Dry wind moves across the Mesopotamian plain. Persian soldiers assemble near the banks of the Euphrates River. They construct siege engines from heavy timber and iron. Ground temperatures remain near 95 degrees Fahrenheit even in late autumn. Babylon stands ahead as an enormous military target.
Cyrus of Persia directs a massive coalition army against King Nabonidus in the autumn of 539 b.c. The Nabonidus Chronicle documents a swift military campaign across a distance of 300 miles. Invading troops divert the Euphrates River to lower the water level. This tactic allows soldiers to march directly under the outer defenses in ankle-deep mud.
The soldiers infiltrate the inner city and secure the great ziggurat. This structure rises nearly 300 feet into the sky. Statues of the Babylonian deities Bel and Marduk stand inside their shrines. The invading army confiscates these heavy gold figures as spoils of war. This physical seizure strips the national deities of their perceived power and reveals a brutal truth about human conflict.
Forged gods shatter when actual armies break through the gates.
The victorious troops leave the broken statues scattered across the courtyards. Babylon immediately loses its status as an independent power. Desert winds cover the remaining foundation stones over the next several centuries. The capital transforms into a barren ruin spanning roughly 2,200 acres. Only wild animals walk through the brush where emperors once ruled.