The city of Babylon was captured without a struggle.
Nabonidus, the last Babylonian king, who had been more interested in
religious problems than in defending his own country, fled.
A few days later his small son, who had remained behind, died.
Cyrus, the Persian King, buried the child with great honor and then
proclaimed himself the legitimate successor of the old rulers of
Babylonia.
Mesopotamia ceased to be an independent State.
It became a Persian province ruled by a Persian "Satrap" or Governor.
As for Babylon, when the Kings no longer used the city as their
residence it soon lost all importance and became a mere country village.
In the fourth century before Christ it enjoyed another spell of glory.
It was in the year 331 B.C. that Alexander the Great, the young Greek
who had just conquered Persia and India and Egypt and every other place,
visited the ancient city of sacred memories. He wanted to use the old
city as a background for his own newly-acquired glory. He began to
rebuild the palace and ordered that the rubbish be removed from
the temples.
Unfortunately he died quite suddenly in the Banqueting Hall of
Nebuchadnezzar and after that nothing on earth could save Babylon
from her ruin.
As soon as one of Alexander's generals, Seleucus Nicator, had perfected
the plans for a new city at the mouth of the great canal which united
the Tigris and the Euphrates, the fate of Babylon was sealed.
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