THE RISE OF ANCIENT BABYLON

THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT NIMROD founded the city of Babel [Babylon] as his capital (Gen. 10:10). Historical evidence suggests that Babylon began as a small town that had sprung up at the beginning of the 3rd millennium B.C.E. (BC). Located on the Euphrates River in the fertile Mesopotamian valley the town of Babylon grew in size and gained independence with the rise of the First Amorite Babylonian Dynasty, in 1894 B.C.E.

Ancient tablets record that during the reign of the sixth Amorite king, Hammurabi (1728-1686 B.C.E.), Babylon experienced great prosperity, advanced astronomy, architecture, mathematics, and literature, creating a short-lived Babylonian Empire that quickly dissolved upon his death. Afterwards, Babylon spent long periods of time under Assyrian, Kassite and Elamite domination.

Between 900 B.C.E. and 681 B.C.E., twenty-four kings had sat on the throne of Babylon. The rulers included Assyrian and Chaldean tribal leaders, as well as Babylonian nobles and officials. During this time Babylonia suffered economic instability because its trade and prosperity was dependent upon an effective canal system, which was nonexistent due to an ineffective government.

The deaths of Kandalanu, king of Babylon, and Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, in about 627 B.C.E., were followed by a surge of Chaldeans from the south. Leading them was a man named Nabopolassar, who occupied Babylon and ascended the throne on November 23, 626 B.C.E. Tradition holds that Nabopolassar was a Chaldean who had been a governor of the Sealand under the Assyrians. A political opportunist, Nabopolassar seized the moment and moved into the political vacuum created by the deaths of Kandalanu and Ashurbanipal.

Despite the fact that Nabopolassar was the founder of a brief but powerful Chaldean Dynasty, in his inscriptions he claimed to be "the son of a nobody." While the reason for referring to himself in this manner is uncertain, rather than meaning he was of low birth, it is believed that this was his way of declaring himself the servant of his god.

For ten years the Babylonians and Assyrians fought each other in Babylonia. During this time cities were besieged and changed hands several times. It is said that on one occasion the people of Nippur sold their children into slavery to avoid starvation during a siege. Nevertheless, by 616 B.C.E., Nabopolassar had established his rule over Babylon and was ready to invade Assyria. He led his troops up the Euphrates, where they fought and beat an Assyrian army that was supported by Egyptian troops.

In 615 B.C.E., the Babylonians attacked Ashur but failed to capture it. The following year the Medes, led by Cyaxares, attacked Ashur and sacked it. After Ashur's fall, Nabopolassar made a treaty and alliance with the Medes. In 612 B.C.E., Nabopolassar joined forces with the king of the Medes, Cyaxares, and defeated the Assyrians, whose conquest and occupation of the peoples of Western Asia were accompanied with torture, bloodshed and deportations, at Nineveh. It is said that when the Assyrian Empire fell the peoples of the Fertile Crescent breathed a sigh of relief. Jubilation filled their hearts, and hope began to flourish throughout the land, in which the peoples of Judah shared.

In an ancient abridged inscription Nabopolassar describes his victory over the hated Assyrians, saying:

I slaughtered the land of Subartu (Assyria). I turned the hostile land into heaps and ruins. The Assyrian, who since distant days had ruled over all the peoples, and with his heavy yoke had brought injury to the people of the Land, his feet from Akkad I turned back, his yoke I threw off.

Assyria's empire was divided between the Babylonians and Medes, with the Medes taking control of the north and eastern territories. Nabopolassar was rewarded by Cyaxares with the southwest territories, which included Moab, Ammon, Syria, Egypt, and Judah. Thus what began as a small vassal city-state of the old Assyrian Empire became a sovereign Babylonian city-state that would rapidly rise to prominence among the nations and become the most prosperous, magnificent and militarily powerful city-state of the ancient world.

From this point on the rule of the Chaldeans over Babylonia began, which lasted only eighty-eight years (626-538 B.C.E.). Since Babylon at this time was under Chaldean rulers, among the people of that day the name "Chaldea" was used as a synonym for Babylonia (Is. 13:19; 47:1, 5; 48:14, 20; Jer. 50:1), a use later extended by the Hebrew prophet Ezekiel to include the entire Babylonian Empire (Ezk. 23:23).

Perhaps it was overconfidence. Perhaps it was out of necessity. But after the war with Assyria ended, instead of striking out to bring Babylon's new territories under control, Nabopolassar returned to Babylon to attend the affairs of state. It was at this time that the Egyptian Pharaoh Necho II, who did not want a Babylonian power at his doorstep, joined forces with the vanquished Assyrian king in northern Syria. Necho believed that by joining forces with the defeated Assyrian king he could defeat the Babylonians and restore Egypt to its former greatness.

When Nabopolassar, now up in years and in poor health, heard of Necho's alliance with the vanquished Assyrian king and his depleted army he dispatched his son Nebuchadnezzar to lead Babylon's military might against Necho and bring about the submission of its new territorial kings.

Historians agree that Nebuchadnezzar's sudden appearance on the scene of history began the dawning of a new day in Western Asia. From the very beginning, Nebuchadnezzar's goal was to bring all the different territories of Western Asia under the dominion of one great empire with the aim of establishing a new order of Western civilization based on the Babylon model. The nineteenth century scholar George Rawlinson (1812-1902), who served as Professor of Ancient History in the University of Oxford, England, says:

Nebuchadnezzar is the great monarch of the Babylonian Empire, which, lasting only 88 years—from B.C. 625 to B.C. 538—was for nearly half the time under his sway. Its military glory is due chiefly to him, while the constructive energy, which constitutes its special characteristic, belongs to it still more markedly through his character of genius. It is scarcely too much to say that, but for Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians would have no place in history.

In 605 B.C.E., Necho and his soldiers met Nebuchadnezzar's army at Carchemish, a city on the right bank of the Euphrates River, where they were soundly defeated. With Necho's army in retreat, Nebuchadnezzar marched his troops toward the southwest, bringing Babylon's new territories into submission, and then pressed on toward Egypt to crush the army of his avowed enemy—Necho.

Just as victory was within Nebuchadnezzar's grasp he received news from Babylon that his father, Nabopolassar, had died. Fearing a dispute over his succession to the throne, Nebuchadnezzar ended his campaign against Egypt and returned to Babylon, leaving Necho and his troops to fight another day. When Nebuchadnezzar arrived in Babylon, he secured his position as king and then returned to the territories of Syria, Moab, and Judah to take control of Babylon's Western territories.

In 604 B.C.E., Jehoiakim went before Nebuchadnezzar and submitted to him as a vassal ruler (Jer. 36:9-29; 2 Kings 24:7). However, Jehoiakim's allegiance to Babylon would not last long. The Hebrew Scriptures state:

5 Jehoiakim was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem and he did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD his God.

6 Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.

7 Nebuchadnezzar also carried off the vessels of the house of the LORD to Babylon, and put them in his temple at Babylon (2 Chron. 36:5-7; AKJV).

Apparently, Nebuchadnezzar abandoned his plan of taking Jehoiakim to Babylon and, instead, restored him to the throne of Judah as a vassal king, where he remained faithful to Babylon for three more years. The Scriptures say, "In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him" (1 Kings 24:1).

During this period the people of Judea began to seethe with discontent. Nebuchadnezzar's army had withdrawn from Judah and bands of neighboring Arameans, Moabites and Ammonites were raiding Judean frontier communities.

In 598 B.C.E., the Judean people's discontent broke out in open revolt. Jehoiakim joined the rebellion and refused to pay tribute to Nebuchadnezzar: "[King Jehoiakim] ... turned against him" (2 Kings 24:1). At first, Nebuchadnezzar refused to become involved in Judah's internal affairs. He placed the matter in the hands of his trusted heads of state. But after months of little or no progress, Nebuchadnezzar himself became involved in the campaign to bring Judah under Babylon's control.

As Nebuchadnezzar marched his troops toward Jerusalem, Jehoiakim suddenly died. Perhaps his death was an assassination. The facts are unknown. Nevertheless, the Scriptures tell us that Jeremiah had prophesied Jehoiakim's death, saying:

18 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, saying, ... Ah lord! or Ah his glory!

19 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem (Jer. 22:18-19).

At this time Jehoiakim's son, Jehoiachin, who was only eighteen, ascended to the throne of Judah. His reign lasted only three months. According to the biblical account: "He did evil in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father had done" (2 Kings 24:9).

When Nebuchadnezzar and his troops arrived at the gates of Jerusalem, in 597 B.C.E., Jehoiachin, along with his mother and his courtiers, commanders and officers, surrendered without a fight. Judah was punished for its rebellion. Nebuchadnezzar ordered Jehoiakin and the leading families of Judah to be deported to Babylonia. Ironically, these were the same people who enjoyed hearing the flattering words of the false prophets and soothsayers (Jer. 27-29; Ezek. 12:21f.; 13:23).

For Nebuchadnezzar, the deportation of Jehoiachin, his courtiers, and the leading families of Judah was not enough. He ordered that the best decorations of the royal palace, as well as the sacred vessels of the Temple be carried off to Babylon (2 Kings 24:12-16). In addition, there was now a need for new Judean leadership that would be loyal to the interests of Babylon.

In Jehoiachin's place, Nebuchadnezzar appointed Mettaniah, Jehoiachin's uncle, and gave him the name Zedekiah, which denoted his vassalage position to Babylon. This time, when Nebuchadnezzar left Judea, he made certain that Judah's new leader, whom he had personally appointed, was on the throne of a much weaker and smaller kingdom. Apparently, while Nebuchadnezzar was in Jerusalem his troops drove back the invading Bedouins who were raiding and plundering frontier Judean communities. As before, however, the restored peace was only temporary. As soon as the Babylonian troops withdrew the raiding and plundering of Judean communities resumed.

In 595-594 B.C.E., the discontent of the Judean people again turned to rioting. Only this time they were not alone. Hostilities and rioting against Babylon rule were also taking place among the peoples of Ammon, Moab, and Edom. In the fourth year of Zedekiah's reign the ambassadors for Ammon, Moab, Edom, Tyre, and Sidon, came to his court in Jerusalem (Jer. 27:3), with the aim of forming an alliance to force the Babylonians to leave their territories. Shortly afterwards, at the request of Nebuchadnezzar, Zedekiah had to go to Babylon to explain the discontent and rioting among his people. Zedekiah visited the king twice: once by sending ambassadors (Jer. 29:3), and once by appearing in person before the king (Jer. 51:59).

In 589 B.C.E., Pharaoh Hoprah of Egypt, who had succeeded Psamtik II, the son of Necho, saw an opportunity to take advantage of Judah's discontent and pledged to support any effort to overthrow Babylon's rule of Judah (2 Kings 24:20). Shortly afterwards, Zedekiah accepted Hoprah's offer and joined the rebellion of his people by refusing to pay tribute to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar's response was quick and decisive (2 Kings 25:1).

Early the next year Nebuchadnezzar marched his troops west as far as Biblah on the middle Orontes. He then sent an entire division against Jerusalem with orders to seal the city off with siege weapons and then move against the rest of Judah. As the innovators of weaponry the Chaldeans were unequaled among the nations. Nebuchadnezzar's engineers were brilliant when it came to the development of weapons of mass destruction. The Bible historian Warner Keller says of Babylon's primitive "shock and awe" firepower used against the walled city of Lachish:

Whatever wood they could lay hands on they dragged to the spot, stripped the whole area around Lachish of its forest and thickets, cleared the hills of timber for miles around, piled the firewood as high as a house outside the walls and set it alight. Countless olive-groves were hacked down for this purpose: the lay of ashes contains masses of charred olive stones.

Day and night sheets of flame leapt sky high, a ring of fire licked the walls from top to bottom. The besieging force piled on more wood until the white-hot stones burst and the walls caved in.

For the campaign against the walled city of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar's strategy was much different. Since the time of Joshua, most of the hills surrounding Jerusalem were barren. As a result, the Babylonians were unable to use the same shock and awe firepower against the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Instead, they relied upon their more traditional weapons, such as battering rams, siege towers, and submission through starvation. Using this strategy, the siege against Jerusalem lasted eighteen months.

For Nebuchadnezzar, when it came to defeating an enemy, time and resources were not an issue. The eighteen month battle for Jerusalem was no exception. The inhabitants of Jerusalem were eventually starved into submission, and the city walls were breached. Zedekiah and his sons were captured while fleeing in the plains of Jericho. Both he and his sons were then taken to Nebuchadnezzar, who was headquartered at Riblah where Zedekiah was sentenced. Babylonian justice was swift and complete. The first part of the sentence was to slay Zedekiah's sons before his very eyes. Then Nebuchadnezzar himself put out Zedekiah's eyes, bound him, and took him away to Babylon (2 Kings 25:1-7).

One month later, Nebuzaradan, a captain of Nebuchadnezzar's body guard, arrived in Jerusalem, rounded up thousands of Judeans for deportation to Babylon, and put the torch to the city, destroying Jerusalem along with the Temple, bringing an end to the Kingdom of Judah. As a token of Babylonian justice Nebuzaradan left some of the poorest of the land to be vine dressers and plowmen.

In 582 B.C.E., which marked Babylon's third and last reprisal and deportation of Judeans (Jer. 52:30), Gedaliah was appointed as governor. Those who were left in Judah gathered around Gedaliah, who promised them "undisturbed enjoyment of their possessions." Jeremiah states that their labors in the field were resumed and they "gathered in wine and summer fruit in great abundance" (40:12). However, Gedaliah's reign was short-lived. Neighboring peoples, such as Baalis, king of Ammon, and Ishmael, were jealous of Gedaliah's leadership and prosperity of the remaining Judean inhabitants. The scholars of Unger's Bible Dictionary write: "[Ishmael] came to Mizpah with a secret purpose of destroying Gedaliah. Gedaliah, generously refusing to believe a friendly warning that he received of the intended treachery, was murdered with his Jewish and Chaldean followers, two months after his appointment. After his death the Jews, anticipating the resentment of the king of Babylon, gave way to despair. Many, forcing Jeremiah to accompany them, fled to Egypt under Johanan (2 Kings 25:22-26; Jer. 40:13; 41:18)," making the royal house of David, which had reigned without interruption for 400 years, a land of desolation.

According to Jeremiah 52:28-30, 3,023 Judean citizens were carried away to Babylonia in 597 B.C.E., 832 Judean citizens were carried away to Babylon in 586 B.C.E., and in 582 B.C.E., 745 more were deported, making a total of 4,600 people in all. In biblical days, however, only the men were counted. In 2 Kings 24:16, the number cited as being deported in 597 B.C.E. was 8,000 (men). Therefore, taking into account the numbers of Judean men cited by Jeremiah for the years 597 B.C.E., 586 B.C.E., and 582 B.C.E., as well as giving consideration to those cited in 2 Kings 24:16, it is believed that the number of Judean men deported was about 12,000, which including women and children is believed to have been somewhere between 36,000 to 48,000 exiles.

Thus, what had never before been done, in a brief period of time Babylon gained its independence and sovereignty from the most powerful nation on earth, Assyria, and became the greatest nation in the ancient world, just as prophesied by the prophet Jeremiah, saying:

4 ... Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; ...

5 "I have made the earth, the men and the beasts which are on the face of the earth by My great power and by My outstretched arm, and I will give it to the one who is pleasing in My sight. 6 Now I have given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and I have given him also the wild animals of the field to serve him. 7 All the nations shall serve him and his son and his grandson until the time of his own land comes; then many nations and great kings will make him their servant" (Jer. 27:4-7; NASV).