Chapter I: Introductory: Babylon's Place in the History of Antiquity

Babylon as a centre of civilization--Illustrations
of foreign influence--Babylon's share in the origin
of the culture she distributed--Causes which led to
her rise as capital--Advantages of her geographical
position--Transcontinental lines of traffic--The Euphrates
route, the Royal Road, and the Gates of Zagros--Her
supremacy based on the strategic and commercial qualities
of her site--The political centre of gravity in Babylonia
illustrated by the later capitals, Seleucia, Ctesiphon,
and Baghdad--The Persian Gulf as barrier, and as channel
of international commerce--Navigation on the Euphrates and
the Tigris--Causes of Babylon's deposition--Her treatment
by Cyrus, Alexander, and Seleucus--The Arab conquest of
Mesopotamia instructive for comparison with the era of
early city-states--Effect of slackening of international
communications--Effect of restoration of commercial
intercourse with the West--Three main periods of Babylon's
foreign influence--Extent to which she moulded the cultural
development of other races-Traces of contact in Hebrew
religion and in Greek mythology--Recent speculation on the
subject to be tested by the study of history