Part XXI

The death of Ashurbanapal was the signal for the final uprising of Babylonia, and in 625 B.C., Nebopolassar, of humble birth and who came from the "sea land" in the extreme south which had always been the centre of political fermentation, became the independent king of Babylonia, after having previously served as governor under Assyrian supremacy. He not only maintained himself against endeavors on the part of Assyria to overthrow him but he was able on his death, in 604 B.C., to pass over the succession to his son, Nebuchadnezzar.

He founded a dynasty which lasted till close to the downfall of Babylon. Nebopolassar's reign was largely devoted to the strengthening of the kingdom and to rebuilding and improving the capital. He also took a part in the movement which led to the fall of Nineveh, though more as a fomenter of the opposition to Assyria than as a direct participant in the final attack. Nebuchadnezzar, however, was an active warrior as well as a promoter of prosperity in his own domain.

A renewed spirit of aggressiveness had entered Egypt with the accession of Necho II, who had the ambition once more to make the nearer East, especially Palestine and Syria, subservient to the Pharaohs. His success threatened the existence of Babylonia, and accordingly Nebuchadnezzar was sent by his father to an encounter with the Egyptian army at Carchemish, the old Hittite centre, which ended in a decisive victory for the Babylonians and checked the further advance of Egypt.

During the next twenty years he made himself master of Syria and Palestine, crushing the little Hebrew kingdom, which had maintained a semblance of independence despite the weight of the Assyrian yoke. Egypt came to the rescue of Judaea and of the other principalities of this district, but it was of no avail. The fall of Jerusalem, in 586 B.C., marks another turning point in the affairs of the nearer east, for it meant the renewed ascendency of Babylonia and the decline of Egyptian influence.

It was no easy task, however, for Nebuchadnezzar to bring the coast towns on the shores of the Mediterranean, notably Tyre, to subjection, and so it is not until 562 B.C. that we find him ready to invade Egypt. He seems to have proceeded into the heart of the country triumphantly, but nevertheless fails actually to incorporate Egypt as a part of his own empire. But even without this he had succeeded in giving to Babylonia an extension and a power almost equal to that of Assyria in her most glorious days.

Nebuchadnezzar II followed the example of the Assyrian monarchs in adding to the glory of his reign by extensive building operations. The city of Babylon was the primary object of his concern, and the boast recorded in the Book of Daniel, ^[1] "Is not this the great Babylon that I have built?" correctly associates the name of Nebuchadnezzar with the new Babylon that arose out of the ashes of the destroyed one. ^[2]

Nebuchadnezzar did not, however, confine his interest to the capital city. The temples at Borsippa, Sippar, Larsa, Uruk, Ur and Dilbat were restored and beautified by him during the course of his reign.

When Nebuchadnezzar died, in 561 B.C., he left to his son, Amel-Marduk ("man of the god Marduk"), a legacy which only a strong monarch could maintain intact. The son did not possess this quality and after a reign of only a year fell a victim to a conspiracy againsthis life, fomented by his brother-in-law Neriglissar. This act marked the beginning of the decline of the neo-Babylonian empire, though before the end came we find a usurper, Nabonnedos, who maintained himself for a period of sixteen years, from 555 to 539 B.C.

Internal dissensions hastened the end, so that when Cyrus the Mede marched against Babylon he was hailed by the priestly party, who were dissatisfied with Nabonnedos' policy, as a deliverer come to restore the glory and dignity of the god Marduk. So quietly was the transfer of the control of the Euphrates Valley made to the old enemy to the east, that probably the people hardly felt that an epoch in the world's history had come to an end.

Cyrus himself adopted a conciliatory policy towards the conquered land. His desire was to leave conditions undisturbed, and accordingly we find him and his successors maintaining the cult of the Babylonian gods in Babylon, Borsippa and in the other centres. Even the introduction of Zoroastrianism (or Zarathustrianism) as the official religion of Persia in the days of Darius I towards the end of the sixth century did not materially change conditions in Babylonia, except possibly in giving a new impetus to the movement to look upon Marduk as the god who embodied the attributes of all the other gods — a kind of Babylonian counterpart to Ahura-Mazda.

On the other hand, the presence of a religion of so spiritualized a character as Zoroastrianism acted as a disintegrating factor in leading to the decline of faith in the gods of Babylonia. Both the religion and the culture of the Euphrates Valley had fulfilled their purpose. The time was ripe for the appearance of new forces in the world — first Persia and then, two centuries after Cyrus, Greece. Alexander's entrance into Babylonia in 331 B.C., where by a curious freak of historical chance he dies in the very palace which Nebuchadnezzar had erected for himself, marks another epoch in the world's history.

Even after Alexander, the religious and social life of Babylonia goes on unchanged to outward appearances, but the contact with Greek civilization destroyed what little vitality had survived the impetus of the new force represented by Persia and Zoroastrianism. Up to within a few decades of the Christian era, the Babylonian language and script continued in use, but Greek ideas and Greek usages had made their way not only into the government of the country but also into the life of the people.

If, in a final summing up, the question be asked, What was the legacy which Babylonia and Assyria left to the world after an existence of more than three millenniums, the answer would be, that through the spread of dominion the culture of the Euphrates Valley made its way throughout the greater part of the aneient world, leaving its impress in military organization, in the government of people, in commercial usages, in the spread of certain popular rites such as the various forms of divination, in medical practises and in observation of the movements of heavenly bodies albeit that medicine continued to be dependent upon the belief in demons as the source of physical ills, and astronomy remained in the service of astrology — and lastly in a certain attitude towards life which it is difficult to define in words, but of which it may be said that, while it lays an undue emphasis on might, is yet not without an appreciation of the deeper yearnings of humanity for the ultimate triumph of what is right.

The most unfortunate blot on the escutcheon of Assyria more especially is the craving for power, the ambition to extend her rule beyond the natural boundaries, and which affected Babylonia as well though not to the same degree. Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon are the natural successors of the Babylonian rulers who first laid claim to being the "king of the four regions". War for conquest made both Assyria and Babylonia cruel and remorseless, as it proved to be the undoing of Rome.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Chap. 4, 27.

[2]:

See above p. 55, for the excavation of this new city of Babylon.