Neo Babylonian Empire

Neo-Babylonian Empire 626 BC539 BC

The Neo-Babylonian EmpireCapital BabylonLanguages Akkadian,

AramaicGovernment MonarchyKing - 626605 BC Nabopolassar - 556539 BC NabonidusHistorical era Iron Age - Independence

from AssyrianEmpire 626 BC

- Battle of Opis 539 BCToday part of Iraq

KuwaitSyriaTurkeyEgyptSaudi ArabiaJordanIran

Neo-Babylonian EmpireFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe Neo-Babylonian Empire was a periodof Mesopotamian history which began in 626BC and ended in 539 BC.[1] During thepreceding three centuries, Babylonia hadbeen ruled by their fellow Akkadianspeakers and northern neighbours, Assyria.Yet, a year after the death of the last strongAssyrian ruler Assurbanipal in 627 BC,Babylonia rebelled under Nabopolassar theChaldean. In alliance with the Medes, thecity of Nineveh was sacked in 612 BC, andthe seat of empire was again transferred toBabylonia. This period witnessed a generalimprovement in economic life andagricultural production, and a greatourishing of architectural projects, the artsand science.The Neo-Babylonian period ended with thereign of Nabonidus in 539 BC. To the east,the Persians had been growing in strength,and eventually Cyrus the Great establishedhis domination over Babylon.

Contents1 Historical background

1.1 Revival of old traditions1.2 Cultural and economic life

2 Neo-Babylonian dynasty2.1 Nabopolassar 626 BC 605BC2.2 Nebuchadnezzar II 604 BC 562 BC2.3 Amel-Marduk 562 BC 560BC

Neo-Babylonian Empire - Wikipedia, the free ency... http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neo-Ba...

1 of 10 2014-05-09 21:04

LebanonPalestinian

AuthorityIsraelCyprus

2.4 Neriglissar 560 BC 556 BC2.5 Labashi-Marduk 556 BC2.6 Nabonidus 556 BC 539 BC

3 Achaemenids and later rulers ofBabylon

3.1 Cyrus invades in 539 BC3.2 End of Persian rule

4 See also5 References

Historical backgroundGenerally, Babylonia enjoyed a prominent status under the Assyrian rule. TheAssyrians had managed to maintain Babylonian loyalty through the Neo-Assyrianperiod, whether through granting of increased privileges, or militarily.Revival of old traditionsAfter Babylonia regained its independence, Neo-Babylonian rulers were deeplyconscious of the antiquity of their heritage, and pursued an arch-traditionalistpolicy, reviving much of their ancient Sumero-Akkadian culture. Even thoughAramaic had become the everyday tongue, Akkadian was restored as thelanguage of administration and culture. Archaic expressions from 1,500 yearsearlier were reintroduced in Akkadian inscriptions, along with words in thenow-long-unspoken Sumerian language. Neo-Babylonian cuneiform script wasalso modied to make it look like the old 3rd-millennium BC script of Akkad.Ancient artworks from the heyday of Babylonia's imperial glory were treated withnear-religious reverence and were painstakingly preserved. For example, when astatue of Sargon the Great was found during construction work, a temple wasbuilt for itand it was given oerings. The story is told of how Nebuchadnezzar,in his eorts to restore the Temple at Sippar, had to make repeated excavationsuntil he found the foundation deposit of Naram-Suen, the discovery of which thenallowed him to rebuild the temple properly. Neo-Babylonians also revived theancient Sargonid practice of appointing a royal daughter to serve as priestess ofthe moon-god Sin.Cultural and economic lifeWe are much better informed about Mesopotamian culture and economic life


2 of 10 2014-05-09 21:04

under the Neo-Babylonians than we are about the structure and mechanics ofimperial administration. It is clear that for Mesopotamia the Neo-Babylonianperiod was a renaissance. Large tracts of land were opened to cultivation. Peaceand imperial power made resources available to expand the irrigation systemsand to build an extensive canal system. The Babylonian countryside wasdominated by large estates, which were given to government ocials as a form ofpay. These estates were usually managed through local entrepreneurs, who took acut of the prots. Rural folk were bound to these estates, providing both labor andrents to their landowners.Urban life ourished under the Neo-Babylonians. Cities had local autonomy andreceived special privileges from the kings. Centered on their temples; the citieshad their own law courts, and cases were often decided in assemblies. Templesdominated urban social structure, just as they did the legal system, and a person'ssocial status and political rights were determined by where they stood in relationto the religious hierarchy. Free laborers like craftsmen enjoyed high status, and asort of guild system came into existence that gave them collective bargainingpower. This period witnessed a general improvement in economic life, agriculturalproduction, and a signicant increase in architectural projects, the arts andscience.

Neo-Babylonian dynastyDynasty XI of Babylon (Neo-Babylonian)

Nabu-apla-usur 626 605 BCNabu-kudurri-usur II 605 562 BCAmel-Marduk 562 560 BCNeriglissar 560 556 BCLabai-Marduk 556 BCNabonidus 556 539 BC

Nabopolassar 626 BC 605 BCAfter the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 BC, the Assyrian Empire began todisintegrate, riven by internal strife. An Assyrian general, Sin-shum-lishir,revolted and seized Babylon, but was promptly ousted by the Assyrian Army loyalto king Ashur-etil-ilani. Babylon was then taken by another son of AshurbanipalSin-shar-ishkun, who proclaimed himself king. His rule did not last long however,and Babylon revolted with the help of the Chaldean tribe (Bit Kaldu), led byNabopolassar. Nabopolassar seized the throne, and the Neo-Babylonian dynastywas born. Nabopolassar was able to spend the next three years undisturbed,consolidating power in Babylon itself, due to the brutal civil war between the


3 of 10 2014-05-09 21:04

The Ishtar Gate of Babylon asreconstructed in thePergamon Museum in Berlin

Assyrian king Ashur-etil-ilani and his brotherSin-shar-ishkun in southern Mesopotamia.However in 623 BC, Sin-shar-ishkun killed hisbrother the king, in battle at Nippur, seized thethrone of Assyria, and then set about retakingBabylon from Nabopolassar. Nabopolassar resistedrepeated attacks by Assyria over the next sevenyears, and by 616 BC, he was still in control ofsouthern Mesopotamia. Assyria, still riven withinternal strife, had by this time lost control of itscolonies, which had taken advantage of the variousupheavals to free themselves.Nabopolassar marched his army into Assyriaproper in 616 BC and attempted to besiege Assurand Arrapha, but was defeated on this occasion.Nabopolassar made alliances with other formersubjects of Assyria, the Medes, Persians, Elamitesand Scythians.In 615 and 614 BC attacks were made on Assur and Arrapha and both fell. During613 BC the Assyrians seem to have rallied and repelled Babylonian and Medianattacks. However in 612 BC Nabopolassar and the Median king Cyaxares led acoalition of forces including Babylonians, Medes, Scythians and Cimmerians in anattack on Nineveh, and after a bitter three-month siege, it nally fell. Babylonretained control of Assyria and its northern and western colonies.An Assyrian general, Ashur-uballit II, became king of Assyria, and set up a newcapital at Harran. Nabopolassar and his allies besieged Ashur-uballit II at Harranin 608 BC and took it; Ashur-uballit II disappeared after this.The Egyptians under Pharaoh Necho II had invaded the near east in 609 BC in abelated attempt to help their former Assyrian rulers. Nabopolassar (with the helpof his son and future successor Nebuchadnezzar II) spent the last years of hisreign dislodging the Egyptians (who were supported by Greek mercenaries andprobably the remnants of the Assyrian army) from Syria, Asia Minor, northernArabia and Israel. Nebuchadnezzar proved to be a capable and energetic militaryleader, and the Egyptians and their allies were nally defeated at the battle ofCarchemish in 605 BC.Nebuchadnezzar II 604 BC 562 BCNebuchadnezzar II became king after the death of his father.


4 of 10 2014-05-09 21:04

An engraving on an eyestone of onyx with aninscription ofNebuchadnezzar II

Nebuchadnezzar was a patron of the cities and aspectacular builder. He rebuilt all of Babylonia'smajor cities on a lavish scale. His building activity atBabylon was what turned it into the immense andbeautiful city of legend. His city of Babylon coveredmore than three square miles, surrounded by moatsand ringed by a double circuit of walls. TheEuphrates owed through the center of the city,spanned by a beautiful stone bridge. At the center ofthe city rose the giant ziggurat called Etemenanki,"House of the Frontier Between Heaven and Earth,"which lay next to the Temple of Marduk.A capable leader, Nabuchadnezzar II, conductedsuccessful military campaigns in Syria and Phoenicia,forcing tribute from Damascus, Tyre and Sidon. Heconducted numerous campaigns in Asia Minor, in the"land of the Hatti". Like the Assyrians, the Babylonians had to campaign yearly inorder to control their colonies.In 601 BC Nebuchadnezzar II was involved in a major, but inconclusive battle,against the Egyptians. In 599 BC he invaded Arabia and routed the Arabs atQedar. In 597 BC he invaded Judah and captured Jerusalem and deposed its kingJehoiachin. Egyptian and Babylonian armies fought each other for control of thenear east throughout much of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, and this encouraged kingZedekiah of Judah to revolt. After an 18 month siege Jerusalem was captured in587 BC, thousands of Jews were deported to Babylon and Solomon's Temple wasrazed to the ground.Nebuchadnezzar fought the Pharaohs Psammetichus II and Apries throughout hisreign, and during the reign of Pharaoh Amasis in 568 BC it is speculated that hemay have set foot in Egypt itself.By 572 Nebuchadnezzar was in full control of Babylonia, Assyria, Phoenicia,Israel, Philistinia, northern Arabia and parts of Asia Minor.Amel-Marduk 562 BC 560 BCAmel-Marduk was the son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar II. He reigned onlytwo years (562 560 BC). According to the Biblical Book of Kings, he pardonedand released Jehoiachin, king of Judah, who had been a prisoner in Babylon forthirty-seven years. Allegedly because Amel-Marduk tried to modify his father'spolicies, he was murdered by Neriglissar, his brother-in-law.Neriglissar 560 BC 556 BC


5 of 10 2014-05-09 21:04

Babylonian wall relief in thePergamon Museum in Berlin

Neriglissar appears to have been a more stableruler, conducting a number of public works,restoring temples etc.He conducted successful military campaignsagainst Cilicia, which had threatened Babylonianinterests. Neriglissar however reigned for onlyfour years, being succeeded by the youthfulLabashi-Marduk. It is unclear if Neriglissar washimself a member of the Chaldean tribe, or anative of the city of Babylon.Labashi-Marduk 556 BCLabashi-Marduk was a king of Babylon (556 BC),and son of Neriglissar. Labashi-Marduk succeededhis father when still only a boy, after the latter'sfour-year reign. He was murdered in a conspiracyonly nine months after his inauguration.[citation needed] Nabonidus was consequently chosenas the new king.Nabonidus 556 BC 539 BCNabonidus's (Nab-na'id in Babylonian) noble credentials are not clear, althoughhe was not a Chaldean but from Assyria, in the city of Harran. He says himself inhis inscriptions that he is of unimportant origins.[2] Similarly, his mother,Adda-Guppi,[3] who lived to high age and may have been connected to the templeof the Akkadian moon god Sn in Harran; in her inscriptions does not mention herdescent. His father was Nab-balatsu-iqbi, a commoner.[4]For long periods he entrusted rule to his son, Prince Belshazzar. He was a capablesoldier but poor politician. All of this left him somewhat unpopular with many ofhis subjects, particularly the priesthood and the military class.[5]The Marduk priesthood hated Nabonidus because of his suppression of Marduk'scult and his elevation of the cult of the moon-god Sin.[6][7] Cyrus portrayedhimself as the savior, chosen by Marduk to restore order and justice.[8]To the east, the Persians had been growing in strength, and Cyrus the Great wasvery popular in Babylon itself, in contrast to Nabonidus.[9][10]A sense of Nabonidus's religiously-based negative image survives in Jewish


6 of 10 2014-05-09 21:04

literature, in Josephus, for example.[11] Though in thinking about that image, weshould bear in mind that the Jews initially greeted the Persians as liberators.Cyrus sent the Jewish exiles back to Israel from the Babylonian Captivity.[12]Although the Jews never rebelled against the Persian occupation,[13] they wererestive under the period of Darius I consolidating his rule,[14] and underArtaxerxes I of Persia,[15][16] without taking up arms, or reprisals being exactedfrom the Persian government.

Achaemenids and later rulers of BabylonThe Medes, Persians and Mannaeans, among others, were Indo-European peopleswho had entered the region now known as Iran c. 1000 BC from the steppes ofsouthern Russia and the Caucasus mountains. For the rst three or four hundredyears after their arrival they were largely subject to the Neo Assyrian Empire andpaid tribute to Assyrian kings. After the death of Ashurbanipal they began toassert themselves, and Media had played a major part in the fall of Assyria.Persia had been subject to Media initially. However, in 549 BC Cyrus, theAchaemenid king of Persia, revolted against his suzerain Astyages, king of Media,at Ecbatana. Astyages' army betrayed him to his enemy, and Cyrus establishedhimself as ruler of all the Iranic peoples, as well as the pre-Iranian Elamites andGutians.Cyrus invades in 539 BCIn 539 BC Cyrus invaded Babylonia. Nabonidus sent his son Belshazzar to heado the huge Persian army, however, already massively outnumbered, Belshazzarwas betrayed by Gobryas, Governor of Assyria, who switched his forces over tothe Persian side. The Babylonian forces were overwhelmed at the battle of Opis.Nabonidus ed to Borsippa, and on 12 October, after Cyrus' engineers haddiverted the waters of the Euphrates, "the soldiers of Cyrus entered Babylonwithout ghting." Belshazzar in Xenophon is reported to have been killed, but hisaccount is not held to be reliable here.[17] Nabonidus surrendered and wasdeported. Gutian guards were placed at the gates of the great temple of Bel,where the services continued without interruption. Cyrus did not arrive until the 3October, Gobryas having acted for him in his absence. Gobryas was now madegovernor of the province of Babylon.Cyrus now claimed to be the legitimate successor of the ancient Babylonian kingsand the avenger of Bel-Marduk, who was assumed to be wrathful at the impiety ofNabonidus in removing the images of the local gods from their ancestral shrines,to his capital Babylon. Nabonidus, in fact, had excited a strong feeling againsthimself by attempting to centralize the religion of Babylonia in the temple of


7 of 10 2014-05-09 21:04

Marduk at Babylon, and while he had thus alienated the local priesthoods, themilitary party despised him on account of his antiquarian tastes. He seems tohave left the defense of his kingdom to others, occupying himself with the morecongenial work of excavating the foundation records of the temples anddetermining the dates of their builders.The invasion of Babylonia by Cyrus was doubtless facilitated by the existence of adisaected party in the state, as well as by the presence of foreign exiles like theJews, who had been planted in the midst of the country. One of the rst acts ofCyrus accordingly was to allow these exiles to return to their own homes,carrying with them the images of their gods and their sacred vessels. Thepermission to do so was embodied in a proclamation, whereby the conquerorendeavored to justify his claim to the Babylonian throne. The feeling was stillstrong that none had a right to rule over western Asia until he had beenconsecrated to the oce by Bel and his priests; and accordingly, Cyrus henceforthassumed the imperial title of "King of Babylon."Babylon, like Assyria, became a colony of Achaemenid Persia.After the murder of Bardiya by Darius, it briey recovered its independence underNidinta-Bel, who took the name of Nebuchadnezzar III, and reigned from October521 BC to August 520 BC, when the Persians took it by storm. A few years later,in 514 BC, Babylon again revolted and declared independence under theArmenian King Arakha; on this occasion, after its capture by the Persians, thewalls were partly destroyed. E-Saggila, the great temple of Bel, however, stillcontinued to be kept in repair and to be a center of Babylonian patriotism.End of Persian ruleBabylon remained a major city until Alexander the Great destroyed theAchaemenid Empire in 332 BC. After his death, Babylon passed to the SeleucidEmpire, and a new capital named Seleucia was built on the Tigris about 40 milesnorth of Babylon (10 miles south of Baghdad). Upon the founding of Seleucia,Seleucus I Nicator ordered the population of Babylon to be deported to Seleucia,and the old city fell into slow decline. The city of Babylon continued to surviveuntil the 2nd or 3rd century AD. An adjacent town developed which is today thecity of Hillah in Babylon Province, Iraq.Babylonia remained under the control of the Parthians, and later, Sassanians untilabout 640 AD, when it was conquered by the Islamic Rashidun Caliphate. Itcontinued to have its own culture and people, who spoke varieties of Aramaic, andwho continued to refer to their country as Babylon (Babeli) or Erech (Iraq). Someexamples of their cultural products are often found in the Mandaean religion, andthe religion of the Babylonian prophet Mani. From the 1st and 2nd centuries ADthe Assyrians and Babylonians began to adopt Christianity, and the province ofBabylon became a seat of a bishopric of the Church of the East until the 17th


8 of 10 2014-05-09 21:04

century. Neo-Aramaic-speakers exist today as a small minority only in northernIraq (Assyria). Despite being the minority, the Assyrians remained Christians andmany were killed as a result. Arabic had become the main language in Babyloniaby the 9th century, when the region was the capital of the Abbasid Caliphate.

See alsoBabylonList of Kings of BabylonCylinder of Nabonidus

References^ Talley Ornan, The Triumph of the Symbol: Pictorial Representation of Deities inMesopotamia and the Biblical Image Ban (Gttingen: Academic Press Fribourg,2005), 4 n. 6

1.

^ M. Heinz and M.H. Feldman (eds.), Representations of political power: Casehistories from times of change and dissolving order in the ancient Near East (WinonaLake IN: Eisenbrauns 2007), 13766.

2.

^ Joan Oates, Babylon, revised ed., Thames & Hudson, 1986, p.1323.^ Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq, 3rd ed., Penguin Books, London, 1991, p.3814.^ John Haywood, The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Civilizations, Penguin BooksLtd. London, 2005, p.49

5.

^ A.T. Olmstead, History of the Persian Empire, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1948, p.386.^ Joan Oates, Babylon, revised ed., Thames & Hudson, 1986, p.1337.^ Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq, 3rd ed., Penguin Books, London, 1991, p.3828.^ Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq, 3rd ed., Penguin Books, London, 1991, p.381-3829.^ Joan Oates, Babylon, revised ed., Thames & Hudson, 1986, p.134-13510.^ Josephus, The New Complete Works, translated by William Whiston, KregelPublications, 1999, "Antiquites" Book 10:11, p.354

11.

^ Isaiah 45 | Biblegateway.com (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2045&version=NIV)

12.

^ John Bright, A History of Israel, The Westminster Press-Philadelphia, 1959,p.342-396

13.

^ John Bright, A History of Israel, The Westminster Press-Philadelphia, 1959,p.351-354

14.

^ John Bright, A History of Israel, The Westminster Press-Philadelphia, 1959, p.36115.^ Josephus, The New Complete Works, translated by William Whiston, Kregel16.


9 of 10 2014-05-09 21:04

Publications, 1999, "Antiquites" Book 11:6, p.374^ Harper's Bible Dictionary, ed. by Achtemeier, etc., Harper & Row, San Francisco,1985, p.103

17.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Neo-Babylonian_Empire&oldid=598056623"Categories: Former monarchies Former countries in the Middle EastStates and territories established in 626 BC Babylonia Ancient history of IraqHistory of Kuwait Fertile Crescent

This page was last modied on 4 March 2014 at 03:58.Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlikeLicense; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to theTerms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia is a registered trademark of theWikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-prot organization.


10 of 10 2014-05-09 21:04

Neo Babylonian Empire

Documents

Transcript of Neo Babylonian Empire