The ancient king Nebuchadnezzar II is known to us from biblical stories. His real name was hidden for a long time behind the ancient Jewish transcription, his palaces and cities were covered with the sands of oblivion. For a long time, it was considered only a myth, fiction, a horror story for adults. But in the 19th century, the first archaeological excavations shook the foundations of history, and the world learned about forgotten civilizations and ancient rulers.
What did Nebuchadnezzar II become famous for, photos of whose portraits adorn school textbooks in many countries of the world? How did he become the king of Babylonia, what was remembered by enemies and allies, why did his name get into the Bible? You will learn all this from the article.
Backstory
Babylonian kingdom originated in the XX century BC. Having united the Upper and Lower Mesopotamia, it was one of the greatest states in the Middle East region for more than 5 thousand years. It was the time of the emergence of the first cities and the first systems of government. At the same time, a judicial and bureaucratic system appeared. At this time, the very first vault in history appearslaws - the laws of Hammurabi.
In 1595 B. C. power in Babylon was seized by the tribes of nomads - the Hittites. Under their rule, Babylon stayed for more than 400 years. In the subsequent time, the kingdom formally remained independent, while gradually falling under the influence of a powerful and aggressive northern neighbor - Assyria.
But the Babylonian king Nabopolassar conquered Assyria, got rid of age-old dependence and began to build his own empire. His reign gave impetus to the new development of the ancient state. And Babylon reached its greatest prosperity under the reign of the son of Nabopolassar, whose name is Nebuchadnezzar II.
Short biography
The Akkadian name of the famous king was written as "Nabu-kudurri-utzur". Like all royal names, it was significant and deciphered as "the first-born, dedicated to the god Nabu." He was the first son of the famous conqueror of Assyria and very soon showed that he was quite worthy to continue the work of his father.
Being very young, Nebuchadnezzar II commanded the army of Nabopolassar at the Battle of Karchemish, and then led a military operation in the District, a land uniting small states on the territory of modern Syria, Jordan and Israel.
Numerous victories brought the prince well-deserved fame both in his own country and abroad. In August 605 BC, when the Babylonian king died, Nebuchadnezzar II hurried to the capital, fearing that another heir would take the throne of Babylonia in his absence. And at the beginning of September 605 BC. he became legalheir to the great Babylonian power.
Jewish wars
The first military achievement of Nebuchadnezzar as the new king of Babylonia should be called the capture of the Philistine city of Ascalon. The Philistines, old enemies of the Jews, hoped for the support of the army of Egypt. But for a number of reasons, Pharaoh Necho did not come to the aid of his allies, and the city fell under the onslaught of the Babylonian army.
This time can be considered the beginning of the anti-Jewish campaign of Nebuchadnezzar. For the first time, he punished the Jewish king Joachim for infidelity, because it was by the will of the Babylonian king that the ruler of Judah retained his throne. For the second time, the inhabitants of Palestine were able to pay off Nebuchadnezzar with a huge ransom. In addition to money, precious materials, gold and silver, the Babylonian king takes 10,000 Jews captive and sends them to Babylon as slaves.
Fall of Jerusalem
The third campaign against Judea ended fatally for the Jewish people. In 587 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II surrounds Jerusalem. King Zedekiah offered the townspeople to surrender, but the Jews continued to defend their city - and after a long siege, it was taken and destroyed. Zedekiah was captured along with his family and household.
Nebuchadnezzar severely punished the king - he killed all his sons, household members, and blinded Zedekiah himself and sent him to Babylon as a simple slave. Thus ended the era of kings from the tribe of David. The survivors did not rejoice, but rather envied the dead.
The devastation was complete and final. The main Jewish shrine, the Temple of Solomon, burned down. The walls of the city fell, houses, crops and vineyards were burned to the ground. Judea ceased to exist as an independent state. It is not surprising that one of the most negative characters described in the Bible was King Nebuchadnezzar II. He shattered the Jews' dreams of independence, desecrated their shrines, made them slaves.
Wars against Egypt
The Babylonian king held his power over one of the largest powers of the old world for more than forty years. During this time, he went on campaigns to Egypt several times and significantly reduced the influence of this state in the Middle East region.
Instant military operations have made the entire western border of Egypt under the control of the Babylonian army. This could not help but worry Pharaoh Necho. In 601 B. C. e. he sent a huge army against Nebuchadnezzar. The battle continued for several days - the fields were strewn with the bodies of the fallen.
Nebuchondonesor retreated back to Babylon to save the remnants of his army. But Pharaoh Necho was no better. He managed to defend his own borders, but there were no forces for the offensive. Armed neutrality reigned between the two powers, sometimes interrupted by minor skirmishes. This continued throughout the reign of Nebuchadnezzar.
In the biblical books, the Jews described this war from the point of view of the vanquished. The Egyptians did not lag behind them - they described Nebuchadnezzar as a beast from the North. Perhaps there is a lot of truth in this - the ancient winners did not spare the losers. Butanother point of view should be considered: how did Nebuchadnezzar II dispose of his we alth? What became a powerful country under this king?
Rise of an empire
Military campaigns against the District, Egypt and Judea in most cases ended in victory. Caravans with rich booty, precious metals, slaves from those countries and peoples that Nebuchadnezzar II enslaved with his iron will went to Babylon.
Babylon's economy flourished - entire nations became tributaries of the new Babylonian empire. A huge influx of we alth created all the conditions for the capital of the great kingdom to become the most amazing and luxurious place in the world.
New Babylon
It is interesting that in history the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar II became the first ruler who, in his memoirs, was proud not of wars and conquered powers, but of rebuilt cities, sown fields and good roads.
The new king managed to turn Babylon into the largest economic and political center of the Ancient World. It was thanks to his decrees and orders that the city became not only an impregnable fortress, but also one of the most beautiful capitals.
Revitalization of the city
Nebuchadnezzar II made a lot of efforts to decorate his native city. The streets of Babylon were paved with tiles and bricks, which were carved from outlandish rocks imported from afar. The pink breccia came from Arabia and the white limestone from Lebanon.
The houses of officials, courtiers and priests were decorated with huge bas-reliefs, the walls of temples andPalaces were dazzled with images of real and mythical animals.
Continuing to strengthen and decorate his own city, Nebuchadnezzar II ordered the construction of a bridge across the Euphrates, which would connect the Eastern and Western regions. The built bridge became one of the great engineering creations of that time: its length reached 115 meters, it was about 6 meters wide, in addition, it had a removable part for the passage of ships.
Defense
The neighboring state of Media was an ally of Babylon as long as the threat from Assyria was tangible. But after a series of victories over the northern state, Media quickly turned from an ally into a likely enemy of Babylon. Therefore, the defense of the capital in the empire became a paramount task for Nebuchadnezzar.
Its architects quickly completed the alteration of the outer walls of the city - now they have become wider and higher. A deep ditch was dug around the walls of Babylon, filled with water from the Euphrates. Another wall was built along the inner perimeter of the moat - an additional line of defense. At some distance from the capital, a network of defensive structures was created, designed to make it difficult for enemies to reach the capital even at the distant approaches to the city.
Walls and temples
Nebuchadnezzar II paid great attention to his own gods, who brought him glory and victory. Under him, several ziggurats were built and the largest of them, dedicated to Etemenanki, was completed. It was he who became the basis for the legend of the Tower of Babel. In addition, the architects and builders of Nebuchadnezzar II completed the temple of Esagila, the construction of which had begun under Nabopolassar. The splendor of religious buildings and personal possessions of the king emphasized the glory and invincibility of eternal Babylon.
Marriage
To secure the treaty with Media, Nebuchadnezzar II married the daughter of the Median ruler Kitaxares. Thus, the alliance between the two warlike states was strengthened, and the likelihood of the Medes invading Babylon was reduced.
The royal residence, in which Nebuchadnezzar II and his wife Amanis settled, was decorated pompously and pretentiously, and the princess really missed the green gardens and cool streams of Media. Then, instead of taking the princess to the green oases, the king ordered the oasis to be moved to the royal palace.
Hanging Gardens
Perhaps the orders of another ruler would not have been executed, but it was the king of a great empire - Nebuchadnezzar II himself. The gardens were located on several tiers above the ground, covering an area of several tens of square meters. All the acquired experience of architects and builders was thrown into their construction, all the resources of ancient Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar II could collect.
Management and logistics of that time already made it possible to carry valuable cargo from all corners of the Babylonian kingdom. Therefore, the fertile Nile valleys, the unique flowers of Arabia, and the giant trees and shrubs of the northern outskirts of the country were presented in beautiful gardens.
The result of the work amazed the imagination of even those accustomed toluxury of the Babylonians. The wide hundred-meter walls of the capital were decorated with trees and shrubs, outlandish flowers and murmuring streams. And over the whole city rose gardens, soaring in the air. A complex irrigation system allowed the waters of the Euphrates to constantly irrigate the green oasis.
Hundreds of slaves pumped heavy pumps day and night, allowing the water to move upwards. Hundreds of gardeners took care of the green spaces, preventing them from drying out and getting sick in the inhospitable hot climate of Babylon. The constant supply of trees and the change of plants allowed the green oasis to be in the prime of its beauty at any time of the year. And the queen could enjoy the trees and flowers she was so accustomed to from childhood.
Symbol of love
Perhaps this was the first symbol of love erected in the name of the woman whom Nebuchadnezzar II loved. The wife of the ruler, the Median princess Amanis, has remained in the memory of centuries as a woman who prompted her husband and ruler to make a great gift that outlived its own time.
In historical chronicles, the gardens were associated with the name of Semiramis, the Assyrian queen who lived two centuries earlier and had nothing to do with Babylon. Perhaps the reason for this mistake was the similarity of the names of both princesses - after all, the grammar was far from perfect, and the same characters could be read differently. The fact remains that the gardens, which became a symbol of love for one woman, remained in history inextricably linked with the name of another.
History of gardens
Even ten centuries later, the Hanging Gardens captured the imagination of travelers,and Herodotus gave them the honorary name of the second wonder of the world. It was from his notes that knowledge about the amazing structure got into the chronicles of the Oikumene. Much later, already in the middle of the XIX century, archaeologists will find material evidence of the existence of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.
Unfortunately, the amazing work of architectural and engineering art did not survive until the beginning of the new century. The gardens survived both the heyday and decline of the Babylonian Empire. In the 1st century BC. the strongest earthquake led to a full-scale flood of the Euphrates, and the gardens, which had stood for half a millennium, were forever buried under sedimentary river rocks. They were covered with silt and washed away by the waters. And only one legend of great love remained from the great building.
