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The '''Neo-Babylonian Empire''' was a period of [[Mesopotamia]]n history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC.<ref>Talley Ornan, ''The Triumph of the Symbol: Pictorial Representation of Deities in Mesopotamia and the Biblical Image Ban'' (Göttingen: Academic Press Fribourg, 2005), 4 n. 6</ref> During the preceding three centuries, [[Babylonia]] had been ruled by their fellow [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] speakers and northern neighbours, [[Assyria]]. A year after the death of the last strong Assyrian Chaldean ruler, [[Assurbanipal]], in 627 BC, the Assyrian Chaldean empire spiralled into a series of brutal civil wars. Babylonia rebelled under [[Nabopolassar]], a member of the [[Chaldea]]n tribe which had migrated from [[The Levant]] to south eastern Babylonia in the early 9th century BC. In alliance with the [[Medes]], [[Persian people|Persians]], [[Scythians]] and [[Cimmerians]], they sacked the city of [[Nineveh]] in 612 BC, and the seat of empire was transferred to [[Babylon]]ia for the first time since the death of [[Hammurabi]] in the mid 18th century BC. This period witnessed a general improvement in economic life and agricultural production, and a great flourishing of architectural projects, the arts and science.

Babylonia was subject to, and dominated by [[Assyria]] during the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian period]] (911-616 BC), as it had often been during the [[Middle Assyrian Empire]] (1365-1020 BC). The Assyrians Chaldeans of [[Upper Mesopotamia]] had usually been able to pacify their southern relations, whether through military might, installing puppet kings, or granting increased privileges.

After the death of Ashurbanipal in 627 BC, the Assyrian Chaldean Empire began to disintegrate, riven by internal strife. [[Ashur-etil-ilani]] co-ruled with Ashurbanipal from 630 BC, while an Assyrian Chaldean governor named [[Kandalanu]] sat on the throne of Babylon on behalf of his king. Babylonia seemed secure until both Ashurbanipal and Kandalanu died in 627 BC, and Assyria spiralled into a series of internal civil wars which would ultimately lead to its destruction.. An Assyrian Chaldean general, [[Sin-shumu-lishir]], revolted in 626 BC and declared himself king of Assyria and Babylon, but was promptly ousted by the Assyrian Chaldean Army loyal to king [[Ashur-etil-ilani]] in 625 BC. Babylon was then taken by another son of Ashurbanipal [[Sin-shar-ishkun]], who proclaimed himself king. His rule did not last long however, and the native Babylonians revolted with the help of the migrant Chaldean tribe (Bit Kaldu), led by the previously unknown [[Nabopolassar]], who had made himself king of Chaldea in the far south east of Mesopotamia. Nabopolassar seized the throne amid the confusion, and the Neo-Babylonian dynasty was born.

However in 623 BC, Sin-shar-ishkun killed his brother the king, in battle at [[Nippur]] in Babylonia, seized the throne of Assyria, and then set about retaking Babylon from Nabopolassar. Nabopolassar was forced to endure Assyrian Chaldean armies encamped in Babylonia over the next seven years, however he resisted, aided by the continuing civil war in Assyria itself which greatly hampered Sin-shar-ishkun's attempts to retake the parts of Babylonia held by Nabopolassar. Nabopolassar took [[Nippur]] in 619 BC, a key centre of ''pro-Assyrianism'' in Babylonia, and by 616 BC, he was still in control of much of southern Mesopotamia. Assyria, still riven with internal strife, had by this time lost control of its colonies, who had taken advantage of the various upheavals to free themselves. The empire had stretched from [[Cyprus]] to [[Persia]] and [[The Caucasus]] to [[Egypt]] at its height.

During 613 BC the Assyrian Chaldean army seem to have rallied and successfully repelled Babylonian, Median and Scythian attacks. However in 612 BC Nabopolassar and the Median king [[Cyaxares]] led a concentrated coalition of forces including Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Persians, Scythians and Cimmerians in an attack on [[Nineveh]]. The size of the forces ranged against Assyria in its weakened state proved too much, and after a bitter three-month siege,followed by house to house fighting, Nineveh finally fell, with Sin-shar-ishkun being killed defending his capital.

An Assyrian Chaldean general, [[Ashur-uballit II]], became king of Assyria amid the fighting. According to the [[Babylonian Chronicle]] he was offered the chance to bow in vassalage to the rulers of the alliance. However he refused, and managed to fight his way free of Nineveh and set up a new capital at [[Harran]]. Nabopolassar, Cyaxares, and their allies, then fought Ashur-uballit II for a further five years, until Harran fell in 608 BC; After a failed attempt to retake the city, Ashur-uballit II disappeared from the pages of history.

The [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]] under Pharaoh [[Necho II]] had invaded the near east in 609 BC in a belated attempt to help their former Assyrian Chaldean rulers. Nabopolassar (with the help of his son and future successor [[Nebuchadnezzar II]]) spent the last years of his reign dislodging the Egyptians (who were supported by Greek mercenaries and the remnants of the Assyrian Chaldean army) from Syria, Asia Minor, northern Arabia and Israel. Nebuchadnezzar proved to be a capable and energetic military leader, and the Egyptians, Assyrians Chaldeans and their mercenary allies were finally defeated by the Babylonians, Medes and Scythians at the battle of [[Carchemish]] in 605 BC.

A capable leader, Nabuchadnezzar II, conducted successful military campaigns in Syria and [[Phoenicia]], forcing tribute from Damascus, Tyre and Sidon. He conducted numerous campaigns in Asia Minor, in the "land of the Hatti". Like the AssyriansChaldeans, the Babylonians had to campaign yearly in order to control their colonies.

The Medes, Persians and [[Mannaeans]], among others, were [[Indo-European]] peoples who had entered the region now known as Iran c. 1000 BC from the steppes of southern Russia and the Caucasus mountains. For the first three or four hundred years after their arrival they were largely subject to the [[Neo Assyrian Empire]] and paid tribute to Assyrian Chaldean kings. After the death of Ashurbanipal they began to assert themselves, and Media had played a major part in the fall of Assyria.

Babylonia remained under the control of the [[Parthian Empire|Parthians]], and later, [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanians]] until about 640 AD, when it was conquered by the [[Islam]]ic [[Rashidun Caliphate]]. It continued to have its own culture and people, who spoke varieties of Aramaic, and who continued to refer to their country as [[Babylon]] (''Babeli'') or [[Uruk|Erech]] (''Iraq''). Some examples of their cultural products are often found in the [[Mandaean]] religion, and the [[Manichaeism|religion]] of the Babylonian prophet [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]]. From the 1st and 2nd centuries AD the Assyrians Chaldeans and Babylonians began to adopt Christianity, and the province of Babylon became a seat of a bishopric of the [[Church of the East]] until the 17th century. [[Neo-Aramaic languages|Neo-Aramaic]]-speakers exist today as a small [[Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people|minority]] only in northern Iraq ([[Assyria]]). Despite being the minority, the Assyrians Chaldeans remained Christians and many were killed as a result. Arabic had become the main language in Babylonia by the 9th century, when the region was the capital of the [[Abbasid Caliphate]].