Nebuchadrezzar II summary

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Nebuchadrezzar II, or Nebuchadnezzar, (born c. 630—died c. 561bc), Second and greatest king of the Chaldean dynasty of Babylonia. He began his military career as an administrator (c. 610 bc) and ascended the throne on his father’s death, just after winning Syria from the Egyptians (605 bc). He attacked Judah, capturing Jerusalem in 597 and recapturing it in 587/586, and deporting prominent citizens to Babylon. He devoted time and energy to restoring Babylon, by paving roads, rebuilding temples, and digging canals. At least in folk tradition, he is credited with building the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Tyre Summary

Tyre, town on the Mediterranean coast of southern Lebanon, located 12 miles (19 km) north of the modern border with Israel and 25 miles (40 km) south of Sidon (modern Ṣaydā). It was a major Phoenician seaport from about 2000 bce through the Roman period. Tyre, built on an island and on the

Babylonian clay tablet giving detailed description of the total solar eclipse of April 15, 136

Babylonia Summary

Babylonia, ancient cultural region occupying southeastern Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (modern southern Iraq from around Baghdad to the Persian Gulf). Because the city of Babylon was the capital of this area for so many centuries, the term Babylonia has come to refer to the

government Summary

Government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated. Most of the key words commonly used to describe governments—words such as monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy—are of Greek or Roman origin. They have been current for more than 2,000 years and have not

Jerusalem Summary

Jerusalem, ancient city of the Middle East that since 1967 has been wholly under the rule of the State of Israel. Long an object of veneration and conflict, the holy city of Jerusalem has been governed, both as a provincial town and a national capital, by an extended series of dynasties and states.