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[[File: Marduk_and_the_Dragon.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Marduk, the Patron God of Babylon, Fighting a Dragon]]__NOTOC__
Among all of the great cities of the ancient world, Babylon has one of the longest and most storied histories. Slowing rising from an insignificant settlement in Bronze Age Mesopotamia, it grew until it became the home of conquerors, scholars, and countless religious figures. Babylon was the primary city in Mesopotamia for most of its history and the capital for three of the greatest dynasties in Mesopotamian civilization: the First Dynasty of Babylon (ca. 1894-1595 BC), the Kassite Dynasty (ca. 1530-1159 BC), and the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean Dynasty (626-539 BC). Over the millennia, Babylon became known just as much for the wealth that flowed through there as it was for being a seat of power and the headquarters of some of ancient Mesopotamia’s most influential religious cults.