The Chaldean Empire

By Youssef Moussa

IntroductionNebuchadnezzar was a man that changed the Chaldean Empire. He rebuilt the whole city of Babylon, including a 300 foot ziggurat, double walls, and most importantly, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The hanging Gardens of Babylon were created by Nebuchadnezzar so he could please his wife. These gardens were important because they went on to become one of the 7 wonders of the world. The gardens are more than just a place. It was located on a fake mountain, and the plants are located in terraces.

The land of The ChaldeansThe Chaldeans of ancient Mesopotamia - which today is Iraq, east Syria, and south east Turkey - are a live continuation of all the indigenous people of Mesopotamia whether their tribal names were Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, and Aramaeans. The language of the Chaldean people is Aramaic. Tribes of settlers who arrived in the region from the 8th Century BC became known as the Chaldeans or the Chaldees.

AstronomyAstronomy and Astrology are probably what Chaldea is most known for today. Nowadays, people who study the stars are sometimes called Chaldeans. For the people of Chaldea astronomy was essentially their religion. They started by using their ziggurats as a way to be closer to the sky and the heavens, but then it stemmed to the study of the stars. Because of this the first astronomers were priests. Early mathematicians in Chaldea came up with the system of having the time of sunrise to sunrise as twelve equal parts.

One important aspect to the Chaldean belief of the sun, moon, and stars was the fact that they had the idea that each phase of the moon controlled a woman’s fertility. The moon was a god named Sin, and Sin was there to get rid of darkness and control dreams. The moon was also associated with change and femininity. This meant that the moon controlled times when a baby could be conceived and when a woman was regularly fertile.

ZigguratsA big focus for having ziggurats was to bring astrology to Chaldea. Ziggurats were huge structures that acted as temples. They were far above the ground and sometimes reached the height of 150 feet. The ziggurats were believed to be closer to heaven. The building was the religious center and was a sense of pride for the community.

Scientific AchievementsChaldeans of Mesopotamia were known for great achievements in many scientific fields. Some of those achievements had such an impact that many of them are still being used till today. The 60's system (i.e. 1 hour=60 minutes..etc) was created by the Chaldeans over 3,000 years ago. Also, the "time system" e.g. day, month, year as well as Lunar and Solar Calendars. The Chaldeans reached the conclusions that Earth, Moon, and another 5 planets and our Sun are all part of one system. A fact that took the world 2,000 years later to agree with. The Chaldeans reached an impressive level in the sciences of Algebra, Geometry, and Astronomy. Astronomers like Kidannu were able in 367 BC to measure the Solar year to such an accuracy, that today's computers faulted him to only 4 minutes and 30 seconds!! The Chaldeans were also the inventors of the Zodiac system, and were able to calculate the 1/2 and 1/3 roots of numbers to an extreme accuracy that's not different that what we know today.

The Hanging GardensThese gardens were important because they went on to become one of the 7 wonders of the world. The gardens are more than just a place. It was located on a fake mountain, and the plants are located in terraces.The Chaldean Empire reached its peak between 605 and 562 B.C.Nebuchadnezzar was the king of the Chaldean Empire. He was a man that changed the Chaldean Empire and he changed…THE WORLD!!!Nebuchadnezzar built the hanging gardens.When he created the Hanging Gardens, It was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world!!A picture of the hanging gardens:The hanging gardens was a gift from Nebuchadnezzar to his wife.The gardens were located on a fake mountain with rooftop gardens.They had multi-level terraces with baked brick columns supporting them.The columns were filled with dirt to allow even the biggest plants to grow.

The gardens contained lots of plants, including everything from flowers to trees