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The fall of Babylon was the decisive event that marked the total defeat of the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BC.. Nabonidus, the final Babylonian king and son of the Assyrian priestess Adad-guppi, [2] ascended to the throne in 556 BC, after overthrowing his predecessor Labashi-Marduk.
According to Roger Norman Whybray, the author of Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40–55) was mistaken in thinking that Cyrus would destroy Babylon, while he instead made it more splendid than ever, and though he did allow the Jewish exiles to return home, it was not exactly in the triumphant manner that was predicted in Deutero-Isaiah. [10]
The Cyrus cylinder, a contemporary cuneiform script proclaiming Cyrus as legitimate king of Babylon One of the few surviving sources of information that can be dated directly to Cyrus's time is the Cyrus Cylinder ( Persian : استوانه کوروش ), a document in the form of a clay cylinder inscribed in Akkadian cuneiform .
Meanwhile Cyrus occupied Babylon and ordered to destroy the exterior walls of the city, because the city seemed very formidable to him and difficult to capture. Afterward Cyrus marched to Borsippa, in order to organize the siege against Nabonidus. But Nabonidus did not await the end of the siege, and surrendered." [7]
Cyrus claimed to be the legitimate successor of the ancient Babylonian kings and the avenger of Marduk over Nabonidus's supposed impiety. Cyrus's conquest was welcomed by the Babylonian populace, whether as a genuine liberator or an undeniable conqueror. Cyrus's invasion of Babylonia may have been helped by foreign exiles such as the Jews.
The Neo-Babylonian Empire under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II occupied the Kingdom of Judah between 597–586 BCE and destroyed the First Temple in Jerusalem. [2] According to the Hebrew Bible, the last king of Judah, Zedekiah, was forced to watch his sons put to death, then his own eyes were put out and he was exiled to Babylon (2 Kings 25).
The Nabonidus Chronicle, an ancient Babylonian document now on display at the British Museum. The date of this conflict is somewhat problematic. As seen in the Cylinder of Sippar, the conflict began in the third year of Nabonidus' reign, which is in 553 BCE, and the Nabonidus Chronicle seems to date the defeat of Media in the sixth year of Nabonidus (i.e., 550 BCE). [2]
Cyrus the Great, who conquered Babylon in 539 BC, depicted with a Hemhem crown, or four-winged Cherub tutelary divinity. It is unclear why Nabonidus returned to Babylon from Tayma. Potential explanations include fearing the growing power of Cyrus the Great or perhaps serious disagreements with Belshazzar on religion and the extent of his authority.