- Belshazzar
Belshazzar (or "Baltasar"; Akkadian "Bel-sarra-usur") was a prince of Babylon, the son of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon. In the "Book of Daniel" (chapters 5 and 8) of the Jewish Tanakh or Christian Old Testament, Belshazzar is the King of Babylon before the advent of the Medes and Persians.
- Hammurabi
Hammurabi (Akkadian from Amorite "ˤAmmurāpi", "the kinsman is a healer," from "ˤAmmu", "paternal kinsman," and "Rāpi", "healer"; c. 1810 BCE - 1750 BCE), was the sixth king of Babylon. He became the first king of the Babylonian Empire, extending Babylon's control over Mesopotamia by winning a series of wars against neighboring kingdoms. Hammurabi is known for the set of laws called Hammurabi's Code, …
- Sargon Of Akkad
Sargon of Akkad, also known as Sargon the Great, was an Akkadian king famous for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 24th and 23rd centuries BC. The founder of the Dynasty of Akkad, Sargon reigned for 56 years, c. 2334 BC–2279 BC (short chronology). He became a prominent member of the royal court of Kish, ultimately overthrowing its king before embarking on the conquest of Mesopotamia.
- Shalmaneser V
Shalmaneser V (Akkadian: "Shulmanu-asharid") was king of Assyria from 727 to 722 BC. He first appears as governor of Zimirra in Phoenicia in the reign of his father, Tiglath-Pileser III. On the death of Tiglath-Pileser, he succeeded to the throne of Assyria on the 25th day of Tebet 727 BC, and changed his original name of Ululayu to "Shalmaneser".
- Hipparchus
Hipparchus (Greek ; ca. 190 BC - ca. 120 BC) was a Greek astronomer, geographer, and mathematician of the Hellenistic period. Hipparchus was born in Nicaea (now Iznik, Turkey), and probably died on the island of Rhodes. He is known to have been a working astronomer at least from 147 BC to 127 BC. Hipparchus is considered the greatest astronomical observer and, by some, the greatest overall astronomer of antiquity.
- George Smith
George Smith (Chelsea, London March 26, 1840 - August 19, 1876), was a pioneering English Assyriologist who first discovered and translated the "Epic of Gilgamesh", the oldest-known written work of literature.
- Nabonassar
Nabonassar (also Nabonasser, Nabu-nasir, Nebo-adon-Assur or Nabo-n-assar) founded a kingdom in Babylon in 747 BC. This is now considered as the start of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty. At the time the Assyrian Empire was in disarray through civil war and the ascendancy of other kingdoms such as Urartu. An army commander involved in the civil war, who adopted the name Tiglath-pileser III with his accession, …
- Habakkuk
Habakkuk or Havakuk was a prophet in the Hebrew Bible. The etymology of the name of Habakkuk is not clear. The name is possibly related to the Akkadian "khabbaququ", the name of a fragrant plant, or the Hebrew root חבק, meaning "embrace". He was the eighth of the twelve minor prophets and likely the author of the Book of Habakkuk, which bears his name. Practically nothing is known about Habakkuk's personal history, …
- Shamash-Shum-Ukin
Shamash-shum-ukin was king of Babylon from 668-648 BC. He was the second son of the Assyrian King Esarhaddon. His elder brother, crown prince Sin-iddina-apla had died in 672, and in his stead the third son Assurbanipal was invested as crown prince and later king of Assyria, while Shamash-shum-ukin remained crown prince of Babylonia.
- Necho II
Necho II (sometimes Nekau II) was a king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt (610 - 595 BC), and the son of Psammetichus I. His prenomen or royal name Wahemibre means "Carrying out the Wish of Re Forever." (Clayton: p.195) Necho played a significant role in the histories of the Assyrian Empire, Babylonia and the Kingdom of Judah. The Egyptologist Donald B. Redford observed that although he was "a man of action from the start, …
- Hezekiah
Hezekiah was the 13th king of independent Judah and the son of King Ahaz and Abijah (2 Chronicles 29:1), who was a daughter of a man (who was not the prophet) named Zechariah. (Abijah was also known as Abi (2 Kings 18:1-2).) He reigned twenty-nine years (2 Kings 18:2). He is also one of the kings mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 715 BCE-687 BCE, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 716 BCE-687 BCE.
- Iamblichus
Iamblichus was a Greek novelist born in Syria or Babylonia. He wrote a book by the name of "The Babylonian History" containing a love story about Rhodanes and Sinonis.
- Hai Gaon
Hai Gaon (969-1038) was one of the last "geonim" (rabbinic authorities of the early Middle Ages). He was the head of the academy at Pumbedita, Babylonia. He authored both a commentary on the Talmud as well as a collection of responsa, plus several other smaller works on focused topics. His father, Rav Sherira Gaon, was his teacher and predecessor as head of the academy. His students included Rabbeinu Chananel and Rav Nissim, the head of the academy at Kairouan.
- Rabbi Nathan
Rabbi Nathan was a Palestinian tanna of the third generation (2nd century), the son of a Babylonian exilarch. For unknown reasons he left Babylonia, and his bright prospects there, to settle in the land of Israel, where he was made chief of the school at Usha (Hor. 13b; H. Grätz, "Gesch." iv.185). Later he was entrusted by the patriarch R. Simon ben Gamaliel III to secure a reconciliation with R. Hananiah of Babylon, …
- Nebuchadrezzar I
Nebuchadrezzar I, also known as Nebuchadnezzar I (Akkadian: "Nabu-kudurri-usur", meaning "Nebo, protect my eldest son" or "Nebo, protect the border"), was the king of the Babylonian Empire from about 1146 BC to 1123 BC. He is considered to be the greatest king of the Dynasty of Pashe (also known as the second Isin dynasty), a line which held the Babylonian throne through 1010 BC.
- Sin-Muballit
Sin-Muballit was the father of Hammurabi. He was the fifth king of the first dynasty of Babylonia, reigning from 1748 BC to 1729 BC
- William W. Hallo
William W. Hallo is an emeritus professor of Assyriology and Babylonian Literature at Yale. He also used to be curator of the Babylonian collection at the same university.
- Seleucus Iv Philopator
Seleucus IV Philopator, ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, reigned from 187 BC to 175 BC over a realm consisting of Syria (now including Cilicia and Palestine), Mesopotamia, Babylonia and Nearer Iran (Media and Persia). He was compelled by financial necessities, created in part by the heavy war-indemnity exacted by Rome, to pursue an ambitious policy and was assassinated by his minister Heliodorus.
- Hugo Winckler
Hugo Winckler was a German archaeologist and historian who uncovered the capital of the Hittite Empire (Hattusa) at Boğazkale, Turkey. Winckler was a student of the languages of the ancient Middle East. He wrote extensively on Assyrian cuneiform and the Old Testament, compiled a history of Babylonia and Assyrian that was published in 1891, and translated both the Code of Hammurabi and the Amarna letters.
- Kandalanu
Kandalanu, king of Babylonia, from 648 BC to 627 BC
- Hillel The Elder
Hillel (הלל) was a famous Jewish religious leader who lived in Jerusalem during the time of King Herod, Augustus, and probably Jesus; he is one of the most important figures in Jewish history, associated with the Mishnah and the Talmud. He was the founder of the "Beit Hillel" ("House of Hillel") school, …
- Antiochus Vii Sidetes
Antiochus VII Euergetes, nicknamed Sidetes (from Sidon), ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, reigned from 138 to 129 BC. He was the last Seleucid king of any stature. The brother of Demetrius II, Antiochus was elevated after Demetrius' capture by the Parthians. He married Cleopatra Thea, who had been the wife of Demetrius. Their offspring was Antiochus IX, who thus became both half-brother and cousin to Seleucus V and Antiochus VIII.
- Rav Huna
Rav Huna was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the second generation and head of the Academy of Sura; He was born about 216, passed away in 296-297 (608 of the Seleucidan era)).
- Philetaerus
Philetaerus was the founder of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon in Anatolia. He was born in Tieum, a small town on the Black Sea coast of Anatolia between Bithynia to the west and Paphlagonia to the east. His father was Attalus (perhaps from Macedon) and his mother Boa was Paphlagonian. After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, Philetaerus became embroiled in the struggle for supremacy, …
- Kadashman-Enlil I
Kadashman-Enlil I was a Kassite King of Babylon in the 14th century BC. He is known to have been a contemporary of Amenhotep III of Egypt, to whom he corresponded; three letters authored by Kadashman-Enlil are preserved in the Amarna letters corpus. This dates Kadashman-Enlil to the first half of the 14th century BC by most standard chronologies. His successor was the considerably more well-known Burna-Buriash II, …
- Amenemope
Amenemope (ca. 1100 BCE) was a "wise man" who lived in Egypt during the late 19th Dynasty of the New Kingdom. He resided in Akhim, which was located on the east side of the upper Delta of the Nile. His discourses resembled that of a father telling his son how to live a good and moral life ("Instructions of Amenemopet") and was composed of 30 chapters.
- Rav Nachman
Rav Nachman (d. 320) (Hebrew: רב נחמן בר יעקב) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora of the third generation, and pupil of Mar Samuel. He was chief justice of the Jews who were subject to the exilarch (the political head of the Babylonian Jewish community), and was also head of the school of Nehardea. On the destruction of that town, he transferred his pupils to Shekanẓib.
- Edwin Norris
Edwin Norris (October 24, 1795 - 1872) was an English philologist, linguist and intrepid orientalist who authored numerous works on languages of Asia and Africa and his most famous works include his uncompleted Assyrian Dictionary and his translation and annotation of the three plays of the Ordinalia.
- Rava
Rava (רבא) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora, born in 270, and one of the most often-cited Rabbis in the Talmud. He studied at the yeshiva (Torah Academy) of Pumbedita: see Talmudic Academies in Babylonia. There he became famous for his debates with his study-partner Abaye. The debates between Rava and Abaye are considered classic examples of Talmudic discourse.
- Abaye
Abaye was a Rabbi of the Jewish Talmud who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora; born about the close of the third century; died 339 (see Talmudic Academies in Babylonia). His father, Kaylil, was the brother of Rabbah bar Nachmani, a teacher at the Academy of Pumbedita. Abaye's real name was Nachmani, after his grandfather. Left an orphan at an early age, he was adopted by his uncle, Rabbah bar Nachmani, who nicknamed him Abaye ("Little Father"), …
- Marduk-Apal-Iddina II
Marduk-apal-iddina II (the biblical Merodach-baladan, also called Marduk-baladan, Baladan and Berodach-baladan. lit. Marduk has given me an Heir.) (reigned 722 BC - 710 BC, 703 BC - 702 BC) was a Chaldean prince who usurped the Babylonian throne in 721 BC.
- Urtaku
Urtaku was an Elamite king who reigned from 676 - 664 BCE. Under his reign, relations between Elam and Babylonia became weaker, and after his death during an attack on Mesopotamia, the Assyrian king Assurbanipal launched a counter-attack, leading to the occupation of Elam by the Assyrians.
- Lusius Quietus
Lusius Quietus was a Roman general and governor of Iudaea in 117.
- Rav Papa
Rav Papa was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia. Known as an Amora, he was a student of both Rava and Abaye. He led the Talmudical academy in Nehardea. Rav Papa was a wealthy man and it is said that whenever he completed a tractate he held a large party at which he invited his ten sons and many other people. At many modern siyums, a short prayer is said which mentions Rav Papa and his ten sons.
- Apollodorus Of Artemita
Apollodorus of Artemita was a Greek writer of the 1st century BCE. Apollodorus wrote a history of the Parthian Empire ("Parthika") in at least four books. He is quoted by Strabo and Athenaeus. Strabo stated that he was very reliable. Apollodorus seems to have used the archieves of Artemita and Seleucia on the Tigris for his work.
- Sin-Liqe-Unninni
Sin-liqe-unninni was a professional exorcist who lived in Babylonia between 1300 BC and 1000 BC. He is the author of the best preserved version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. His name is listed in the text itself, which is unusual for ancient works. His version is known by its "incipit," or first line, "He who saw the deep." It remains unknown how significant is the difference between his version and the texts he was working with.
- Seleucus Of Seleucia
Seleucus (or Seleukos) of Seleucia (born "c." 190 BC, "fl" 150s) was a Hellenistic astronomer. Seleucus is known from the writings of Plutarch. He born in Seleucia on the Tigris in Babylonia. Teaching around 150 BC, he agreed with the heliocentric theory of Aristarchus of Samos, which stated that the Earth rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around the Sun.
- Burna-Buriash
Burna-Buriash, "Burna-Buriaš" or "Burra-Buriaš," was the name of at least two kings of Babylon in the Kassite Dynasty (c. 1150–1500 BC). The most well-known of these was Burna-Buriash ruling 1361–1333 BC, according to the high chronology of the Kassite Dynasty. He was a contemporary of the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten. The diplomatic correspondence between the two kings are preserved in the Amarna letters.
- Raba
Raba or Raba Ben Joseph Ben Hama(c. 280-352) was a Jewish Talmudist who lived in Babylonia, known as an amora. His top student was the famous Abaye. The latter was head of the yeshiva academy at Pumbedita. Raba founded a new school at Machuza, which eventually became the only academy in Babylonia during his life. The development of Talmudic law (or Halakhah) was much indebted to him. He influenced all branches of Jewish learning.
- Sudines
Sudines (fl. c. 240 BC): Babylonian sage. He is mentioned as one of the famous Chaldean mathematicians or astrologers by later Roman writers like Strabo ("Geografia" 16:1–6). Like his predecessor Berossos he moved from Babylonia and established himself among the Greeks; he was an advisor to King Attalus I (Attalos Soter) of Pergamon. He is said to have published tables to compute the motion of the Moon which were used by the Greeks, …