Editing Nebuchadnezzar II (section)

== Legacy ==

=== Assessment by historians ===
Because of the scarcity of sources, assessment by historians of Nebuchadnezzar's character and the nature of his reign have differed considerably over time.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=178}} He has typically been regarded as the greatest and most prestigious king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.{{Sfn|Saggs|1998}}{{Sfn|Mark|2018}}{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=190}}

Since military activity was not a major issue described in the inscriptions of any Neo-Babylonian king regardless of their actual military accomplishments, in sharp contrast to the inscriptions of their Neo-Assyrian predecessors, Nebuchadnezzar's own inscriptions record very little about his wars. Out of the fifty or so known inscriptions by the king, only a single one deals with military action, and in this case only small-scale conflicts in the Lebanon region. Many Assyriologists, such as [[Wolfram von Soden]] in 1954, thus initially assumed that Nebuchadnezzar had mainly been a builder-king, devoting his energy and efforts to building and restoring his country.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=178}}

A major change in evaluations of Nebuchadnezzar came with the publication of the tablets of the [[Babylonian Chronicle]] by Donald Wiseman in 1956, which cover the geopolitical events of Nebuchadnezzar's first eleven years as king. From the publication of these tablets and onwards, historians have shifted to perceiving Nebuchadnezzar as a great warrior, devoting special attention to the military achievements of his reign.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=178}}

According to the historian Josette Elayi, writing in 2018, Nebuchadnezzar is somewhat difficult to characterise on account of the scarcity of Babylonian source material. Elayi wrote, about Nebuchadnezzar, that "[h]e was a conqueror, even though reservations can be had about his military capabilities. There was no lack of statesmanlike qualities, given his success in building the Babylonian Empire. He was a great builder, who restored a country that for a long time had been devastated by war. That is roughly all we know about him because the Babylonian Chronicles and other texts say little about his personality."{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=190}}

=== In Jewish and biblical tradition ===
[[File:Georg Pencz - Tyrants of the Old Testament- Nebuchadnezzar - 1923.397 - Cleveland Museum of Art.jpg|alt= Woodcut of Nebuchadnezzar|thumb|A [[woodcut]] depicting Nebuchadnezzar II, by the 16th-century German engraver, painter and printmaker [[Georg Pencz]], from a series of woodcuts titled ''Tyrants of the Old Testament'']]
The Babylonian captivity initiated by Nebuchadnezzar came to an end with the [[fall of Babylon]] to the [[Achaemenid Empire| Achaemenid]] king [[Cyrus the Great]] in 539 BC. Within a year of their liberation, some exiled Jews returned to their homeland. Their liberation did little to erase the memory of five decades of imprisonment and oppression. Instead, Jewish literary accounts ensured that accounts of the hardship endured by the Jews, as well as of the monarch responsible for it, would be remembered for all time.{{Sfn|Sack|2004|p=1}} The [[Book of Jeremiah]] calls Nebuchadnezzar a "lion" and a "destroyer of nations".{{Sfn|Shapiro|1982|p=328}}

Nebuchadnezzar's story thus found its way into the Old Testament of the Bible.{{Sfn|Sack|2004|p=1}} The Bible narrates how Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Kingdom of Judah, besieged, plundered and destroyed Jerusalem, and how he took away the Jews in captivity, portraying him as a cruel enemy of the Jewish people.{{Sfn|Smelik|2014|p=110}} The Bible also portrays Nebuchadnezzar as the erstwhile legitimate ruler of all the nations of the world, appointed to rule the world by God. As such, Judah, through divine ruling, should have obeyed Nebuchadnezzar and should not have rebelled. Nebuchadnezzar is also depicted as carrying out death sentences pronounced by God, slaying two false prophets. Nebuchadnezzar's campaigns of conquest against other nations are portrayed as being in-line with God's will for Nebuchadnezzar's dominance.{{Sfn|Smelik|2014|p=|pp=123–124}}

Nebuchadnezzar is referred to three times in the [[Book of Jeremiah]] using the epithet 'my servant' [God's servant] – a title usually limited to some of the most positively portrayed figures, such as [[Jacob]] and [[David]]. Klaas A. D. Smelik noted in 2004 that "in the Hebrew Bible, there is no better company conceivable than these; at the same time, there is no candidate less likely for this title of honour than the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar".{{Sfn|Smelik|2014|pp=110–12}} 

It is possible that the epithet is a later addition, as it is missing in the [[Septuagint]] version of the Old Testament, perhaps added after Nebuchadnezzar began to be seen in a slightly more favourable light than immediately after Jerusalem's destruction.{{Sfn|Smelik|2014|pp= 118–20}} Alternatively, possible theological explanations include Nebuchadnezzar being seen, despite his cruelty, as an instrument in fulfilling God's universal plan; or perhaps that designating him as a "servant" of God was to show that readers should not fear Nebuchadnezzar, but his true master, God.{{Sfn|Smelik|2014|p=133}}

[[File:Daniel Interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's Dream.jpg|alt= Illustration of the biblical story of Daniel interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream|thumb|A 1917 illustration of [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]] interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dreams]]
In the [[Book of Daniel]], widely considered by scholars to be a work of [[historical fiction]],<!--This is the consensus in the academic community, per virtually every reliable source; should not be changed without prior discussion on the talk page-->{{sfn|Laughlin|1990|p=95}}{{sfn|Seow|2003|pp=4–6}}{{sfn|Collins|2002|p=2}}{{sfn|Redditt|2008|p=180}} the figure of Nebuchadnezzar differs considerably from his portrayal in the Book of Jeremiah. He is for the most part depicted as a merciless and despotic ruler. The king has a nightmare, and asks his wise men, including [[Daniel (biblical figure) |Daniel]] and his three companions [[Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego]], to interpret the dream, but refuses to state the dream's contents. When the servants protest, Nebuchadnezzar sentences all of them, including Daniel and his companions, to death.{{Sfn|Smelik|2014|pp=127–29}}

By the end of the story, when Daniel has successfully interpreted the dream, Nebuchadnezzar shows much gratitude, showering Daniel with gifts, appointing him the governor of the "province of Babylon" and making him the chief of the kingdom's wise men. A second story again casts Nebuchadnezzar as a tyrannical and pagan king, who, after Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refuse to worship a newly erected golden statue, sentences them to death through being thrown into a [[Shadrach,_Meshach,_and_Abednego|fiery furnace]]. They are miraculously delivered, and Nebuchadnezzar then acknowledges God as the "lord of kings" and "god of gods".{{Sfn|Smelik|2014|pp=127–29}}

Though Nebuchadnezzar is also mentioned as acknowledging the Hebrews' God as the true god in other passages of the Book of Daniel, it is apparent that his supposed conversion to Judaism does not change his violent character, given that he proclaims that anyone who speaks amiss of God "shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made a dunghill". In a third story, Daniel interprets another dream as meaning that Nebuchadnezzar will lose his mind and live like an animal for seven years before being restored to his normal state (Daniel 1-4).{{Sfn|Smelik|2014|pp=127–29}} The Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel, a fickle tyrant who is not particularly consistent in his faith, contrasts with the typical "servant of God" in other books of the Bible.{{Sfn|Smelik|2014|p=129}}

[[File:B Urgell 209dét.jpg|alt= Medieval French depiction of Nebuchadnezzar's army|thumb|Nebuchadnezzar's forces at the siege of Jerusalem, as depicted in a 10th-century Catalan manuscript]]
Given that Nebuchadnezzar is referred to as the father of [[Belshazzar]] in the Book of Daniel, it is probable that this portrayal of Nebuchadnezzar, especially the story of his madness, was actually based on Belshazzar's actual father, [[Nabonidus]], the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire ({{reign}}556–539 BC). Separate Jewish and Hellenistic traditions exist concerning Nabonidus having been mad,{{Sfn|Sack|1983|p=63}} and it is likely that this madness was simply reattributed to Nebuchadnezzar in the Book of Daniel through [[conflation]].{{Sfn|Beaulieu|2007|p= 137}}{{Sfn|Henze|1999|p=63}} 

Some later traditions conflated Nebuchadnezzar with other rulers as well, such as the Assyrian [[Ashurbanipal]] ({{reign}}669–631 BC), the Persian [[Artaxerxes III]] ({{Reign}}358–338 BC), the Seleucids [[Antiochus IV Epiphanes]] ({{Reign}}175–164 BC) and [[Demetrius I Soter]] ({{Reign}}161–150 BC) and the Armenian [[Tigranes the Great]] ({{Reign}}95–55 BC).{{Sfn|Boccaccini|2012|p=56}} The apocryphal [[Book of Judith]], which probably applies the name "Nebuchadnezzar" to Tigranes the Great of Armenia, refers to Nebuchadnezzar as a "king of the Assyrians", rather than of the Babylonians, and demonstrates that Nebuchadnezzar was still viewed as an evil king, responsible for destroying Jerusalem, looting its temple, taking the Jews hostage in Babylon, and for the various misdeeds ascribed to him in later Jewish writings.{{Sfn|Boccaccini|2012|pp=63–65}}

===Other===
Nebuchadnezzar is referred to as {{transliteration|ar|Buḫt Nuṣṣur}} ({{lang|ar|بخت نصر}}) in works of the mediaeval scholar [[Al-Tabari|al-Ṭabarī]], where he is credited with conquering Egypt, Syria, Phoenicia and Arabia. The historical Nebuchadnezzar never conquered Egypt, and it appears that al-Ṭabarī transferred to him the achievements of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon ({{reign | 681 | 669}}).<ref>{{cite book |last= Retsö |first=Jan |date= 2013 |title= The Arabs in Antiquity: Their History from the Assyrians to the Umayyads |url= https://archive.org/details/the-arabs-in-antiquity-their-history-from-the-assyrians-to-the-umayyads | pages= 187–89 |location= [[London]], [[United Kingdom | UK]]; [[New York City]], [[United States | US]] |publisher= [[Routledge]] | isbn= 978-1-136-87289-1 | via = Archive}}</ref> In similar fashion [[Strabo]], citing [[Megasthenes]], mentioned in a list of mythical and semi-legendary conquerors, a ''Nabocodrosor'' as having led an army to the [[Pillars of Hercules]] and being revered by the [[Chaldea| Chaldaeans]].<ref>
[[Strabo]], [[Geography (Strabo)|''Geography'']], [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/15A1*.html 15.1.6]</ref>