The Kassite dynasty, also known as the third Babylonian dynasty, was a line of kings of Kassite origin who ruled from the city of Babylon in the latter half of the second millennium BC and who belonged to the same family that ran the kingdom of Babylon between 1595 and 1155 BC, following the first Babylonian dynasty. It was the longest known dynasty of that state, which ruled throughout the period known as "Middle Babylonian".
Kudurru reporting the donation of land by the Kassite king Meli-Shipak II to his daughter Hunubate-Nanaia, 12th century BC, Louvre Museum
Fragment of tablet from the Chronicle P, which relates the conflicts between the Kassite and Assyrian kings
Stone with a votive inscription with the name of Nazi-Maruttash, son of Kurigalzu II. Babylonian artwork, Kassite period.
Kudurru dated to the reign of Marduk-apla-iddina I. Babylonian work of the Kassite period, taken to Susa as spoil of war in the 12th century BC
Babylon was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq about 85 kilometers south of modern day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-speaking region of Babylonia. Its rulers establishing two important empires in antiquity, the 19th–16th century BC Old Babylonian Empire, and the 7th–6th century BC Neo-Babylonian Empire. Babylon was also used as a regional capital of other empires, such as the Achaemenid Empire. Babylon was one of the most important urban centres of the ancient Near East, until its decline during the Hellenistic period. Nearby ancient sites are Kish, Borsippa, Dilbat, and Kutha.
A reconstructed portion of the ruins of Babylon
Babylon in 1932
"Entry of Alexander into Babylon", a 1665 painting by Charles LeBrun, depicts Alexander the Great's uncontested entry into the city of Babylon, envisioned with pre-existing Hellenistic architecture.
Original tiles of the processional street. Ancient Babylon, Mesopotamia, Iraq.