Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Watch this podcast episode from our sister channel, The Ancients, all about the dramatic fall of Babylon.
Check out The Ancient podcast channel here: youtube.com/@TheAncientsPodcast
The year is 539 BC. The greatest city of the ancient world has fallen. Babylon has opened it's gates to a new conqueror: the mighty Persian king Cyrus the Great.
In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined once again by friend of the show Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones to uncover the dramatic fall of Babylon and the ascent of Persia’s Achaemenid empire. From the final decades of Babylonian rule to Cyrus’ blood-stained triumph and the city’s remarkable survival under a new regime, they discover how one of history’s most iconic capitals lost its crown - a seismic chapter in the tumultuous story of the Ancient Near East.
0:00 Introduction
0:56 Historical significance of Babylon's transition
1:43 Analysing the historical sources
3:12 What Babylon looked like in the mid-6th century BC
6:38 The rise of Nabonidus and his mother Adad-Guppi
13:40 Nabonidus' devotion to the moon god Sin
16:20 Belshazzar's regency and Nabonidus' exile
19:53 The advance of Cyrus the Great and the Persian army
23:24 The brutal sack of Opis and the death of Belshazzar
25:32 Cyrus enters Babylon and the Cyrus cylinder
32:51 Cambyses' appointment and Elamite influence
35:43 Life in Babylon under Persian rule
38:49 The biblical story of the writing on the wall
43:33 Babylon's enduring prestige and Alexander the Great
46:18 Conclusion and further reading
#PerisanEmpire #Babylon #AncientHistory
You can now become a History Hit member right here on YouTube! Join for access to a new exclusive documentary every week, and access to over 160+ of our documentaries presented by world-renowned historians like Dan Snow, Eleanor Janega, Tristan Hughes, Mary Beard, Matt Lewis and more.
Get an exclusive release every week by signing up here: youtube.com/channel/UCZwU2G-KVl-P-O-B35chZOQ/join
Watch this podcast episode from our sister channel, The Ancients, all about the dramatic fall of Babylon.
Check out The Ancient podcast channel here: youtube.com/@TheAncientsPodcast
The year is 539 BC. The greatest city of the ancient world has fallen. Babylon has opened it's gates to a new conqueror: the mighty Persian king Cyrus the Great.
In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined once again by friend of the show Professor Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones to uncover the dramatic fall of Babylon and the ascent of Persia’s Achaemenid empire. From the final decades of Babylonian rule to Cyrus’ blood-stained triumph and the city’s remarkable survival under a new regime, they discover how one of history’s most iconic capitals lost its crown - a seismic chapter in the tumultuous story of the Ancient Near East.
0:00 Introduction
0:56 Historical significance of Babylon's transition
1:43 Analysing the historical sources
3:12 What Babylon looked like in the mid-6th century BC
6:38 The rise of Nabonidus and his mother Adad-Guppi
13:40 Nabonidus' devotion to the moon god Sin
16:20 Belshazzar's regency and Nabonidus' exile
19:53 The advance of Cyrus the Great and the Persian army
23:24 The brutal sack of Opis and the death of Belshazzar
25:32 Cyrus enters Babylon and the Cyrus cylinder
32:51 Cambyses' appointment and Elamite influence
35:43 Life in Babylon under Persian rule
38:49 The biblical story of the writing on the wall
43:33 Babylon's enduring prestige and Alexander the Great
46:18 Conclusion and further reading
#PerisanEmpire #Babylon #AncientHistory
You can now become a History Hit member right here on YouTube! Join for access to a new exclusive documentary every week, and access to over 160+ of our documentaries presented by world-renowned historians like Dan Snow, Eleanor Janega, Tristan Hughes, Mary Beard, Matt Lewis and more.
Get an exclusive release every week by signing up here: youtube.com/channel/UCZwU2G-KVl-P-O-B35chZOQ/join
