2022 BABYLON from “Lost Civilizations” Series; 5 Ounce Antiqued Colorized Silver Coin; $20 Palau

Description

Metal                    Silver

Purity                   0.999 (99.9%)

Weight                 155,5 g (5 Troy oz)

Diameter              65 mm

Attributes             Antique Finish, Colorized, High Relief

Mintage                149

Packaging             Display Box and CoA

The obverse of the coin depicts Babylon’s detailed skyline with the Tower of Babel and its unique blue tile painted walls of the Ishtar Gate, which is now reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum, the most visited museum in Berlin.

The reverse side of the coin depicts a Babylonian horseman in front of the famous impenetrable walls and its engravings, together with the Coat of Arms of Palau and the inscriptions: “REPUBLIC OF PALAU,” “2022” and “20$.”

Babylon was the capital city of Babylonia, a kingdom in ancient Mesopotamia, between the 18th and 6th centuries BC. It was built along both banks of the Euphrates river, with steep embankments to contain the river’s seasonal floods. The town became part of a small independent city-state with the rise of the First Babylonian dynasty in the 19th century BC. The Amorite king Hammurabi created a short-lived empire in the 18th century BC. He built Babylon into a major city and declared himself its king. Southern Mesopotamia became known as Babylonia and Babylon eclipsed Nippur as its holy city. The empire waned under Hammurabi’s son Samsu-iluna and Babylon spent long periods under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination. After being destroyed and then rebuilt by the Assyrians, Babylon became the capital of the short-lived Neo-Babylonian Empire from 609 to 539 BC. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. After the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the city came under the rule of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, and Sassanid empires.