Nebuchadnezzar II (635 BC - October 7, 562 BC) was the son of Napoparasar, the founding monarch of New Babylon, and the second ruler of the Kingdom of New Babylon. He succeeded to the throne on September 7, 605 BC, besieged Jerusalem in 597 BC, and on July 10, 586 BC, he conquered the Jewish Kingdom and abducted some nobles and residents to Babylon, known as the Babylonian prisoners. Later, large-scale construction was carried out in China, and many magnificent buildings were built. The city was improved and expanded to cover an area of 900 hectares. In 575 BC, the Ishtar Gate and the towering and majestic Babylonian Great Wall were built to decorate the surface with colored glazed bricks. The reign period was the prosperous era of New Babylon.

In the second half of the 7th century BC, the Assyrian Empire rapidly declined due to internal turmoil and external threats. The Chaldeans living in the southern region of Babylon, under the leadership of their leader Naboparashal, joined forces with the northern Mides and captured the capital of Assyria, Nineveh, in 612 BC, destroying Assyria. Napoparashal became the first king of the New Babylonian Kingdom. During this period, Nebuchadnezzar, who was still a young man, followed his father to lead the army in battle. He is brave and quick witted, able to lead by example, and has won the support of his soldiers. Due to the old age and weak physique of the old king Napoparashal, many important battles were commanded solely by Nebuchadnezzar. From 607 BC to 605 BC, the Kingdom of New Babylon and the Egyptians clashed continuously on the upper reaches of the Euphrates River, putting the New Babylonian army at a disadvantage and abandoning some important strongholds. In this situation, the old king appointed Nebuchadnezzar as the commander-in-chief to engage in a decisive battle with the Egyptian army (Egypt had already joined forces with the remnants of Assyria). In the spring of 605 BC, the two sides engaged in a decisive battle (Battle of Kakhmys) on the west bank of the Euphrates River in Kalkhmysh. Nebuchadnezzar led his army to cross the river downstream and then launched a fierce attack on the enemy along the west bank. At the same time, he cut off the escape route for the Egyptians to the south. The battle was intense, and the soldiers of the New Babylonian Kingdom rushed towards the enemy line like a tide, one group falling and the other continuing to charge forward. The Egyptian army suffered a disastrous defeat. After the war, a poet from New Babylon described the Egyptians in this battle as "like fat calves in a circle, they turned back and fled together." After the Egyptian army fled, Nebuchadnezzar ordered relentless pursuit, and finally completely annihilated the Egyptian army in Hamash.
In August 605 BC, the old king Napoparashal passed away. At this time, Nebuchadnezzar was fighting in Syria and Palestine. After receiving the news of the death of the old king, he immediately led his guard and crossed the desert without stopping, taking a shortcut and heading straight to the city of Babylon. On the 23rd day after the death of Naboparasha, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon. Along the way, Nebuchadnezzar was also worried about things that would not be conducive to his ascension to the throne. After returning to Babylon, he found that everything was normal, and the ministers were anxiously waiting for him to return and inherit the throne. Nebuchadnezzar ascended to the throne on the same day at the age of 30 and immediately received recognition from various cities in the Kingdom of New Babylon. In 604-602 BC, Nebuchadnezzar launched a series of conquest wars against small countries in Syria and Palestine. The kings of Damascus, Sidon, Tyre, and Judea were all forced to pay tribute and submit.

In 601 BC, Nebuchadnezzar went to war with Egypt again. Both sides suffered heavy losses this time. The new Babylonian army had to retreat to Babylon. The Jewish king defected to Egypt. After hearing the news of the surrender of the Jewish king, Nebuchadnezzar became furious and swore to conquer Jerusalem.
At the end of 598 BC, the Jewish king Jehoiakim, who surrendered to Egypt, died, and his son Jehoiachin ascended to the throne. Nebuchadnezzar believed that the time had come to attack the Jewish kingdom and personally led a large army to attack Jerusalem. After more than two months of siege, driven by the pro Babylonian faction within the Jewish community, the Jewish king surrendered to the city with all his ministers. Nebuchadnezzar deposed Jehoiachin, appointed his uncle as the King of Judea, and changed his name to Zedekiah, making him swear allegiance to the Kingdom of New Babylon and not to rebel. Then ordered that most members of the Jewish royal family and skilled Jewish craftsmen be taken to Babylon. Before departure, he ordered his subordinates to loot the temple in Jerusalem.
In 588 BC, Egypt launched another attack on Palestine. The Jewish king Zedekiah and other small states in the region that were subject to New Babylon rose up one after another in response to the Egyptians, the prophet Jeremiah, and some pro Babylonian Jewish ministers, who did not agree with Zedekiah's approach to Egypt and advised him not to oppose Nebuchadnezzar. However, this time the Jewish opposition to New Babylon clearly had the upper hand. Soon, Nebuchadnezzar led the New Babylonian army to launch a second siege on Jerusalem. This siege lasted for 18 months. Due to famine and internal division, Jerusalem finally fell in 586 BC.
Late life
In 567 BC, Nebuchadnezzar took advantage of Egypt's internal conflicts to launch an expedition and briefly captured the Egyptian capital, plundering a large amount of wealth but ultimately being repelled. In 562 BC, the mighty Nebuchadnezzar II passed away. After the death of Nebuchadnezzar II, the Kingdom of New Babylon quickly fell into political turmoil and its national strength greatly declined. In 539 BC, the Kingdom of New Babylon was easily annihilated by the Persian army led by Cyrus the Great, and the Babylonian civilization gradually disappeared into the long river of history.

In history, Nebuchadnezzar was a talented military strategist, politician, and public works organizer of the ancient slave owner class. He consolidated the unity of the New Babylonian Kingdom and created favorable conditions for the socio-economic development of the region, making him a famous king in ancient history. Nebuchadnezzar, in order to demonstrate his great achievements, vigorously built and rebuilt the city of Babylon. He re planned the city of Babylon and built the tower temple of the Maduk Temple, known as the Babel Tower of Heaven; Built a towering and magnificent Babylonian outer city wall and over 100 bronze gates, shining brightly; The construction of a palace in a fairyland on earth made Babylon the most spectacular and prosperous city in West Asia, and the Babylonian civilization revived. The most famous of them is the aerial garden in the palace, which is said to have been built by Nebuchadnezzar to please his queen of Medea and is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. But all miracles are built on the excessive and heavy labor of tens of thousands of people, which laid the foundation for the rapid downfall of the kingdom. In this regard, Nebuchadnezzar is somewhat like Ramses II. Nebuchadnezzar II was an outstanding military strategist and a great organizer of civil engineering. He created a unified situation for the brief revival of Babylonian civilization and created many miracles in the history of world architecture. Unfortunately, the magnificent and mysterious city of Babylon has long been lost in the dust of time, leaving only countless questions for future exploration.

In the more than a thousand years of Babylonian history, Nebuchadnezzar II, the new Babylonian king who once again unified the two river basins, has a reputation second only to Hammurabi. Whenever people talk about him, they can't help but think of the beautiful sky gardens and the inhumane Babylonian prisoners.
After the fall of the Babylonian Kingdom, the two river basins were successively occupied by the Hittites, the Gahites, the Assyrian Empire, and others. Starting from the 10th century BC, the Assyrian Empire rose again, and in the 7th century BC, a large army swept across the Middle East and Egypt, establishing the chilling new Assyrian Empire. But in the late 7th century BC, the Assyrian Empire fell into crisis and various regions launched uprisings. In 626 BC, Napoparasa, the leader of the Chaldeans, seized the city of Babylon under the rule of the Assyrians, established the New Babylonian Kingdom, and intermarried with the Medea Empire on the Iranian plateau. In 612 BC, the joint forces of the two countries captured the capital of Assyria, Nineveh, and the Assyrian Empire was destroyed. Its territory was divided between the Kingdom of New Babylon, the Empire of Medea, and Egypt.
Nebuchadnezzar followed his father in battles from a young age, and due to his bravery and agility, his prestige grew day by day. From 607 BC to 605 BC, the old king appointed Nebuchadnezzar as the commander to compete with Egypt for the land occupied by Egypt in western Assyria, and ultimately achieved success. In 605 BC, Naboparasa passed away, and Nebuchadnezzar rushed back to Babylon to succeed him and continue his marriage with Medea.
From 604 BC to 602 BC, Nebuchadnezzar launched a series of conquest wars against Syria and Palestine, forcing Damascus, Sidon, and the Jewish State to submit and pay tribute. In 601 BC, Nebuchadnezzar once again fought against Egypt, which hindered his hegemony, resulting in heavy losses and having to retreat to Babylon. The Jewish state took the opportunity to break away from New Babylon and defect to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar was furious and conquered Judea in 598 BC, supporting Zedekiah as the puppet king.
Starting from 590 BC, Egypt invaded the Palestinian region, and various small countries turned to it. Nebuchadnezzar was forced to launch a large-scale attack on the Palestinian region in 587 BC. In 586 BC, Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem and razed it to the ground. He then blinded King Zedekiah, who had betrayed him, and took him and all the city residents to Babylon as slaves, known as the "prisoner of Babylon." Therefore, in the Bible, Nebuchadnezzar II is depicted as a "tool of sin.". Afterwards, Nebuchadnezzar led his army to attack the important seaport and commercial center of Tyre, and after 13 years of arduous siege, he was forced to submit. Although Palestine was ultimately placed under the territory of the Kingdom of New Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar once sent envoys to negotiate with the Lydian Empire and eliminate the threat from the West.

During the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, the political stability and economic prosperity of the Kingdom of New Babylon were relatively stable. In order to demonstrate his literary and military achievements, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the reconstruction of Babylon. Due to the close relationship between Nebuchadnezzar and the priestly group of Babylonian temples, he built and repaired many religious buildings. The most famous among them is the tower temple of the Maduk Temple in Babylon, which is famous throughout ancient times. Nebuchadnezzar also rebuilt the main street leading to the Maduk Temple. Nebuchadnezzar also built the outer wall of Babylon. The famous Istar Gate was renovated during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. The walls are decorated with dazzling dragons and bulls made of glazed bricks, shining brightly in the sunlight. The city wall connected to the same city gate is double layered, with two gatehouses and four gates in front and back. The city wall is very thick, with battlements and arrow towers on the wall.
Nebuchadnezzar once married a Midean princess named Amitis. In order to make her happy and no longer homesick, he ordered the gathering of tens of thousands of skilled craftsmen, who manually built a small hill and planted many strange flowers and plants on it. They also built many courtyards and towers, which became the famous "Hanging Garden" and became one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Nebuchadnezzar also rebuilt the palace of Babylon. The layout of the palace is complex, with winding paths and many rooms available for use. Babylon has a hot climate, but the palace is shaded by green trees, cool and pleasant, and there are spacious courtyards for outdoor activities.
Nebuchadnezzar built the Great Wall of Midea in the two river basins, using the people of Midea as hypothetical enemies.

Babylonian Captivity
Nebuchadnezzar was extremely resentful of the rebellious Jewish king, and ordered the killing of several of his sons in front of the Jewish king Zedekiah, and then dug out Zedekiah's eyes. When Zedekiah, who had already lost his sight, was brought before Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar said to him, "This is the end of your betrayal of me." Then he ordered Zedekiah to be bound with copper chains and taken to Babylon for a demonstration. The Jewish prophetic literature, as well as the account of Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Jerusalem and the imprisonment of Babylon, are all preserved in the Old Testament of the Bible, where Nebuchadnezzar is said to be a tool of God to punish the sins of the Jews. The entire city of Jerusalem was looted. The city walls were demolished, and temples, palaces, and many houses were burned. Almost all the living residents of the city were taken captive to Babylon. This is the famous "Babylonian prisoner" in history. Afterwards, Nebuchadnezzar ordered the attack on the important seaport and commercial center, the Phoenician city of Tyre. The people of Tyre are determined not to surrender. Nebuchadnezzar's siege of Tyre lasted for 13 years, causing some of the New Babylonian veterans to have bald hair and their military uniforms to be worn out due to prolonged inaction. Finally, due to the lack of any foreign aid, Tyre had to surrender.