Latest / The Achaemenid Empire: Persia's Golden Age of Power — Fexingo History / The Achaemenid Siege of Babylon: Cyrus Takes the City
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- Lucas: So we've talked a lot about Cyrus the Great — his rise, his capital at Pasargadae, that famous cylinder. But one event really cemented his reputation as a conqueror and a liberator: the siege of Babylon in 539 BCE. Luna: Babylon — that's the big one. The city that seemed impossible to take. Lucas: Exactly. Babylon was the jewel of Mesopotamia, with massive walls — Herodotus claims they were over 90 feet thick and 300 feet high, though that's probably exaggerated. The Euphrates ran straight through the city, giving it a constant water supply and a natural defense. Lucas: Who was ruling Babylon at the time? The last native king was Nabonidus, who had been on the throne since 556. He was a controversial figure — he promoted the moon god Sin over Marduk, the traditional patron of Babylon, which made him deeply unpopular with the priesthood and the people. Luna: So Cyrus had an internal ally in the priesthood? That sounds like a pattern we've seen before. Lucas: It definitely is. But let's talk about the actual campaign. In 539, Cyrus marched his army east from Persia, crossed the Tigris, and met the Babylonian army at a place called Opis, north of Babylon. The Babylonian forces were led by Nabonidus's son, Belshazzar. The battle was a decisive Persian victory. Lucas: After Opis, Cyrus's general, a man named Gobryas — or Ugbaru in Babylonian sources — took the city of Sippar without a fight. Then he advanced on Babylon itself. Meanwhile, Nabonidus had fled back to the capital. Luna: How do you actually besiege a city as massive as Babylon with the river running through it? Lucas: That's the brilliant part. According to the Nabonidus Chronicle, Cyrus diverted the Euphrates into a canal, which lowered the water level. Then his troops marched along the riverbed, under the gates that led down to the river, and entered the city at night. The gates along the river were typically left open for boat traffic, so they could get in. Lucas: Herodotus tells a slightly different story — he says Cyrus dug a canal to drain the river and then his soldiers climbed up the riverbanks into the city. Either way, the key was using the river itself as an entry point. Luna: So the Babylonians were taken completely by surprise? Lucas: It seems so. The chronicle says that on the 16th of Tashritu, which would be around October 12, 539, Gobryas entered Babylon without a battle. Nabonidus was captured shortly after. Belshazzar — depending on which source you believe — may have been killed during the fall. The Bible, in the book of Daniel, famously describes Belshazzar's feast and a hand writing on the wall, but that's a dramatic retelling. Lucas: Cyrus himself entered the city a few weeks later, in late October. He presented himself as a liberator, not a conqueror. He famously ordered that the statues of gods that Nabonidus had brought to Babylon be returned to their original temples. And he allowed the exiled peoples — including the Jews — to return to their homelands. Luna: That's the policy that made him famous — the 'Cyrus Cylinder' captures that idea of tolerance and restoration. Lucas: Right. The cylinder, which was buried in the foundations of the city wall, declares that Marduk, the chief god of Babylon, chose Cyrus to restore order. It paints Nabonidus as an impious ruler who had neglected the gods. So Cyrus's propaganda was carefully crafted to legitimize his rule in Babylonian eyes. Lucas: But it wasn't all smooth. The chronicle also mentions that on the night of the city's fall, a Persian patrol killed some Babylonians who were trying to resist. And after Gobryas took control, he appointed governors, but there was a brief period of unrest. Still, by and large, the transition was remarkably peaceful. Luna: What happened to Nabonidus after he was captured? We don't hear much about him. Lucas: He was reportedly exiled to Carmania, which is in modern-day southern Iran. He lived out the rest of his life there, probably under house arrest. There's a later tradition that he was allowed to retire, but we don't have many details. His fate is one of those historical loose ends. Lucas: The fall of Babylon had enormous consequences. It effectively ended the Neo-Babylonian Empire and made Cyrus the ruler of all Mesopotamia. Babylon became one of the four capitals of the Achaemenid Empire, alongside Persepolis, Susa, and Ecbatana. It remained a major cultural and economic center for centuries. Luna: And for the Jewish people, it's obviously monumental — Cyrus's edict allowed them to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Lucas: Exactly. In the Hebrew Bible, Cyrus is called God's anointed, his 'messiah' — the only non-Jewish figure to be given that title. That alone shows how transformative this event was seen to be. Lucas: If you think about it, the siege of Babylon is one of those rare moments in history where a conqueror actually improved the lives of the conquered. Not always the case, but here it set a precedent for Persian rule that lasted over two hundred years. Luna: Honestly, if today was worth a coffee to you, that's the link — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: Yeah, we keep the show ad-free for people who want to dive into these stories without interruption, and that kind of listener support makes it possible. Luna: So back to Babylon — after Cyrus, the city remained a key administrative hub. What happened to it later? Lucas: Under the Achaemenids, Babylon continued to thrive. It was the winter capital for many kings. But later, under Alexander the Great, it started to decline. Alexander died there in 323 BCE, and after that, the city gradually lost its importance. By the time of the Parthians, it was largely a ruin. But for a brief, shining moment, it was the center of the world — and Cyrus the Great was the one who made it his own.