Babylon- The Last Period of Glory

In 689 B.C., Babylon threatened revolt against the imperial rule of the Assyrian Empire. In response, the Assyrian King, Sennacherib, ordered that Babylon be destroyed. His soldiers took their orders to heart; they looted temples, burned homes, and demolished palaces........ their King ordered destruction, and he got exactly that. Before they were finished, the Assyrian soldiers had opened the dams so carefully constructed by the Babylonian ruler Hammurabi. Babylon was washed away by the flood waters, but the Babylonians would later regroup.

It took seventy-eight years for Babylon to regained its strength. In 611 B.C., the Babylonians revolted against the Assyrian Empire that had tried to destroy them. The revolt was successful and the capital city of Assyria, Nineveh, was decimated as its defenses were breached by the armies of Babylon and its allies. The Assyrians, greatly weakened, were forced to move their capital twice during the next few years in order to evade the Babylonian army that continued to pursue them.

In 610 B.C., the Assyrians moved their capital for the last time, settling along the banks of the Euphrates River in a city named Carchemish. While there, they allied themselves with the Egyptians, who came to their aid and pledged their continued assistance.

By 605 B.C., the Crown Prince of Babylon had readied himself to march on the city of Carchemish, while the forces of King Josiah of Judah delayed the Egyptian army at Megiddo. The Battle of Carchemish, as it came to be known, was decisively won by the Babylonian troops. The army of Judah suffered massive losses and an undeniable defeat at the hands of the Egyptians. It's biggest loss was King Josiah--killed on the battlefield.

Victorious, the Crown Prince of Babylon prepared to continue his advance toward Egypt, but while in transit received the news that his father had died. His campaign was quickly aborted, and he turned back to take up his rightful place in Babylon. It seemed that in no more than a heartbeat, the kings of both Judah and Babylon had passed on, leaving their sons to rule in their stead.

As was the custom, King Josiah's body was immediately sent to Jerusalem where he was buried near King David. His son Jehoiakim inherited his title. The Crown Prince also inherited his father's title, and from that day forward the world and history would know him as King Nebuchadnezzar.

The New Babylonian Empire, also known as the Chaldean Empire, dominated Mesopotamia for the next half a century. As king, Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful and energetic ruler who lavished inordinate amounts of wealth and resources on his capital. The dominion of his city stretched out over 2100 acres of land, and was protected by walls that were said to be so thick that a four horse chariot could ride atop them.

A walk inside the city gates would have been mesmerizing; buildings faced with gold, enormous palaces, ornate temples (1,179 of them), and courtyards filled with thousands of statues. But best of all would have been the gardens, which were composed of flowering shrubs imported from the mountains to please the king's homesick wife, planted in terraces above the city walls.

The Hanging Gardens, deemed by modern day historians to be nothing more than legend, were once listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. That they are not mentioned in Babylonian records is inconsequential; that no evidence has been found to prove their existence means nothing. Nebuchadnezzar's rooftop gardens have been a part of history for thousands of years.......... and for me, they'll continue to be just that.

Six years after assisting Babylon in its quest to vanquish the Assyrian Empire, Judah decided it was time to cast off the yolk of Babylonian control. In response, Nebuchadnezzar advanced upon Jerusalem and quickly took over the city. Jerusalem's regent, Jehoiachin (Judah's king), was physically removed and replaced. A Babylonian inscription from Nebuchadnezzar's reign referring to the surrender of Jerusalem states; "He captured the city and took the king prisoner. A king of his own choice was set up in his midst." His king of choice was Zedekiah.

For nine years, Zedekiah would reign as a "puppet king" to his overlord in Babylon. Judah's territory was stripped bare, and its people were dealt with harshly. Finally, in 589 B.C., with the support of neighboring allies Tyre and Ammon, as well as extensive encouragement from the Egyptians, Zedekiah rebelled against the Babylonian Empire that had handed him reign over Judah.

Nebuchadnezzar wasted no time in his response, but this time there was no surrender to be found. The people of Judah held onto their city through a siege that would last a total of two years, only giving up their resistance when the Babylonians finally succeeded in breaking down the city's northern wall with battering rams. They had no fight left in them, they were starving in the midsummer heat, and they'd lost all hope. King Zedekiah escaped through a gateway at night and fled eastward.

The prophet Jeremiah had warned Zedekiah against rebellion, but he didn't listen. As a result, the city of Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonians, its temple destroyed, and the majority of its people were captured and taken into captivity. As for Zedekiah, he fared no better.

Zedekiah was captured on the Jericho plain and brought before Nebuchadnezzar where he was forced to witness the executions of his children. After he'd seen the worst, Nebuchadnezzar had his eyes put out before binding him in chains and ordering his transport back to Babylon. Zedekiah would die in that city, and his nation would completely lose any semblance of autonomy.

The Book of Daniel, found in the Hebrew Bible and in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, records Daniel's interpretation of the handwriting King Belshazzar of Babylon saw written on the wall in his palace during a feast. Daniel interpreted that writing as "the end of the Babylonian Empire is coming soon." The year was 539 B.C., and Cyrus the Great of Persia was indeed to soon conquer Babylon.

Mesopotamia's days of independent rule ended as its neighbors slowly chiseled away at its borders, gradually absorbing it into their territory. With every victory, conquerors slowly took control of what had once been the greatest empire in history. Babylon had been at the center of Mesopotamian civilization for more than 1,000 years; it was built on Sumerian culture, and in its time excelled in both literature and the arts. But its history doesn't end here.............. and that's for another day.