The holy city of Karbala dates back to the Babylonian era, as this area was a cemetery for Christians before the Islamic conquest.
Some researchers believe that the word "Karbala" means in Babylonian "Near the god", is a word originating from the ancient Babylonian language. The word "Karbala" is a compound of the two Assyrian words (Karb) i.e. "Sanctuary", and "Ela" i.e. "Allah" which combined into the word "Sanctuary of Allah".
Others argued that this word was a Persian-original, composed of two words "Kar" i.e. "Deed", and "Bala" i.e. "The highest" into delivering the title "The highest deed". It is likely that the word Karbala derives from the ancient Arabic word "Karba" that refers to looseness, as when to call a soft land as "Karbala". (1)
Regarding the affiliation of Karbala to Babylon, the famous historian "Yaqout al-Hamwi" once said, "A spot within the land of Babylon is Karbala, where Hussein bin Ali (as) was killed". As for the Babylonian empire, the green land of Kufa was a part of its political extension during its prosperous ages, and Karbala itself was a part of that green land.
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