Nebuchadrezzar II
Nebuchadrezzar II (also
Nebuchadnezzar; reigned
605 BC -
562 BC) is perhaps the best known ruler of
Babylon in the
Chaldean Dynasty. He is famous for his conquests of
Judah and
Jerusalem, his monumental building within his capital of Babylon, his role in the
Book of Daniel, and his construction of the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which as legend has it, he made for his wife because she was homesick for the mountain springs where she grew up.
He is traditionally called "Nebuchadnezzar the Great", but his destruction of temples in Jerusalem and the conquest of Judah caused his vilification in Judaic tradition and in the Bible, causing him to be interpreted very differently by western Christians and Jews than in contemporary Iraq, where he is glorified as a historic leader.
His name in
Akkadian Nabû-kudurri-uṣur, is variously interpreted as "O
Nebo, defend my offspring" -- Nebo being the Babylonian deity of wisdom who is the son of the major god Marduk. In an
inscription he styles himself "Nebo's favourite." The
Hebrew form is
נבוכ"נאצר , (the presence of the א (
aleph) may indicate an earlier Hebrew pronunciation
), and sometimes (in
Jeremiah and
Ezekiel)
נבוכ"ראצר,
. The
Septuagint and
Vulgate Bibles have Ναβουχοδονοσορ,
Nabuchodonosor (perhaps reflecting an earlier Hebrew pronunciation
Nabūkudunʾuṣur) but the re-introduces the Hebrew variants as
Nebuchadnezzar vs.
Nebuchadrezzar.
Nebuchadnezzar was the oldest son and successor of
Nabopolassar, who delivered Babylon from its dependence on
Assyria and laid
Nineveh in ruins. According to
Berossus, he married the daughter of
Cyaxares, and thus the
Median and Babylonian dynasties were united.
Necho II, the king of
Egypt, had gained a victory over the Assyrians at
Carchemish. This secured Egypt the possession of
Phoenician provinces of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, including parts of Syria. The remaining Assyrian provinces were divided between Babylonia and Media.
Nabopolassar was intent on reconquering from Necho the western provinces of Syria, however, and to this end dispatched his son with a powerful army westward. In the ensuing
Battle of Carchemish in
605 BC, the Egyptian army was defeated and driven back, and Syria and Phoenicia were brought under the sway of Babylon. Nabopolassar died on
August 15,
605 BC and Nebuchadnezzar quickly returned to Babylon to ascend to the throne.
After the defeat of the
Cimmerians and
Scythians, all of Nebuchadrezzar's expeditions were directed westwards, although a powerful neighbour lay to the North; the cause of this was that a wise political marriage with
Amuhia, the daughter of the
Median king, had insured a lasting peace between the two empires.
Nebuchadrezzar engaged in several military campaigns designed to increase Babylonian influence in Syria and Judah. An attempted invasion of Egypt in
601 BC was met with setbacks, however, leading to numerous rebellions among the states of the Levant, including Judah. Nebuchadrezzar soon dealt with these rebellions, capturing
Jerusalem in
597 BC and bringing King
Jehoiachin to Babylon. When Pharaoh
Apries attempted another invasion of the Levant in
589 BC, Judah and other states of the region once again rebelled. Another siege of Jerusalem began in
588 BC, ending in
587 BC with the destruction of both the city and the Temple and the deportation of many prominent citizens to Babylon. These events are described in the
Bible. After the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadrezzar engaged in a 13 year long siege of
Tyre (
585-
572 BC), which ended in a compromise, with the Tyrians accepting Babylonian authority.
It would appear that following the pacification of Tyre, Nebuchadrezzar turned again to Egypt. A
clay tablet, now in the
British Museum, bears the following inscription referring to his wars:
"In the 37th year of Nebuchadrezzar, king of the country of Babylon, he went to
Mitzraim (Egypt) to make war.
Amasis, king of Egypt, collected [his army], and marched and spread abroad."
Having completed the subjugation of Phoenicia, and inflicted chastisement on Egypt, Nebuchadrezzar now set himself to rebuild and adorn the city of Babylon, and constructed canals, aqueducts and reservoirs.
From Nebuchadrezzar's inscriptions and from the number of temples erected or restored by this prince we gather that he was a very devout man. What we know of his history shows him to have been of a humane disposition, in striking contrast with the display of wanton cruelty of most Assyrian rulers. It was due to this moderation that Jerusalem was spared repeatedly, and finally destroyed only when its destruction became a political necessity; rebel princes easily obtained pardon, and
Zedekiah himself, whose ungratefulness to the Babylonian king was particularly odious, would, had he manifested less stubbornness, have been treated with greater indulgence (Jeremiah 38:17, 18); Nebuchadrezzar showed much consideration to
Jeremiah, leaving him free to accompany the exiles to Babylon or to remain in Jerusalem, and appointing one of the Prophet's friends, Godolias, to the governorship of Jerusalem; he granted likewise such a share of freedom to the exiled Jews that some rose to a position of prominence at Court and
Baruch thought it a duty to exhort his fellow-countrymen to have the welfare of Babylon at heart and to pray for her king. Babylonian tradition has it that towards the end of his life, Nebuchadrezzar, inspired from on high, prophesied the impending ruin to the Chaldean Empire (
Berosus and
Abydenus in
Eusebius,
Praep. Evang., 9.41).
Nebuchadrezzar died in Babylon between the second and sixth months of the forty-third year of his reign.
Nebuchadrezzar seems to have prided himself on his constructions more than on his victories. During the last century of
Niniveh's existence, Babylon had been greatly devastated, not only at the hands of
Sennacherib and
Assurbanipal, but also as a result of her ever renewed rebellions. Nebuchadrezzar, continuing his father's work of reconstruction, aimed at making his capital one of the world's wonders. Old temples were restored; new edifices of incredible magnificence were erected to the many gods of the Babylonian pantheon (
Diodorus of Sicily, 2.95;
Herodotus, 1.183) to complete the royal palace begun by Nabopolassar, nothing was spared, neither "cedar-wood, nor bronze, gold, silver, rare and precious stones"; an underground passage and a stone bridge connected the two parts of the city separated by the Euphrates; the city itself was rendered impregnable by the construction of a triple line of walls. Nor was Nebuchadrezzar's activity confined to the capital; he is credited with the restoration of the Lake of
Sippar, the opening of a port on the Persian Gulf, and the building of the famous Median wall between the Tigris and the Euphrates to protect the country against incursions from the North. In fact, there is scarcely a place around Babylon where his name does not appear and where traces of his activity are not found. These gigantic undertakings required an innumerable host of workmen; from the inscription of the great temple of
Marduk, we may infer that most probably captives brought from various parts of Western Asia made up a large part of the labouring force used in all his public works.
|
Nebukadnezar, by William Blake |
Nebuchadrezzar is most widely known through his portrayal in the Bible, especially the Book of Daniel, which discusses several events of his reign in addition to his conquest of Jerusalem:
In the second year of his reign (evidently counting from his conquest of the Jews), Nebuchadrezzar dreams of a
huge image made of various materials (gold, copper, iron, etc). The prophet
Daniel interprets it to stand for the rise and fall of world powers. (
Daniel Chapter 2)
During another incident, Nebuchadrezzar erects a large idol for worship during a public ceremony on the plain of Dura. When three Jews, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego), refuse to take part, he has them cast into a roaring furnace. They are protected by an
angel and emerge unscathed. (
Daniel Chapter 3)
Another dream, this time of an immense tree, is interpreted by Daniel the prophet. (
Daniel Chapter 4)
While boasting over his achievements, Nebuchadrezzar is humbled by
God. The king loses his sanity and lives in the wild like an animal for seven years (by some considered as an attack of the madness called
clinical boanthropy). After this, his sanity and position are restored. Neither the illness, nor the interregnum which it must have caused, are recorded in Babylonian annals; however, there is a notable absence of any record of acts or decrees by the king during
582-
575 BC. Some scholars believe that the Book of Daniel was written long after the events described, during the
2nd century BC, and thus are skeptical of the details of Nebuchadrezzar's portrayal by Daniel.
Some scholars think that Nebuchadrezzar's portrayal by Daniel is a mixture of traditions about Nebuchadrezzar and about
Nabonidus (Nabuna'id), the last king of Babylon. For example, Nabonidus was the real father of
Belshazzar, and the seven years of insanity could be related to Nabonidus' sojourn in
Tayma in the desert. Evidence for this view was actually found on some fragments from the
Dead Sea Scrolls that reference Nabonidus (N-b-n-y) being smitten by God with a fever for seven years of his reign while his son
Belshazzar was regent.
After his death in October, 562 BC, having reigned 43 years, he was succeeded by his son
Amel-Marduk, who, after a reign of two years, was succeeded by
Neriglissar (
559 -
555), who was succeeded by
Nabonidus (
555 -
538), at the close of whose reign (less than a quarter of a century after the death of Nebuchadrezzar) Babylon fell under
Cyrus as the head of the combined armies of Media and
Persia.
* There is a type of
daylily named "Nebuchadnezzar's Furnace".
* In the popular
The Matrix film trilogy, the hovercraft of the character 'Morpheus' is named the
Nebuchadnezzar.
* A bottle of
champagne which contains the same amount as 20 bottles (15 litres) is called a
Nebuchadnezzar.
* Opera
Nabucco* Saddam Hussein named one of his Republican Guards divisions after Nebuchadnezzar.
* A Legend card in the
Magic: The Gathering card game is named Nebuchadnezzar.
* The
VeggieTales character Nebby K. Nezzer is a play off of Nebuchadnezzar.
* Chapter 23, "The Chaldaean Kings" in George Roux,
Ancient Iraq (3rd ed.). London: Penguin Books, 1992. ISBN 014012523-X
*
ABC 5: Chronicle Concerning the Early Years of Nebuchadnezzar
*
Nabuchodonosor on the
Catholic Encyclopedia*
Inscription of Nabuchadnezzar. Babylonian and Assyrian Literature - old translation
*
Nabuchadnezzar Ishtar gate Inscription
