Isa. 13:17
“[They] came from Persia and easily conquered Babylon in 538 B.C. The walls were destroyed twenty years later, after which the city never again became the capital of an independent, strong Mesopotamian power. Two centuries later, after Alexander the Great and his Greek armies conquered the Persians, Babylon rapidly declined in commercial and cultural importance; Seleucia became the major city in the area. By the time of Christ, only a few astronomers and mathematicians continued to live in the ancient, sparsely populated city. After they left, Babylon became a deserted tell (mound), gradually covered by sand and brush until it became a hill used only by wild animals and as grazing land for nomadic flocks.” (Victor Ludlow, Isaiah: Prophet, Seer, and Poet, p. 185)