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Nabonidus
Nabonidus (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Nabû-naʾid'', meaning "May Nabu be exalted" or "Nabu is praised") was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from 556 BC to the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenian Empire under Cyrus the Great in 539 BC. Nabonidus was the last native ruler of ancient Mesopotamia, the end of his reign marking the end of thousands of years of Sumero-Akkadian language, Akkadian states, Monarchy, kingdoms and empires. He was also the last independent king of Babylon. Regarded as one of the most vibrant and individualistic rulers of his time, Nabonidus is characterised by some scholars as an unorthodox religious reformer and as the first archaeologist. The origins of Nabonidus, his connection to previous royalty, and subsequently what claim he had to the throne remain unclear, given that Nabonidus made no genealogical claims of kinship to previous kings. This suggests that he was neither related nor connected to the Chaldean dynasty of Babylonian rulers. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Belshazzar
Belshazzar ( Babylonian cuneiform: ''Bēl-šar-uṣur'', meaning " Bel, protect the king"; ''Bēlšaʾṣṣar'') was the son and crown prince of Nabonidus (), the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Through his mother, he might have been a grandson of Nebuchadnezzar II (), though this is not certain and the claims to kinship with Nebuchadnezzar may have originated from royal propaganda. Belshazzar played a pivotal role in the ''coup d'état'' that overthrew the king Labashi-Marduk () and brought Nabonidus to power in 556 BC. Since Belshazzar was the main beneficiary of the coup, through confiscating and inheriting Labashi-Marduk's estates and wealth, it is likely that he was the chief orchestrator. Through proclaiming his father as the new king, Belshazzar also made himself the first-in-line to the throne. As Nabonidus was relatively old at the time, Belshazzar could expect to become king within a few years. Nabonidus was absent from Babylon from 553 BC to 543 or 542 BC, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyrus The Great
Cyrus II of Persia ( ; 530 BC), commonly known as Cyrus the Great, was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Achaemenid dynasty (i. The clan and dynasty) Hailing from Persis, he brought the Achaemenid dynasty to power by defeating the Median Empire and embracing all of the previous civilized states of the ancient Near East, expanding vastly across most of West Asia and much of Central Asia to create what would soon become the List of largest empires#Timeline of largest empires at the time, largest empire in history at the time. The Achaemenid Empire's greatest territorial extent was achieved under Darius the Great, whose rule stretched from Southeast Europe in the west to the Indus Valley in the east. After absorbing the Median Empire, Cyrus conquered Lydia and eventually the Neo-Babylonian Empire, granting him control of Anatolia and the Fertile Crescent, respectively. He also led a major expedition into Central Asia, where his army brought "into subjection every nation wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neo-Babylonian Empire
The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to ancient Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and being firmly established through the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Assyrian Empire in 612 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 539 BC, marking the collapse of the Chaldean dynasty less than a century after its founding. The defeat of the Assyrian Empire and subsequent return of power to Babylon marked the first time that the city, and southern Mesopotamia in general, had risen to dominate the ancient Near East since the collapse of the Old Babylonian Empire (under Hammurabi) nearly a thousand years earlier. The period of Neo-Babylonian rule thus saw unprecedented economic and population growth throughout Babylonia, as well as a renaissance of culture and artwork as Neo-Babylonian kings condu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chaldean Dynasty
The Chaldean dynasty, also known as the Neo-Babylonian dynasty and enumerated as Dynasty X of Babylon, was the ruling dynasty of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling as kings of Babylon from the ascent of Nabopolassar in 626 BC to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC. The dynasty, as connected to Nabopolassar through descent, was deposed in 560 BC by the Aramean official Neriglissar (560–556 BC), though he was connected to the Chaldean kings through marriage and his son and successor, Labashi-Marduk (556 BC), might have reintroduced the bloodline to the throne. The final Neo-Babylonian king, Nabonidus (556–539 BC), was genealogically unconnected to the previous kings, but might, like Neriglissar, also have been connected to the dynasty through marriage. History The term "Chaldean dynasty", and the corresponding "Chaldean Empire", an alternate historiographical name for the Neo-Babylonian Empire, derives from the assumption that the dynasty's founder, Nabopolassar, was of Chaldea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adad-guppi
Adad-guppi (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Adad-gûppîʾ''; c. 648-544 BC), also known as Addagoppe, was a devotee of the Lunar Deity, moon god Sin (mythology), Sîn in the northern Assyrian city of Harran, and the mother of King Nabonidus (ruled 556–539 BC) of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Life Background In her inscriptions, Adad-guppi claimed that Nabonidus was of the dynastic line of Ashurbanipal (669–631 BC), king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. According to her inscriptions, Adad-guppi was born in Ashurbanipal's twentieth year as king. At the time of her birth, Harran had been a major Assyrian stronghold and when the Neo-Assyrian Empire fell in 609 BC, Harran was the capital of its government in exile. On account of her claims in regards to Nabonidus being of Sargonid dynasty, Sargonid (Ashurbanipal's dynasty) ancestry, Stephanie Dalley considered it in 2003 "almost certain" that Adad-guppi was a daughter of Ashurbanipal. Michael B. Dick opposed Dalley's conviction in 2004, pointin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Labashi-Marduk
Labashi-Marduk ( or , meaning "O Marduk, may I not come to shame") was the fifth and penultimate king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling in 556 BC. He was the son and successor of Neriglissar. Though classical authors such as Berossus wrote that Labashi-Marduk was just a child when he became king, Babylonian documents indicate that he had been in charge of his own affairs before his rise to the throne, suggesting he was an adult, though possibly still relatively young. Labashi-Marduk's reign was very short, lasting only one to three months, with the last evidence of Neriglissar's life dating in April 556 BC and documents dated to Labashi-Marduk's successor, Nabonidus, appearing in May that same year and becoming widespread in Babylonia by the end of June. Nabonidus's son Belshazzar led a coup against the king, deposing and killing Labashi-Marduk and proclaiming Nabonidus as king. The reason for Labashi-Marduk's deposition is unknown, Berossus simply describes the justificat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nabu-balatsu-iqbi
Nabu-balatsu-iqbi ( Akkadian: ''Nabû-balātsu-iqbi'') was the father of the Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus (556–539 BC). A mysterious figure, Nabu-balatsu-iqbi is only referenced in Nabonidus's own inscriptions, with no other record of his existence or status. Speculation In his inscriptions, Nabonidus refers to his father Nabu-balatsu-iqbi as a "learned counsellor", "wise prince", "perfect prince" and "heroic governor". Nabonidus never elaborates more on his father's origin and ethnicity, just maintaining that he was courageous, wise and devout. No person named Nabu-balatsu-iqbi who can reasonably be identified as Nabonidus's father appears in documents prior to Nabonidus's reign, making his father's status and position unclear. Nabonidus's mother, Addagoppe, was associated with the city of Harran in the northern parts of the empire (formerly an Assyrian stronghold). Since Addagoppe likely married Nabu-balatsu-iqbi early in her life, per Mesopotamian custom, Nabu-balatsu-iqbi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ennigaldi-Nanna
Ennigaldi-Nanna (Babylonian cuneiform: ''En-nígaldi-Nanna''), also known as Bel-Shalti-Nanna and commonly called just Ennigaldi, was a princess of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and high priestess (''entu'') of Ur. As the first ''entu'' in six centuries, serving as the "human wife" of the moon-god Sin (mythology), Sin, Ennigaldi held large religious and political power. She is most famous today for founding Ennigaldi-Nanna's museum, a museum in Ur 530 BC. Ennigaldi's museum showcased, cataloged, and labelled artifacts from the preceding 1,500 years of History of Mesopotamia, Mesopotamian history and is often considered to have been the first museum in world history. Family Ennigaldi was a daughter of Nabonidus, who ruled as king of Babylon from 556 to 539 BC. She had at least three siblings: the brother Belshazzar and the sisters Ina-Esagila-risat and Akkabuʾunma. Nabonidus was genealogically unconnected to previous Babylonian kings but he might have been married to a daughter of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nebuchadnezzar II
Nebuchadnezzar II, also Nebuchadrezzar II, meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir", was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from the death of his father Nabopolassar in 605 BC to his own death in 562 BC. Often titled Nebuchadnezzar the Great, he is regarded as the empire's greatest king, famous for his military campaigns in the Levant and their role in Jewish history, and for his construction projects in his capital of Babylon, including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Ruling for 43 years, Nebuchadnezzar was the longest-reigning king of the Babylonian dynasty. By the time of his death, he was among the most powerful rulers in the world. Possibly named after Nebuchadnezzar (governor of Uruk), his grandfather of the same name, or after Nebuchadnezzar I ( 1125–1104 BC), one of Babylon's greatest ancient warrior-kings, Nebuchadnezzar II had already secured renown for himself during his father's reign, leading armies in the Medo-Babylonian conquest of the Assyrian Empir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nitocris Of Babylon
Nitocris of Babylon (c. 550 BC) is an otherwise unknown queen regnant of Babylon described by Herodotus in his ''Histories''. According to ''Histories'' of Herodotus, among sovereigns of Babylon two were women, Semiramis and Nitocris. Nitocris is credited by Herodotus with various building projects in Babylon. She is also said to have tricked Darius I by placing her tomb above a gate so that no Persian could pass below and enter through. According to the account, Darius was lured in by a mysterious inscription that served as a trap for greedy kings. According to Herodotus she was the wife of Nabonidus (Greek ''Labynētos'') against whose son an expedition was launched by Cyrus the Great. Dougherty and Beaulieu identify the son as Belshazzar. If this is the case, she is most likely the queen in the story of Belshazzar's feast, and she is identified as such in Handel's oratorio ''Belshazzar''. Identity of Nitocris In the past, various hypotheses have been proposed to link h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Of Babylon
The king of Babylon ( Akkadian: , later also ) was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon and its kingdom, Babylonia, which existed as an independent realm from the 19th century BC to its fall in the 6th century BC. For the majority of its existence as an independent kingdom, Babylon ruled most of southern Mesopotamia, composed of the ancient regions of Sumer and Akkad. The city experienced two major periods of ascendancy, when Babylonian kings rose to dominate large parts of the Ancient Near East: the First Babylonian Empire (or Old Babylonian Empire, 1894/1880–1595 BC) and the Second Babylonian Empire (or Neo-Babylonian Empire, 626–539 BC). Babylon was ruled by Hammurabi, who created the Code of Hammurabi. Many of Babylon's kings were of foreign origin. Throughout the city's nearly two-thousand year history, it was ruled by kings of native Babylonian (Akkadian), Amorite, Kassite, Elamite, Aramean, Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian, Greek and Parthian origin. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
