All 3 Uses of
Babylon
in
Paradise Lost
- Not Babylon
Nor great Alcairo such magnificence
Equalled in all their glories, to enshrine
Belus or Serapis their gods, or seat
Their kings, when Egypt with Assyria strove
In wealth and luxury.†Book 1 *Babylon = ancient city
- Such follow him, as shall be registered
Part good, part bad; of bad the longer scroll;
Whose foul idolatries, and other faults
Heaped to the popular sum, will so incense
God, as to leave them, and expose their land,
Their city, his temple, and his holy ark,
With all his sacred things, a scorn and prey
To that proud city, whose high walls thou sawest
Left in confusion; Babylon thence called.†Book 12
- Returned from Babylon by leave of kings
Their lords, whom God disposed, the house of God
They first re-edify;†Book 12
Definition:
important city of ancient Mesopotamia; on the Euphrates near modern-day Baghdad
Babylon no longer exists as a city. Some have identified it as largest city in the world from c. 1770 to 1670 BC, and again between c. 612 and 320 BC. It was perhaps the first city to reach a population above 200,000.
It is also famous for "The Hanging Gardens of Babylon" -- one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.
It is also famous for "The Hanging Gardens of Babylon" -- one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.