Nebuchadnezzar II

Relatives:

• Father: Nabopolassar
• Wife: Amytis (?)
• Sons: Nabû-šuma-ukîn (=Amel-Marduk), Eanna-arra-usur, Marduk-šuma-usur, Marduk-nâdin-ahi, Mušêzib-Marduk, Marduk-nâdin-šumi
• Daughter: Kasšaya (married to Neriglissar)

Main deeds:

• 23 November 626: Nabopolassar becomes king of Babylonia; he has fought a war against the Assyrian overlords, which is continued
• 614: Sack of Aššur; rendez-vous between Nabopolassar and the Median leader Cyaxares. According to Berossus, Nebuchadnezzar marries the Median princess Amytis.
• 612: Sack of Nineveh; continued war
• 605: Nebuchadnezzar, the crown prince, defeats the Egyptian king Necho at Karchemiš
• August 605: Death of Nabopolassar; Nebuchadnezzar becomes king
• Campaigns the west
• c.599: Repair of the Ebabbar temple, dedicated to, in Sippar (mentioned in the Nabonidus Cylinder, ii.47ff)
• 597: First capture of Jerusalem; king Jehoiachin is replaced by king Zedekiah
• 596: Campaign against Elam
• 595: Renewed campaigning in the west
• 587 or 586: Second capture of Jerusalem; deportation of the Judaean elite
• 582: annexation of Moab and Ammon (Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 10.9.7)
• 575: Capture of Tyre, after a siege that had lasted thirteen years
• Falls victim to a court conspiracy; is sent to jail, where he meets former king Jehoiachin of Judah
• Before Ulûlu 566: released; he accepts a new name, Amel-Marduk ("Man of Marduk")
• 562: Death

Sources:

• Early Years of Nabopolassar chronicle (ABC 2)
• Fall of Nineveh chronicle (ABC 3)
• Late Years of Nabopolassar chronicle (ABC 4)
• Fall of Jerusalem chronicle (ABC 5)
• Berossus (text)
• ANET 308

Literature:

• Irving Finkel, "The Lament of Nabû-šuma-ukîn" in J. Renger (ed.), Babylon. Focus mesopotamischer Geschichte, Wiege früher Gelehrtsamkeit, Mythos in der Moderne (1999 Saaerbrücken) 323-341