Babilu
/ˈbaː.bi.lu/noun
Babilu is an ancient Akkadian name for the city later known in English as Babylon.
Did you know?The Akkadian name was conventionally understood as “Gate of God,” but scholars believe this may have been a Semitic reinterpretation of an older, non-Semitic place-name.
Etymological Timeline
Early 2nd Millennium BCE
Akkadian
Bāb-ilim
“Gate of the god”
Old Babylonian Period
Akkadian
Bābilim
“A form of the city’s name meaning “gate of the god””
1st Millennium BCE
Akkadian
Bābili or Babilu
“Babylon, the major Mesopotamian city”
1st Millennium BCE
Sumerian
KÁ.DINGIR.RA
“Gate of God; the Sumerian rendering of the city’s name”
Ancient Greek
Greek
Babylōn
“Babylon”
Old English
English
Babilon
“Babylon”
Modern English
English
Babylon
“The ancient city and its surrounding empire”