Editing Nebuchadnezzar II (section)

=== Early military campaigns ===
Though little information survives concerning them, the Babylonian Chronicle preserves brief accounts of Nebuchadnezzar's military activities in his first eleven years as king. In 604 BC, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned in the Levant once again, conquering the city of [[Ascalon]].{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=180}} According to the Babylonian Chronicle, Ascalon's king was captured and taken to Babylon, and the city was plundered and levelled to the ground. Modern excavations at Ascalon have confirmed that the city was more or less destroyed at this point in time.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|2018|p=228}} The Ascalon campaign was preceded by a campaign in Syria, which was more successful than Nebuchadnezzar's first, resulting in oaths of fealty from the rulers of [[Phoenicia]].{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=190}}

[[File:Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar II.png|alt=Map of Nebuchadnezzar's empire|thumb|A map of the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] under Nebuchadnezzar]]
In 603 BC, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned in a land whose name is not preserved in the surviving copy of the chronicle. The chronicle records that this campaign was extensive, given that the account mentions the construction of large siege towers and a siege of a city, the name of which does not survive either. [[Anson Rainey]] speculated in 1975 that the city taken was Gaza, whereas Nadav Na'aman thought in 1992 that it was [[Kummuh]] in south-eastern [[Anatolia]]. In the second half of the 5th century BC, some documents mentioned the towns Isqalanu (the name derived from Ascalon) and Hazzatu (the name possibly derived from Gaza) near the city of Nippur, indicating that deportees from both of these cities lived near Nippur, and as such possibly that they had been captured at around the same time.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=180}}

In both 602 BC and 601 BC, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned in the Levant, though little information survives beyond that a "vast" amount of booty was brought from the Levant to Babylonia in 602 BC.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=180}} On account of the entry for 602 BC also referring to Nabu-shum-lishir, Nebuchadnezzar's younger brother, in a fragmentary and unclear context, it is possible that Nabu-shum-lishir led a revolt against his brother in an attempt to usurp the throne in that year, especially since he is no longer mentioned in any sources after 602 BC.{{Sfn|Da Riva|2013|p=198}} The damage to the text however makes this idea speculative and conjectural.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=180}}

[[File:Necho-KnellingStatue BrooklynMuseum c.jpg|alt=Statue probably depicting Pharaoh Necho II|thumb|upright=0.6|A statue probably depicting Pharaoh [[Necho II]] of Egypt, who was [[Battle of Carchemish|defeated at Carchemish]] by Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC, but fought off Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt in 601 BC]]
In the 601 BC campaign, Nebuchadnezzar departed from the Levant and then marched into Egypt. Despite the defeat at Carchemish in 605 BC, Egypt still had a great amount of influence in the Levant, even though the region was ostensibly under Babylonian rule. Thus, a campaign against Egypt was logical in order to assert Babylonian dominance, and also carried enormous economic and propagandistic benefits, but it was also risky and ambitious. The path into Egypt was difficult, and the lack of secure control of either side of the [[Sinai Desert]] could spell disaster.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=|pp=180–181}} 

Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Egypt failed – the Babylonian Chronicle states that both the Egyptian and Babylonian armies suffered a huge number of casualties.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=|pp=180–181}} Though Egypt was not conquered, the campaign did result in momentarily curbing Egyptian interest in the Levant, given that Necho II gave up his ambitions in the region.{{Sfn|Elayi|2018|p=191}} In 599 BC, Nebuchadnezzar marched his army into the Levant and then attacked and raided the Arabs in the Syrian desert. Though apparently successful, it is unclear what the achievements gained in this campaign were.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=|pp=180–181}}

In 598 BC, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned against the Kingdom of Judah, [[Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC)|succeeding in capturing]] the city of [[Jerusalem]].{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=181}} Judah represented a prime target of Babylonian attention given that it was at the epicenter of competition between Babylon and Egypt. By 601 BC, Judah's king, [[Jehoiakim]], had begun to openly challenge Babylonian authority, counting on the fact that Egypt would lend support to his cause. Nebuchadnezzar's first, 598–597 BC, assault on Jerusalem is recorded in the Bible, but also in the Babylonian Chronicle,{{Sfn|Beaulieu|2018|p=228}} which describes it as follows:{{Sfn|Beaulieu|2018|p=228}}

{{blockquote| quote = The seventh year [of Nebuchadnezzar], in the month of Kislimu, the king of Akkad mustered his troops, marched to the Levant, and set up quarters facing the city of Judah [Jerusalem]. In the month of Addaru [early in 597 BC], the second day, he took the city and captured the king. He installed there a king of his choice. He colle[cted] its massive tribute and went back to Babylon.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|2018|p=228}}}}

Jehoiakim had died during Nebuchadnezzar's siege and been replaced by his son, [[Jeconiah]], who was captured and taken to Babylon, with his uncle [[Zedekiah]] installed in his place as king of Judah. Jeconiah is recorded as being alive in Babylonia thereafter, with records as late as 592 or 591 BC listing him among the recipients of food at Nebuchadnezzar's palace and still referring to him as the 'king of the land of Judah'.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|2018|p=228}}

In 597 BC, the Babylonian army departed for the Levant again, but appears to not have engaged in any military activities as they turned back immediately after reaching the Euphrates. The following year, Nebuchadnezzar marched his army along the [[Tigris]] river to do battle with the Elamites, but no actual battle happened as the Elamites retreated out of fear once Nebuchadnezzar was a day's march away. In 595 BC, Nebuchadnezzar stayed at home in Babylon but soon had to face a rebellion against his rule there, though he defeated the rebels, with the chronicle stating that the king "put his large army to the sword and conquered his foe." Shortly thereafter, Nebuchadnezzar again campaigned in the Levant and secured large amounts of tribute. In the last year recorded in the chronicle, 594 BC, Nebuchadnezzar campaigned in the Levant yet again.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=181}}

There were several years without any noteworthy military activity at all. Notably, Nebuchadnezzar spent all of 600 BC in Babylon, when the chronicle excuses the king by stating that he stayed in Babylon to "refit his numerous horses and chariotry". Some of the years when Nebuchadnezzar was victorious can also hardly be considered real challenges. Raiding the Arabs in 599 BC was not a major military accomplishment and the victory over Judah and the retreat of the Elamites were not secured on the battlefield. It thus appears that Nebuchadnezzar achieved little military success after the failure of his invasion of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar's poor military record had dangerous geopolitical consequences. According to the Bible, in Zedekiah's fourth year as king of Judah (594 BC), the kings of [[Ammon]], [[Edom]], [[Moab]], Sidon and [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]] met in Jerusalem to deal with the possibility of throwing off Babylonian control.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Gateway passage: Jeremiah 27:1-7 - New International Version |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2027%3A1-7&version=NIV |access-date=16 October 2022 |website=Bible Gateway |language=en}}</ref> 

Evidence that Babylonian control was beginning to unravel is also clear from contemporary Babylonian records, such as the aforementioned rebellion in Babylonia itself, as well as records of a man being executed in 594 BC at Borspippa for "breaking his oath to the king". The oath-breaking was serious enough that the judge in the trial was Nebuchadnezzar himself. It is also possible that Babylonian–Median relations were becoming strained, with records of a "Median defector" being housed in Nebuchadnezzar's palace and some inscriptions indicating that the Medes were beginning to be seen as "enemies". By 594 BC, the failure of the Egyptian invasion, and the lacklustre state of Nebuchadnezzar's other campaigns, loomed high. According to the Assyriologist Israel Ephʿal, Babylon at this time was seen by its contemporaries more like a "[[paper tiger]]" (i. e. an ineffectual threat) than a great empire, like Assyria just a few decades prior.{{Sfn|Ephʿal|2003|p=|pp=181–183}}
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