Babylon is the rendering of Akkadian Babilum (Babilim), the city that for centuries served as capital of the ‘land of Babylon’ (Jer. 50.28). Cuneiform sources interpret its name as bab-ilim, “gate of the deity.” The Bible rejected this popular etymology in favor of a more scurrilous one that linked the name to the confusion of tongues (Gen. 11.9, Hebr. balal, “[God] confused”), and so the city is called Babel…
Under Persian rule, Babylon continued to flourish as the seat of one of the most important satrapies of the Persian empire (cf. Ezra 7.16; Dan. 2.49; etc.), and the Achaemenid Artaxerxes I could still be called “king of Babylon” (Neh. 13.6)
Oxford Companion to the Bible, “Babylon”, William W. Hallo, 1993, Oxford University Press, Inc.
Manichaeism
Mani was born on 14 April, A.C. 216, in northern Babylonia, which then formed part of the province of Asoristan, in the Parthian empire. His father, Patteg or Pattig, is said to have come from Hamadan. His mother, Maryam, was of the family of the Kamsaragan, who claimed kingship with the Parthian royal house, the Arsacids…
At the head of the Manichaean community was its Leader (Arkhegos), Mani’s successor, with his seat in Babylon.
A Reader in Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian, Prof. Mary Boyce, 1975, Leiden
It was in Babylonia that Manichaeism – a monotheistic religion – was revealed to the Prophet and Messenger Mani.