Xabu-kudurri-uznr II. (the Nebuchadrezzar of OT), during his long reign of 44 years (B.i-. 604- 561), contrived to make Babylonia in the fullest sense the heir of the shatt(>red As.syr. empire. At the same time, by his building activity, he con- verted his capital Babylon into one of the most magnificent and most beautiful cities of antiquity. His chief attention was directed to the Bel-temple Sag-ilia at Babylon, and the Nebo-temple Zidda at Borsippa, but he liy no means neglected the temples at Sippar, Kiitha, Erech, Larsa, and Ur. In addition he constructed in Babylon new streets.
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embankments, and palaces (cf. tlie Greek legend of tlie ' hanging gardens' of Somiramis), and forti- fied the city by double walls, so strong that it might be deemed impregnable.
As the inscriptions of Nebuch. speak of almost nothing but his buildings, we have to gain in- formation about his numerous wars from various extra-Babylonian sources, such as the OT and the classical writers. We know the course of events in Jiiildh, where, at tlie instigation of the warlike I'liaraoh Hophra (Apries), Zedekiah, a Babylonian Viissal, renounced his allegiance, an act to wliich Xebuch. replied by laving siege to Jerusalem (•2 K 2o'). The fail of "jeru.salem in B.C. 587 led to the exile of the .lews in Babylon (B.C. 580-537), and made of Judah a Bab. province. A similar fate befell the other states which, in reliance upon Egypt, had withheld their tribute from Babylon, viz. Edom, Moab, Amnion, 'l"y re, and Sidon. Tyre, however, in spite of a 18 years' siege, could not be taken, but had to resume payment of the former tribute. Hophra, after the defeat of his army by Xebuch. (B.C. 587), ventured on no further attack. and it was not till 5ti8 thiit Xebuch. again took the field against Kgypt (where meanwhile Aniiisis had dethroned Hophra), and occupied some parts of the Delta. Of a war carried on by Nebuch. au'ainst ttie Arabs of Kedar we know from .ler 4jii-33 In j|)g course of the war which tlie Median king Cyaxares waged with Lydia, Nebuch. usetl his influence, after the battle on the Halys, B.C. 585, to bring about peace between Lydia and Media. By this politic step lie prevented his dangerous rival from becoming too .strong. Within the reign of Xebuch. al.so falls an event, which at a later period uiuler his succe.ssors proved to have been charged with fateful issues from the Xew Bab. empire, — the occupation of Elam by the newly- arisen kings of Ansan in N. Elara. As late as the beginning of Nebuch. 's reign Jeremiah knows of reigning kings of Elam (.ler 25''^), whereas in 585 Ezekiel already speaks of the Elaniites as dead and gone (Ezk Si-*). We know that an Indo- tiermanic prince of I'ers.-Achiemenid.'ean origin, named Teispis (Tslieispis). proclaimed himself king of An.san c. B.C. (JIH). He was the great-grand- father of the famous Kuras (f'yrus), and he left behind him two sons. The elder, Kuras by name (grandfather of Cyrus), fell heir to the kingdom of Ansan, which he probably enlarged by coiKjUer- iiig the rest of Elam ; the younger, Ariaramna, founded for himself a kingdom in E. Iran. He was the great-granilfather of ' Darius the Mede,' the future king of I'ersia. What share Xebuch. had in this conquest of Elam we know not, but some share in it is suggested by a recently-dis- covered inscription, according to which X(^buch. brought back an image of Istar from Su.sa to Erech.
The son and successor of Xebuch. was Amil- mardnk (the Evil-merodacli of OT), who reigned from 601-500. It was he who releiised the uiifor- tunateJehoiachin of Judah from his prison(2 K 25-'). Failing to establish him.self on a right footing with the priests, he was murdered by his own brother-in- law, Xeryalsliiir-iizur (the Xeri-gli.ssar of classical writers), who had the priests upmi his side.
Neriglis.sar (li.c. 659-550) w,ia m.arried to a d.aughter of Nebuch., and even during the reign of the latter enjoyed the greatest consideration, a-s is )>r'ived by various conlrael-tablets. Like his father, Bel-suin-iskun, he bore the title ruhU imga (' the exalted sage'), a ciivumstance which proves at the same time that Neriglis.sar is to be identified with the Kab-m.ag (= rH'/ffi iniffa) Nergal-sharezer of Jer '.\',fi- ". Xeiigl.'s inscriptions tell us of his building of temples and of the comiiletion of his palace in Babylon. 'I'lje iiii-:s;n;e which runi, 'the
rival and adversary 1 destroyed, the foes I exter- minated, the insubordinate opposers I consumed,' refers not only to the murder of Amil-Marduk, but also to foreign enemies, in whom we should probably recognise the same Manda hordes whom Nabonidus shortly afterwarils drove back from Mesopotamia.
Neriglissar died in 550, leaving a son scarcely come of age, Lahashi- Marduk, wlio, according to the judgment of the jirie.sts, wiis not fit to rule on account of ' bad character '; and was consequently deposed the same year. A Babylonian, not a Chaldee. was called to the throne in his room, Nabxi-naUd ('the god Nebj is exalted'), the Xabonidus of the classical writers, who reigned from B.C. 555-539. He was more a lover of anti- quarian research than an energetic ruler. He rebuilt a whole series of the oldest Bab. temples, e.g. at Sippar, Larsa, and Ur, and at the same time instituted elaborate inquiries into the history of the building (cf. the dates that have been thus recovered, above, ]). 224"). On the other hand, with the most painful shyness he avoided 15abylon, even when its situation was one of extreme peril ; it was his son Bid-sliar-nziir, the Belshazzar of Daniel, who, in the capital, carried on the work of government, without, however, bearing the title of king. Nabonidus' first concern was to rebuild the ancient temple of Sin in Ilarran. The Manda king Istuvigu {i.e.. the Meiiian iirince Astyages') had, however, invaded Mesopotamia, and it was only when he had been repelled through the assist- ance of king Kuras of Ansan (i.e.. the well-known Cyrus king of Persia, B.C. 558-531)) that Nabonidus was able to prosecute his building design. This repulse of the Manda took place c. B.C. 5.54 or 553. Through his decisive victory over Astyages (B.C. 5.50), Cyras became at the same time king of the Median empire; conse<jueiilly the Bab. Chronicle now calls him 'king of Parsu,' instead of giving him his official title, ' king of Ansan.' In the year 547 took place the successful campaign of Cyrus against Croisus of Lydia, during which Xabonidus .and the king of Egypt h.ad joined the league formed .against Cyrus. The latter was now master of the whole of Asia Minor. The punish- ment of Egypt was deferred till the time of Cyrus' successor C;imby.ses (B.C. .525), but that of Baby- lonia came in 539, in which year (lOth Tamnuiz, i.e. about the beginning of July) Cyrus got posses- sion of Babylon, through the treachery of its priests, without drawing a sword. Three and a half months later he made his trium|)hal entry into the city, and eight days afterwards his general Cubaru (tJobryas) caused the king's son, i.e. BcKshazzar, to be put to de.atli (cf. also Dn 5). X.abonidus was spared, and banished to Karmania. This was the end of the independence of Babylonia, and the beginning of the great Persian world- empire. Xeveitheless, the kings of Persia did every- thing possible to mitigate the lot of the Baby- lonians: they allowed the native form of worship to continue ; exalted B.abylonian to the rank of one of the three languages of the empire (Persian, Elamite, Babylonian ; see above, p. 223") ; and called themselves upon Bab. inscriptions ' king of Babel, king of the countries.' Under the mild rule of Cyrus, the day of return also drew nigh for the .Tews who h.ad remained true to the old home. Thus the end of the Bab. empire means at the same time the beginning of the .lewish conimunily, whose real commencement coincides with the re- building of the temple predicted in Is 44-". When in the latter pas.sage ('yrus (Koresh) is called by J" ' my shepherd,' there is here an allusion to the Elamite etymology of the name Kuras (' shepherd '). According to Strabo, the Aryan name of Cyrus w.as Agra<lates.