Nebuchadnezzar II and the First Siege of Jerusalem
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Born sometime in 642 BCE, 𒀭𒀝𒃻𒁺𒋀, romanized as Nabû-kudurri-uṣur but now anglicized as Nebuchadnezzar was the second of that name, the first being his distant ancestor who reigned around 1125-1104 BCE, which influenced by the Hebrew נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר, romanized as Nəḇūḵaḏneʾṣṣar, in the Tanak through the Greek Ναβουχοδονόσορ, romanized as Nabouchodonosor, in the Septuagint though there are several variations of spelling in Hebrew. He was the son of Nabopolassar, who founded the Neo-Babylonian Empire as a rebellion against the Neo-Assyrian Empire, ultimately completely defeating the Neo-Assyrian Empire. It’s thought that they were from a prominent political family from Uruk.
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Little information survives to the modern day about Nebuchadnezzar’s early life, though some evidence survives that he was involved in the campaign against Harran, Turkey, in 610 BCE during the destruction of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. In 605 BCE, he led the battle against Egypt’s Necho II’s push into the Levant at Battle of Charchemish, the northern part of Syria, with the record claiming ‘not a single Egyptian escaped alive’.
ALTBy Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=122829186
Shortly after the Battle of Charchemish, Nabopolassar died on 8 Abu, which would be late July, 605 BCE, and Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon after rapidly wrapping up affairs with the Egyptians to be proclaimed king on 1 Ulūlu, mid-August. It’s thought that he returned to Babylon so quickly to keep his brothers claiming the throne because he was absent. He returned to Syria after burying his father, with the Babylonian Chronicle recording that 'he marched about victoriously’, facing little to no resistance for several months, then returned to Babylon, though 'none of the western most states in the Levant swore fealty to him and paid tribute’. In 604 BCE, he returned to campaign in the Levant again, beginning with Ascalon, near modern day Ashkelon, with the Babylonian Chronicle claiming and modern archaeology attesting that the city was razed. He was able to secure 'oaths of fealty from the rulers of Phoenicia’. Where he campaigned in 603 BCE is lost, but it’s thought that it was Gaza or Kummuh in south-eastern Anatolia. Documents from the late 5th century BCE record the towns of Isqalanu, likely Ascalon, and Hazzatu, likely Gaza, and Nippur, indicating that they were captured at about the same time. He continued to campaign through the Levant through to 601 BCE with little beyond a ’“vast” amount of booty was brought from the Levant to Babylonia in 602 BC’. Nebuchadnezzar continued on to Egypt in 601 BCE in an attempt to eliminate Egyptian influence in the Levant, though the attempt to conquer Egypt would fail, with 'both the Egyptian and Babylonian armies suffer[ing] a huge number of casualties’ according to the Babylonian Chronicles. In 599 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar began a course back to Babylon, moving back into the Levant, attacking Arabs living in the Syrian desert to unclear achievements.
ALTBy IchthyovenatorSémhur (base map) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=105732621
In 598 BCE, the campaign against the Kingdom of Judah began as Judah 'was at the epicenter of the competition between Babylon and Egypt’. During the 601 BCE campaign, Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, 'had begun to openly challenge Babylonian authority, counting on the fact that Egypt would lend support to his cause’, though according to the Tanak, the prophet Jeremiah advised him strongly against taking this stance. In 602 BCE, Jehoiakim had paid tribute to Babylon, but he was emboldened by Nebuchadnezzar’s inability to take Egypt, he opted to rebel. According to the Babylonian Chronicle, Nebuchadnezzar began a siege of Jerusalem in his seventh year on the throne during the month of Chislev, November/December in 598 and took the city in the second day of the month of Addaru, on 16 March 597 BCE and then installed a puppet king, Zedekiah, before taking a 'massive tribute’ with him back to Babylon.
ALTBy Jona Lendering - Livius.orgProvided under CC0 1.0 Universal per “License” notice under the photograph, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=87909002
This 'massive tribute’ included Jeconiah, the 8 or 18 year old son of Jehoiakim, who is thought to have died during the siege, possibly 10 December 598 BCE, as well as the 'court and other prominent citizens and craftsmen’ with the Book of Kings, which was written fairly contemporary to that time during the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, recording that 10,000 people in addition to 7,000 craftsmen and 1,000 'smiths’ were taken, though the Book of Jeremiah 'mentions 3,023 people’. It is unclear if this number includes just men or if it includes women and children as well, which might bring the total taken into exile up to 30,000 people.
