Of all the world’s lost cities, none surely can compete for evocative splendour, age or mystery with Babylon. Though its most ancient ruins are virtually extinct through its cycle of destruction and reconstruction, in our collective memory of what it means to be human, Babylon will always endure. Flush from a whirlwind of military conquest in Egypt and Syria, Nebuchadnezzar plunged into a monumental building programme which resulted in the largest, most glorious city of the ancient world. Share your stories in the comments below, or follow Guardian Cities on Twitter and Facebook to join in the discussion Hammurabi was the first to fashion Babylon into the capital of a kingdom encompassing southern Mesopotamia and part of Assyria in northern Iraq.

Source: The Guardian August 08, 2016 06:45 UTC