Babylonia was an ancient Akkadian-speaking Semitic nation state and cultural region based in central-southern Mesopotamia . It emerged as an independent state c. 1894 BC, with the city of Babylon as its capital. It was often involved in rivalry with its fellow Akkadian state of Assyria in northern Mesopotamia. Babylonia became the major power in the region after Hammurabi created an empire out of many of the territories of the former Akkadian Empire.