114 



THEOPHILUS G. PINCHES, LL.D., M.R.A.S., ON 



of his army to his son Xabuchodonosor (Xabu-kuduiri-usur or 

 Xebuchadrezzar), who was then but young, he sent him agaiust 

 the rebel. This is regarded as having taken place in 605 B.C. 

 The governor attacked by the young Xebuchadi^ezzar was appar- 

 ently Xecho, who was completely defeated at Carchemisli, and 

 expelled from Syria. 



\Yhilst upon this expedition, Xebuchadrezzar heard of the 

 death of his father at Babylon, and hurried home to prevent 

 complications. On arriving at Babylon, he found that all was 

 quiet, his supporters having looked well after his interests. 

 Thus auspiciously did the great king begin his reign (604 B.C.). 

 His father had occupied the Assyro-Babylonian throne for 

 twenty-one years. 



Unfortunately the inscriptions of Xebuchadrezzar, though 

 numerous, refer mainly to his architectural works. In this, 

 however, they support the saying attributed to him in Daniel 

 stated to have been uttered whilst enjoying the view of the city 

 from the roof of his palace : " Is not this great Babylon which 

 I have built, for the house of the kingdom, for the height of my 

 power, and the honour of my majesty ? " His inscriptions, how- 

 ever, do not show these words to be true — they only indicate 

 that he rebuilt and enlarged the royal palace, now represented 

 by the brick masses known as the Kasr, and rebuilt many of the 

 great temples. He was, however, very proud of what he had 

 done, and the enamelled brick bas-reliefs of the lion, the bull, 

 and the dragon of Babylon which he had caused to be carved in 

 the brickwork of the Istar-gate, and probably elsewhere, are 

 specially mentioned by liim. In the inscriptions, however, 

 there seems to be no distinction between the terms " build " and 

 " rebuild," so that we must acquit the great king of uttering, 

 either to himself or to others, a deliberate lie. The origin and 

 foundation of Babylon possibly go back to 4000 years before 

 Christ. 



When Xebuchadrezzar came to the throne, he found himself 

 king of a mighty nation, consolidated by his father's talent, and 

 he could boast of having had a hand liimself in its enlargement 

 and in measures for its greater security. Everything was, to all 

 appearance, at peace, and the new king had no reason to fear 

 either a pretender to the throne or attack from without. This 

 satisfactory state of things, however, was not to last, for 

 Jehoiakim, King of Judah, as related in 2 Kings xxiv, 1 fif., after 

 paving tribute for three years, rebelled, but was again reduced 

 to'^subjection (604-602 B.C.). 



Later, apparently o\viug to the promises of the King of 



