Under Nebuchadnezzar II, the bay of Kuwait was under Babylonian control.[52] Cuneiform documents found in Failaka indicate the presence of Babylonians in the island's population.[53] Babylonian Kings were present in Failaka during the Neo-Babylonian Empire period, Nabonidus had a governor in Failaka and Nebuchadnezzar II had a palace and temple in Falaika.[54][55] Failaka also contained temples dedicated to the worship of Shamash, the Mesopotamian sun god in the Babylonian pantheon.[55] Following the Fall of Babylon, the bay of Kuwait came under the control of the Achaemenid Empire (c. 550‒330 BC) as the bay was repopulated after seven centuries of abandonment.[56] Failaka was under the control of the Achaemenid Empire as evidenced by the archaeological discovery of Achaemenid strata.[54][57] There are Aramaic inscriptions that testify Achaemenid presence.[57] In fourth century BC, the ancient Greeks colonized the bay of Kuwait under Alexander the Great. The ancient Greeks named mainland Kuwait Larissa and Failaka was named Ikaros.[58][59][60][61] The bay of Kuwait was named Hieros Kolpos.[62] According to Strabo and Arrian, Alexander the Great named Failaka Ikaros because it resembled the Aegean Island of that name in size and shape. Elements of Greek mythology were mixed with the local cults.[63] "Ikaros" was also the name of a prominent city situated in Failaka.[64] Large Hellenistic forts and Greek temples were uncovered.[65] Archaeological remains of Greek colonization were also discovered in Akkaz, Umm an Namil, and Subiya.[27] The Seleucid Empire at its greatest extent At the time of Alexander the Great, the mouth of the Euphrates River was located in northern Kuwait.[66][67] The Euphrates river flowed directly into the Persian Gulf via Khor Subiya which was a river channel at the time.[66][67] Failaka was located 15 kilometers from the mouth of the Euphrates river.[66][67] By the first century BC, the Khor Subiya river channel dried out completely.[66][67] In 127 BC, Kuwait was part of the Parthian Empire and the kingdom of Characene was established around Teredon in present-day Kuwait.[68][69][70] Characene was centered in the region encompassing southern Mesopotamia,[71] Characene coins were discovered in Akkaz, Umm an Namil, and Failaka.[72][73] A busy Parthian commercial station was situated in Kuwait.[74] In 224 AD, Kuwait became part of the Sassanid Empire. At the time of the Sassanid Empire, Kuwait was known as Meshan,[75] which was an alternative name of the kingdom of Characene.[76][77] Akkaz was a Partho-Sassanian site;[78] the Sassanid religion's tower of silence was discovered in northern Akkaz.[78][79][80] Late Sassanian settlements were discovered in Failaka.[81] In Bubiyan, there is archaeological evidence of Sassanian to early Islamic periods of human presence as evidenced by the recent discovery of torpedo-jar pottery shards on several prominent beach ridges.[82] In 636 AD, the Battle of Chains between the Sassanid Empire and Rashidun Caliphate was fought in Kuwait.[83][84] As a result of Rashidun victory in 636 AD, the bay of Kuwait was home to the city of Kazma (also known as "Kadhima" or "Kāzimah") in the early Islamic era.[84][85][86][87][88][89][90] 1752–1945: Pre-oil[edit] See also: Sheikhdom of Kuwait Marine Museum in Kuwait City. Demonstrates the founding of Kuwait as a sea port for merchants. In the early to mid 1700s, Kuwait City was a small fishing village. Administratively, it was a sheikhdom, ruled by sheikhs from the local Bani Khalid clan.[91] Sometime in the mid 1700s, the Bani Utbah settled in Kuwait City.[92][93] Sometime after the death of the Bani Khalid's leader Barak bin Abdul Mohsen and the fall of the Bani Khalid Emirate, the Utub were able to wrest control of Kuwait as a result of successive matrimonial alliances.[93] In the latter half of the eighteenth century, Kuwait began establishing itself as a maritime port and gradually became a principal commercial center for the transit of goods between Baghdad, India, Persia, Muscat, and the Arabian Peninsula.[94][95] By the late-1700s, Kuwait had established itself as a trading route from the Persian Gulf to Aleppo.[96] During the Persian siege of Basra in 1775–79, Iraqi merchants took refuge in Kuwait and were partly instrumental in the expansion of Kuwait's boat-building and trading activities.[97] As a result, Kuwait's maritime commerce boomed,[97] as the Indian trade routes with Baghdad, Aleppo, Smyrna and Constantinople were diverted to Kuwait during this time.[96][98][99] The East India Company was diverted to Kuwait in 1792.[100] The East India Company secured the sea routes between Kuwait, India and the east coasts of Africa.