Babylon was an ancient city of Lower Mesopotamia. It gained its independence after the period of the Sumerian Renaissance, although there are mentions to its existence from as early as Sargon of Akkad. After much time witnessing the struggles between the regional states of Isin, Larsay Ešnunna, Babylon gradually became a regional power, first replacing the role they had Akkad or Kiš to later become the capital of a vast empire under the mandate of Hammurabi (XVIII century BC). Since then it has become a great political, religious and cultural center. Even in Hellenistic times, already stripped of its second empire and fallen into disgrace in front of other large cities such as Persepolis, Alexander the Great wanted to make it his capitalh
