<P> The town became part of a small independent city - state with the rise of the First Amorite Babylonian Dynasty in the nineteenth century BC . After the Amorite king Hammurabi created a short - lived empire in the 18th century BC, he built Babylon up into a major city and declared himself its king, and 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 was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, although a number of scholars believe these were actually in the Assyrian capital of Nineveh . After the fall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, the city came under the rule of the Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman, and Sassanid empires . </P> <P> It has been estimated that Babylon was the largest city in the world from c. 1770--c. 1670 BC, and again between c. 612--c. 320 BC . It was perhaps the first city to reach a population above 200,000 . Estimates for the maximum extent of its area range from 890 to 900 hectares (2,200 acres). </P> <P> The remains of the city are in present - day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq, about 85 kilometres (53 mi) south of Baghdad, comprising a large tell of broken mud - brick buildings and debris . </P> <P> The main sources of information about Babylon--excavation of the site itself, references in cuneiform texts found elsewhere in Mesopotamia, references in the Bible, descriptions in classical writing (especially by Herodotus), and second - hand descriptions (citing the work of Ctesias and Berossus)--present an incomplete and sometimes contradictory picture of the ancient city even at its peak in the sixth century BC . </P>

Where is the city of babylon located today