Nebuchadnezzar II (Ruled 604-561 B.C.), His Conquests and the Bible | Middle East And North Africa

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NEBUCHADNEZZAR II (NEBUCHADNEZZAR OF THE BIBLE)

20120208-Daniel Interpreting Nebuchadnezzar Dream.jpg
Daniel InterpretingNebuchadnezzar's Dream
Nebuchadnezzar II (ruled 604-561 B.C.) took Babylon from the Assyrians, repelled the Persians, captured Jerusalem, enslaved the Jews, revived Babylon and created a Neo-Babylonian empire. A cuneiform inscription from the Ishtar Gate from Babylon (575 B.C.) in the Pergamon museum in Berlin reads, "Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, the pious prince...the highest priest...the never tiring governor...the wise and humble man, the trustee of Esagika and Ezida [two religious shrines], the first born sun of Nabopolassar, King of Babylon — am — I."

Juan Luis Montero Fenollós wrote in National Geographic History: Babylon reached its zenith under Nebuchadrezzar II, when its outer wall — built to the northeast of the city center — contained a total urban area of over 7.6 square kilometers (three square miles). The king wanted its monuments to dazzle with a size and grandeur never seen before. Babylonian citizens saw their city as a paradise — the center of the world and symbol of cosmic harmony that had come into existence when its supreme divinity, the god Marduk, defeated the forces of chaos. The spread of the cult of Marduk across Mesopotamia was proof of Babylon’s prestige. No ancient city was so desired and feared, so admired and denigrated. [Source: Juan Luis Montero Fenollós, National Geographic History, January/February 2017]

Nebuchadnezzar II should not be confused Nebuchadnezzar I. Nebuchadnezzar I (Akkadian: Nabu-kudurri-usur meaning "Nabu, protect my eldest son" or "Nabu, protect the border") was the king of the Babylonian Empire from about 1125 B.C. to 1103 B.C.

Solomon's Temple was partly destroyed and the Ark of the Covenant was lost when Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem in 586 B.C. In a Babylonian chronicle Nebuchadnezzar boasted theat he “captured the city and...took heavy tributes and brought it back to Babylon.” The Bible has a similar account except that the “tributes” are referred to as “all the treasures of the Temple and the royal palace.” The fate of the Ark is not known. According to one legend it was stolen by the illegitimate son of Solomon and Sheeba and taken to Ethiopia and placed in a church in Aksum, where only a guardian monk has access to it. A modest Second Temple was built in 539 B.C.

Websites on Mesopotamia: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Mesopotamia sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; International Association for Assyriology iaassyriology.com ; Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures, University of Chicago isac.uchicago.edu ; University of Chicago Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations nelc.uchicago.edu ; University of Pennsylvania Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations (NELC) nelc.sas.upenn.edu; Penn Museum Near East Section penn.museum; Ancient History Encyclopedia ancient.eu.com/Mesopotamia ; British Museum britishmuseum.org ; Louvre louvre.fr/en/explore ; Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org/toah ; Ancient Near Eastern Art Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org; Iraq Museum theiraqmuseum ABZU etana.org/abzubib; Archaeology Websites Archaeology News Report archaeologynewsreport.blogspot.com ; Anthropology.net anthropology.net : archaeologica.org archaeologica.org ; Archaeology in Europe archeurope.com ; Archaeology magazine archaeology.org ; HeritageDaily heritagedaily.com; Live Science livescience.com/ ; Judaism: Virtual Jewish Library jewishvirtuallibrary.org/index ; Judaism101 jewfaq.org ; torah.org torah.org ; Chabad,org chabad.org/library/bible ; Bible and Biblical History: Biblical Archaeology Society biblicalarchaeology.org ; Bible History Online bible-history.com Bible Gateway and the New International Version (NIV) of The Bible biblegateway.com ; King James Version of the Bible gutenberg.org/ebooks ; Jewish History: Jewish History Timeline jewishhistory.org.il/history Jewish History Resource Center dinur.org ; Center for Jewish History cjh.org ; Jewish History.org jewishhistory.org ; Internet Jewish History Sourcebook sourcebooks.fordham.edu ;

Historical Nebuchadnezzar II

According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia: Nebuchadnezzar II reigned from September 7, 605, to 562 B.C. On the 1st of Elul, upon the death of his father, Nabopolassar, Nebuchadnezzar II ascended the throne of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The Old Testament and several ancient historians, such as Josephus, mention Nebuchadnezzar, as do many dedicatory inscriptions of his buildings; but the details of his reign were unknown until the publication of the Babylonian Chronicle by the British Museum. [Source: New Catholic Encyclopedia]

Nebuchadnezzar's long reign saw Babylonia rise to its zenith as a world power. Temples, public buildings, palaces, and canals were built not only in Babylonia itself, but in the other cities of the realm. The German archeologists of the "Deutsch-Orient Gesellschaft," headed by Dr. R. Koldewey, began excavating the site of the city of babylon in 1899. The careful method employed yielded the ruins of the city that was once the capital of a world empire. After a reign of 43 years, Nebuchadnezzar was succeeded by his son Evil-Merodach. No historical value is to be attached to the Nebuchadnezzar of the Book of Daniel or that of Judith.

Aaron Skaist wrote in the Encyclopaedia Judaica: Nebuchadnezzar's conquest of Jerusalem and Judah, with the exile of the Judean aristocracy to Babylonia, is the most famous of his many triumphs, but his own inscriptions prefer to stress his more peaceful achievements. These certainly matched his foreign conquests. He reconstructed Babylon in its entirety, filling it with magnificent temples and palaces and turning the city into one of the wonders of the ancient world. Its fame traveled far and wide with those who had seen it, and even after its destruction by Xerxes in 478, its ruins fired the imagination of later ages. [Source: Aaron Skaist, Encyclopaedia Judaica, 2005, Encyclopedia.com]

Even Nebuchadnezzar's contemporaries were moved by his achievements to catalog the topography of the restored capital in all its details, thus providing an unrivaled description of an ancient city. Among its more noteworthy sights were the ziggurat (ziqqurratu), the famous hanging gardens, and the museum attached to Nebuchadnezzar's new palace. Here the king and his successors brought together statues, stelae, and other inscribed relics of the then already long antiquity of Mesopotamia. This neo-Babylonian interest in the monuments of the past thus complemented the neo-Assyrian efforts to collect the literary heritage of Babylonia that climaxed in the creation of the library of Ashurbanipal.

Nebuchadnezzar II in the Bible

Nebuchadnezzar recovering his reason

The reign of Nebuchadnezzar extended from B.C. 604 to 561. In B.C. 598 he laid siege to Jerusalem (2 Kings xxiv.) and made Jehoiachin prisoner, and in 588 again captured the city, and carried Zedekiah, who had rebelled against him, captive to Babylon (2 Kings xxv.). Josephus gives an account of his expeditions against Tyre and Egypt, which are also mentioned with many details in Ezek. xxvii.-xxix.

Juan Luis Montero Fenollós wrote in National Geographic History: In the Hebrew tradition, Nebuchadrezzar was a tyrant, and Babylon a torment. The king had conquered Jerusalem in the early sixth century B.C. and exiled the Hebrews to Babylon. The Bible says that he also stole sacred objects from the Jewish temple and took them back to Babylon to place in the temple of Marduk. [Source: Juan Luis Montero Fenollós, National Geographic History, January/February 2017]

The name Nebuchadnezzar, or more accurately Nebuchadrezzar (Jer. xxi. 2, 7, etc.), is derived from the Jewish Scriptures. But his inscriptions reads Nebo-kudurri-ussur, i.e., "may Nebo protect the crown"; a name analogous to that of his father Nebo(Nabu)-habal-ussur. ("Nebo protect the son") and to that of Belshazzar, i.e., "Bel protect the prince." The phonetic writing of Nebuchadnezzar is "An-pa-sa-du-sis," each of which syllables has been identified through the syllabaries. The word "kudurri" is probably the (Hebrew - KeTeR) of (Page 251) Esther vi. 8, and the (Greek - kidaris) of the Greeks.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: “Nebuchadnezzar the Chaldean showed himself a capable military ruler, yet as a Babylonian monarch, following the custom of his predecessors, he gloried not in the arts of war, but of peace. His boast was the vast building operations which made Babylon a city (for those days) impregnable, which adorned the capital with palaces, and the famous "procession road", and Gate of Ishtar, and which restored and beautifies a great number of temples in different towns of Babylonia. [Source: J.P. Arendzen, transcribed by Rev. Richard Giroux, Catholic Encyclopedia]

Nebuchadrezzar in the Book of Daniel

Juan Luis Montero Fenollós wrote in National Geographic History: To punish his disrespect for stealing objects from the Jewish Temple, the Bible recounts in the Book of Daniel how Nebuchadrezzar’s line will fall. In the story, Belshazzar, the successor to the throne, holds a feast served on the sacred vessels looted from Jerusalem. During the festivities a ghostly hand appears, and strange writing appears on the wall, forming the mysterious words: Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin. The exile Daniel is brought in by the terrified king to interpret the writing on the wall. Daniel reads it as: “God has numbered the days of your kingdom ... [it] is given to the Medes and Persians.” [Source: Juan Luis Montero Fenollós, National Geographic History, January/February 2017]

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: “Of Nebuchadnezzar's madness (Daniel, iv, 26-34) no Babylonian record has as yet been found. A number of ingenious suggestions have been made on this subject, one of the best of which Professor Hommel's substitution of Nabu-na'id for Nabu-chodonosor, but the matter had better stand over till we possess more information on the period. Of the prophet Daniel we find no certain mention in contemporary documents; the prophet's Babylonian name, Baltassar (Balatsu-usur), is unfortunately a very common one. We know of at least fourteen persons of that time called Balatu and seven called Balatsu, both of which names may be abbreviations of Baltassar, or "Protect His life". The etymology of Sidrach and Misach is unknown, but Abednego and Arioch (Abdnebo and Eriaku) are well known. Professor J. Oppert found the base of a great statue near a mound called Duair, east of Babylon, and this may have belonged to the golden image erected "in the plain of Dura of the province of Babylon" (Dan. iii, 1).” [Source: J.P. Arendzen, transcribed by Rev. Richard Giroux, Catholic Encyclopedia]

Daniel’s prediction did come to pass: In 539 B.C., Babylon fell to the Persian king Cyrus the Great, and the Jews returned home from exile. The city would be conquered two centuries later by Alexander the Great in 331. Although Alexander had planned to make Babylon the capital of his empire, he died before that came to pass. The great city would eventually be abandoned by his successors, and the splendors of Babylon would pass into the realm of legend. [Source: Juan Luis Montero Fenollós, National Geographic History, January/February 2017]

Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar (r. 604-561 B.C.)

The inscriptions of which a translation follows was found at Babylon by Sir Harford Jones Bridges. It is engraved on a short column of black basalt, and is divided into ten columns, containing 619 lines. It may be worth while to remark that in the name given to the prophet Daniel, Belteshazzar, i.e., Balat-su-ussur ("preserve thou his life"), and in Abednego ("servant of Nebo"), we have two of the component parts of the name of Nebuchadnezzar himself. [Source: "Babylonian and Assyrian Literature", Translator: Rev. J. M. Rodwell, M.A. P. F. Collier & Son, New York, 1901]

According to "Babylonian and Assyrian Literature": Babylonian inscriptions are by no means so replete with interest as the Assyrian. The latter embrace the various expeditions in which the Assyrian monarchs were engaged, and bring us into contact with the names and locality of rivers, cities, and mountain-ranges, with contemporary princes in Judea and elsewhere, and abound in details as to domestic habits, civil usages, and the implements and modes of warfare. But the Babylonian inscriptions refer mainly to the construction of temples, palaces, and other public buildings, and at the same time present especial difficulties in their numerous architectural terms which it is often impossible to translate with any certainty. They are, however, interesting as records of the piety and religious feelings of the sovereigns of Babylon, and as affording numerous topographical notices of that famous city; while the boastful language of the inscription will often remind the reader of Nebuchadnezzar's words in Dan. iv. 30: "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?" Compare column vii, line 32.

Inscribed stone of Nebuchadnezzar II

Column One reads: [1.1] Nebuchadnezzar
[1.2] King of Babylon,
[1.3] glorious Prince,
[1.4] worshipper of Marduk,
[1.5] adorer of the lofty one,
[1.6] glorifier of Nabu,
[1.7] the exalted, the possessor of intelligence,
[1.8] who the processions of their divinities
[1.9] hath increased;
[1.10] a worshipper of their Lordships,
[1.11] firm, not to be destroyed;
[1.12] who for the embellishment
[1.13] of Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida
[1.14] appointed days hath set apart, and
[1.15] the shrines of Babylon
[1.16] and of Borsippa
[1.17] hath steadily increased;
[1.18] exalted Chief, Lord of peace,
[1.19] embellisher of Bit-Saggatu and Bit-Zida,
[1.20] the valiant son
[1.21] of Nabopolassar
[1.22] King of Babylon am I.

[1.23] When he, the Lord god my maker made me,
[1.24] the god Merodach, he deposited
[1.25] my germ in my mother's (womb):
[1.26] then being conceived
[1.27] I was made.
[1.28] Under the inspection of Assur my judge
[1.29] the processions of the god I enlarged,
[1.30] (namely) of Merodach great Lord, the god my maker.
[1.31] His skilful works
[1.32] highly have I glorified;
[1.33] and of Nebo his eldest son
[1.34] exalter of My Royalty
[1.35] the processions (in honor of) his exalted deity
[1.36] I firmly established.
[1.37] With all my heart firmly
[1.38] (in) worship of their deities I uprose
[1.39] in reverence for Nebo their Lord.

[Source: 1.40] Whereas Merodach, great Lord,
[1.41] the head of My ancient Royalty,
[1.42] hath empowered me over multitudes of men,
[1.43] and (whereas) Nebo bestower of thrones in heaven and earth,
[1.44] for the sustentation of men,
[1.45] a sceptre of righteousness
[1.46] hath caused my hand to hold;
[1.47] now I, that sacred way
[1.48] for the resting-place of their divinities,
[1.49] for a memorial of all their names,
[1.50] as a worshipper of Nebo, Yav and Istar,
[1.51] for Merodach my Lord I strengthened.
[1.52] Its threshold I firmly laid, and
[1.53] my devotion of heart he accepted, and
[1.54] him did I proclaim
[1.55] . . . Lord of all beings, and
[1.56] as Prince of the lofty house, and
[1.57] thou, (O Nebuchadnezzar) hast proclaimed the name of him
[1.58] who has been beneficent unto thee.
[1.59] His name, (O god,) thou wilt preserve,
[1.60] the path of righteousness thou hast prescribed to him.
[1.61] I, a Prince, and thy worshipper
[1.62] am the work of thy hand;
[1.63] thou hast created me, and
[1.64] the empire over multitudes of men
[1.65] thou hast assigned me,
[1.66] according to thy favor, O Lord,
[1.67] which thou hast accorded
[1.68] to them all.
[1.69] May thy lofty Lordship be exalted!
[1.70] in the worship of thy divinity
[1.71] may it subsist! in my heart
[1.72] may it continue, and my life which to thee is devoted

Neo-Babylonian Army

The Babylonian army of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors was modelled on that of the Assyrians. We can gather from the receipts for the provisions and accoutrements furnished to it how the army of Tiglath-pileser or Sennacherib must have been fed and paid. Thus in the first year of Nabonidos, 75 qas of flour and 63 qas (nearly 100 quarts) of beer were provided for the troops in the camp near Sippara, and in the second year of the same King 54 qas of beer were sent on the 29th of Nisan for “the soldiers who had marched from Babylon.” Similarly in the tenth year of the same reign we have a receipt for the despatch of 116 qas of food on the 14th of Iyyar for “the troops which had marched [to Sippara] from Babylon,” as well as for 18 qas of “provisions” provided each day for the same purpose from the 15th to the 18th of the same month. [Source: “Babylonians And Assyrians: Life And Customs”, Rev. A. H. Sayce, Professor of Assyriology at Oxford, 1900]

In the first year of Nabonidos 3 gur of sesame had been ordered for the archers during the first two months of the year, and as in his thirteenth year 5 gur of wheat were provided for fifteen soldiers, we may calculate that rather more than two and one-half bushels were allotted to each man. It may be added that at the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar's reign we find a contractor guaranteeing “the excellence of the beer” that had been furnished for the “army that had entered Babylon,” though it is possible that here artisans rather than soldiers are meant.

A register of the soldiers was kept, but it would seem that those who were in charge of it sometimes forgot to strike off the names of those who were dead or discharged, and pocketed their pay. At any rate, the following official document has come down to us: — “(The names) of the deserters and dead soldiers which have been overlooked in the paymaster's account, the 8th day of Nisan, the eighth year of Cyrus, king of Babylon and of the world: Samas-akhi-iddin, son of Samas-ana-bitisu, deserted; Muse-zib-Samas, son of the Usian, ditto; Itti-Samas-eneya junior, of the family of Samas-kin-abli, ditto; Itti-Samas-baladhu, son of Samas-erba ditto; Taddannu, son of Rimut, ditto; Samas-yuballidh, his brother, ditto; Kalbâ, son of Samas-kin-abli, son of the painter(?), ditto; in all seven deserters. Libludh, son of Samas-edher, dead; Nebo-tuktê-tirri, ditto; Samas-mupakhkhiranni, ditto; Samas-akhi-erba, son of Samas-ana-bitisu, ditto; in all four dead. Altogether eleven soldiers who have deserted or are dead.”

Nebuchadnezzar’s Early Military Campaigns

In 608–607 B.C., Nabopolassar and Nebuchadnezzar (then Crown Prince) led the Babylonian forces against the mountainous country north of northwestern Mesopotamia. The next year saw another Babylonian invasion of southern Armenia and of the cities in the vicinity of Carchemish, the city on the Euphrates where Pharao neco had established himself after defeating King Josiah of Judah at megiddo (see 2 Kgs 23.29) and invading Syria. In the late spring of 605, after Nabopolassar had returned to Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar defeated Necho II of Egypt at Carchemish and again at Hamath on the Orontes. [Source: New Catholic Encyclopedia; Catholic Encyclopedia]

Necho II of Egypt had captured Ninive to complete the conquest of the Syrian provinces. A few years later, however, he marched a colossal army from Egypt to the Euphrates in hopes of annexing part of Mesopotamia. He was met by the Babylonian army at Carchemish, the ancient Hittite capital, where he wished to cross the Euphrates. Nabopolassar, being prevented by ill health and advancing age, had sent his son Nebuchadnezzar II, and put him in command. The Egyptians were utterly routed in this great encounter, one of the most important in history (604 B.C.). Nebuchadnezzar II pursued the enemy to the borders of Egypt, where he received the news of his father's death. He hastened back to Babylon, was received without opposition, and began, in 604 B.C., the forty-two years of his most glorious reign.

Nabopolassar died in Babylon on the 8th of Ab (August 15). Just as Syria lay open to the Babylonian advance Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon. The following year he was back in Syria, where he subdued Ashkelon and began to make inroads into Judah. An unsuccessful invasion of Egypt in late 601 forced Nebuchadnezzar to return to Babylon to recoup his strength.

Neo-Baylonians Defeat the Assyrians and Egyptians

Gerald A. Larue wrote in “Old Testament Life and Literature”: “Not all of the old Assyrian empire bowed to Babylon. A young Assyrian prince was made king and an invitation was sent to Pharaoh Necho of Egypt to join in stopping the growth of the new Babylonian empire. As Necho moved northward to join his allies, Josiah, perhaps in an attempt to protect Judah from both Assyrian and Egyptian control, attempted to stop him and was killed in the battle of Megiddo. Necho proceeded into Syria and Josiah's son Shallum, or Jehoahaz (possibly his throne name), took the throne, supported by the free men of Judah. Within three months he was deposed by Necho and taken as a hostage to Egypt. His brother Eliakim was appointed king and his name changed to Jehoiakim. [Source: Gerald A. Larue, “Old Testament Life and Literature,” 1968, infidels.org ]

“The Babylonian army, led by Nabopolassar's son Nebuchadrezzar (the Nebuchadnezzar of the Bible), defeated the Assyrians and Egyptians at Carchemish in 605. Fleeing Egyptians were pursued to their own borders and only saved from invasion by the death of Nabopolassar which necessitated Nebuchadrezzar's return to Babylon. He was crowned king in April, 604.

“In Judah, Jehoiakim, having promised allegiance to Babylon, retained the crown. He was an unpopular ruler and Jeremiah makes reference to his extravagance in building a new summer palace at Bethhaccerem (Ramat Rahel), a hill site a few miles south of Jerusalem.7 Jeremiah also refers to the brutal and tyrannical role that Jehoiakim played, thus suggesting that he was anything but esteemed.

“The Egyptian-Babylonian power struggle had not been completely settled and in 601 the two nations met again. Apparently the battle was a stalemate, and Nebuchadrezzar returned to Babylon to strengthen his forces. Possibly the failure of Nebuchadrezzar to win a decisive victory encouraged Jehoiakim to make a fatal error and rebel against Babylon. At the time, Nebuchadrezzar was engaged in a frontier struggle and it was not until late in 598 that Babylonian armies moved on Jerusalem. During that same month Jehoiakim died, passing his problems to his 18-year-old son Jehoiachin.

Fall of Nineveh

Gerald A. Larue wrote in “Old Testament Life and Literature”: “For three years Ashurbanipal's successor held the Assyrian throne and at his death Sin-shar-ishkin became king. In the summer of 612, Nabopolassar, a Chaldean leader, aided by Medes and northern nomads, attacked, looted and destroyed Nineveh, an event that marked the crumbling of the last vestiges of power in Assyria and established the foundations for the Neo-Babylonian Empire. There is some evidence that the defeat of Nineveh was the occasion of rejoicing in Judah, although the Assyrians established a new capital at Harran. Within a few years Harran was conquered by the Medes. [Source: Gerald A. Larue, “Old Testament Life and Literature,” 1968, infidels.org ]

“The reaction of at least one individual to the fall of Nineveh is preserved in a poem echoing sheer mocking joy in the defeat of Assyria. The book of the prophet Nahum falls into two parts: Chapter 1 contains an incomplete poem in an alphabetic acrostic form,1 and Chapters 2 and 3 are concerned with Nineveh. Attempts have been made to read out of this short poem something of the writer's status and personality, but there is really no way of learning much about the man for, in his jubilant mood, he treats only one theme-Nineveh. His words form a triumphant shout of praise to Yahweh that the enemy has fallen. His native village of Elkosh (1:1) has not been located.2 The prophet may have been a Judaean who reacted with intense pleasure at the news of Nineveh's defeat or he may have been a descendant of the exiles of Israel living in a village near enough to Nineveh to enable him to witness the siege, thus accounting for the graphic descriptions in his poem. He may have been a cult prophet in Jerusalem.

“The two chapters dealing with the siege (chs. 2-3) appear to have been written near the time of the battle. The reference to the sack of Thebes (3:8) guarantees a date after 663, the date of Ashurbanipal's successful attack. The context of the poem suggests a date close to 612. The opening chapter is a separate work which employs theophanic imagery (1:3b-5) and depicts Yahweh as an avenger (1:2-3, 9-11), a wrathful deity (1:6), a refuge for his people (1:7-8), and a deliverer (1:12-13). While it cannot be determined for certain, it seems that someone other than Nahum wrote this chapter. The liturgical or hymnic quality of this section has led to the suggestion that the first chapter was combined with the last two to form a liturgy for use in the New Year festival in the autumn of 612 after the fall of Nineveh.

“The last chapters employ forceful, descriptive terminology to create a compact, vivid word picture of the confusion and horror during the Babylonian attack. In Nahum's thought, God acts against an enemy who has earned punishment and wrath. The closing, mocking verses, indicate that the battle was over and the quietness of death and desolation had descended upon the city and its leaders. All who suffered the cruelty of Assyrian tyranny clap their hands in rejoicing (3:18-19).

“It has also been proposed that the book was developed to propagandize, to encourage a strong stand against Assyria and to extend hopes for the restoration of the nation of Judah.4 It seems better and simpler to recognize the book of Nahum as consisting of genuine oracles by the prophet concerning the fall of Nineveh, to which an introductory poem was added to adapt the total work to liturgical usage.

Nebuchadnezzar’s Military Campaigns Against Judah and Jerusalem

20120208-Nebuchadnezzarcamp outside Jerusalem.jpg
Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem
According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia: Around 600 B.C., King Joachim of Judah (609–598), who had paid tribute to Babylon for three years, rebelled and thus committed a fatal error. After conquering northern Arabia, the Babylonians advanced against Jerusalem in 598–597. Joachim died soon after the siege began, and his 18-year-old son, Joachin, inherited the crown. After three months Jerusalem fell (March 16, 597), and its new king was taken to Babylon. Joachim's brother Sedecia was elevated to the throne by Nebuchadnezzar. His ten-year reign (597–587) was marked by continual agitation and sedition. By 589, inflamed with fierce patriotism and bolstered by promises of Egyptian support, Judah had pushed itself into open and irrevocable revolt. Nebuchadnezzar immediately reacted and besieged Jerusalem in late 588 or early 587. On the 9th of Tammuz (July 30), 587, the city fell. Shortly afterward, it was completely destroyed, and its inhabitants were deported to Babylonia. Judah was organized into the provincial system of the empire, and its population of poor peasants was governed by Godolia (Gedalia), a former chief minister of Sedecia.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia: Against the solemn warning of Jeremias the Prophet, Jehoiakim refused tribute, i.e. rebelled against Babylon. At first Nebuchadnezzar II began a small guerilla warfare against Jerusalem; then, in 597 B.C., he dispatched a considerable army, and after a while began the siege in person. Jechonias, however, son of Jehoiakim, who as a lad of eighteen had succeeded his father, surrendered; 7000 men capable of bearing arms and 1000 workers in iron were carried away and made to form a colony on a canal near Nippur (the River Chobar mentioned in Ezechiel, i, 1), and Zedekias was substituted for Jechonias as vassal King of Juda. [Source: J.P. Arendzen, transcribed by Rev. Richard Giroux, Catholic Encyclopedia |=|]

Nebuchadnezzar Attacks Jerusalem

Judah the southern kingdom survived until 597 B.C. when Jerusalem was raided by the Babylonians and 586 B.C. and conquered by under Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 B.C. ). 2 Kings Chap. 23-25 describes the conquest of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. It is written by an anonymous historian but has traditionally been associated with the time of the prophet Jeremiah.

The siege of Jerusalem began on December 18, 598 and the city was taken on March 16, 597. The temple was looted and Jehoiachin and leading citizens and artisans were taken as prisoners to Babylon. Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah, whose name was changed to Zedekiah, was appointed king over a nation once again suffering from the ravages of war. Nebuchadrezzar had not only attacked Jerusalem, but Jehoiakim's new summer palace and the cities of Debit and Lachish all bear archaeological witness to Babylonian demolition. [Source: Gerald A. Larue, “Old Testament Life and Literature,” 1968, infidels.org]

According to the International Bible Society: From Chapter 25 of 2 Kings: “So in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month,Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched against Jerusalem with his whole army. He encamped outside the city and built siege works all round it. The city was kept under siege until the eleventh year of King Zedekiah. By the ninth day of the [fourth] month the famine in the city had become so severe that there was no food for the people to eat. Then the city wall was broken through, and the whole army fled at night through the gate between the two walls near the king's garden, though the Babylonians were surrounding the city. They fled toward the Arabah, but the Babylonian army pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho. All his soldiers were separated from him and scattered, and he was captured. He was taken to the king of Babylon at Riblah, where sentence was pronounced on him. They killed the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes. Then they put out his eyes, bound him with bronze shackles and took him to Babylon.

“Some ten years later Nebuchadnezzar once more found himself in Palestine. Hophra, King of Egypt, who had succeeded Necho II in 589 B.C., had by secret agents tried to combine all the Syrian States in a conspiracy against Babylon. Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon had entered into the coalition, and at last even Juda had joined, and Zedekias against the advice of Jeremias, broke his oath of allegiance to the Chaldeans. A Babylonian army began to surround Jerusalem in 587 B.C.. They wee unable to take the city by storm and intended to subdue it by starvation. But Pharao Hophra entered Palestine to help the besieged. The Babylonians raised the siege to drive the Egyptians back; they then returned to Jerusalem and continued the siege in grim earnest. On July the 9th, 586 B.C., they poured in through a breach in the wall of Ezekias and took the city by storm. They captured the flying Zedekias and brought him before Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, where his children were slain before him and his eyes blinded. The city was destroyed, and the temple treasures carried to Babylon. A vast number of the population was deported to some districts in Babylonia, a miserable remnant only was allowed to remain under a Jewish governor Godolias. When this governor was slain by a Jewish faction under Ishmael, a fraction of this remnant, fearing Nebuchadnezzar's wrath, emigrated to Egypt, forcibly taking Jeremias the Prophet with them. “Babylon's expedition to Juda thus ended in leaving it a devastated, depopulated, ruined district.

Fall of Nineveh

Nebuchadnezzar After the Sacking of Jerusalem

Gerald A. Larue wrote in “Old Testament Life and Literature”: “Nebuchadrezzar maintained control of his vast empire with difficulty. A rival, King Cyaxeres of Media, began to build a powerful state with its capital at Ecbatana. Median tribes were subdued, Armenians overcome and the new Median empire pushed into Asia Minor, only to be stopped by the Lydians. During this period, Nebuchadrezzar was campaigning in the west, attempting to quiet unrest that had developed, perhaps augmented by the efforts of the Egyptian Pharaoh Apries or Hophra (589-569). After a thirteen year siege, Tyre became a Babylonian possession with semi-independence (cf. Ezek. 29:17-20). Meanwhile, Pharaoh Apries was defeated by the Greeks at Cyrene (570). In 568, perhaps to prove to the Egyptians the folly of pressing into Asia, Nebuchadrezzar invaded Egypt. [Source: Gerald A. Larue, “Old Testament Life and Literature,” 1968, infidels.org]

After Jerusalem fell, Nebuchadnezzar turned his arms against Tyre. After Egypt this city had probably been the mainspring of the coalition against Babylon. The punishment intended for Tyre was the same as that of Jerusalem, but Nebuchadnezzar did not succeed as he did with the capital of Juda. The position of Tyre was immeasurably superior to that of Jerusalem. The Babylonians had no fleet; therefore, as long as the sea remained open, Tyre was impregnable. [Source: J.P. Arendzen, transcribed by Rev. Richard Giroux, Catholic Encyclopedia |=|]

The Chaldeans lay before Tyre thirteen years (585-572), but did not succeed in taking it. Ethobaal II, its king, seems to have come to terms with the King of Babylon, fearing, no doubt, the slow but sure destruction of Tyrian inland trade; at least we have evidence, from a contract-tablet dated in Tyre, that Nebuchadnezzar at the end of his reign was recognized as suzerain of the city.

Although there is a gap in the Babylonian Chronicle extending from the 11th year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign (594–593) to the 3d year of Neriglissar's (557–556), it is known from an inscription that Nebuchadnezzar led his armies in an invasion of Egypt in 568. Notwithstanding the little success against Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar attacked Egypt in 567. He entered the very heart of the country, ravaged and pillaged as he chose, apparently without opposition, and returned laden with booty through the Syrian Provinces. But no permanent Egyptian occupation by Babylon was the result.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Mesopotamia sourcebooks.fordham.edu , National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, especially Merle Severy, National Geographic, May 1991 and Marion Steinmann, Smithsonian, December 1988, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, Encyclopædia Britannica, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, and various books and other publications.

Last updated June 2024