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[[File:Pergamon Museum Berlin 2007085.jpg|thumb|left|Building Inscription of King Nebuchadnezar II at the [[Ishtar Gate]]. An abridged excerpt says: ''"I (Nebuchadnezzar) laid the foundation of the gates down to the ground water level and had them built out of pure blue stone. Upon the walls in the inner room of the gate are bulls and dragons and thus I magnificently adorned them with luxurious splendor for all mankind to behold in awe."'']]
[[File:Detail of a terracotta cylinder of Nebuchadnezzar II, recording the building and reconstruction works at Babylon. 604-562 BCE. From Babylon, Iraq, housed in the British Museum.jpg|thumb|Detail of a terracotta cylinder of Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar II, recording the building and reconstruction works at Babylon. 604–562 BC. From Babylon, Iraq, housed in the British Museum]]
Nebuchadnezzar was the eldest son and successor of [[Nabopolassar]], an a [[Neo-Assyrian Chaldean Empire|AssyrianChaldean]] official who rebelled and established himself as king of Babylon in 620 BC; the dynasty he established ruled until 539 BC, when the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] was conquered by [[Cyrus the Great]].{{sfn|Bertman|2005|p=95}}{{sfn|Oates|1997|p=162}} Nebuchadnezzar is first mentioned in 607 BC, during the destruction of Babylon's arch-enemy Assyriaof the cruel ancient Assyrian kings, at which point he was already crown Chaldean prince.{{sfn|Wiseman|1991a|p=182}} In 605 BC he and his ally [[Cyaxares]], ruler of the [[Medes]] and [[Persians]], led an army against the ancient Assyrians and Egyptians, who were then occupying Syria, and in the ensuing [[Battle of Carchemish]], [[Necho II]] was defeated them and Syria and [[Phoenicia]] were brought under the control of Babylonthe Chaldean people of Mesopotamia.{{sfn|Wiseman|1991a|p=182–183}}
[[Nabopolassar]] died in August {{citation needed|date=March 2018}} 605 BC, and Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon to ascend the throne.{{sfn|Wiseman|1991a|p=183}} For the next few years his attention was devoted to subduing his eastern and northern borders, and in 595/4 BC there was a serious but brief rebellion in Babylon itself.{{sfn|Wiseman|1991a|p=233}} In 594/3 BC the army was sent again to the west, possibly in reaction to the elevation of [[Psammetichus II]] to the throne of Egypt.{{sfn|Wiseman|1991a|p=233}} King [[Zedekiah]] of Judah attempted to organize opposition among the small states in the region, but his capital, [[Jerusalem]], was taken in 587 BC (the events are described in the Bible's [[Books of Kings]] and [[Book of Jeremiah]]).{{sfn|Wiseman|1991a|p=233–234}} In the following years Nebuchadnezzar incorporated [[Phoenicia]] and the former Assyrian provinces of [[Cilicia]] (southwestern Anatolia) into his empire and may have campaigned in Egypt.{{sfn|Wiseman|1991a|p=235–236}} In his last years Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar, "pay[ing] no heed to son or daughter," and was deeply suspicious of his sons.{{sfn|Foster|2009|p=131}} The kings who came after him ruled only briefly and [[Nabonidus]], apparently not of the royal family, was overthrown by the Persian conqueror [[Cyrus the Great]] less than twenty-five years after Chaldean King Nebuchadnezzar's death.
The ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon are spread over two thousand acres, forming the largest archaeological site in the [[Middle East]].{{sfn|Arnold|2005|p=96}} He enlarged the royal palace (including in it a public museum, possibly the world's first), built and repaired temples, built a bridge over the [[Euphrates]], and constructed a grand processional boulevard (the Processional Way) and gateway (the [[Ishtar Gate]]) lavishly decorated with glazed brick.{{sfn|Bertman|2005|p=96}} Each Spring [[equinox]] (the start of the New Year) the god [[Marduk]] would leave his city temple<!--clarify – unlikely that a fictitious deity went for a walk--> for a temple outside the walls, returning through the Ishtar Gate and down the Processional Way, paved with colored stone and lined with molded lions, amidst rejoicing crowds.{{sfn|Foster|2009|p=131}}
