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The '''Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle''', one of the series of [[Babylonian Chronicles]], contains a description of the first decade of the reign of [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]. The tablet details Nebuchadnezzar's military campaigns in the west and has been interpreted to refer to both the [[Battle of Carchemish]] and the [[Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC)]]. The tablet is numbered ABC5 in Grayson's standard text and BM 21946 in the [[British Museum]].

It is the only identified Chronicle referring to Nebuchadnezzar, and does not cover the whole of his reign. As such, the subsequent destruction and exile recorded in the bible to have taken place 10 years later are not covered in the chronicles or elsewhere in the archeological record.<ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=OD0pz1kMm9kC&pg=PA216 Grabbe, p216]</ref>

As with most other [[Babylonian Chronicles]], the tablet is [[provenance|unprovenanced]], having been purchased in 1896<ref>Acquisition number 96-4-9, 51</ref> via an antiquities dealer from an unknown excavation.<ref name=waerzeggers>[http://www.academia.edu/3268307/The_Babylonian_Chronicles_Classification_and_Provenance_Journal_of_Near_Eastern_Studies_71_2_2012_285-298 The_Babylonian_Chronicles_Classification_and_Provenance]</ref> It was first published 60 years later in 1956 by [[Donald Wiseman]].<ref>[http://www.scribd.com/mobile/doc/10493581# Wiseman, 1956, pages 1+2]</ref>

==Carchemish==
The tablet claims that Nebuchadnezzar: "crossed the river to go against the Egyptian army which lay in Karchemiš. They fought with each other and the Egyptian army withdrew before him. He accomplished their defeat and beat them to non-existence. As for the rest of the Egyptian army which had escaped from the defeat so quickly that no weapon had reached them, in the district of [[Hamath]] the Babylonian troops [[Battle of Hama|overtook and defeated them]] so that not a single man escaped to his own country. At that time Nebuchadnezzar conquered the whole area of Hamath."<ref>[http://www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/abc5/jerusalem.html Chronicle Concerning the Early Years of Nebuchadnezzar II. Retrieved July 18, 2010.]</ref>

==Siege of Jerusalem==
The Chronicle does not refer to Jerusalem directly but mentions a "City of Iaahudu", interpreted to be "City of Judah". The Chronicle states:

<blockquote>In the seventh year (of Nebuchadnezzar-599 BC.) in the month Chislev (Nov/Dec) the king of Babylon assembled his army, and after he had invaded the land of Hatti (Syria/Palestine) he laid siege to the city of Judah. On the second day of the month of Adar (16 March) he conquered the city and took the king (Jeconiah) prisoner. He installed in his place a king (Zedekiah) of his own choice, and after he had received rich tribute, he sent forth to Babylon.<ref>No 24 WA21946, The Babylonian Chronicles, The British Museum</ref></blockquote>

==Chronology==
Prior to publication of the [[Babylonian Chronicles]] by [[Donald Wiseman]] in 1956,<ref>D. J. Wiseman, ''Chronicles of Chaldean Kings in the British Museum'' (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1956) 73.</ref> [[E. R. Thiele|Thiele]] had determined from the biblical texts that Nebuchadnezzar's initial capture of Jerusalem occurred in the spring of 597 BC,<ref>Edwin Thiele, ''[[The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings]]'', (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). ISBN 0-8254-3825-X, 9780825438257, 217.</ref> while other scholars, including [[William F. Albright|Albright]], more frequently dated the event to 598 BC.<ref>Kenneth Strand, "Thiele's Biblical Chronology As a Corrective for Extrabiblical Dates," ''Andrews University Seminary Studies'' 34 (1996) 310, 317.</ref> This has been compared to dates in the book of Ezekiel are given according to the year of captivity of Jeconiah (i.e. the first fall of Jerusalem).

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Nebuchadnezzar II]]

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