I think the Astronomy House (and the Egyptian and Meroe Pyramids, and the Olmec Head) don't count as religious districts because Humankind seems to have a policy of religious districts only appearing in the Classical Era.  The Caralan Plaza is now the earliest district to generate faith, but isn't a religious district.

Scriptorium and Jama Masjid, not sure.  The Masjid especially should be one, but it's already a very strong EQ so maybe it's just kept from being one for balance purposes.  Maybe the argument for the Scriptorium is the same as the Blgarian Knyaz Library: It's where religious texts are stored but not an active place of worship?

I'm hopeful that in a future release, we see more detail given to faith and consideration for Ancient-Era faith and religious districts.

Thank you very much for the explanations

I was thinking of playing as the Babylonians just the other night, but had "too much" coastline and so I went Phoenician instead.  I keep remembering that they're weak, but on paper the Astronomy House should be a solid quarter; treat it like a Farmers Quarter that also adds science and it should be solid.  It exploits food, so you can build it towards your city's pastures right from the get-go.  It sure would be nice if it provided even +3 as a baseline, without requiring an adjacent farmer's quarter.

Since the game started, the devs have boosted a few Ancient cultures — the Hittites, the Olmecs, the Phoenicians — so I have to assume that whatever metadata they're getting fom playstyles, the Babylonians are at least competitive.  I'd value them as the third-best scientific culture for the ancient era behind the Zhou (best with the right terrain) and the Sumerians (second best, but consistently good science).  I think the Babylonians would benefit from just a little extra bump to help their science right out of the gate, like the +3 science on the Astronomy house that I suggested earlier, or a small, diminishing boost to their LT like "+5 Science on Capital" or "-50% Discount on first 3-6 Technologies" to make them shine as the eras only Science culture.

Additionally, as the only ancient Science Affinity culture, they're in a position to farm stars for longer than some other cultures are.  I'll sometimes run into the problem where I have no more techs to research in the ancient era (esp. as the Zhou/Sumerians, but occasionally as others), but the Babylonians can start researching Classical techs while they finish off those Ancient stars, and that's a subtle but useful benefit.

RedSirus wrote:
Additionally, as the only ancient Science Affinity culture, they're in a position to farm stars for longer than some other cultures are.  I'll sometimes run into the problem where I have no more techs to research in the ancient era (esp. as the Zhou/Sumerians, but occasionally as others), but the Babylonians can start researching Classical techs while they finish off those Ancient stars, and that's a subtle but useful benefit.

But for that Strategy I would focus mainly on Production, ignoring the supposed strategy of the EQ. I find Unclear their playstyle. Should I focus on Food and Science as promoted by the EQ, but renounce to use their Scientific ability since I wouldn't have any occasion to develop my industry, or should I completely ignore it and just aim to use its ability?

A1y0sh4 wrote:

It makes sense (to me) the fact that the game is trying to represent the Babylonian "priest-scribes" as researchers, but not so much the fact that they are related to the food generation; shouldn't it be tied more on religion? Here is a mine version of how a rework of the district might look:

• Exploits Food
• Exploits Science
• +1 Science per Researchers
• +1 Faith per Researchers
• Count as "Religious District"
• Count as "Research Quarter"
• (Unlocks in Calendar)

I've modified a little my proposal. In the meantime, I would also suggest devs to buff a little Babylonian's LT (+2 Science on Capital per researched tech doesn't affect too much the early game and, from the middle one, it basically doesn't affect it anymore) to something like +3 Science on Capital per researched tech (at least) or, maybe, giving a +5 Science and +5 Stability on Capital per Enacted Civic (to imitate a sort of Hammurabi's Code)