Babylon

Coordinates: 32°32′11″N, 44°25′15″E

Babylon was a city of ancient Mesopotamia, the ruins of which can be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, about 80km south of Baghdad. It was the "holy city" of Babylonia from around 2300 BC, and the seat of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 612 BC. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The form Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu (bāb-ilû, meaning "Gateway of the god(s)", translating Sumerian KA.DINGIR.RA). In the Bible, the name appears as בבל (Babel), interpreted by Genesis 11:9 to mean "confusion", from the verb balal, "to confuse".