Editing Nebuchadnezzar II (section)

== Family and children ==
[[File:Hanging Gardens of Babylon by Ferdinand Knab (1886).png|alt=Painting of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon|thumb|The [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]] as depicted by Ferdinand Knab in 1886. According to tradition, the gardens were constructed by Nebuchadnezzar for his wife, [[Amytis of Babylon]], so that she would feel less homesick.]]
No surviving contemporary Babylonian documents provide the name of Nebuchadnezzar's wife. According to Berossus, her name was [[Amytis of Babylon|Amytis]], daughter of [[Cyaxares]], king of the Medes. Berossus writes that '[Nabopolassar] sent troops to the assistance of Astyages, the tribal chieftain and satrap of the Medes in order to obtain a daughter of Astyages, Amyitis, as wife for his son [Nebuchadnezzar]'. Though the ancient Greek historian [[Ctesias]] instead wrote that Amytis was the name of a daughter of Astyages who had married [[Cyrus I]] of Persia, it seems more likely that a Median princess would marry a member of the Babylonian royal family, considering the good relations established between the two during Nabopolassar's reign.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=8}} 

Given that Astyages was still too young during Nabopolassar's reign to already have children, and was not yet king, it seems more probable that Amytis was Astyages's sister, and thus a daughter of his predecessor, [[Cyaxares]].{{Sfn|Lendering|1995}} By marrying his son to a daughter of Cyaxares, Nebuchadnezzar's father Nabopolassar likely sought to seal the alliance between the Babylonians and the Medes.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=229}} 

According to tradition, Nebuchadnezzar constructed the [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]], one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]], featuring exotic shrubs, vines and trees as well as artificial hills, watercourses and knolls, so that Amytis would feel less homesick for the mountains of Media. No archaeological evidence for these gardens has yet been found.{{Sfn|Polinger Foster|1998|p=322}}

Nebuchadnezzar had six known sons.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=|pp=9–10}} Most of the sons,{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=200}} with the exceptions of Marduk-nadin-ahi{{Sfn|Abraham|2012|p=124}} and Eanna-sharra-usur,{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=10}} are attested very late in their father's reign. It is possible that they might have been the product of a second marriage and that they could have been born relatively late in Nebuchadnezzar's reign, possibly after his known daughters.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=200}} The known sons of Nebuchadnezzar are:
[[File:The Crown Prince, son of Nebuchadnezzar II, write this anguished poem in jail. Once freed, he attributed his rescue to god Marduk by changing his name to Amel-Marduk. From Borsippa, near Babylon, Iraq.jpg|thumb|A prayer to Marduk. The Crown Prince, son of Nebuchadnezzar II, wrote this anguished poem in jail. Once freed, he attributed his rescue to god Marduk by changing his name to Amel-Marduk. From Borsippa, near Babylon, Iraq.]]

* '''Marduk-nadin-ahi''' (Akkadian: ''Marduk-nādin-aḫi''){{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=200}} – the earliest attested of Nebuchadnezzar's children, attested in a legal document, probably as an adult as he is described as being in charge of his own land, already in Nebuchadnezzar's third year as king (602/601 BC). Presumably Nebuchadnezzar's firstborn son, if not eldest child, and thus his legitimate heir.{{Sfn|Abraham|2012|p=|pp=124–125}} He is also attested very late in Nebuchadnezzar's reign, named as a "royal prince" in a document recording the purchase of [[Date (fruit)|dates]] by Sin-mār-šarri-uṣur, his servant, in 563 BC.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=10}}{{Sfn|Abraham|2012|p=124}}
*'''Eanna-sharra-usur''' (Akkadian: ''Eanna-šarra-uṣur''){{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=10}} – named as a "royal prince" among sixteen people in a document at Uruk from 587 BC recorded as receiving barley "for the sick".{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=10}}
*'''[[Amel-Marduk]]''' (Akkadian: ''Amēl-Marduk''),{{Sfn|Weiershäuser|Novotny|2020|p=1}} originally named '''Nabu-shum-ukin''' (''Nabû-šum-ukīn''){{Sfn|Weiershäuser|Novotny|2020|p=1}} – succeeded Nebuchadnezzar as king in 562 BC. His reign was marred with intrigues and he only ruled for two years before being murdered and usurped by his brother-in-law, Neriglissar. Later Babylonian sources mostly speak ill of his reign.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=|pp=9–10}}{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=199}} Amel-Marduk is first attested, notably as crown prince, in a document 566 BC.{{Sfn|Popova|2015|p=405}} Given that Amel-Marduk had an older brother in Marduk-nadin-ahi, alive as late as 563 BC, why he was named crown prince is not clear.{{Sfn|Abraham|2012|p=125}}
* '''Marduk-shum-usur''' (Akkadian: ''Marduk-šum-uṣur{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=200}}'' or ''Marduk-šuma-uṣur''){{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=10}} – named as a "royal prince" in documents from Nebuchadnezzar's 564 BC and 562 BC years, recording payments by his scribe to the [[Ebabbar]] temple in [[Sippar]].{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=10}}
* '''Mushezib-Marduk''' (Akkadian: ''Mušēzib-Marduk''){{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=200}} – named as a "royal prince" once in a contract tablet from 563 BC.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=10}}
*'''Marduk-nadin-shumi''' (Akkadian: ''Marduk-nādin-šumi''){{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=10}} – named as a "royal prince" once in a contract tablet from 563 BC.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=10}}
Three of Nebuchadnezzar's daughters are known by name:{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=198}}

* '''[[Kashshaya]]''' (Akkadian: ''Kaššaya''){{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=173}} – attested in several economic documents from Nebuchadnezzar's reign as "the king's daughter".{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=|pp=173–174}} Her name is of unclear origin; it might be derived from the word ''kaššû'' ([[Kassites|kassite]]).{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=181}} Kashshaya is attested from contemporary texts as a resident of (and landowner in) Uruk.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=198}} Kashshaya is typically, although speculatively, identified as the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar who married Neriglissar.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=200}}{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=241}}
* '''Innin-etirat''' (Akkadian: ''Innin-ēṭirat''){{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=174}} – attested as "the king's daughter" in a 564 BC document which records her granting ''mār-banûtu'' status{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=174}} ("status of a free man"){{Sfn|Botta|2009|p=33}} to a slave by the name Nabû-mukkê-elip.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=174}} The document in question was written at Babylon, but names including the divine prefix [[Innin]] are almost unique to Uruk, suggesting that she was a resident of that city.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=198}}
* '''Ba'u-asitu''' (Akkadian: ''Ba'u-asītu''){{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=174}} – attested as the owner of a piece of real estate in an economic document. The precise reading and meaning of her name is somewhat unclear. [[Paul-Alain Beaulieu]], who in 1998 published the translated text which confirms her existence, believes that her name is best interpreted as meaning "[[Bau (goddess)|Ba'u]] is a/the physician".{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=|pp=174–175}} The document was written at Uruk, where Ba'u-asitu is presumed to have lived.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|1998|p=198}}
It is possible that one of Nebuchadnezzar's daughters married the high official Nabonidus,{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=11}} although there is no evidence for this.{{Sfn|Collins|1993|p=32}} Marriage to a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar could explain how Nabonidus could become king, and also explain why certain later traditions, such as the [[Book of Daniel]] in the Bible, describe Nabonidus's son, Belshazzar, as Nebuchadnezzar's son (descendant).{{Sfn|Wiseman|1983|p=11}}{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=244}} Alternatively, these later traditions might instead derive from royal propaganda.{{sfn|Chavalas|2000|p=164}} 

The ancient Greek historian [[Herodotus]] names the "last great queen" of the Babylonian Empire as "[[Nitocris of Babylon|Nitocris]]", though that name, nor any other name, is not attested in contemporary Babylonian sources. Herodotus's description of Nitocris contains a wealth of legendary material that makes it difficult to determine whether he uses the name to refer to Nabonidus's wife or mother. In 1982, William H. Shea proposed that Nitocris may tentatively be identified as the name of Nabonidus's wife and Belshazzar's mother.{{Sfn|Shea|1982|pp=137–138}}