A nation from the north will attack her and lay waste her land. No one will live in it; both people and animals will flee away. – Jeremiah 50:3

Today’s Scripture Reading (June 21, 2020): Jeremiah 50

The City of Babylon has proved to be resilient during its long history. Repeatedly, the city seemed to be attacked and destroyed only to be rebuilt and inhabited once again. In ancient times, the city was important. Babylon was likely the first city to pass the 200,000 inhabitants mark.

But Babylon also seems to have lived in the imaginations of the rulers of the world. Many influential people have wanted to make Babylon great, including Alexander the Great of Macedonia. After the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C.E to Cyrus the Great of Persia, control of Empire fell to the Persians for the next two centuries. But then Alexander defeated the Persians and took control of the city. His dream seemed to be to renew the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar’s prize. And during the rule of the Macedonian general, Babylon flourished. It became a center for learning and commerce in the area, becoming a cultural influence throughout the peoples of the Near East. But Alexander died suddenly in 323 B.C.E., and his death began a struggle for succession. During this struggle, Babylon was forgotten. The city quickly made the transition from being a major city to being a minor municipality, unimportant, and often forgotten.

The reality of Babylon is that it suffered a defeat that might have been worse than any loss that it had sustained throughout its long history. Forgotten, the inhabitants of the city simply got up and left. They were not driven out by an invading army; they just decided that they would move somewhere, and often anywhere else. It was a brutal reality for a city that had once been grander than them all.

After the people left, the city was returned to nature. It deteriorated into ruins, and the ruins joined the desert. Babylon still existed in the minds and the writings of the human race, but the physical city was gone. Jeremiah’s words had been fulfilled; both people and animals had fled from the area.

Yet, still, leaders dreamed of Babylon. Saddam Hussein believed that he was a descendant of the great Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon. And part of his dream was that he would rebuild the city of Babylon, making the ancient city the home of his palace.  Hussein placed a portrait of himself and Nebuchadnezzar at the entrance to the ruins, and inscribed his name on some of the bricks being used to rebuild the ruins with the words “This was built by Saddam Hussein, son of Nebuchadnezzar, to glorify Iraq.” But Saddam Hussein’s plans for the revitalization of the ruins of Babylon were stopped by the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.

Today, the rebuilt ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But existing in a war-torn country, the site remains devoid of many visitors.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Jeremiah 51