(625-539 B.C.) NEBUCHADREZZAR AND BELSHAZZAR "Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?" DANIEL IV. 30. THE NEO-BABYLONIAN AGE (INTRODUCTION) WHEN Assyria fell, a revolting viceroy of Babylon joined in the attack upon her. As he had thus made friends with the invading savage tribes, he was able to restore Babylon's independence, and he and his successors held brief rule over a new or Neo-Babylonian kingdom. This NeoBabylonian era lasted for only about eighty years before it was destroyed by the Persians, the next world-conquerors to appear. Yet over this brief kingdom ruled two monarchs who, because of their dramatic pictures in the Bible, are among the best known of all ancient rulers. These are Nebuchadrezzar, the conqueror and destroyer of Jerusalem, and Belshazzar, in whose fall the Jews saw a divine providence intervening to avenge them. Of Nebuchadrezzar's reign (604-561 B.C.) we have several records, of which the most noted is given here. And it is perhaps worth noting that the destruction of Jerusalem, which meant so much to its inhabitants and through them to the world, meant very little to Nebuchadrezzar. He had destroyed so many cities, enslaved so many peoples, that he barely mentions Jerusalem, indeed he seems to feel that he had been particularly lenient with these rebellious folk. Reverend Doctor Ball, in translating this inscription, speaks of it as follows: "Whether we suppose that this famous relic of the past embodies the ipsissima verba of the great king, in whose name and by whose orders, at all events, it was written and graven on imperishable stone; or that it is the set panegyrical composition of some one of the literary men of his brilliant court, will make little difference to the deep interest which such a monument must always inspire in the minds of thoughtful readers of the prophecies of Jeremiah and the picturesque traditions of the book of Daniel. Here we have an unquestionable relic of the age of the fall of the Jewish monarchy and the brilliant sunset of Hebrew prophecy: an authentic record, preserved almost intact in its original shape, of the very sovereign whom Jeremiah declared to be Jehovah's chosen servant, and whom, consequently, it was Judah's duty as well as highest political wisdom to obey. And not only this. The inscription paints for us in unfading colors a portrait of the man Nebuchadrezzar; it exhibits in the vivid light of actuality his pride of place and power and greatness, his strong conviction of his own divine call to universal empire, his passionate devotion to his gods, his untiring labors for their glory and the aggrandizement of that peerless capital which was their chosen dwelling-place. The style of the inscription is elevated almost to the level of poetry; and the phraseology often recalls familiar expressions of the Old Testament." Of Belshazzar, unlike his great predecessor, we have little clear record. He seems never to have been really king, but was the son of King Nabonidos, and the actual ruler in his father's name. It was Nabonidos who was captured at the fall of Babylon (539 B.C.), but it was Belshazzar who, as his father's general, fought all the hopeless battles against the conquering Persians. Nabonidos, in one of the prayers which he placed within the corner-stones of his builded temples, prays for his son. "And as for Belshazzar, the firstborn son, the issue of my body, do thou implant in his heart the fear of thy great divinity. Let him not turn unto sinning. Let him be satisfied with fulness of life." So, perchance, Belshazzar needed to be reformed by prayer. The section closes with the record of Cyrus, the Persian conqueror, telling how he overthrew this ancient civilization. With the coming of Cyrus, the dominion of the Semite races passed and the present age, that of the dominion of the Aryan races, began. We shall turn again in a later volume to trace the civilization of Cyrus and his Persians. THE NEO-BABYLONIAN AGE THE INDIA HOUSE INSCRIPTION OF COLUMN I Nebuchadrezzar King of Babylon, the favorite of Marduk, 5 the pontiff supreme, the serene, the possessor of wisdom, 10 who feareth their lordship; 15 the weal of Babylon and Borsippa regardeth ever; the wise, the prayerful, the maintainer of Esagilla and Ezida, 20 the chiefest son of Nabopalassar, King of Babylon, am I. After that the lord my god had created me, that Marduk had framed 1 So called because it is preserved in the "India House" of the British government in London. 2 The chief temples of Babylon and Borsippa. E-sagilla, the temple of Bel-Marduk, also contained a shrine dedicated to Nabu, called "E-zida of E-sagilla." |