Atlas of Battles

battle, major, ancient

Fall of Babylon

Fall of Babylon was a battle fought in 539 BC at Babylon, in what is now Iraq. The recorded result: Achaemenid victory. Recorded strength: Unknown against Unknown.

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Apocalipsis Figurado de los Duques de Saboya (S. XV)
Apocalipsis Figurado de los Duques de Saboya (S. XV). medieval, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought539 BC
WhereBabylon, Iraq32.542N, 44.421E
OutcomeAchaemenid victory
BelligerentsAchaemenid EmpireagainstNeo-Babylonian Empire

Record

Date539 BC (year precision)
PlaceBabylon, Iraq
32.542N, 44.421E
KindBattle, ancient
Territorial changeFall of the Neo-Babylonian Empire
StrengthUnknownUnknown
Commanders
  • Cyrus the Great
  • Gobryas (general)
  • Nabonidus
  • Belshazzar
Fall of BabylonFall of BabylonSiege of BabylonSiege of BabylonBattle of BursBattle of KarbalaBattle of Dayr al-JamajimBattle of BursBattle of KarbalaBattle of Dayr al-JamajimBaghdadAl KutBaqubahAl FallujahAsh ShatrahAl MusayyibMandali100 km32.542N, 44.421E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Fall of Babylon
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 5 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Fall of Babylon today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-04-03. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 34 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 22 to 77 m, 54 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 27% cropland, 23% tree cover, 21% bare ground.

cropland: 27%tree cover: 23%bare ground: 21%built-up: 14%shrubland: 10%water: 4%cropland 27%tree cover 23%bare ground 21%built-up 14%shrubland 10%
west to east, 10.0 km24 to 43 mnorth to south, 10.0 km24 to 46 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

Contested ground: this site was fought over 3 times between 689 BC and 539 BC.

Elsewhere in 539 BC

Fall of Babylon is one of 31 engagements of the 6th century BC in the atlas and one of 173 in present-day Iraq.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q28169617, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Fall of Babylon, revision 1381909825, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.