Babylonia was an ancient Semitic, Akkadian speaking nation in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi (1792- 1750 BC or fl. ca. 1696 – 1654 BC, short chronology) created an empire out of the territories of the former Akkadian Empire.
Babylonia retained the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use (the language of its native populace), despite its Amorite founders and Kassite successors not being native Akkadians. It retained the Sumerian language for religious use, which by the time Babylon was founded was probably no longer a spoken language. The earlier Akkadian and Sumerian traditions played a major role in Babylonian (and Assyrian) culture, and the region would remain an important cultural center, even under protracted and lengthy periods of outside rule.
The earliest mention of the city of Babylon can be found in a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad (2334- 2279 BC), dating back to the 23rd century BC. Babylon was merely a religious and cultural centre at this point and not an independent state, and like the rest of Mesopotamia, it was subject to the Akkadian Empire which united all the Akkadian and Sumerian speakers under one rule. After the collapse of the Akkadian empire, the south Mesopotamian region was ruled by Gutians for a few decades before the rise of the Sumerian third dynasty of Ur which encompassed the whole of Mesopotamia, including Babylon.
Julia Stone (born 13 April 1984) is an Australian singer and songwriter from the northern beaches of Sydney. Julia began playing the trumpet at an early age and was raised by parents who had both performed as a folk music duo. Her musical career began in 2006 known internationally as the sister half of the Aria award winning brother-sister duo, Angus & Julia Stone.
Angus & Julia Stone have released six EPs, a compilation and two albums since they began recording together in 2005. After five years spent touring as Angus & Julia Stone, Julia released her first solo album The Memory Machine in 2010. The Memory Machine was well received by fans and critics and has sold more than 12,000 copies in Australia and overseas. Angus & Julia’s most recent LP Down The Way debuted at number 1 in their native country and is now triple platinum. It was the highest-selling album by an Australian artist in 2010. and has since reached platinum status through their record company Discograph. The duo won ARIA Album of the Year and ARIA Single of the Year at the 2010 Australian Record Industry Awards. They also received number 1 position in the Triple J Hottest 100 for Big Jet Plane in 2011.
Minimal Compact was an Israeli rock band associated with the post-punk and indie rock movement of the 1980s.
Between its foundation in 1981 and its dissolution seven years later, Minimal Compact played a small role in the European rock scene. Malka Spigel (bass, vocals), Samy Birnbach (vocals, texts) and Berry Sakharof (guitars, keyboards, vocals) left their native Tel-Aviv in 1981 for Amsterdam in search of an escape from the provincial attitudes of their own city. Of the trio, only Berry was a "real" musician. Malka was "learning to play the bass", while Samy was better known as a DJ and a music fan who dabbled in poetry. They recorded a 2-song demo at home, and became one of the first artists signed to the Belgian Crammed label.
During the recording for a speculative 7" in a little studio in the Belgian countryside, it became quickly evident that the trio had hit upon something worthy of development and their first, self-titled, mini album Minimal Compact was the fruit of this. Their burgeoning style was a heavily Middle-Eastern coloured brand of post-New Wave, based on driving rhythms, scratchy guitars and their own very un- "Anglo-American" style of vocalisation. In this way they both prefigured indie dance and later fascinations with so called world music. This mini-album (now re-released on CD along with its successor "One by One") features "Statik Dancin' " which remained a live staple throughout the band's career, and "Creation Is Perfect", based on a text by the beat poet Bob Kaufman.