The Old Babylonian Period

Abstract

The Old Babylonian period refers to Mesopotamia in the first half of the second millennium bce, or more specifically, the years 2000 to 1595 bce. In political terms the era was characterized by the revival of city-states that followed the demise of the Ur III Empire, although the latter half of the period (c.1810–1595) witnessed a revival of empires. Of particular note were the conquests of Shamshi-Adad and Hammurabi. Although many prefer to describe their empires as territorial states, these rulers subjugated previously sovereign polities and appear to have been driven by imperial ideology. Indeed, the latter half of this era contributed to a longer-term, albeit protracted, trend in Mesopotamian history from the city-state as the dominant political form toward more expansive, imperial state forms. Keywords: 3500–1000 bce ; ancient history; Babylon; Hammurabi; imperialism and conquest; Mesopotamia; Rim-Sin; Shamshi-Adad