Was Peter on the Tiber or the Euphrates?

Some Protestants like to think, though it's not the majority, that this verse proves St. Peter was in Nebuchadnezzar's literal city, not Nero's:

The church that is in Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you: and so doth my son Mark
[1 Peter 5:13]

Now, one of these is John Calvin, who on this verse wrote:

Since, then, Peter had Mark as his companion when he wrote this Epistle, it is very probable that he was at Babylon: and this was in accordance with his calling; for we know that he was appointed an apostle especially to the Jews. He therefore visited chiefly those parts where there was the greatest number of that nation.

Now, where was the Babylonian Talmud compiled:

The Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli) consists of documents compiled over the period of late antiquity (3rd to 6th centuries).[27] During this period, the most important of the Mesopotamian Jewish centres of learning included the Talmudic academies in Babylonia, such as Nehardea, Nisibis (now Nusaybin), Mahoza (al-Mada'in, south of modern Baghdad), Pumbedita (near present-day al Anbar Governorate), and the Sura Academy, which was probably located about 60 km (37 mi) south of Baghdad

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud#Babylonian_Talmud

You may notice, none of these cities is Babylon itself. Have a look at the time for these "Talmudic academies in Babylonia" too:

The Talmudic academies in Babylonia, also known as the Geonic academies, were the center for Jewish scholarship and the development of Halakha during the Geonic era (from c. 589 to 1038 CE; Hebrew dates: 4349 AM to 4798 AM) in what is called "Babylonia" in Jewish sources.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmudic_academies_in_Babylonia

But some of these places were Jewish earlier:

So, if Peter was in Nehardea ("river of learning" is a nickname), why doesn't he say the Church in Anbar?

Nehardea was adjacent or identical to Anbar, a short distance from the modern city of Fallujah (formerly the site of Pumbedita).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nehardea

Some disagree that Fallujah is the site of Pumbedita, the location of which is disputed, some have even considered it was Anbar.

The city of Pumbedita was said to have possessed a Jewish population since the days of Second Temple of Jerusalem.[2]

The city had a large Jewish population and was famed for its Pumbedita Academy, whose scholarship, together with the city of Sura, gave rise to the Babylonian Talmud. The academy there was founded by Judah ben Ezekiel in the late third century. The academy was established after the destruction of the academy of Nehardea. Nehardea, being the capital city, was destroyed during the Persian–Palmyrian war.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumbedita

Nisibis is originally not so Jewish, but becomes a centre of Jewish learning in the time of Judah ben Bathyra:

He must have lived before the destruction of the Temple, since he prevented a pagan in Jerusalem from partaking of the Paschal offering. Thereupon he received the message: "Hail to thee, Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra! You live in Nisibis, but your net is spread in Jerusalem".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_ben_Bathyra

This passage refers to Nisibis as Nisibis, from the First Century, why would Peter refer to it as Babylon? Oh, to avoid detection? If code names are a thing, what about Rome?

And Sura is too late, not just for Jewish intellectual life, but for Jewish presence in Peter's time:

Abba Arikha arrived at Sura city to find no lively Jewish religious public life, and since he was worried about the continuity of the Jewish community in Babylonia, he left his colleague Samuel of Nehardea and began working to establish the yeshiva that would become Sura Academy. Upon Abba Arikha's arrival, teachers from surrounding cities and towns descended upon Sura. The Academy was formally founded in 225 CE, several years after Arikha's arrival.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sura_Academy

It may be noted, "CE" or "Common Era" is a secularist euphemism for "AD" or "Anno Domini".

But what about Babylon? Yes, the city of Nebuchadnezzar? Couldn't Peter just have been in Babylon?

La période parthe voit Babylone décliner et se dépeupler progressivement, les grands centres du pouvoir s'étant définitivement déplacés plus au nord sur le Tigre (Séleucie, Ctesiphon, et bien plus tard Bagdad). Mais ses monuments principaux sont encore en activité : Pline l'Ancien écrit au début du Ier siècle de notre ère que le temple continue à être actif, bien que la cité soit en ruines[68], et une inscription en grec datable du IIe siècle apr. J.-C. indique que le théâtre est encore restauré[69].

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylone

I owe a few of you a translation:

The Parthian period sees Babylon decline and get depopulated gradually, the great centres of power being definitely displaced to further North on the Tigris (Seleucia, Ctesiphon, much later Baghdad). But the principal monuments are still active: Pliny the Elder states in the "beginning" of the first century of our era [more likely after AD 70] that the temple continues to be active, even if the city is in ruins, and a Greek inscription datable to the IInd C. AD indicates that the theatre is once more restored.

Footnotes 68 and 69 are to Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia, VI, 30, and to « The Babylon Theater Inscription - Livius [archive] », on livius.org

So, Babylon was arguably a) a small village within a vaster field of ruins, b) the seat of Marduk worship and Apollo worship and c) probably for these reasons not very frequented by Jews or Christians. If Calvin had been right about the motivation of Peter, Babylon is not a very likely city he would have gone to. Calvin is ignorant, where he isn't disingenious (except the issues where he's simply nearly a Roman Catholic).

By contrast, as I learned from one of the Protestant Bible scholars cited on Rome IS Babylon! The Bible Says So (And so do most PROTESTANT Scholars!), Rome has since the 2nd C. been cited as the "Babylon" of I Peter 5:13. I think we have a case.

Hans Georg Lundahl
Paris
St. Anthony the Great
17.I.2026

In Thebaide sancti Antonii Abbatis, qui, multorum Monachorum Pater, vita et miraculis praeclarissimus vixit; cujus gesta sanctus Athanasius insigni volumine prosecutus est. Ejus autem sacrum corpus, sub Justiniano Imperatore, divina revelatione repertum et Alexandriam delatum, in Ecclesia sancti Joannis Baptistae humatum fuit.