Babylon the Great, a city of mystery and intrigue, antiquities and abandonment. An ancient city named after a great kingdom that ruled the middle east from the heart of the Iraqi desert. The city of the desert now lies barren, deserted and desolate; the result of God's divine judgement, fulfilling multiple prophecies of the fall of Babylon. The old Babylon city will remain desolate and barren and all who pass by will hiss at all of her plagues. That was the judgement of the first Babylon - the golden lion - the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar.
Bible prophecy tells of a future Babylon, a fourth Babylon kingdom that will rise, in the end of days, to fulfill the prophecies found in Revelation 13, 17 and 18. As of today, Babylon is patiently waiting for the economic boom that will revitalize her, one last time.
Both history and science back the Biblical claim that the Fertile Crescent, which runs through the heart of the Mesopotamia was the birth place of man, the birth of civilization.
The Mesopotamia is the land mass that extends from the base of the Nile, up the eastern coast of the Mediterranean, then east through Israel. The Mesopotamian crescent continues through modern day Syria into Nineveh before taking a sharp downward turn into Iraq, by way of the Euphrates and Tigris River to the Persian Gulf.
This area, believed by many is the location of two of the four rivers that flowed from the Garden of Eden and the birthplace of man. Some debate that the original location of the Garden of Eden was in Israel, but the great flood changed the geophysical landscape in such a way, that neither claim can be substantiated.
Southern Iraq is also the area of the Plains of Shinar or more commonly known as the Land of Shinar: the land between two rivers, the Tigris, and the Euphrates. The Bible mentions Shinar 8 times; each reference pointing to Shinar as the location of Babel, the land of Nimrod, the Babylonian kingdom and the city of Babylon.
The Book of Daniel gives us a tiny glimpse into the ancient Babylon kingdom, as a land of military might, merchants, sorcerers, necromancers, enchanters and idol worshippers.
