Nebuchadnezzar II

Nebuchadnezzar II is one of the leaders of the Babylonian Empire.

Biography
Nebuchadnezzar II was a ruler of the Chaldean Dynasty of Babylon. He is famous for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, his role in the Book of Daniel, and his conquests of Judah and Jerusalem. His name in Akkadian is interpreted as "O god Nabu, preserve/defend my firstborn son".

Nebuchadnezzar was the elder son and successor of Nabopolassar, who ended Babylon's dependence on Assyria and left Nineveh in ruins. He ascended to the throne in 605 BC, when his father Nabopolassar died. After the defeats of the Cimmerians and Scythians, Nebuchadnezzar secured a lasting peace with Medians through a political marriage with Amuhia, daughter of the Median king. He then turned his gaze west, wanting to increase Babylonian influence in Syria and Judah.

However, rebellions in the states of Levant caused setbacks: Nebuchadnezzar dealt with these rebellions and captured Jerusalem. In 587 BC, another siege on Jerusalem led to the destruction of the city and its Temple, as well as the deportation of important citizens (the so called "Babylonian captivity"). Nebuchadnezzar began then a 13-year-long siege of Tyre, which ended in the Tyrians accepting Babylonian authority. After he completed his job in Phoenicia, Nebuchadnezzar began to punish the Egyptians.

Nebuchadnezzar was not only proud of his victories, but of his buildings too. Babylon was greatly devastated by the Assyrian kings Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal, and Nebuchadnezzar wanted to make Babylon one of the world's wonders: old temples were restored, edifices erected to many gods, completion of the palace, and more. He did so much work, that there wasn't a place in all of Babylon where one wouldn't find his name, or a trace of his greatness. He eventually built the Hanging Gardens, to remind his wife Amytis of her homeland in Media, and the Ishtar Gate.

Nebuchadnezzar, in the second year of his reign, had dreams to erect a large image of himself, made of various materials. When three Jews refused to take part in the building of one of these images, Nebuchadnezzar made them thrown into a furnace. After that episode, according to the Bible, he was punished by God, who made him insane and live in the wild for seven years, after which his sanity and position were restored. Some scholar suggest that these stories are a mix of Nebuchadnezzar's and Nabonidus', the last king of Babylon, episodes. After his death in 562 BC, he was succeeded by his son Amel-Marduk.