Tides of History Babylon, a City for the Ages: Interview with Professor Lloyd Llewelyn-Jones
Mar 26, 2026
Lloyd Llewelyn-Jones, Chair in ancient history at Cardiff University and author of Babylon: The Biography of a Metropolis, guides a tour through Babylon's long, rebounding life. He discusses the city's repeated rises, why people kept returning, and the rich cuneiform archives. Short dives cover everyday streets, merchants' letters, and the Kassite century of diplomacy.
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Mesopotamia As A Society Of Cities
- Mesopotamians developed a mindset of permanent urban settlement valuing walled 'inside' civilization versus wild 'outside.'
- Lloyd links this to Gilgamesh and Amorite settlement: nomads become urbanized by city institutions.
How Babylon Built A Regional Empire
- Powerful Mesopotamian cities created hierarchies by conquering satellites and exporting gods, bureaucracy, and culture.
- Lloyd describes Babylonianization of Isin, Sippar, and Nippur under military dominance like imperial vice-regencies.
Culture Spreads Like Gas Between Nodes
- A widescreen, cross-cultural approach reveals culture as interacting 'gases' that mix at nodes like Babylon to create new forms.
- Lloyd invokes Martin West's metaphor to argue for studying meeting points, not isolated states.
