View source for Nabopolassar

{{Infobox monarch
| name = {{cuneiform|akk|𒀭𒀝𒌉𒍑𒌶}}<br>Nabû-apla-uṣur
| title = [[List of kings of Babylon|King of Babylon]]
| image = Cylinder of Nabopolassar from Babylon, Mesopotamia..JPG
| caption =[[Cylinder seal]] of Nabopolassar, from Babylon. London, [[British Museum]]
| reign = c. 626 – 605 BC
| coronation =
| predecessor =   [[Ashurbanipal]]
| successor =   [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]
| spouse  =
| royal house = 
| father =   
| mother = 
| birth_date =  c. 658 BC
| birth_place = 
| death_date =  605 BC
| buried =}}

'''Nabopolassar''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|n|æ|b|oʊ-|p|ə|ˈ|l|æ|s|ər}}; cuneiform: {{Script/Cuneiform|7|𒀭𒀝𒌉𒍑𒌶}} <small><sup>d</sup>AG.IBILA.URU<sub>3</sub></small> ''[[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]: Nabû-apla-uṣur''; {{circa}} 658 BC – 605 BC) was a [[king of Babylonia]] and a central figure in the fall of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]].<ref>D. Brendan Nagle, ''The Ancient World: A Social and Cultural History'', 6th ed., Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson, 58.</ref> The death of Assyrian king [[Ashurbanipal]] around 627 BC resulted in political instability. In 626 BC, a native dynasty arose under Nabopolassar made Babylon his capital and ruled over Babylonia for a period of about twenty years (626&ndash;605 BC). He is credited with founding the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]]. By 616 BC, Nabopolassar had united the entire area under his rule.<ref name="Mieroop, Marc 2007">Van De Mieroop, Marc, 2007, ''A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000-323 BC'', Blackwell Publishing</ref>

Nabopolassar formed an alliance with [[Cyaxares]] of the [[Medes]] to confront the Assyrians and their Egyptian allies. By 615 BC he had seized Nippur.<ref name=Sack>[https://books.google.com/books?id=nxC1wF3_IEAC&pg=PA7&dq=Nabopolassar&hl=en&sa=X&ei=XhUoVcgE0JzKBLSTgcgF&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAzgU#v=onepage&q=Nabopolassar&f=false Sack, Ronald Herbert. ''Images of Nebuchadnezzar'', Susquehanna University Press, 2004] {{ISBN|9781575910796}}</ref> He then led his forces to assist the Medes besieging the city of [[Assur|Ashur]], but the Babylonian army did not reach the battlefield until after the city had fallen.<ref name=tbm/>

==Nineveh==
[[Assyria]], weakened by internal strife and ineffectual rule, was unable to resist the Babylonians and the [[Medes]],<ref>[http://www.livius.org/articles/people/medes/]</ref> who united to sack the Assyrian capital of [[Nineveh]] in 612 BC.<ref name=Jona>{{cite web|url=http://www.livius.org/na-nd/nabopolassar/nabopolassar.html|title=Nabopolassar - Livius|website=www.livius.org}}</ref> Following a prolonged siege at the [[Battle of Nineveh (612 BC)|Battle of Nineveh]], Nabopolassar took control of the city. [[Ashur-uballit II]] was a member of the Assyrian royal family and a [[Tartan (Assyrian)|tartan]] (general) in the army. He became king after [[Sinsharishkun|Sin-shar-ishkun]], who may have been his brother, and who probably died during the fall of Ninevah.

==Harran==
Ashur-uballit II rallied his troops at the city of Harran in northern Syria. The following year the Babylonians plundered the region of [[Harran]],<ref name=tbm>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/me/c/cuneiform_fall_of_nineveh.aspx|title="The fall of Nineveh, capital of the Assyrian Empire", The British Museum|publisher=}}</ref> and in 610 BC, Nabopolassar captured the city.<ref name=Jona/>

In the spring of 609 BC, [[Necho II]] of Egypt led a sizable force to help the Assyrians. At the head of a large army, consisting mainly of mercenaries, Necho took the coastal [[Via Maris]] into Syria, supported by his Mediterranean fleet along the shore. He prepared to cross the ridge of hills which shuts in on the south the great Jezreel Valley, but he found his passage blocked by the Judean army. Their king, [[Josiah]], sided with the Babylonians and attempted to block his advance at Megiddo, where a fierce battle was fought and Josiah was killed. Necho continued on and joining forces with Ashur-uballit, they crossed the Euphrates and laid siege to Harran. Failing to capture Harran, they retreated to northern Syria.

In 605 BC, Nabopolassar's son, crown prince Nebuchadnezzar fought Necho and the remnants of the Assyrian army at the [[Battle of Carchemish]]. Within months of his [[abdication]] in 605 BC, Nabopolassar died of natural causes at about 53 years of age, and Nebuchadnezzar II hurried to Babylon to secure the throne.<ref name="Mieroop, Marc 2007"/>

During Nabopolassar's reign, there was a boom of Neo-Babylonian building projects that would continue through the reign of his son, [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]. Temples and [[ziggurat]]s were repaired or rebuilt in almost all the old dynastic cities, while Babylon itself was enlarged and surrounded by a double [[enceinte]], or line of fortification, consisting of towered and moated fortress walls. The first mention of Nebuchadnezzar II comes from the records of Nabopolassar, saying he was a laborer in the restoration of the temple of [[Marduk]].<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/376897/Mesopotamian-art-and-architecture/37867/Painting-and-decorative-arts#ref420027 Lloyd, Seton H.F., "Mesopotamian art and architecture", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', July 17, 2014]</ref>

A cylinder found in 1921 in Baghdad, Iraq is attributed to Nabopolassar. He is described therein as extremely pious, and that he "sought out the temples... and the complete performance of their rites." He attributes his success to Shazu (one of the names associated with Marduk<ref>''[http://www.piney.com/EnumaSpeis6a7.html The Fifty Names of Marduk]''</ref>). Throughout the inscription, Nabopolassar describes some of his greatest military conquests and submits himself to Marduk and other deities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/meso/nabo.html|title=Nabopolassar Cylinder|website=www.kchanson.com}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[Babylonia]]
*[[Kings of Babylonia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/abc2/early-nabopolassar.html ''ABC'' 2]: Chronicle Concerning the Early Years of Nabopolassar
* [http://www.livius.org/ne-nn/nineveh/nineveh02.html ''ABC'' 3]: Chronicle Concerning the Fall of Nineveh
* [http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/abc4/late-nabopolassar.html ''ABC'' 4]: Chronicle Concerning the Late Years of Nabopolassar
* [http://www.kchanson.com/ANCDOCS/meso/meso.html Nabopolassar Cylinder]

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{{succession box|title=[[Kings of Babylon|King of Babylon]]|before=[[Kandalanu]]|after=[[Nebuchadnezzar II]]|years=626–605 BC}}
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[[Category:650s BC births]]
[[Category:600s BC deaths]]
[[Category:Babylonian kings]]
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
[[Category:7th-century BC rulers in Asia]]
[[Category:Chaldean kings]]