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Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed Nineveh
Babylonian king Nabopolassar ruled over the rising empire from about 626 to 605 B.C. The Babylonian Chronicle for the years 615-609 B.C. tells of the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C. The wounded Assyrian Empire would collapse seven years later at the battle of Carchemish. The British Museum item number is BM 21901.
Babylonian Chronicles for years 615-609 B.C. British Museum. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins
The name of Nabopolassar is not recorded in the Bible, but the events of this period of time are highly significant.
The Chronicle of Nabopolassar describes the activity of the king for the years 608-605 B.C. The struggle of the Babylonians with the Egyptians (Pharaoh Necho) for control of the western portion of the Assyrian Empire is also described. This included the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem. The crown-prince Nebuchadnezzar, the most celebrated Babylonian king mentioned in the Bible, became the leader of the Neo-Babylonian Empire at the battle of Carchemish (605 B.C.). The British Museum item number is BM 22047.
Chronicle of Nabopolassar. British Museum. Photo by Ferrell Jenkins.
The prophet Nahum describes the fall of Nineveh in vivid language.
Woe to the city guilty of bloodshed! She is full of lies; she is filled with plunder; she has hoarded her spoil!
2 The chariot drivers will crack their whips; the chariot wheels will shake the ground; the chariot horses will gallop; the war chariots will bolt forward!
3 The charioteers will charge ahead; their swords will flash and their spears will glimmer! There will be many people slain; there will be piles of the dead, and countless casualties– so many that people will stumble over the corpses.
4 “Because you have acted like a wanton prostitute– a seductive mistress who practices sorcery, who enslaves nations by her harlotry, and entices peoples by her sorcery–
5 I am against you,” declares the LORD who commands armies. “I will strip off your clothes! I will show your nakedness to the nations and your shame to the kingdoms;
6 I will pelt you with filth; I will treat you with contempt; I will make you a public spectacle.
7 Everyone who sees you will turn away from you in disgust; they will say, ‘Nineveh has been devastated! Who will lament for her?’ There will be no one to comfort you!” (Nahum 3:1-7 NET)
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