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Nabûkudurriuṣur II 𒀝𒃻𒁺𒅇𒊒 | |
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| Born | c. 642 BCE Uruk, Assyria |
| Died | 7 October 562 BCE Bābilim, Babylonia |
| Nationality | Chaldean |
Nabûkudurriuṣur II (c. 642 BCE – 7 October 562 BCE), also known by the Hebrew name Nebuchadnezzar, was the second and most powerful king of the tenth dynasty of Babylon. He was succeeded his father Nabûaplauṣur and was succeeded by his son Amēlmarduk.[1]
Early life[edit | edit source]
After the Medes defeated Assyria at Ninua (Nineveh) in 614 BCE, Nabûaplauṣur married his son Nabûkudurriuṣur to Humati, the daughter of the Median king Huvaxšthra, in order to form an alliance.[1]
Nabûaplauṣur gave Nabûkudurriuṣur control of the Babylonian army in 607 BCE.[1]
Invasions of Phoenicia and Palestine[edit | edit source]
In 605 BCE, the Babylonians crossed the Euphrates and destroyed the city of Karkemish, which contained an Egyptian garrison and its Greek mercenaries. After defeating Egypt, the Babylonians were able to take over most of Palestine and Syria without resistance. Nabûkudurriuṣur became king when his father died later that year. In 604 BCE, he captured the Phoenician city of ʾAšqalōn, whose ruler sent a letter asking for Egyptian support. In 601 BCE, the Babylonians fought against the Egyptians, and both sides suffered heavy losses.[1]
In 598 BCE, Yəhōyāqīm of Judah ended his alliance with Babylon at the request of Nekau of Egypt. In response, Nabûkudurriuṣur besieged Jerusalem and captured it in early 597 BCE. He installed Ṣīḏqīyyāhū as the new king. In late 595 and early 594 BCE, a rebellion broke out in the army. The king oversaw a military tribunal that sentenced the leading conspirator to death. The pharaoh Wahibra seized the cities of Gaza, Ṣīdūn, Ṣūr and backed a Judean rebellion against Babylon in an attempt to take control of Phoenicia. In 587 BCE, the Babylonians recaptured Jerusalem after an 18-month siege and annexed Judah, making it an ordinary province of Babylon. They exiled King Ṣīḏqīyyāhū and thousands of his nobles and craftsmen to other parts of the empire. The Babylonians then besieged the Phoenician city of Ṣūr for another 13 years until 574 BCE.[1]
Domestic policy[edit | edit source]
The Babylonian economy prospered under Nabûkudurriuṣur. He oversaw infrastructure projects such as the construction of irrigation canals, a reservoir near Sippar, temples, fortifications around Babylon, and a seven-story ziggurat called Etemenanki.[1]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Grigory Bongard-Levin, Boris Piotrovsky (1988). Ancient Civilisations of East and West. https://archive.org/details/ancientciveastwest/mode/1up.