylon is dominated by the Etemenanki ziggurat as it would have looked during the sixth century B.C. Believed by some to be the Tower of Babel described in the Bible, the ziggurat had been rebuilt many times over the centuries. The original structure was first built in the 18th century B.C., during the time of King Hammurabi who laid the foundation of Babylon's future greatness. JEAN-CLAUDE GOLVIN, MUSEUM OF ANCIENT ARLES
The city of Babylon, flanking the Euphrates River in Lower Mesopotamia, reached the zenith of its early age during the reign of King Hammurabi (r.1792-1750 B.C.). Under his rule, the capital of the Babylonian empire was consolidated as a cosmopolitan hub, attracting migrants from across the region. The Empire as a whole had been gaining power and prestige during the Old Babylonian Empire (1894–1595 B.C.), but Hammurabi went on to take over large swaths of territory in Mesopotamia, conquering far flung cities such as Ur, Eshnunna, Assur, Nineveh, and Tuttul. As Hammurabi's reach extended, much of the kingdom flourished—culturally, economically, socially, and in religion— especially in the capital, Babylon. A PRAYER FOR THE KING Made in the 18th century B.C., this copper statuette of a praying figure is dedicated to the god Amurru. An inscription pleads for the protection of Hammurabi, king of Babylon. Daily life, family, and divorce
The thousands of cuneiform texts that survive from this time provide fascinating glimpses into the lives of Babylonians. They record the exploits of kings, military clashes, diplomatic embassies, and legal codes. They also offer tantalizing insights into the everyday lives of the people of Mesopotamia: their regular chores, what worried them, how they thought about family, and what they bought and sold. These surprisingly detailed documents, many in the form of clay tablets, show that almost 4,000 years ago Babylonian society was not so different from our own.
The family was the center point around which the whole community was structured. The typical house where a Babylonian family lived had two or three rooms, sometimes more, which were built around an open courtyard. Some rooms must have been used as bedrooms, but there's evidence to suggest that others served as workshops or stores. The wealthiest homes had extra amenities, such as bathrooms, rooms with metal security systems for guarding precious objects, and rooms that could serve as religious sanctuaries. SEAL OF THE GODS This seal was made around the time of Hammurabi of Babylon's reign in the early second millennium B.C.
Families in Babylon were generally based on a monogamous marriage. Polygamy was allowed by law but only in specific situations; for example, if the first wife didn't produce a child or in cases such as a merchant who resided in another town for a long time and contracted a second marriage there. Sometimes the marriage agreement—known as rikistu in Akkadian, a word that also applied to other types of contracts—was made in writing, stipulating details such as the dowry the bride's family should offer. In this society, marriage did not have to be forever, and could be revoked through divorce. Engagements could also be broken off in the betrothal phase. Several Babylonian texts show how these breakups were carried out. In the language of the day it was called 'cutting the hem.'
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In one text from the 18th century B.C., a man called Aham-nirši wants to dissolve his upcoming marriage. The text reads as follows: 'In the presence of these witnesses, they questioned Aham-nirši: 'Is this woman (still to be considered) your wife?' He declared: '(You can) hang me on a peg, yea dismember me—I will not stay married (to her)!' Thus he said. They questioned his wife and she answered: 'I (still) love my husband.' Thus she answered. He, however, refused. He knotted up her hem and cut it off.' IMPOSING LAW This stela, inscribed with 282 laws, contains the legal code promulgated by Hammurabi, king of Babylon. The relief above the text depicts Hammurabi standing before the god of justice, Shamash. Louvre Museum, Paris. THE CODE OF HAMMURABI, inscribed on a stela originally placed in the temple of Marduk in Babylon in the 18th century B.C., is the most iconic legal compendium from Mesopotamia. In the prologue, the king justifies his role as lawmaker:
When Anu . . . and Bel . . . assigned to Marduk . . . dominion over earthly man, and made him great . . . they called Babylon by his illustrious name, made it great on earth, and founded an everlasting kingdom in it, whose foundations are laid so solidly as those of heaven and earth; then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi . . . to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evildoers, so that the strong should not harm the weak. Adoption and heirs
Having children was seen as the fundamental objective of marriage, and there were protocols if a couple could not have children for any reason. They were conscious that the womb played an essential role in reproduction. The Babylonian epic called Atrahasis, about the creation of humans and the Great Flood, includes the line 'the womb was open and making babies.' Medicinal texts have survived that show the Babylonians used certain herbs, amulets, or even magical arts to try to overcome sterility. ROYAL JUSTICE A supplicant pleads before King Hammurabi of Babylon, who sits enthroned. This 20th-century illustration is by Robert Thom.
Couples without biological children also had the possibility of adopting one, either as a baby, an older child, or a teenager. The phenomenon of adoption must have been relatively common, given the large number of texts on adoption that endured. By means of this act, a bond of legal filiation was created between adopter and adoptee, analogous to biological filiation. One text states that: 'Yasirum and Ama-Suen have taken as their son a suckling baby, called Ili-awili, the son of Ayartum, from Ayartum, his mother, and Erištum, her husband.' There were many reasons to carry out an adoption: to obtain an heir, or an apprentice, or a person to take care of the adoptive parents in old age. Having someone to take care of funeral rites was another reason for couples to adopt. As for the adoptee, they might gain by inheriting an estate, learning a trade or, in the case of young children, being raised from infancy. Adoptions in which a child became an apprentice to their adoptive father is attested to in numerous documents. A street in ancient Babylon reimagined in a late 20th-century painting by Balage Balogh. BALAGE BALOGH/ SCALA, FLORENCE EVIDENCE ON HOW various Mesopotamians regarded abortion produces a mixed picture. One surviving medical text from the region seems to accept the practice, giving instructions for how a termination should be performed. It is addressed to: 'A pregnant woman, so that her fruit [the fetus] is expelled.' It goes on to list eight plants that should be crushed, mixed with wine and drunk on an empty stomach. However, the Middle Assyrian Laws, from the 14th century B.C., establish a terrible punishment for any woman who makes the decision to abort: 'If a woman aborts her fetus by her own action and they then prove the charges against her and find her guilty, they shall impale her, they shall not bury her. If she dies as a result of aborting her fetus, they shall impale her, they shall not bury her.'
For example, a tablet dating to the 15th century B.C. and found in Nuzi, a city in northern Mesopotamia, reads: 'Huitilla, son of Warteya, has given his son Naniya in adoption to Tirwiya, servant of Enna-mati. Tirwiya shall provide Naniya with a wife and train him in the weaver's trade . . . If Tirwiya fails to train Naniya in the weaver's trade, Huitilla may in such circumstances take back his son Naniya.' Lithuania's timeless city Artisans and merchants
It was normal in Babylon for young men to be trained in a trade at home, usually following in the footsteps of their father. There are dozens of certified cases of scribes, priests, and craftsmen who passed their profession down several generations. On other occasions, and by means of an apprenticeship contract, a recognized professional took on an apprentice in order to train them, as in the previous example where the weaver Tirwiya took on Naniya as both apprentice and adoptive son.
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The Babylonians valued craftsmanship. In the region of Sumer (in Lower Mesopotamia, in southern Iraq), most of the craftsmen and merchants were linked to the institutions of the palace and the temple. By contrast, in King Hammurabi's Babylon, there's evidence of many of these individuals working privately. Archaeologists have retrieved thousands of clay tablets that record deliveries (usually of barley) being made to specific individuals and often indicating their profession. For example, the tablets mention gardeners, blacksmiths, bakers, and builders. Many people, generally women, children, and enslaved people, worked in trades related to the textile industry, such as weaving, carding (disentangling and preparing fibers), or fulling (cleansing and increasing a woven cloth's thickness). The goods they produced were sold throughout Mesopotamia by merchants following well-established trading routes. Improved infrastructure and irrigation, trade, and later, military expansion all contributed to providing the empire with wealth. OFFERINGS This engraved tablet from Babylon shows gods and people making offerings. 18th century B.C., Louvre, Paris.
The strength of Babylonian society came from numerous aspects, including its centralized government, diplomacy, and laws. The Code of Hammurabi—282 laws spread throughout the empire—established a legal system, social order, economic rules, laws for women, punishments, and more. There was no shortage of occasions to resort to justice. These could be disputes over property, inheritance conflicts, theft, or divorce. Judges were respected for their in-depth knowledge of the legal codes and of the appropriate punishments for breaking those codes. Several judges could be present at a trial; in fact, the more judges there were, the greater the sense of legitimacy for the parties involved. All trials were conducted pro se, with the litigants representing themselves; professional lawyers didn't exist in Babylonia.
Lawsuits over serious cases were dealt with by judges linked to the monarchy. A document from the 18th century B.C. records how three people who sued a woman named Sumu-la-ilu over the ownership of a house and orchards had their case heard by the king himself. 'They came before the king for litigation. The king [judged] the case of the woman Sumu-la-ilu. Henceforth, whoever [shall bring] a lawsuit shall pay 200 [shekels] of silver.'
(The ancient empire that civilization forgot) Lovers of leisure
Entertainment would have been a fundamental part of daily life for ancient Babylonians. There's evidence that they played instruments, such as the flute, and practiced dance. In addition to musicians and dancers, there were other professional entertainers, including singers, snake charmers, acrobats, and bear handlers.
They played games too, one of the most popular being dice for which they used the cube-shaped ankle bones of animals. These dice could also be used to predict the future when thrown on clay tablets marked with signs of the zodiac. RELAXING IN BABYLON A wealthy Babylonian family in the garden of their mansion, as depicted in a 20th-century illustration.
The Babylonians took part in religious festivals and processions, including the Akitu, or New Year's festival, which held great importance. This festival celebrated Marduk, primary deity of the Babylonian pantheon and commemorated his victory over the goddess Tiamat. The Akitu was a moment to unite heaven and earth, rich and poor, gods and ordinary people. This societal foundation laid in the old empire paved the way for Babylon to become a jewel of the ancient world. A detail from an illustration of a relief at Nimrud depicting the god Marduk as a dragon. Ninth century B.C., Louvre Museum, Paris. BABYLON'S NEW YEAR'S festival, Akitu, had its roots in an ancient ritual from the third millennium B.C. related to barley. It took place around March and April. A key moment came when the Enuma Elish creation epic was read aloud in the House of the New Year, situated north of Babylon. This ancient text tells how the god Marduk took the body of his enemy, the goddess Tiamat, and split it in two to create the heavens and the earth. A statue of Nabû, son of the supreme god Marduk, was brought from the nearby city of Borsippa; later all the ritual statues were paraded before the joyous populace. The festival was observed in the region for over a millennium, until as late as the third century A.D. This story appeared in the July/August 2025 issue of National Geographic History magazine.