Babylonian philosophy

Reckoning the Babylonian philosophy, Mesopotamia region Babylonia in the central-southern is considered as the ancient cultural region. The emergence of Babylonia is from Hammurabi when he created an empire out of territories that are in the former Akkadian Empire. The written Semitic Language of Akkadian has been adopted by the Bobylonia for official but for the religious purpose the Babylonia has retained the Sumerian language which has become obsolete in the spoken form by that time. The traditions of the Sumerian and Akkadian have played a vital role in forming the culture of Babylonia. Throughout the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age the country has been a cultural centre.

In the third millennium BC is considered as the old Babylonian period when the intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians has taken a stance. This has also generated a widespread bilingualism. In the old Babylonian period the influence of the Akkadians and the Sumerians was felt so much in almost all the areas which have generated massive borrowing of lexical term and the phonological and morphological convergence. This has also instigated the scholar to refer to Sumerians and the Akkaidans during the third millennium.

Gradually the Sumerian spoken language has been eroded as the Akkadian replaced it with their language. Only for religious purposes the Sumerians language was used.

Hummurabi from 1728 – 1686 BC has been the effective ruler of the city of Babylon by whom the city of Babylon has obtained domination over Mesopotamia. He established taxation, bureaucracy in that early staged itself. He has also give stability to the region by forming a centralized government to meet the needs of the people. First Dynasty of Babylon, this work has been the popular work during those times. It was also called as the code of law by the people of Babylon.

The Esagil-kin-apli’s medical “Diagnostic Handbook” which was written during the eleventh century is considered as the basics for reasoning and rationality in the Babylonian philosophy. This book is based on the logical set of assumptions and axioms which also undergoes a clear examination and the inspection of the symptoms of a patient and clearly recognized the disease of the patient using also the modern views and thereby it reaches the chances for the patient’s recovery.

The Babylonian astronomers during the eighth century have vested interested in studying the ideal nature of the universe particular the earlier universe. They have brought an internal logic which in the Babylonian philosophy has become an important contribution for the philosophy of science.

Questions:

• What is religious language of Babylonia?
• What is the consideration of the Diagnostic Handbook in the Babylonian philosophy?