I Spend 1 Day in Babylon 600 BCE ｜ Life In Mesopotamia's Greatest City ｜ 24 Hours In Ancient Babylon

You won't believe where I'm standing right now. This is not Dubai. This is not a set. This is Babylon, 600 BC. Do you know what you have in common with a person who lived 2,600 years ago? The watch on your wrist, right now. And I'm standing in the city that invented it. Beer was invented here. Clocks were invented here. And once a year, they hit the king in the face. Come on, I'll show you everything in order. We put a lot of effort into bringing ancient Babylon back to life. Researching historical sources and creating the most realistic visuals possible to show you what this incredible city may actually have looked and felt like 2,600 years ago. Babylon is often called the first metropolis in human history. At its height under Nebuchadnezzar II, its population may have reached around 200,000 people. Babylon is part of Mesopotamia, one of the great cradles of human civilization. Alongside Egypt, India, and China. It's incredible to see how people actually lived near the beginning of civilization. These walls are considered one of the wonders of the world. They're so thick that two chariots can pass each other on top. The gate of the goddess Ishtar. The blue is made to look like lapis lazuli, a status symbol more valuable than gold. And here is history's first messaging. Cuneiform was invented right here in Mesopotamia. Babylon is the New York of its time. Merchants come here from all over the known world. That giant structure is Etemenanki, the temple tower. About 90 meters high. It's believed to have inspired the biblical tower of Babel. Now compare this with the picture in your head. A round spiraling tower, right? Well, that's not true. The real tower is square. With stepped levels, like a pyramid. Centuries later, artists made it round. Bruegel's famous version even borrowed its look from Roman architecture like the Colosseum. And that image completely changed how people imagined the tower of Babel. At the very top is the sanctuary of the god Marduk. This place is called Etemenanki. The house of the foundation of heaven and earth. Tell me, what are you doing? I'm listening to the sky. Every night the stars follow their paths. We have been recording their movements for generations. For generations? Why? To follow the seasons, time the sowing, and read signs in the sky about the fate of the king. So this is where the foundations of astrology are being laid. And that base 60 system? It's one reason we still divide time into 60s today. From here, Babylonian priests observe the stars. They are laying the foundations of the zodiac. And their base 60 mathematics is why we still divide time into 60s today. It's hot here, guys. Feels like Dubai in summer. Yes, when you look at a clock, you're using Babylonian mathematics. Thanks, guys. The biblical story says God confused the builders' languages and scattered them, stopping the construction. But whether that story is literal or not, a real monumental tower stood here. And now to the main character of this city, to the king who built the impossible. Meet Nebuchadnezzar II, the most powerful king of Babylon, a builder, a conqueror, and apparently a bit of a romantic. He expanded the empire from the Persian Gulf to Jerusalem. He was the one who destroyed the first temple and took the Jews into Babylonian captivity. Although can we really consider them captives if they themselves had slaves and lived in prosperity in a separate settlement of Babylon? Excuse me, I'm Anna, Amitis, queen of Babylon. You look like you miss somewhere. I do, I'm from Media, mountains, green hills, very different from Babylon. I miss home every day. I command you, build her mountains, right here, in the middle of the desert. So, according to legend, this is how the construction of one of the most famous wonders of the world began. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Although hanging isn't quite the right translation, overhanging is more accurate. Water from the Euphrates was lifted upward by hand through a clever system of screws, six centuries before Archimedes. Imagine this, palms, pomegranates, exotic flowers, right in the middle of the burning desert. This was technological science fiction for its time. From the upper terrace, the queen could see all of Babylon. They say the view from here made missing home just a little easier. I'm standing inside one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. This is actually insane. Okay. And now, a surprise. Get ready. Archaeologists have excavated Babylon extensively. And you know what? No confirmed remains of the gardens. Nothing. So it's possible that all this time, humanity has been admiring a wonder of the world in the wrong city. Now that is a twist. There's a theory that the legendary gardens weren't in Babylon at all, but in Nineveh, and that they were built not by Nebuchadnezzar, but by King Sennacherib. Ready for the strange fact of the day? Once a year in Babylon, they held a real bride auction. How much for this one? Okay, where are my human rights? I usually pull them out immediately in situations like this. Human what? Haven't been invented yet. We work with what we've got. Beautiful girls were sold for money to grooms. And the money went toward the dowries of the unattractive ones, so they could find husbands too. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote about this. Although modern scholars still debate whether the custom really existed, or whether the Greek exaggerated a little. And here's another custom described by the same Herodotus, about the Temple of Ishtar. Historians still argue about how much of it is true, and how much was ancient yellow journalism. Look, Herodotus wrote that every woman in Babylon was required, at least once in her life, to come here, to the Temple of Ishtar, and stay until a strange man threw a silver coin into her lap. And then what? We spend the night with him. According to the legend, the coin couldn't be returned, and she couldn't refuse the man who threw it, no matter who he was. Sounds insane. But here's the catch, not a single Babylonian tablet, not a single archive, confirms it. Long story short, trust but verify. Even in ancient times, people loved sensational stories. And here's a tradition we know much more about. Akitu, the Babylonian New Year. Twelve days of celebrations. And the wildest part. Once a year, the king was slapped across the face and stripped of his crown. If he cried, it meant the gods were pleased with him. Imagine this. Once a year, the head of your company gets publicly slapped in the face to test his humility. Top-tier tradition, if you ask me. And now for something serious. This black column is the Code of Hammurabi, the oldest code of laws in history. The famous principle, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, comes from here. 282 laws, carved directly into stone, so everyone could read them. No, I didn't know the law, so I'm not guilty. By the way, the laws regulated beer prices. And yes, beer was invented here too, in Mesopotamia. Although if a tavern keeper cheated customers on the beer, she could be thrown into the river. So they poured honestly. To Hammurabi! Cheers! Trying Babylonian street food, flatbread with onion and date syrup. Wow. It tastes like an onion cracker with dates. The flavor is unexpectedly fire. What's it like living in the greatest city in the world? Everything's great, until the king's tax collectors show up. Looks like some things never change. And now, an important point. The very word Babylon became a symbol long ago. Luxury, decadence, and the limitless power of wealth. That's what this city has represented in Western culture for 2,000 years. Right now, this is the richest city on the planet. Impenetrable walls, gigantic gates, a king at the height of his power. But in less than 70 years, this city will fall. Spoiler, not in battle. But that is a completely different story.