King Cyrus liked the Jew Daniel, considered him to be a wise man, and asked him why he did not worship the Babylonian god Bel. Daniel said that Bel was not a god, simply a statue made by human beings.

Babylon is known for Hammurabi's laws and ... The preamble to the code says that "then Anu and Bel [both gods] called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about ...

It tells how Cyrus, the Persian king, asked Daniel why he did not worship Bel, the god of Babylon. Cyrus told Daniel how much flour and oil and how many sheep the god Bel consumed each day.

One feels that at any rate the priests at Babylon must have thought his exile to be a just retribution for substituting Sin, the moon-god, for their local Bel-Marduk, as head of the pantheon.

Back in 1750 BC Babylonian King Hammurabi’s Law Code became the first recorded case in which a ruler acknowledged a higher authority (the gods Anu and Bel) to lend legitimacy to his laws.

Brick reliefs of bulls and dragons, referencing Marduk the supreme god of Babylon and facing incoming visitors to protect the city from evils, look on as repairs to a dangerous staircase make the ...