Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu, an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq). It was the "holy city" of Babylonia from around 2300 BC, and the seat of the Neo-Babylonian empire from 612 BC. In the Hebrew Bible, the name appears as ??? (Babel), interpreted by Genesis 11:9 to mean "confusion", from the verb balal, "to confuse". In Akkadian, bab-il� means "Gateway of the god", translating Sumerian Kadingirra. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.