575-550BC in the Near East

Lion Statue from Babylon

This blog post will be looking at the years 575-550BC in the Near East, which for the purposes of this blog will include Kush and Lydia in the south and west, far over to the easternmost reaches of the Median Empire and to the Caucasus in the north. Occasionally there may be references to other regions, but the Greek world in particular will be dealt with in a separate post.

The sources for this blog will include as much primary sources as possible, particularly Neo-Babylonian chronicles and other cuneiform writings. The writings of the later Babylonian priest Berossus (contemporary with Alexander) have been lost to us, but survive in quotations from other authors such as Josephus, so these will be used where possible. Lydian, Median and Persian sources are so scant as to be almost non-existent, and those that do exist may in fact be forgeries. Ancient Persian religious writings are interesting, but provide no context and are difficult to date. Egyptian and Kushite inscriptions will be used where possible but there are not as many of these as we would like and not many are translated and available to the layman.

The Hebrew Tanakh or Old Testament will be used where possible, but this has a very narrow focus and is not contemporary with the events that it describes. Also, the writers of the Biblical books at this period are not writing history as such, and their writings have their own specific conventions that can be difficult to interpret. The majority of Hebrew writings are silent during this period anyway. The most prevalent source material for this period is later Greek writing, particularly the Histories of Herodotus. This is a great book, but quite problematic as a source. For better or for worse, shortly after the fall of Assyria we begin to have fewer and fewer writings directly from the Mesopotamians. This means that, like it or not, we must rely heavily on Herodotus.

Object inscribed with the cartouche
of Aramtle-qo

As always I feel it is important to note that I am not a professional historian. The facts and dates in this post should be treated with due caution and everything should be checked. There are certainly mistakes and errors in the sources and I may make mistakes in my interpretations of these sources. Mistakes are particularly likely to occur when dealing with years, as the Babylonian and Jewish years do not correspond exactly to our own. So, there is the possibility that I may have, for example, interpreted an event as happening in late 609 when it may in fact have been early 608. If the reader spots any errors such as this, please let me know in the comments and I will research it and correct it as soon as possible. Also, another thing that will affect dating for this period is whether the king counts the first year of their reign as the 1st year or the 0th year (counting from accession or from first full year). Even professional historians have differing opinions on the exact ordering of events at this time, so exact precision is not likely here.

It can be useful to give context to the period by describing what is happening elsewhere in the world at this time. In China, the Zhou Dynasty was continuing its long slow decline while the feudal states such as Jin and Chu grew ever more important and waged wars between them for influence. In India, there were a number of powerful kingdoms, particular in the north along the Gangetic Plain. These kingdoms were known as the Mahajanapadas and included states such as Kuru, Panchala, Kosala, Videha and Magadha. In India at this time a number of sects began to spring up that in certain cases had unusual interpretations of the accepted beliefs of the time and region, but this is a topic for another blog. To the west, in Greece, poets and tyrants flourished along with the beginnings of Greek science and philosophy. These will all be spoken of in later blogs but this should give a rough idea of the state of the world at this point.

Pyramids of the royal family of Kush in Nuri

At the beginning of this time period the region was dominated by four mighty kingdoms. Egypt was ruled by the Pharaoh Apries, Lydia was ruled by Alyattes II, Babylon was ruled by Nebuchadnezzar II and Media by Astyages. Some smaller kingdoms, such as Ammon, Elam, or Persia, existed at the peripheries of these states, but were not truly independent. Kush existed to the south of Egypt, but is less well known in this time period than in the earlier centuries. To the west the Phoenicians and Greeks traded in the Mediterranean Sea. To the north lay the Scythian tribes, to the south the Arabian Desert with the kingdom of Saba flourishing in present-day Yemen. To the east of the Kingdom of the Medes lay other Iranian tribes and the exact extent of the Median power is not known to historians.

In  the last post I said that there was not much that could be said exactly for the year 575, or for that matter for the years between 579-575, or for 574-573 either, so I will mention a few of the things that were mentioned in the last blog. Firstly, the house of Egibi. These were a family in Babylonia who became extremely wealthy from commercial activities. They bought land and slaves and financed certain aspects of the Neo-Babylonian military. They gave loans for people to buy and sell and facilitated trade. They gave their slaves considerable leeway to carry out their own businesses and were the dominant force in commercial activities at this time. They are sometimes referred to as bankers but this is an overstatement. While they did give loans at 20% interest they were not primarily a banking establishment, although they were the closest thing to it at that time. Some older scholarly literature refers to them as Jewish but it is almost certain that the Egibi family were Babylonian rather than Jewish. They would dominate trade for over a century, from about 600-480 and now seemed as good a time as any to mention them.

Painting "By the waters of Babylon"
by Arthur Hacker

Another thing that is worth talking about is the literature that was being created by the exiled Jews in Babylonia. Lament songs were created that kept alive Jewish culture and have inspired works up until the present day. While many of the Psalms predate this and many postdate it I thought that 137th Psalm was a good example of them and thought that I would mention it here.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. 
Psalm 137:1-5 

Lastly, around this time Nebuchadnezzar was doubtless expanding his empire and strengthening the frontiers, but we have no documentation of this. The Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek and Babylonian sources are all silent for these years, insofar as I can tell. However, we do know that Nebuchadnezzar embarked on a huge building program to make Babylon the strongest and most beautiful city in the world. To this end he surrounded Babylon with a vast system of walls, possibly the largest that had yet been built on earth and great ceremonial gates. The walls were listed in the first list of the wonders of the world. The greatest of the gates was the Ishtar Gate, which was connected to the processional way that the kings and statues of the gods would follow on state occasions.

The author by the gates of Babylon

The gate itself was a huge affair of blue glazed bricks, adorned with lions, bulls and dragons. Nebuchadnezzar had an inscription carved to highlight his great creation and the gate is the quintessential artefact of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The gate survived relatively intact throughout the millennia and sections of it can be seen in the Louvre and in Istanbul. The majority of it however was shipped over to Berlin and a nearly full reconstruction can be seen in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, the faithful prince appointed by the will of Marduk, the highest of princely princes, beloved of Nabu, of prudent counsel, who has learned to embrace wisdom, who fathomed their divine being and reveres their majesty, the untiring governor, who always takes to heart the care of the cult of Esagila and Ezida and is constantly concerned with the well-being of Babylon and Borsippa, the wise, the humble, the caretaker of Esagila and Ezida, the firstborn son of Nabopolassar, the King of Babylon. Both gate entrances of Imgur-Ellil and Nemetti-Ellil —following the filling of the street from Babylon—had become increasingly lower. Therefore, I pulled down these gates and laid their foundations at the water-table with asphalt and bricks and had them made of bricks with blue stone on which wonderful bulls and dragons were depicted. I covered their roofs by laying majestic cedars length-wise over them. I hung doors of cedar adorned with bronze at all the gate openings. I placed wild bulls and ferocious dragons in the gateways and thus adorned them with luxurious splendor so that people might gaze on them in wonder. 
Ishtar Gate dedication 

Sphinx of Apries

There is not much that can be said for the year 574. During the year 573 I have come across some sources saying that the siege of Tyre ended. This is a confused episode that shows the state of the sources. It is clear that the Phoenicians had been involved with the revolts and wars in the region and that the Babylonians would try and curb this. A number of Greek authors recount that there was a thirteen year siege of Tyre by the Babylonians. This probably happened, but it’s unclear when and if the siege was continuous. As Tyre was at least partly on an island besieging it would seem very pointless, but this is what the sources say. The Babylonian chronicles might have shed light on it if there were any for this period, but there aren’t, so we have to rely on the Greek texts. I believe that the siege may have ended around this date ,but a lot of other dates are plausible. The siege ended with a negotiated surrender that saw the Tyrians submit to Nebuchadnezzar, but their city was not looted nor their king slain.

Diocles also, in the second book of his Accounts of Persia, mentions this king; as does Philostrates in his Accounts both of India and of Phoenicia, say, that this king besieged Tyre thirteen years, while at the same time Ethbaal reigned at Tyre. 
Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 11.1 

In the year 572 there is not much that can be said, bar the final prophecies of Ezekiel according to Ezekiel’s own internal dating system. I may have mistaken the year and it may be 573, but it is around this time. The final vision is a vision of an idealised temple in Jerusalem and a land restored to the people of Judah (in a somewhat geometrical fashion). This means that, if this dating is correct, that there is no Hebrew record of the years of exile. There are some stories within the book of Daniel, but these are not historically verifiable with our current knowledge and do not affect the diaspora as a whole, but are more to do with the protagonists of the book of Daniel.

Medieval illustration of Ezekiel

In the twenty-fifth year of our exile, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the fall of the city—on that very day the hand of the Lord was on me and he took me there. In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.” 
Ezekiel 40:1-4

According to later Armenian legends the king Orontes Sakavakyats began to rule in Armenia around the year 570. This legend should be treated with considerable scepticism as the region was under the dominance of the Medes at the time but it is quite possible that a local ruler was allowed to act as a subordinate ruler of the province, particularly one so mountainous as the Armenian region. Whether or not Orontes Sakavakyats truly existed or was in fact a king, it is fair to say that there was a later dynasty, the Orontids, who ruled the region as governors over the next few centuries.

Stele of Apries mounted on
Bernini's elephant

Also around 570, Apries, the Pharaoh of Egypt, sent a large invasion force to try and crush the Greek kingdom of Cyrene, in present-day Libya. The invasion was a failure and seems to have failed badly. Perhaps the soldiers felt that they had been led into the desert to die at the hands of their foes or perhaps they feared punishment on returning to Egypt. Either way, they rose in rebellion against the Pharaoh.

The armies of the Pharaoh were composed of two sections. The native Egyptian forces, which was by far the larger part of the army, and some elite, heavy-armed mercenary forces, composed mainly of Greeks and Carians. Each section of the army had its own commander, so Apries sent the commander of the Egyptian forces, a general named Ahmose, to quell the rebellion. Ahmose went to the troops who promptly proclaimed him the new king. Ahmose returned to Memphis and a battle was fought against the mercenary troops who remained loyal to Apries. Apries possibly survived the battle and probably fled across the Sinai, where he tried to enlist Babylonian help in regaining his kingdom.

This entire episode is almost entirely taken from the writings of Herodotus. It is in some ways extremely annoying just how reliant we are on Herodotus. If we did not have his Histories we would lose a huge amount of information about this century.

Apries sent a great expedition against Cyrene which suffered a great defeat. The Egyptians blamed him for this and rebelled against him; for they thought that Apries had knowingly sent his men to their doom, so that after their death his rule over the rest of the Egyptians would be strengthened. Bitterly angered by this, those who returned home and the friends of the slain rose against him. Apries sent Amasis to dissuade them, when he heard of this. Amasis met the Egyptians and he exhorted them to desist; but as he spoke an Egyptian put a helmet on his head from behind, saying it was the token of royalty. 
Herodotus Histories 2,161 ff 

Salvador Dali painting showing the Stele of
Apries mounted on Bernini's elephant

There is a strange little postscript to the reign of Apries. During his reign he had commissioned a small obelisk, which I believe was placed in Sais. This obelisk was later taken to Rome and eventually abandoned as Rome fell into disrepair. The obelisk was recovered during excavations in the 1600’s and was incorporated into a sculpture by Bernini called Elephant and Obelisk, where a Renaissance statue of an elephant acts as a base for the obelisk, which seems to grow from its back. It is exhibited in Rome to this day, sitting near the Pantheon, and has been featured in a number of Salvador Dali’s artworks. I have always found this combination of history, sculpture and art to be quite fascinating and any travellers to Rome should take a little time to see it if they can.

For the year 569 not much happened to my knowledge. In the year 568 or 567 it seems that the Babylonians attacked Egypt. Possibly this was done at the behest of the ousted Pharaoh Apries. The invasion probably reached the edges of Egypt, but probably did not get much further and Apries seems to have been captured and probably killed.

Broken head of a statue of Amasis

The sources for this are very confused. The Babylonian sources are not extant for this time. The Greek sources are much later and are dependent on the Egyptian priests who may have not wished to speak of defeats. The Hebrew sources themselves are silent. However, there are Hebrew prophecies from Jeremiah and Ezekiel that speak of Nebuchadnezzar conquering Egypt. It is not clear when these were written, but if these prophecies were entirely inaccurate it is likely that the Hebrews would have abandoned the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel.  So, the existence of these prophecies is not a proof that the Babylonians conquered Egypt, but it should make us suspect that something happened which was viewed as fulfilling this. However, the language used by Ezekiel in particular should not be viewed as being exactly literal. Ezekiel refers to the land of Egypt lying desolate for 40 years. This did not happen and is just poetic imagery for a great destruction. But the sources are too scant to really tell us much here. Babylon could have invaded Egypt ten times and we would have no real data on it.

Then say to them, ‘This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: I will send for my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and I will set his throne over these stones I have buried here (in the city of Tahpanhes); he will spread his royal canopy above them. He will come and attack Egypt, bringing death to those destined for death, captivity to those destined for captivity, and the sword to those destined for the sword. He will set fire to the temples of the gods of Egypt; he will burn their temples and take their gods captive.
Jeremiah 43:10-12

I suspect there is a solution to the problem. Our main source for the period is Herodotus, whose main sources were the Egyptian priests. Herodotus records a later invasion by Cambyses, a Persian monarch, whose reason for invading was because he had married a daughter of Apries. Now the explanation that Herodotus gives for the marriage alliance is a rather silly one, so a marriage alliance with the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar makes more sense. Herodotus also refers to Cambyses slaying the Apis bull, (a bull that was sacred to the Egyptians). However, inscriptions from this time show that Herodotus is wrong about this. I suspect that Herodotus is confusing parts of the accounts of an earlier invasion by Nebuchadnezzar with the later invasion of Cambyses. But this is all speculation on my part.

Sculpture of the goddess Neith

Also around this time, Aramatle-qo of Kush may have come to the throne. The dates are confused here, as I have also seen dates suggesting that Aramatle-qo came to the throne in 580, but these are the dates that I have seen. Not enough research has been done on the kingdom of Kush I fear.

For the years 566-563 it is hard to find sources of anything that happened. So I will mention some general developments around this time. Firstly, in Egypt, in the city of Sais that was the capital of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty, there had been a revival in the cult of the goddess Neith. She was a creator goddess who also was a sky goddess of battle, hunting and wisdom. She also was associated with many of the Egyptian rites of the dead. She was an ancient goddess, whose cult had been very important in the early dynastic periods in Lower Egypt but whose worship had been obscured by the primacy of the cult of Amun based in Thebes. The Saite rulers were based in Lower Egypt and promoted her worship, building large temples in Sais. This was partly a revival of ancient traditions, but also shows that religion in the ancient world was not static. The Greek travellers and mercenaries associated Neith with Athena.

First in Sais he (Amasis) built and completed for Athene a temple-gateway which is a great marvel, and he far surpassed herein all who had done the like before, both in regard to height and greatness, so large are the stones and of such quality.
Herodotus, Histories 2,176

Also around this time the outer walls of Babylon were completed. Not content with building giant fortifications for his capital city, which was the largest city in the world at the time, Nebuchadnezzar had constructed a series of fortifications that encircled his kingdom to the north and east. The northern wall stretched from Opis to Sippar, from the Tigris to the Euphrates. Later Greek writers spoke of these as being 20 feet wide and 100 feet high.

The modern restoration of the Processional Way
in Babylon

After travelling three stages they reached the so called wall of Media, and passed within it. It was built of baked bricks, laid in asphalt, and was twenty feet wide and a hundred feet high; its length was said to be twenty parasangs (slightly over 100km), and it is not far distant from Babylon.
Xenophon Anabasis 2.4.12

There are some indications from the Babylonian inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar that these walls were built, but the sheer scale of the walls meant that these were probably not completed until very late in the reign of the king. It is these walls, as well of the walls of the city of Babylon itself, which were viewed as wonders of the world by the later Greeks. The reason for building the walls must have been fear of invasion by the Medes. There is no evidence for the Babylonians and the Medes going to war at this time, but the fragmentary nature of the sources means that there could have been hostility and even war between the two empires around this time and we would be unaware of it.

I made a strong earth dam over a distance of 5 beru above Upu as far as Sippar, from the bank of the Tigris to the bank of the Euphrates, and I surrounded the city with mighty waters for a distance of 20 beru like the expanse of the sea. In order that the strong earth dam should not be carried away by the battering of a flood of furious waters, I constructed its banks with bitumen and baked brick. I built on their neck a strong wall as high as a mountain. I turned Babylon into a life-preserving mountain refuge for the people…
Brisa Inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II

Illustration by William Blake of the madness
of Nebuchadnezzar

Around the year 562 Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon died. He was in many ways the most powerful king of his age. His father had helped destroy Assyria and he himself had beaten the Egyptian armies and established his kingdom as the wealthiest and possibly the most powerful in the world at the time. His building works have nearly all crumbled into dust, but the few that remain are wondrous. I myself have seen the Ishtar Gate that was transported to Berlin and it is a magnificent piece. But his most lasting cultural legacy is as the stereotypically evil monarch who destroyed Jerusalem and deported the Jews to Babylon. It is for this that Babylon is referred to in Judeo-Christian writings and songs as the embodiment of all of the evil in the world. He is referenced in the Biblical writings of Kings, Chronicles, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel.

In the book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar is portrayed as a benevolent tyrant, whose whimsy would turn to anger without warning, and who was much given to the interpretation of dreams. The last reference to Nebuchadnezzar in this book is of an episode of seven years madness, where the king refused to honour the God of Heaven and was driven out to live as a beast in the wilderness for seven years. Now, some have interpreted this as a reference to the later king Nabonidus. This is quite plausible as there were other writings about a seven year period of madness of Nabonidus in the Jewish tradition. However, some have interpreted a cuneiform document that opens with the fragmentary words that Nebuchadnezzar “considered his life appeared of no value to him” to refer to a period of madness where his son Amel-Marduk became a temporary regent. Without more and better sources it is impossible to know if this tradition is reliable.

Medieval illustration of
the dream of Nebuchadnezzar

Apart from the Biblical cultural legacy of Nebuchadnezzar, he is best remembered for building the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. No traces of these have ever been found, nor are they mentioned by any extant Babylonian inscription, nor are they mentioned by Herodotus. It is possible that they were a misplaced memory of the gardens of Nineveh that had been built by Sennacherib. But all of this is not well known.

Now in this palace he erected very high walks, supported by stone pillars: and by planting what was called a pensile paradise; and replenishing it with all sorts of trees, he rendered the prospect an exact resemblance of a mountainous country. This he did to please his Queen: because she had been brought up in Media, and was fond of a mountainous situation.
Berossus’ Babyloniaca, quoted by Josephus in Contra Apion, Book I

With the mighty Nebuchadnezzar dead, his son Amel-Marduk took the throne. We have some small inscriptions from his reign, but we know very little about this king. We do know that he seems to have considered restoring the exiles of Judah, or at least changing their status. He restored the exiled king Jehoachin to favour and allowed him to sit at the royal table and receive allowances. This is mentioned in the Biblical books of Jeremiah and Kings and in both cases is thought to be so important that it is the last note in both books. Interestingly we have found Babylonian rations tablets that confirm that this detail and speak of the King of Judah being given rations.

One of the Jehoiachin Tablets

In the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the year Amel-Marduk became king of Babylon, on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month, he released Jehoiachin king of Judah and freed him from prison. He spoke kindly to him and gave him a seat of honour higher than those of the other kings who were with him in Babylon. So Jehoiachin put aside his prison clothes and for the rest of his life ate regularly at the king’s table. Day by day the king of Babylon gave Jehoiachin a regular allowance as long as he lived, till the day of his death.
Jeremiah 52:31-34

1.5 sila (oil) for three carpenters from Arvad, 1/2 apiece,
11.5 sila for eight woodworkers from Byblos, . . .
3.5 sila for seven Greek craftsman, 1/2 sila apiece,
0.5 sila to the carpenter, Nabuetir,
10 sila to Ia-ku-u-ki-nu (Jehoachin), the king of Judah’s son,
2.5 sila for the five sons of the Judean king.
One of the Ration Tablets of Jehoiachin

Around the year 561, but possibly considerably earlier, the Egyptian Pharaoh Amasis conquered Cyprus, which was an important source of copper for the entire region. If Amasis was able to project power across the sea, he must have had a considerable navy, either of his own or through mercenaries or allies.

The vast remains of the tomb of Alyattes

Around the year 560 Alyattes of Lydia died. He had made Lydia stronger than ever before and his armies and wealth were famous. Like Nebuchadnezzar however we know far less than we would like about him and apart from a few Greek tales preserved in Herodotus, we can say very little about him.
One thing that can be said however, is that Alyattes built one of the largest tombs in history for himself. The Lydian kings and nobility were buried in tumuli outside their capital city of Sardis. Even today these mounds can be seen like little hills dotting the plain, silhouetted against the sky and distant mountains. Alyattes’ funeral mound is by far the largest.

Its base was originally 360 metres in diameter and 61 metres in height. By comparison the sides of the Great Pyramid are 230 metres and it is 147 metres in height. Thus the tomb of Alyattes was not the largest building in the world, but it was certainly one of the largest buildings. It has since been excavated but it had been looted in antiquity. The wealth of the Lydian monarchs, the possible inventors of currency, was legendary and it is hard to imagine what his tomb furnishings must have been. The tomb was topped with stone phalli, which may have had a religious significance. Herodotus characteristically tells a tale that says that the tomb was built mainly by prostitutes and that they left their sign atop it as a marker. This is unlikely. If one is in western Turkey it might be interesting to visit the forgotten marvel; the greatest tomb of a half-remembered kingdom.

Coin of Alyattes of Lydia

In Lydia is the tomb of Alyattes, the father of Croesus, the base of which is made of great stones and the rest of it of mounded earth. It was built by the men of the market and the craftsmen and the prostitutes. There survived until my time five corner-stones set on the top of the tomb, and in these was cut the record of the work done by each group: and measurement showed that the prostitutes' share of the work was the greatest.
Herodotus, Histories 1:93

Coin of Croesus of Lydia

Alyattes’ son Croesus succeeded him and seems to have gone to war with Ephesus and with the Greek cities of Ionia. Croesus would become famous for his vast wealth and in English the phrase “Rich as Croesus” was used to describe those who had huge fortunes.

In the year 560 Amel-Marduk, son of Nebuchadnezzar and king of Babylon, was killed by Nergal-Sharezer, who was a high-ranking official who had married into the royal family. Berossus records that Amel-Marduk was unpopular. If Amel-Marduk had ever truly planned to restore the Jews to Judah, he did not reign long enough to accomplish this, or much of anything else for that matter.

His son Eveilmaradouchos (Amel-Marduk) became master of the kingdom. Because he managed affairs in a lawless and outrageous fashion he was plotted against and killed by Neriglisaros (Nergal-Sharezer), his sister's husband. He was king for two years.
Berossus’ Babyloniaca, 

Possible tomb of Cambyses I (possibly not)

Probably around the year 559 Cambyses I, a minor king who ruled the Persian tribes, died. The Persian tribes were culturally and politically linked to the more powerful Medes and the daughter of the Median King, Mandane, daughter of Astyages, had been married to Cambyses I. Their son, Cyrus II became king of Persia. There are some sources however that suggest that Cambyses I died later, around 551.

I have no sources for any events happening in 558. In 557 however the sources very briefly flare to life. The Babylonian chronicles have been silent since 593. This is not because they are not recording anything, but merely because we have found no documents. A fragment of a much larger chronicle was found that spoke of a military campaign by Neriglissar (Nergal-Sharezer) King of Babylon. This chronicle is referred to as the Chronicle of Neriglissar and is much more detailed than Babylonian chronicles normally are. This chronicle speaks of a campaign by the Babylonian king against Appuashu, a king of Cilicia. Appuashu is possibly the same king Synennesis mentioned by Herodotus, who had helped negotiate peace between the Lydians and Medes in 585, but it is more likely to have been a descendent. This shows that the Babylonians were still powerful and that their kings were engaging in campaigns at the outer reaches of their empire.

The third year (557/556): on the Nth day of the month [...], Appuashu, the king of Pirindu, mustered a large army and set out to plunder and sack Syria. Neriglissar mustered his army and marched to Hume [Cilicia] to oppose him. Before his arrival Appuashu placed the army and cavalry which he had organized in a mountain valley ambush. When Neriglissar reached them he inflicted a defeat upon them and conquered the large army. The army and numerous horses he captured.
Neriglissar Chronicle (ABC6) 

It is probable that around the year 557 the Ionian Greek cities, on the west coast of what is now Turkey, became subject to the Lydian King Croesus. Croesus in turn became a great patron of Greek culture and regularly enquired of, and sent gifts to, the Oracle at Delphi, as his father Alyattes had done before him. The Greek city states were still mostly independent and still continued to flourish at this time.

In 556 Nergal-Sharezer, King of Babylon, died. He had been a high official of the Babylonian court for many years, partaking in the siege of Jerusalem and marrying the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar before he usurped the throne from Amel-Marduk. He had campaigned in Cilicia the year before and had undertaken great building projects, in emulation of Nebuchadnezzar. He left behind a young son, Labashi-Marduk who reigned for only nine months (perhaps less) before being assassinated in a palace conspiracy. The conspirators placed one of their number, Nabonidus, on the throne of Babylon. The entire episode sounds strangely like Herodotus’ account of the accession of Darius, which again leads me to suspect that some details of the Neo-Babylonian and the Persian empires have got mixed up in Herodotus’ work.

Stele of Nabonidus

Laborosoarchodos (Labashi-Marduk), the son of Neriglisaros (Neriglissar), who was only a child, was master of the kingdom for nine months. Because his wickedness became apparent in many ways he was plotted against and brutally killed by his friends. After he had been killed, the plotters met and jointly conferred the kingdom on Nabonnedos (Nabonidus), a Babylonian and a member of the conspiracy
Berossus, Babyloniaca 

Nabonidus was not from an important family and may not even have been Babylonian. His mother was from Harran, the city sacred to the moon god Sin in northern Syria. His mother, Adad-Guppi, was probably connected with the temple establishment and thus may have been Assyrian. Nabonidus writes in a later inscription that he was insignificant and not of royal blood. His accession to the throne must have seemed like divine destiny. Thus he came to believe that the Moon-God Sin had chosen him.

Sin, lord of the gods and goddesses, dwellers of the heavens, came from the heavens in front of me, Nabonidus king of Babylon. I, Nabonidus, the lonely one, who have not the honour of being somebody, and kingship is not within me, but the gods and goddesses prayed for me, and Sin called me to the kingship.
The Harran Inscription of Nabonidus

Pillar inscribed with
Nabonidus' proclamations

In the year 556 another Babylonian chronicle, referred to as the Nabonidus Chronicle, begins and gives some fragmentary details about the doings of the king and country over the next 17-18 years. The chronicle suggests that there was a military campaign fought that year, but the tablet is damaged and it is not clear against whom the campaign was fought.

In 555 Nabonidus announced his intention to rebuild the sanctuaries of the land. This was phrased as a holy duty endorsed by Marduk. Numerous temples had been ruined when the Assyrian Empire was destroyed, such as the temple at Uruk, but Nabonidus was primarily interested in the Ehulhul Temple of Sin in Harran. It is possible that the Babylonians may not have controlled Harran at this time, but if they did not, Nabonidus certainly reconquered that region for them. In that year the king and the army campaigned against Cilicia and the route to Cilicia would have taken the Babylonian troops near to Harran.

Around this time Aramatle-qo, king of Kush, died and was succeeded by Malonaqen. Not much is known about the doings of the kings of Kush at this period.

I am unsure what was happening in the world in the year 554, save that the Babylonian army may have been near Hamath in Syria. Now is as good a time as any to speak of the unusual inscriptions of Nabonidus about archaeology. I had said that Nabonidus had wished to restore the temples of the gods. As these temples were being restored, artefacts were brought to light from previous kings. These artefacts were evaluated by the new king and restored to their supposed original position. Nabonidus has sometimes been referred to as the first archaeologist because of this. But it’s more likely that this was part of a Mesopotamian royal tradition of restoring items to their original places; that Nabonidus was establishing his connections to previous kings, despite being a usurper. There are parallels to Nabonidus’ inscriptions in the writings of Ashurbanipal. But it is certainly an interesting window into how the people of this time viewed their past.

Nabonidus was helped in the study of antiquity by his daughter, Bel-Shalti-Nanna, also known as Ennigaldi-Nanna. His daughter had been placed in charge of a school for priestesses, but also assisted with the creation of a museum in Ur. Later, around the year 547, she was made High Priestess in Ur. This paralleled in certain ways the career of the famed priestess Enheduanna, the daughter of Sargon of Akkad. Nabonidus must have been aware of this and may have placed his daughter in this position for this reason.

I removed (the debris of) that temple, sought out its original foundation, and dug down eighteen cubits deep, and the foundation of Narām-Sîn, the son of Sargon (of Akkad), which for 3,200 years no king who came before me had seen
Inscription of Nabonidus

In the year 553 Nabonidus seems to have made an expedition to attack Cilicia. Later in the year he set off on an expedition from Babylon to attack the kingdom of Edom and then to visit or attack the city of Tayma in northern Arabia. It is really unclear why. There seems to have been some form of suffering in Babylonia at the time, probably a plague. There is a section from the Nabonidus chronicle that refers to fruit being brought to Babylon from the Amanus Mountains and someone being ill, but recovering. Perhaps Nabonidus had caught, but recovered from, a plague, took it as an omen and left the city?

Inscription of Nabonidus

Nabonidus was also a usurper, so he may have feared a palace conspiracy or an uprising. But he was also obsessed with dreams and with the fact that the Moon-God Sin had raised him to the kingship. Perhaps there was a religious imperative to visit the oasis city of Tayma? Previously Assyrian kings had fought campaigns against the Arab tribes who lived in the deserts between the Babylon and the Levant. Perhaps Nabonidus wanted to expand his power into these deserts and control the trade routes that went from Saba (present-day Yemen) into Syria? It is impossible to know what all motivations Nabonidus had.

The Babylonian elites must have been furious. Not only was their new king proclaiming himself the champion of a different god than Marduk, he was abandoning the royal city for an expedition into the remote wastes. With the king gone, the New Year Akitu Festival could not be celebrated. The largest city in the world had been spurned in favour of an oasis in the desert. The priests must have thought that he was insane or impious or both. A later Hebrew tradition preserved in the Dead Sea Scrolls tells that Nabonidus went insane and was in Tayma for seven years and some have supposed that that the madness of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel is telling of the same tale. We have so few documents from this period that it is possible but with a decision this strange, almost any hypothesis might be true.

Well at Tayma, supposedly originally dug by Nabonidus

Words of the prayer, said by Nabonidus, king of Babylonia, [the great] king, [when afflicted] with an ulcer on command of the most high God in Tayma: ["I, Nabonidus,] was afflicted [with an evil ulcer] for seven years, and far from [men] I [was driven, until I prayed to the most high God.] And an exorcist pardoned my sins. He was a Jew from [among the children of the exile of Judah, and said:] "Recount this in writing to glorify and exalt the name of [the most high God."Then I wrote this:] "When I was afflicted for seven years [by the most high God] with an evil ulcer during my stay at Tayma,...
Opening lines of the Prayer of Nabonidus, from the writings in the Dead Sea Scrolls

Nabonidus stayed in Tayma for the next ten years. Tayma was a relatively large city anyway and Nabonidus may have tried to extend it. It is not proven however that he was trying to build a rival city to Babylon, as is sometimes stated. He also visited a number of cities in the region, including Dedan and going as far as Yatribu, (later known as Yathrib, the name of which would eventually be changed to Medina). If this was a military conquest, Nabonidus had pushed further to the southwest than any recorded Mesopotamian monarch before him, but the land he was conquering was all desert.
If this was a pilgrimage it is hard to know what he was searching for.

There was a temple in Tayma to an obscure Aramean god called Salm and it seems that this was patronised by Nabonidus. Interestingly this temple had hereditary priests who seem to have had connections to Egypt, but it is hard to know what, if anything, this had to do with the religious beliefs of Nabonidus. A large well and some palace buildings may date from this time or may have been made by later rulers of the region.

Stela of Salmshezub
from Tayma

Neither gods nor men shall remove Ṣalmšēzeb, the son of Petosiris, from this house nor his descendants or his name as priests in this house forever
Slightly later inscription of Salmshezeb, priest of Salm in Tayma

While Nabonidus pursued his goals in the desert lands, his son Belshazzar ruled Babylon as his regent. All the while the hatred and resentment of the priests of Marduk grew against him.

But the sons of Babylon, Borsippa, Nippur, Ur, Uruk, Larsa, the administrators and inhabitants of the Babylonian cities, acted wickedly and offended his divinity, they knew not the terrible wrath of the Moon-god, king of the gods. They disregarded his rituals and dedicated themselves to impious and disloyal discourses. Like dogs, they devoured one another, they brought fever and famine in the midst of them. He (Sin) decimated the people in the land, he made me leave my city of Babylon, and led me to Tayma, Dadanu, Padakku, Hibra, Yadihu, as far as Yatribu. Ten years I went about amongst them, and did not enter my city Babylon.
Harran Inscription of Nabonidus

Nabonidus

The exact dates are not clear but around 553/552 the Persians under their king Cyrus II, revolted against the Median Empire. King Astyages of the Medes sent a force, probably under his general Harpagus, to quell the rebellion. Astyages was unpopular with his nobility and troops and the army of the Medes defected to join the rebellion of Cyrus. Cyrus of course was not a foreign foe of the Medes. He was directly related to the royal family, as his mother had been a princess of the Medes, making Cyrus a grandson of Astyages, and giving him a claim to the throne.

The Persians had long been discontent that the Medes ruled them, and now having got a champion they were glad to win their freedom. But when Astyages heard that Cyrus was about this business, he sent a messenger to summon him; Cyrus told the messenger to take back word that Astyages would see him sooner than he liked. Hearing this, Astyages armed all his Medes, and was distracted by Providence so that he forgot what he had done to Harpagus, and appointed him to command the army. So when the Medes marched out and engaged with the Persians, those who were not in on the plan fought, while others deserted to the enemy, and most were deliberate cowards and ran.
Herodotus, Histories, 1:128

Renaissance painting depicting Astyages
decreeing that the infant Cyrus should be slain

It is worth mentioning some of the legends about the birth of Cyrus. Supposedly the princess Mandane was given in marriage to a minor king of an allied tribe because Astyages had two dreams about his daughter. Firstly that a she urinated until all of Asia flooded and secondly that a plant grew from her womb to cover his empire. This was supposedly interpreted that Mandane would bear a child who would dominate the known world, so when she gave birth, her child, Cyrus, was given to a trusted minister called Harpagus who was to kill him. Harpagus instead gave the child to some shepherds. Eventually the child was found and recognised and Astyages accepted him, but then killed the children of Harpagus and secretly fed them to Harpagus. Harpagus then, understandably, bore Astyages a grudge and when Cyrus eventually revolted Harpagus joined him and orchestrated the downfall of Astyages.

Harpagus told the story straight, while Astyages, hiding the anger that he felt against him for what had been done, first repeated the story again to Harpagus exactly as he had heard it from the cowherd, then, after repeating it, ended by saying that the boy was alive and that the matter had turned out well.
Herodotus, Histories, 1:119

Sphinx with the head of Amasis

This story is all very nice and rather interesting but it is probably not true. It is too close to the stories of the childhood of other remarkable leaders, such as Sargon of Akkad or Moses. It was probably felt that Cyrus’ career was so extraordinary that his early life should have been extraordinary as well. There were other stories that Cyrus had been raised by dogs, similar to the legendary suckling of Romulus and Remus by a wolf. The truth of the matter is that we do not know, but we do not have to accept the stories of Herodotus or Xenophon uncritically. Even Herodotus is keen to note that he had heard other versions of this story.

I mean then to be guided in what I write by some of the Persians who desire not to magnify the story of Cyrus but to tell the truth, though there are no less than three other accounts of Cyrus which I could give.
Herodotus, Histories, 1:95

In the year 551 there were probably further battles between the Medes and Persians. One such battle is what is referred to as the Battle of the Persian Border, referring to a battle where the Medes won a somewhat Pyrrhic victory against the Persians and forced them to retreat to their capital. Supposedly during this battle, Cyrus’ father was captured by the Medes and died almost immediately from his wounds. I am somewhat sceptical of this, as this entire battle is only known from the writings of Nicolaus of Damascus, who was writing over five centuries later. It’s quite probable that some battles occurred, but they probably didn’t resemble Nicolaus’ account.

Apis bull pendant from the time of Amasis

In the year 550 Astyages had invaded Persian territory hoping to crush the rebellion of Cyrus once and for all. Herodotus had earlier recounted that the Median general Harpagus had gone over to the Persians and now recounts that the Persians defeated the Medes. However the Babylonian chronicle of Nabonidus recounts that the Medes deserted Astyages and handed over their unpopular king to Cyrus. It’s unclear if Herodotus and the Babylonian writers are referring to the same event, but it would be better to trust the Babylonians here, as their account is written much closer to the events, although not without its own issues. The chronicle then recounts that Cyrus marched on the Median capital Ecbatana and looted it.

The sixth year: Astyages mustered his army and marched against Cyrus, king of Anshan, for conquest … The army rebelled against Astyages and he was taken prisoner. They handed him over to Cyrus. … Cyrus marched to Ecbatana, the royal city.
Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC7)

Despite the looting of Ecbatana the defeated Medes seem to have been treated well. Many Median aristocrats must have deserted to him, on the evidence of both Herodotus and the Babylonians, and these must have been rewarded. Cyrus had taken control of a much larger empire than his previous kingdom and had done so because he had been more popular than the previous monarch. To maintain his rule he would have to tread lightly and carefully. Cyrus goes down in history as a tolerant and just monarch who allowed his subjects every possible advantage and freedom. This was probably why he was so popular with the nobility of his enemies, but also was a wise policy considering the circumstances of his rule. Perhaps I am too cynical, but I cannot help but feel that Cyrus had no choice but to be tolerant.

There is a matter that I have wanted to write about for some time but have never found the right place for it. It must however be written about now, as this is the last period where it might be. This is the matter of the religion of the Persians. The Persian religion as it is known to us from antiquity is Zoroastrianism. However Zoroastrianism, like Christianity, Buddhism, or Judaism, has looked different at different times. Much of what we know of Zoroastrianism comes from the Sassanid Persian period, over seven centuries later and their sacred book, the Avesta, was compiled in Sassanid times.

Much later depiction of Zoroaster

Thus spake Ahura Mazda):
"The one who alone has hearkened to my precepts 
        is known as Zarathushtra Spitama; 
For his Creator and for Truth he wishes to announce 
        the Holy Message, 
Wherefore shall I bestow on him the gift of eloquent speech."
Avesta: Ahunuvaiti Gatha: Yasna 29

Even the date of their prophet Zoroaster is in great doubt. The Greeks believed that he lived at an absurdly early date, perhaps about 6000BC. This is definitely incorrect. Zoroaster is supposed to have composed some religious writings, called the Gathas. The language of the Gathas is similar to that of the Rig Veda, but linguistic analysis would suggest that it is slightly later. So, if the assumption that the Rig Veda is mostly composed before 1200BC is correct and the assumption that Zoroaster wrote the Gathas is correct, it would seem likely that Zoroaster would have lived around maybe 1000BC. Later Zoroastrian sources give a date in the mid 500’s BC, which is the latest possible date that it could be.

Ruins of Babylon

The issue is complicated by the fact that there is no concrete evidence of definite Zoroastrian practices evident before around the 520’s BC. Nor are there historical figures mentioned in the Zoroastrian texts who can be linked to known personages. The patron of Zoroaster is Vishtaspa, a tribal chieftain or king, who adopts the new religion. Some people have associated this person with a relative of Cyrus, who was better known in Greek as Hystaspes. Hystaspes was a close relative of Cyrus and, before Cyrus’ revolt, seems to have been an independent ruler of a small state under the suzerainty of the Medes. We know that the son of Hystaspes was a Zoroastrian, but we cannot tell if this Hystaspes is indeed the Vishtaspa of Zoroastrian belief.

Let them advance in thought, word, and deed 
Toward the satisfaction of Mazda with reverential worship, 
King Vishtaspa, Frashaoshtra, and the successors of 
        Zarathushtra Spitama.
May they teach all to keep to the established straight path, 
Announced by the spiritual preceptors, and ordained by Ahura,
Avesta: Vahishto-Ishti Gatha: Yasna 53

Ruins of Babylon

What we can say is that Zoroaster was born into an Iranian tribal world, one that had not been transformed into a large empire under the Persians. He probably lived to the east, possibly in Bactria or Sogdia (perhaps in present-day Tajikstan, Uzbekistan or Afghanistan). The religious beliefs of his contemporaries were probably similar to the beliefs described in the Vedas and probably with similar gods, although we cannot be entirely sure of this. The god Mithra and Mitra were pretty much the same god in both Iranian and Indian religions, but we cannot speak with certainty for the others.

Zoroaster came to believe that there was a single good god, who was called Ahura Mazda, meaning Wise Spirit. This god was opposed by an evil spirit, Angra Mainyu (Hostile Spirit). Ahura Mazda symbolised Truth and Angra Mainyu symbolised the Lie. This has sometimes been referred to as the first monotheism or the first dualism, but the actual system is not really either monotheist or dualist.

The Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum Berlin

There were a great many other actions that Zoroaster approved of, such as being kind to dogs, or slaying certain animals, like snakes, that were said to be followers of the Lie. There was a belief in an afterlife, where a follower of Ahura Mazda would cross the Chinvat Bridge (the rainbow, or possibly the Milky Way) and reach Paradise (which is itself a Persian word meaning “garden”).

There are many other beliefs that the Zoroastrians have, such as the towers of silence and the purity of fire. But these beliefs are not immediately evidence in the earliest Zoroastrian texts, so they will be dealt with at a later time.

So, in summary, Zoroaster probably founded the Zoroastrian religion at some point between 1000-550BC but there is no definite material evidence for it. Either he or someone else composed the oldest hymns in the Avesta, known as the Gathas. By linguistic evidence, another set of hymns, known as the Yashts, were composed between 600-500BC, so I am fairly sure that Zoroaster probably predates this period. But because I am not sure of any of this, I am giving the reader all of my uncertainty.

Dragon detail from the Ishtar Gate in the
Pergamon Museum Berlin

May Ahura Mazda be rejoiced! May Angra Mainyu be destroyed by those who do truly what is the foremost wish (of God).
I praise well-thought, well-spoken, and well-done thoughts, words, and deeds. I embrace all good thoughts, good words, and good deeds; I reject all evil thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.
Avesta: Ohrmazd Yasht

And so the period draws to a close. In Egypt the Pharaoh Amasis has conquered Cyprus and is engaged in building projects in Sais. In Lydia King Croesus is famed for his wealth and has subdued the Greek states on the western coast of Asia Minor. In Babylon King Nabonidus has abandoned his capital to pursue religious reform and campaign in the south-western deserts. And in the largest change, Cyrus the king of the Persians has taken over the kingdom of the Medes. I will continue the story in the next few blogs.

Later illustration of the
Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Primary SourcesNeo-Babylonian Royal Inscriptions
Egyptians Texts
Ezekiel
Berossus’ Babyloniaca
Neriglissar Chronicle
The Harran Inscription of Nabonidus
Herodotus: The Histories
Prayer of Nabonidus
Verse Account of Nabonidus
Zoroastrian Texts
Avesta

Secondary Sources
Sardis Expedition
The Enemy Within: Internecine Conflict in the Second Kingdom of Kush
The Babylonian Walls
Nabonidus the Archaeologist?
The Pantheon of Tayma
Aramaic in Tayma

Related Blog Posts:
600-575BC in the Near East
575-550BC in Greece
550-525BC in the Near East

600-575BC in the Near East

Dragon brickwork from the Ishtar Gate of Babylon

This blog post will be looking at the years 600-575BC in the Near East, which for the purposes of this blog will include Kush and Lydia in the south and west, far over to the easternmost reaches of the Median Empire and to the Caucasus in the north. Occasionally there may be references to other regions, but the Greek world in particular will be dealt with in a separate post.

The sources for this blog will include as much primary sources as possible, particularly Neo-Babylonian chronicles and other cuneiform writings. Lydian and Median sources are so scant as to be almost non-existent, and those that do exist may in fact be forgeries. Egyptian and Kushite inscriptions will be used where possible, but there are not as many of these as we would like. The Hebrew Tanakh or Old Testament will be used where possible, but this has a very narrow focus and is not contemporary with the events that it describes. Also, the writers of the books of Kings, Chronicles, Jeremiah, etc. are not writing history as such and their writings have their own specific conventions. The source material that we shall see becoming ever more prevalent during this period, is the later writings of the Greeks. For better or for worse, shortly after the fall of Assyria, we begin to have fewer and fewer writings directly from the Mesopotamians.

Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar
detailing the rebuilding of the Ebabbar
temple in Sippar

As always I feel it is important to note that I am not a professional historian. The facts and dates in this post should be treated with due caution and everything should be checked. There are certainly mistakes and errors in the sources and I may make mistakes in my interpretations of these sources. Mistakes are particularly likely to occur when dealing with years, as the Babylonian and Jewish years do not correspond exactly to our own. So, there is the possibility that I may have, for example, interpreted an event as happening in late 609 when it may in fact have been early 608. If the reader spots any errors such as this, please let me know in the comments and I will research it and correct it as soon as possible. Also, another thing that will affect dating for this period is whether the king counts the first year of their reign as the 1st year or the 0th year (counting from accession or from first full year). Even professional historians have differing opinions on the exact ordering of events at this time, so exact precision is not likely here.

It can be useful to give context to the period by describing what is happening elsewhere in the world at this time. In China, the Zhou Dynasty was continuing its long slow decline, while the feudal states such as Jin and Chu grew ever more important and waged wars between them for influence. In India, there were a number of powerful kingdoms, particular in the north along the Gangetic Plain. These kingdoms were known as the Mahajanapadas and included states such as Kuru, Panchala, Kosala, Videha and Magadha. In India at this time a number of sects began to spring up that in certain cases had unusual interpretations of the accepted beliefs of the time and region, but this is a topic for another blog. To the west, in Greece, poets and tyrants flourished along with the beginnings of Greek science and philosophy. These will all be spoken of in later blogs, but this should give a rough idea of the state of the world at this point.

Gold coin of the Mermnad Dynasty of Lydia

When we begin our time period, we can see that the fall of the Assyrian Empire had left three powers, Media, Babylon and Lydia in its place and that these three, in combination with Egypt, now dominated the region. Each of these large kingdoms had strong rulers: Alyattes II in Lydia, Nebuchadnezzar II in Babylon, Cyaxares in Media and Necho II in Egypt. Smaller kingdoms were dotted around the region, but were relatively insignificant in comparison to these three.

In the year 600 the Babylonians were rebuilding their army after suffering a defeat while attempting an invasion of Egypt the previous year. Their western client kingdom of Judah was in revolt and Babylonian rule west of the Euphrates was jeopardised. Necho II of Egypt seems to have tried to support the rebellion of the kingdom of Judah by attacking and capturing the city of Gaza, which was also an important trading post.

In Judah the prophet Habbakuk was probably active around this time and the book that bears his name may have been written around this time, however dates are not explicitly given in this work and it may be later. In Kush, to the south of Egypt, the king Anlamani died and was succeeded by his brother Aspelta.

Outlined tablet showing silhouette of
the Etemenanki

As for the Etemenanki — the ziggurat of Babylon, which had become very weak and had been allowed to collapse before my time — the god Marduk — my lord — commanded me to firmly secure its foundation on the surface of the netherworld and to have its summit rival the heavens. 
Nabopolassar 5, i 19

Around this time, the Etemenanki, the huge ziggurat in Babylon, was rebuilt. The reconstruction of this had begun under the Assyrian kings, but the revolt of Shamash-shuma-ukin had probably put a stop to it. Nabopolassar had begun to rebuild, it but the work was only completed under his son, Nebuchadnezzar II. The tower reached 91 metres and was one of the tallest structures on earth at the time. Some have speculated that this gigantic tower was the inspiration for the story of the Tower of Babel, but ziggurat towers were well known in the Near East. It is possible as well that its ruins were the inspiration for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but again, this is highly speculative.

In the sixth year [599/598] in the month of Kislimu the king of Akkad (Nebuchadnezzar) mustered his army and marched to the Hatti-land (west of the Euphrates River).  From the Hatti-land he sent out his companies, and scouring the desert they took much plunder from the Arabs, their possessions, animals and gods. In the month of Addaru the king returned to his own land.
Babylonian Chronicles ABC5 (Jerusalem Chronicle)

Around the year 599 the Babylonian army had been reorganised after the defeat near Egypt and was campaigning once more. The army marched west and probably quelled rebellions among the nomad tribes near the Jordan River. The tribes in question were probably the Kedarite Arabs, who had desert cities in Dumatha and Tayma. This campaign probably served to strengthen the kings of Moab and Edom who had acted as allies of Babylon against the rebellious kingdom of Judah.

Babylonian World Map from Sippar

Around this time the Ebabbar Temple, dedicated to the Sun God Shamash, in the sacred city of Sippar, was restored by Nebuchadnezzar. He left inscriptions describing his rebuilding of the temple and the city seems to have prospered under his rule. This is as good a place as any to mention the Babylonian map of the world that was discovered in Sippar and may come from this time period. Dates cannot be exact of course, but the map does date from this century. It appears to show a conceptual picture of a circular world, surrounded by mountains. The furthest places that it shows are Urartu and Susa, meaning that it shows a very limited picture of the world. But despite the fact that we are not sure of its exact use (the tablet itself is broken), we can be sure that this is the oldest map currently possessed by humanity. There are Greek maps that were supposedly made in this century as well, but they are not preserved in their original form.

Also made around this time are the Ketef Hinnom scrolls. These were little silver scrolls that were made in Jerusalem that were probably used as amulets. They are interesting in that they are the earliest known quotations from the Hebrew Bible and contain versions of the Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers. Similarly to the Babylonian map, the exact dating of these is unclear, but it is believed to be around this time, so I thought that I would mention them here.

One of the Ketef Hinnom scrolls

YHWH, keep you. Make shine, YHWH, His face upon you and grant you peace.
Ketef Hinnom KH2 Apotropaic Amulet text

In 598 the Babylonian army continued the campaign in the Levant and probably began to besiege Jerusalem, which was in revolt under the leadership of Jehoiakim. Jehoiakim died however and was buried in the tombs of the kings while the siege was ongoing. Jehoiachin succeeded his father, but only reigned for a few months.

And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths: none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land. And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon, and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his officers, and the mighty of the land, those carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon. 
2 Kings 24:12,14-15 

In 597 the city was surrendered to the Babylonians, but this did not save the king. Jehoiachin was dethroned and sent away to Babylon, along with many high-ranking prisoners who were also deported. The city was plundered and the loot sent eastwards to Babylon with the train of captives. The corpse of the rebel king Jehoiakim was taken from its tomb and thrown outside the city to be eaten by the wild beasts. After all this Mattaniah, a son of Josiah, was placed on the throne and his name changed to Zedekiah. It was expected that Zedekiah would prove loyal, as Babylonian patience with Judah must have been wearing thin. One of those deported to Babylon was a young man from a priestly family known as Ezekiel.

Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II

In the seventh year, the month of Kislîmu (February or March 597), the king of Akkad (Nebuchadnezzar) mustered his troops, marched to the Hatti-land, and besieged the city of Judah and on the second day of the month of Addaru he seized the city and captured the king. He appointed there a king of his own choice, received its heavy tribute and sent to Babylon. 
Jerusalem Chronicle ABC 5 

In the year 596 Babylonian sources record that Elam, which had somehow managed to recover from the wars of the previous century, made some form of attack against Babylonia. The armies of Babylon returned from the west and fought a campaign against the Elamites that seems to have ended in an Elamite withdrawal. It is not clear if Nebuchadnezzar pursued the Elamites or invaded Elam himself, but some form of punitive action probably took place.

Partiall reconstructed ruins of Babylon

While there was still a distance of one day's march between them, the king of Elam was afraid and, panic falling on him, he returned to his own land.
Jerusalem Chronicle ABC5 

In 595 it seems that Sarduri IV of Urartu died and was succeeded by his brother Rusa IV. Urartu at this point seems to have been ruined; a shadow of its former self and this once mighty kingdom would fade out with barely a whimper in historical sources.

In this year there seems to have been a rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon. This civil war was dealt with quite quickly and the rebellion was crushed. We know very little about who exactly was rebelling or what their motivations were.

Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II

In the tenth year the king of Akkad (Nebuchadnezzar) was in his own land; from the month of Kislîmu to the month of Tebetu there was rebellion in Akkad. With arms he slew many of his own army. His own hand captured his enemy.
Jerusalem Chronicle ABC5 

Also in this year Necho II died and was succeeded by his son Psamtik II in Egypt. This is as good a time as any to remember the achievements of Necho II. He was the son of Psamtik, who was remembered by Herodotus as trying to discover the first language of man, in what may have been the first experiment recorded in history. Necho continued this tradition of boldness, both in his daring campaign that expanded Egyptian power briefly to the Euphrates and in the exploration and building projects he completed.

Necho II is supposed to have attempted to link the Red Sea to the Nile in the earliest version of the Suez Canal to have been attempted. This was a gigantic work and was truly a work of vision, but there were problems with it, namely that there is a considerable difference in water levels between the two bodies of water. There are no Egyptian inscriptions for this, but we know the story from Herodotus, who says that Necho II stopped construction after receiving an unfavourable oracle.

Necho II then appears to have commissioned an even more intriguing expedition. He hired Phoenician sailors, the greatest sailors of the ancient world, to set sail from the Red Sea and to attempt to circumnavigate Africa. According to Herodotus, who again, is our sole source for the story, the sailors did not return for a long time but did eventually arrive back in Egypt having sailed around the continent and coming back through the Straits of Gibraltar. This was an unprecedented feat and one that was not to be repeated to our knowledge until the Age of Exploration. The sailors told tales of the sun being in the wrong position, which led the Greeks, and perhaps the Egyptians, to discount the story. This however makes it much more plausible, as it suggests that the Phoenicians did in fact reach the southern hemisphere.

Earlier Assyrian relief of Phoenician sailors
on riverboats

For Libya shows clearly that it is bounded by the sea, except where it borders on Asia. Necos king of Egypt first discovered this and made it known. When he had finished digging the canal which leads from the Nile to the Arabian Gulf, he sent Phoenicians in ships, instructing them to sail on their return voyage past the Pillars of Heracles until they came into the northern sea and so to Egypt. So the Phoenicians set out from the Red Sea and sailed the southern sea; whenever autumn came they would put in and plant the land in whatever part of Libya they had reached, and there await the harvest; then, having gathered the crop, they sailed on, so that after two years had passed, it was in the third that they rounded the pillars of Heracles and came to Egypt. There they said (what some may believe, though I do not) that in sailing around Libya they had the sun on their right hand.
Herodotus, Histories: 4:42

Sadly for Necho II while he was a king of vision and energy, his projects nearly all failed. His armies lost to the Babylonians, the canal was not completed and the route around Africa was too long to be of practical use. He was a genius before his time perhaps.

Ankhnesneferibre

When Psamtik II took the throne he instated his daughter Ankhnesneferibre as Divine Adoratrice of Amun in Thebes. This was in the year 595 or 594 depending on what is counted as the first year. This was an important position, in certain ways perhaps the second most important position in Egypt after the Pharaoh himself, so it was important to ensure that this post was held by someone loyal to the dynasty. Nitocris I adopted the princess to ensure that she would become God’s Wife on the death of Nitocris. Thus the Saite Dynasty further strengthened its hold on the southern part of Egypt.

Year 1, third month of the third season, day 29, under the majesty of Horus: Favourite of the Two Goddesses: Mighty of Arm; Golden Horus: Beautifying the Two Lands; King of Upper and Lower Egypt: Psamtik II, given life. On this day the king's-daughter, Ankhnesneferibre, arrived at Thebes. Her mother, the Divine Consort, Nitocris, who liveth, came forth to behold her beauty, and they went together to the House of Amon. 
Stela of Ankhnesneferibre 

In 594, after the rebellion was crushed in Babylon, the Babylonian army seems to have moved back to the western part of the empire to continue campaigning. There were continued tensions with the Egyptians who had raised a fleet of Phoenicians and Greeks and were attacking the Mediterranean coasts. The loyalty of Tyre and Sidon and other Phoenician cities to Babylon was very suspect as well. There are references to the Babylonians besieging Tyre around this time, but I have found that the dates are highly inconsistent, possibly because there was more than one siege.

Possibly as part of this western campaign Zedekiah king of Judah was summoned to Babylon and made the trip with several high ranking officers of his court. Presumably this was to show that he was still loyal to Nebuchadnezzar and that he was able to give the tribute that was required of him.

Inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II 

This is the message Jeremiah the prophet gave to the staff officer Seraiah son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, when he went to Babylon with Zedekiah king of Judah in the fourth year of his reign. 
Jeremiah 51:59 

In 593 the Babylonians continued their campaigns in the Levant, but it is not clear against whom exactly. In this year the so-called Jerusalem Chronicle (because it refers to the capture of Jerusalem in 598/597) comes to an end and our main sources of Babylonian history grow silent. We have been spoiled by the Assyrian and Babylonian records from the reigns of Tiglath-Pileser III onwards, but from here the contemporary records become more fragmentary unfortunately.

Perhaps around this time, the passage simply says early in Zedekiah’s reign, there was a confrontation between Jeremiah and Hananiah, the prophets who were prominent in the pro-Babylonian and pro-Egyptian groups in Jerusalem. At this point there were a number of envoys from the surrounding kingdoms in Jerusalem; from Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre and Sidon. Why they were here is not exactly clear, but the most likely answer is that the kings of the region were plotting an uprising. Jeremiah made a yoke that he wore and proclaimed that everyone who wore the yoke of Babylon would live. Hananiah seized the yoke and broke it, saying that within two years the exiles would return. This was a blatant challenge to Jeremiah, as Jeremiah had previously proclaimed that the exile would last seventy years. Jeremiah then proclaimed that, in exchange for the yoke of wood that had been broken, the Babylonians would rule with a yoke of iron and prophesied Hananiah’s death.

Psamtik II

In 592 Psamtik II became worried about the power of Kush and launched an attack against the Kushite king Aspelta. His army moved downstream with boatloads of soldiers and mercenaries, including large contingents of Greeks and Carians as bronze-clad soldiers of fortune looking to make money in distant lands. The Greeks gazed in awe at the statues of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel and proceeded to do what tourists always do, and carve their names all over the ancient site. Some of their graffiti still survives, as they record who they are and who led them for all time.

When King Psammetichus came to Elephantine, this was written by those who sailed with Psammetichus the son of Theocles, and they came beyond Kerkis as far as the river permits. Those who spoke foreign tongues (the Greeks and Carians) were led by Potasimto, the Egyptians by Amasis. 
Graffito at Abu Simbel written in Greek 

The campaign against the Kushites was at least a partial success and Napata may have been ransacked forcing the Kushite capital to move south to Meroe. Psamtik II set up a victory stela but it is extremely formulaic and not overly detailed as to what exactly happened. It is clear that even after the capital was moved that the Kushites still controlled Napata and were generally buried nearby in the cemetery of Nuri.

Kushite royal tombs at Nuri, near Napata

The Nubians of every hill-country rose up against him, their hearts full of rage against him. His attack took place, and it was misery for the rebels. His majesty has done a fighter’s work. When the battle was joined the rebels turned their backs. The arrows did not stray from piercing them. The hand did not let loose. One waded in their blood as in water. Not one bound pair escaped of the 4,200 captives. A successful deed has been done!”
Psamtik II Victory Stela 

After the successful attack on Kush Psamtik II seems to have campaigned in the Levant as well to try and stir up revolt against the Babylonians, either in late 592 or in 591. Judah seems to have been in turmoil, with a pro-Egyptian party and a pro-Babylonian party. Jeremiah the prophet seems to have either led, or been important in, the pro-Babylonian party. The pro-Egyptian party was possibly led by a prophet called Hananiah, who may have died at this point.

The situation was complicated by the fact that there were probably supporters of the deposed king Jehoiachin who were keen to topple Zedekiah. The situation was complicated further still by the fact that many of the exiles in Babylon seem to have stayed in contact with the people in Jerusalem and the exiles had their own factions as well. It was into this maelstrom of politics and prophecy that Psamtik II entered with the Egyptian army. In either 592 or 591, Zedekiah of Judah succumbed to the pressure of the pro-Egyptian faction and Judah rose in rebellion against Babylon.

Ruins of the Temple of Amun in Meroe

Exiled faraway in Babylon, Ezekiel, who had been exiled along with those taken with Jehoiachin, began to prophesy. Ezekiel was of the group that could roughly be called pro-Babylonian. This is not to imply that they liked the Babylonians. Jeremiah and Ezekiel certainly did not like their conquerors, but they did counsel patience for those who had been taken into exile and submission for those who remained.

On the fifth of the month—it was the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin— the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, by the Kebar River in the land of the Babylonians. There the hand of the Lord was on him. I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The centre of the fire looked like glowing metal, and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, but each of them had four faces and four wings. 
Ezekiel 1:2-6 

Lydian brooch decoration

Finally, around this time there is a strange tradition in later Judaism that suggests that Jeremiah hid the fire from the temple somewhere on Temple Mount and then separately hid the Ark of the Covenant somewhere on Mount Sinai. These are later traditions and almost certainly ahistorical but I found them interesting so I thought that I would make a mention of them. They are certainly intriguingly mysterious even if almost certainly untrue.

These same records also tell us that Jeremiah, acting under divine guidance, commanded the Tent of the Lord's Presence and the Covenant Box to follow him to the mountain where Moses had looked down on the land which God had promised our people. When Jeremiah got to the mountain, he found a huge cave and there he hid the Tent of the Lord's Presence, the Covenant Box, and the altar of incense. Then he sealed up the entrance.
2 Maccabees 2:4-5

In 591 some sources that I have come across suggest that Sadyattes of Lydia dies at this time and that Alyattes II succeeds. This might be true, but honestly the chronology of the Mermnad Dynasty of the Lydian kingdom is not well known. Not knowing which, if either, date is correct I have mentioned both: 619 and 591. The important thing is of course that Alyattes II follows Sadyattes on the throne of Lydia.

Ruins of city of Teishebaini

In 590 the city of Teishebaini in Urartu is sacked, probably by the Medes. War broke out between the Medes and the Lydians, presumably over the remnants of the Urartian kingdom, which at this point was probably no more than a few cities, if even that. At stake in the war between the mighty powers of Media and Lydia was where the border between them should lie. However, Herodotus records that the war was fought because Alyattes refused to give up refugees that had fled from Media. This is quite possible as well, as extraditions were quite important for ancient states.

Also around this time a prophet in Jerusalem named Obadiah spoke a short prophecy against Edom, a nearby kingdom to the south that was related to the kingdom of Judah and had previously been allied or tributary to the larger kingdom. When Nebuchadnezzar had attacked Jerusalem the Edomites had assisted in the loot and Obadiah prophesied the destruction of their kingdom as a result. It is not clear if this was the exact time of the vision and the writing, but the context certainly fits.

Psamtik II temple at Hibis

On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. You should not gloat over your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction
Obadiah 11-12

In the year 589 Psamtik II of Egypt died. He had been an energetic Pharaoh who had campaigned to the south and east. He had done major building works in Egypt, including the monumental temple at Hibis that still stands to this day. He was succeeded by Wahibre, better known by his Greek name Apries, but referred to by the Hebrews as Hophra.

The remains of an Assyrian siege ramp at Lachish
This may have been reused by the Babylonians

The Babylonian armies returned to the west of their empire to crush the revolt of Zedekiah. The army of Judah was nowhere near strong enough to meet the Babylonians in open battle, so they resorted to other tactics. Much of their army was set to defend the three main cities remaining in Judah: Jerusalem, Lachish and Azekah. Other contingents would be sent out to the hills to act as raiders and to send fire signals between the besieged cities. Other contingents would be sent out to the neighbouring kingdoms to assist in other revolts and a large contingent was probably sent to Egypt to join the forces of the Egyptians who would come to their aid. It is possible that the siege of Jerusalem was begun by the Babylonian forces in 589, although Nebuchadnezzar himself seems to have stayed near Riblah where he could conduct other operations against other cities simultaneously.

The commander of the army (of Judah) Konyahu son of Elnatan, has gone down to go to Egypt and he sent to commandeer Hodawyahu son of Ahiyahu and his men from here.
Lachish Letter 3

As a side note, it is possible that the book of Judith is meant to be set in this period, as it refers to a king called Nebuchadnezzar who invades Judah, but the references are hopelessly confused and do not really fit any actual historical period.

Painting of Judith and Holofernes
by Vincenzo Catena

Now in the twelfth year of his reign, Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, who reigned in Ninive the great city, fought against Arphaxad and overcame him 
Judith 1:5 

In 588 the Babylonians continued the attack on the three cities, presumably after having first attacked and destroyed the remaining less well-fortified cities in the land of Judah. Through an accident of history we have a primary source for the siege of Lachish. A broken pot was used to write down messages that were received by the garrison of Lachish. The messages were probably sent by fire-signals from the hills, allowing the commanders to talk to each other despite being under siege, and then transcribed for reading before being discarded near the gates, where they were found in the 20th century by archaeologists. The messages talk about confidential documents, army contingents being sent to Egypt, prophets and discouraging news in Jerusalem, and a host of other interesting information.

The sieges do not seem to have lasted long, as almost immediately the Babylonians received word that Apries, king of Egypt, had sent his armies from Egypt to fight them. Possibly Apries had landed troops further north in Phoenicia rather than sending his army out across the northern coast of the Sinai. Whatever route was taken, the Babylonians withdrew their armies from Judah to meet this new threat.

When the Babylonian armies withdrew to face the Egyptians, Jeremiah, a prophet who had been vocal in counselling submission to Babylon, attempted to leave the city and was arrested as a likely defector to the enemy. The prophet was imprisoned, but not executed, as King Zedekiah still respected him.

Pharaoh’s army had marched out of Egypt, and when the Babylonians who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they withdrew from Jerusalem. … But when he reached the Benjamin Gate, the captain of the guard, whose name was Irijah son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah, arrested him and said, “You are deserting to the Babylonians!”
Jeremiah 37:5,13

Seal of Gedaliah son of Passhur

The Babylonian army soon returned, having dealt with the Egyptian army, and now Jeremiah’s continued prophecies about the city falling could not be stood any longer by the pro-Egyptian party who demanded his death. Even his enemies could not stand to put a prophet to death however and he was placed in a dry well to starve to death until he was rescued by Ebed-Melek the Kushite Considering the recent war between Egypt and Kush, Ebed-Melek is unlikely to have been pro-Egyptian. One of those who had thrown Jeremiah into the well was Gedaliah, the son of Passhur, whose seal was discovered in Jerusalem in 2008.

Jeremiah spent the remainder of the siege under arrest, but not in threat of death, which shows the respect that prophets were given, even if their actual words were not followed. The pro-Egyptian and pro-Babylonian were not even the only factions and sub-groups in the besieged city, as there were followers of a conservative sect of Judaism, known as Recabites that had also fled for shelter there as well. It is a good reminder that just as there were profusions of sects in later stages of Judaism, that there were likely to have been a number of sects at this time as well.

Then Jeremiah the prophet told all this to Zedekiah king of Judah, in Jerusalem, while the army of the king of Babylon was fighting against Jerusalem and the other cities of Judah that were still holding out—Lachish and Azekah. These were the only fortified cities left in Judah.
Jeremiah 34:6-7

When the Babylonians returned to the attack they launched simultaneous sieges against Azekah, Lachish and Jerusalem. It seems that first Azekah fell and then Lachish. Even with the strengthening of the cities and the fire-signal communications from the hills, there was no resisting the Babylonian armies.

Replica of one of the Lachish Letters

And may (my lord) be apprised that we are watching for the fire signals of Lachish according to all the signs which my lord has given, because we cannot see Azekah. 
Lachish Letters No 4. 

While Lachish and Azekah may have fallen quickly, Jerusalem seems to have held out for eighteen months, during which time the Babylonians built siege ramps and battered at the walls while inside the walls the people starved. Partway through the siege the people of Jerusalem decided to curry favour with their God by freeing their slaves, but seeing that the siege continued regardless, they re-enslaved them again. They were castigated for this by Jeremiah from his imprisonment. It’s not exactly clear when this happened, but if the siege was resumed in 588, then it is likely that the freeing and re-enslaving took place in 587. This is one of the few noted attempts at emancipation in the ancient world, despite the fact that it did not last.

So all the officials and people who entered into this covenant agreed that they would free their male and female slaves and no longer hold them in bondage. They agreed, and set them free. But afterward they changed their minds and took back the slaves they had freed and enslaved them again. 
Jeremiah 34:10-11 

In 586 Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians. Possibly it was 587, as the sources have some ambiguity in them, but it was either one year or the other. The city wall was breached and the Babylonians entered the city, where the people by all accounts were starving. Zedekiah and his officials fled the city and made it as far as Jericho before being captured. Zedekiah was taken to face Nebuchadnezzar at his command centre in Riblah. Here the sons of Zedekiah and the nobles of Judah were executed, while Zedekiah was blinded and brought to Babylon. Most people who had survived the sieges of the cities were deported to Babylon, although country dwellers were allowed to stay. Jeremiah was allowed to stay, as the Babylonians had heard that he had counselled against the siege.

A new governor, Gedaliah, a minor member of the royal house, was appointed, but there were to be no more kings. The city walls, damaged from the siege, were now torn down. The palaces of the rebel kings of Judah were put to the torch and the great temple of YHWH in Jerusalem was burned. This act meant that Babylon would never be forgiven by the survivors of the siege and that the very name of Babylon would become synonymous with oppression and evil to this day. The temple, built by Solomon, was the most important temple in the religion of Judah and was the focal point of the reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah. The destruction of this temple and the loss of the kings of the House of David would force a shift in the very nature of Judaism.

Computer generated reconstruction of the
Temple in Jerusalem

On the seventh day of the fifth month, in the nineteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard, an official of the king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem. He set fire to the temple of the Lord, the royal palace and all the houses of Jerusalem. Every important building he burned down. The whole Babylonian army under the commander of the imperial guard broke down the walls around Jerusalem. Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard carried into exile the people who remained in the city, along with the rest of the populace and those who had deserted to the king of Babylon. But the commander left behind some of the poorest people of the land to work the vineyards and fields. 
2 Kings 24:8-12 

Victory Stela of Psamtik II

I must apologise if readers of this blog have no interest in the history of Judaism. It is certainly very possible to have an interest in Egyptian or Babylonian history without being particularly interested in the fate of one small kingdom at the periphery of both empires. But I have found that, even though the sources are seldom contemporary, the sheer amount of sources about the history of Judah make it an interesting case. The description of the fall of Jerusalem given in Jeremiah is probably the best non-Greek account of a siege anywhere in the ancient world and gives us far more detail than the Babylonian sources. It is certainly fair to question that detail critically, but it is also important to note that it is there. Please also note that there are other interpretations of this data than the one that I have given, as the sources are full of detail, but not exhaustive enough to prevent interpretation.

While it might seem that the fall of Jerusalem is enough detail for one year, for the sake of completeness, it is worth noting that this year saw the death of Nitocris I, God’s Wife of Amun in Thebes. Her adopted daughter, the Divine Adoratrice Ankhnesneferibre, daughter of Psamtik II, became God’s Wife in her stead. It is worth remembering these powerful ladies, whose incomes and power were the equal of many kings and cities in the world at this time, even if they were technically priestesses rather than rulers.

In Year 4, fourth month of the third season, 8 day 4, of this king; went forth the Divine Votress, Nitocris, triumphant, to heaven. She joined the sun, the divine limbs mingling with him who made her. 
The Stela of Ankhenesneferibe 

Halys River, where the border was fixed between
the Medes and Lydians

In the year 585, on the 28th of May, the war between Lydia and Media came to a head. According to Herodotus they had been fighting for five years and had even fought a night battle. Night battles were very rare in the ancient world. It was possible for them to be done, but the difficulties of commanding an army in the darkness and certain religious scruples generally meant that armies only clashed during the day. The general reluctance to fight in darkness may have influenced the end of the war.

On that day, the 28th of May 585BC, the armies of the Lydians and Medes were fighting at the Halys River when the sky darkened and a total eclipse of the sun occurred. The two sides took this as an omen and made peace, fixing the border between them at the Halys River. The date is one of the very few absolutely fixed dates in this period of history, because of course this event can be correlated with the eclipse times. Supposedly the event was predicted by Thales of Miletus, making this date as good a date as any other for the birth of science in the West, but we’ll discuss this more in the Greek blog for this period.

NASA image showing the path of the eclipse
Source

After this, since Alyattes would not give up the Scythians to Cyaxares at his demand, there was war between the Lydians and the Medes for five years; each won many victories over the other, and once they fought a battle by night. They were still warring with equal success, when it happened, at an encounter which occurred in the sixth year, that during the battle the day was suddenly turned to night. Thales of Miletus had foretold this loss of daylight to the Ionians, fixing it within the year in which the change did indeed happen. So when the Lydians and Medes saw the day turned to night, they stopped fighting, and both were the more eager to make peace. 
Herodotus Histories 1:74:1-3 

Around this time Cyaxares, the king of the Medes who had destroyed Nineveh and transformed his tribe into one of the most powerful kingdoms of the world, probably died. The dates are a little unclear but whatever the exact date, after the battle of the Halys River and the peace with Lydia, Cyaxares dies and his son Astyages succeeded him.

The Medes occupied Erebuni, present-day Yerevan, and the peace with Lydia allowed them to take over fully the lands of Urartu. The last king of Urartu, Rusa IV, disappears completely from history. He is poorly attested anyway, with only a few seals and almost no inscriptions. He may not have died fighting a last stand, but may have been a vassal king of the Medes. Perhaps Rusa’s death was similar to Zedekiah’s, as the empires consolidated their peripheral holdings.

Seal of Rusa IV, last king of Urartu

Finally, despite the fact that Jerusalem was destroyed, the Egyptian fleet was still a threat along the coast and the Phoenician city-states were restless against the Babylonians. It seems that Nebuchadnezzar began a siege against Tyre at some point around this time but the exact times are not clear. The city of Tyre was almost impossible to besiege by land, as half of it was set on an island, which could be resupplied with ease by the Tyrian ships, making it almost impossible to starve and impossible to assault with battering rams, etc. It’s not clear how exactly the Babylonians attacked the city but for thirteen years, according to Josephus, they were encamped around it and at war with it.

In the years 584 no political events happened to my knowledge. However, the Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones was recorded by Ezekiel in Babylon around this time. This was a dramatic vision that spoke of the prophet seeing a valley full of bones that were eventually raised to life in a striking metaphor for the rebuilding of the nation.

Ezekiel's Vision of the Valley of Dry Bones

The hand of the LORD was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” I said, “Sovereign LORD, you alone know.”
Ezekiel 37:1-3

In 583 there is nothing that I can be certain happened in this year. It was however around this time that the Book of Lamentations in the Hebrew Old Testament was written. This was a lament over the fall of Jerusalem. It is written in a highly stylised manner, but conveying great emotion. Tradition has ascribed it to Jeremiah and this is possible but uncertain. As there is no fixed date for it I thought I would mention it here.

Remember, Lord, what has happened to us; look, and see our disgrace. Our inheritance has been turned over to strangers, our homes to foreigners. We have become fatherless; our mothers are widows. We must buy the water we drink; our wood can be had only at a price. Those who pursue us are at our heels; we are weary and find no rest. We submitted to Egypt and Assyria to get enough bread. Our ancestors sinned and are no more, and we bear their punishment. 
Lamentations 5: 1-7

Meanwhile, in Judah, which was now a Babylonian province, the Jewish governor Gedaliah had been trying to have the people return and to cultivate the land. The Babylonians appeared to rule with a fairly light hand and allowed those who had been scattered by the sieges and wars to return and farm the land, although rebuilding the Temple or the walls of Jerusalem would have been stopped immediately.

Stela of Apries of Egypt

When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them, they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit.
Jeremiah 40:11-12

Some of the contingents of soldiers that had been sent to other kingdoms seem to have wanted to continue the war, or possibly were jealous of the new governor. One of these, an army commander distantly related to the House of David, called Ishmael, had a meeting with Gedaliah and assassinated him before fleeing in fear of retribution. Ishmael seems to have been acting on behalf of the king of Ammon, with whom he was seeking refuge. Not only had Ishmael killed Gedaliah, but he had slaughtered the Babylonians who were with him and killed a great number of others as well. The remainder were taken captive and taken with Ishmael to the Ammonites.

In the seventh month Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was of royal blood and had been one of the king’s officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah. While they were eating together there, Ishmael son of Nethaniah and the ten men who were with him got up and struck down Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, with the sword, killing the one whom the king of Babylon had appointed as governor over the land. Ishmael also killed all the men of Judah who were with Gedaliah at Mizpah, as well as the Babylonian soldiers who were there. 
Jeremiah 41:1-3

This had to have been an act of rebellion by the Ammonite King Ba’alis. While Ishmael and his soldiers might have viewed themselves as freedom fighters striking against collaborators it is hard not to see it as senseless violence years after a war was finished. The murder of Gedaliah is still remembered in Judaism and there is a Fast in his honour.

It’s hard to know what Ba’alis’ motivations were. It is hard to imagine that he thought he could defeat Babylon, but perhaps he hoped that the murder would be secret and could be blamed on the Jews. Little is known of him or of the fate of Ammon. Josephus suggests that Moab and Ammon was subsequently conquered by the Babylonians but they were already subject to Babylon. Perhaps Ba’alis was simply removed and another client king put in his place. As a historical aside, we are fortunate enough to have the seal of Ba’alis that was used to sign royal documents.

Seal of Ba'alis

Belonging to Ba'alis, King of Bnei Ammon
Seal of Ba’alis

The killing threw the remainder of the people of Judah into a panic. They assumed that they would be blamed for the murder and that they would be caught up in a war between Babylon and Ammon. This was not entirely groundless, as empires do not take kindly to their officials being assassinated. To escape from any Babylonian vengeance and against the strong opposition of Jeremiah, many of the remaining people fled from Judah down into Egypt, bringing Jeremiah with them.

So Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers and all the people disobeyed the LORD’s command to stay in the land of Judah. Instead, Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers led away all the remnant of Judah who had come back to live in the land of Judah from all the nations where they had been scattered. They also led away all those whom Nebuzaradan commander of the imperial guard had left with Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan—the men, the women, the children and the king’s daughters. And they took Jeremiah the prophet and Baruch son of Neriah along with them. So they entered Egypt in disobedience to the LORD and went as far as Tahpanhes.
Jeremiah 43:4-7

Colossal statue of Aspelta of Kush

The Babylonians might have not retaliated against the remnant in the land, but fleeing to Egypt seemed to confirm their guilt so there may have been further deportations from the land in 581. The land of Judah by now must have been nearly depopulated.

In the year 580 Aspelta of Kush died and was succeeded by Aramatle-qo. Aspelta had been a strong ruler and while Psamtik II had forced him to move the capital to Meroe, he was still buried at Nuri, near the old capital of Napata. Kush was still a power to be reckoned with, even if it was no longer able to influence events in Egypt. There is however some slight evidence that Kush was embroiled in a power struggle between two lines of the royal family, which had been split with the takeover of Taharqa over a century before. The succession in Kush appears to have gone through the matrilineal line and there are a number of stelas of Aspelta that have been vandalised to excise not his name, but the names of his female ancestors. Aspelta himself may in fact have usurped the throne. He records that the people had searched for a new king, that the gods had been asked to confirm a new king and that the gods and people had approved of the choice. This may have been common practice but may also have been a usurper trying to legitimise his reign. Whatever the case, Aramatle-qo was the new king of Kush.

Seal of Cyrus I of Anshan

Also around this time, Cyrus I, the ruler of Persia and king of Anshan, died. The Persians at this point were a tribal people who were tributary to the Medes and controlled a small amount of territory to the east of Elam. Cyrus I probably had a brother called Ariaramnes who was a lesser chieftain among the people but subordinate to the main regnal line. Cambyses I, son of the deceased Cyrus, became the new king of the Persians.

There is not much that can be said for the years 579-575 so I will mention a few things that were prominent around that time but cannot be exactly dated. Firstly, the house of Egibi. These were a family in Babylonia who became extremely wealthy from commercial activities. They bought land and slaves and financed certain aspects of the Neo-Babylonian military. They gave loans for people to buy and sell and facilitated trade. They gave their slaves considerable leeway to carry out their own businesses and were the dominant force in commercial activities at this time. They are sometimes referred to as bankers but this is an overstatement. While they did give loans at 20% interest they were not primarily a banking establishment, although they were the closest thing to it at that time. Some older scholarly literature refers to them as Jewish, but it is almost certain that the Egibi family were Babylonian rather than Jewish. They would dominate trade for over a century, from about 600-480 and now seemed as good a time as any to mention them.

Another thing that is worth talking about is the literature that was being created by the exiled Jews in Babylonia. Lament songs were created that kept alive Jewish culture and have inspired works up until the present day. While many of the Psalms predate this and many postdate it I thought that 137th Psalm was a good example of them and thought that I would mention it here.

By the Waters of Babylon
Painting by Arthur Hacker

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land? If I forget you, Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill. 
Psalm 137:1-5 

Lastly, around this time Nebuchadnezzar was doubtless expanding his empire and strengthening the frontiers, but we have no documentation of this. The Egyptian, Hebrew, Greek and Babylonian sources are all silent for these years, insofar as I can tell. However, we do know that Nebuchadnezzar embarked on a huge building program to make Babylon the strongest and most beautiful city in the world. To this end he surrounded Babylon with a vast system of walls, possibly the largest that had yet been built on earth and great ceremonial gates. The walls were listed in the first list of the wonders of the world. The greatest of the gates was the Ishtar Gate, which was connected to the processional way that the kings and statues of the gods would follow on state occasions.

The gate itself was a huge affair of blue glazed bricks, adorned with lions, bulls and dragons. Nebuchadnezzar had an inscription carved to highlight his great creation and this is the quintessential artefact of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The gate survived relatively intact throughout the millennia and sections of it can be seen in the Louvre and in Istanbul. The majority of it however was shipped over to Berlin and a nearly full reconstruction can be seen in the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.

Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum

Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, the faithful prince appointed by the will of Marduk, the highest of princely princes, beloved of Nabu, of prudent counsel, who has learned to embrace wisdom, who fathomed their divine being and reveres their majesty, the untiring governor, who always takes to heart the care of the cult of Esagila and Ezida and is constantly concerned with the well-being of Babylon and Borsippa, the wise, the humble, the caretaker of Esagila and Ezida, the firstborn son of Nabopolassar, the King of Babylon. Both gate entrances of Imgur-Ellil and Nemetti-Ellil —following the filling of the street from Babylon—had become increasingly lower. Therefore, I pulled down these gates and laid their foundations at the water-table with asphalt and bricks and had them made of bricks with blue stone on which wonderful bulls and dragons were depicted. I covered their roofs by laying majestic cedars length-wise over them. I hung doors of cedar adorned with bronze at all the gate openings. I placed wild bulls and ferocious dragons in the gateways and thus adorned them with luxurious splendor so that people might gaze on them in wonder. 
Ishtar Gate dedication 

This brings the period to close. The kingdoms of Urartu and Judah are no more. Lydia, Media, Babylon and Egypt are still the strongest powers in the region. The twenty-five year period has seen exploration, great building projects, the rise of commercial entreprises, competing prophets, great literature, murders, fire signals codes, and eclipses. This is an interesting time in history.

Myself standing in front of the
reconstructed Ishtar Gate

Primary Sources:
Sardis Expedition
Jerusalem Chronicle ABC5
Neo-Babylonian Royal Inscriptions
Egyptians Texts
2 Kings
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
2 Chronicles

Secondary Sources:
The Enemy Within: Internecine Conflict in the Second Kingdom of Kush

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600-575BC in Greece
575-550BC in the Near East