drezzar to occupy Jerusalem and carry the plotters into
captivity. In B.C. 598 Jehoiachin and a large number of the upper
classes were carried into exile; in B.C. 588 Jerusalem was taken after a
long siege, its temple and walls razed to the ground, and its
inhabitants transported to Babylonia. The fortress-capital could no
longer shelter or tempt the Egyptian foes of the Babylonian empire.

The turn of Tyre came next. For thirteen years it was patiently
blockaded, and in B.C. 573 it passed with its fleet into
Nebuchadrezzar's hands. Five years later the Babylonian army marched
into Egypt, the Pharaoh Amasis was defeated, and the eastern part of the
Delta overrun. But Nebuchadrezzar did not push his advantage any
further; he was content with impressing upon the Egyptians a sense of
his power, and with fixing the boundaries of his empire at the southern
confines of Palestine.

His heart was in Babylonia rather than in the conquests he had made. The
wealth he had acquired by them was devoted to the restoration of the
temples and cities of his country, and, above all, to making Babylon one
of the wonders of the world. The temples of Merodach and Nebo were
rebuilt with lavish magnificence, the city was surrounded with
impregnable fortifications, a sumptuous palace was erected for the king,
and the bed of the Euphrates was lined with brick and furnished with
quays. Gardens were planted on the top of arched terraces, and the whole
eastern world poured out its treasures at the feet of "the great king."
His inscriptions, however, breathe a singular spirit of humility and
piety, and we can understand from them the friendship that existed
between the prophet Jeremiah and himself. All he had done is ascribed to
Bel-Merodach, whose creation he was and who had given him the
sovereignty over mankind.

He was succeeded in B.C. 562 by his son Evil-Merodach, who had a short
and inglorious reign of only two years. Then the throne was usurped by
Nergal-sharezer, who had married a daughter of Nebuchadrezzar, and was
in high favour with the priests. He died in B.C. 556, leaving a child,
whom the priestly chroniclers accuse of impiety towards the gods, and
who was murdered three months after his accession. Then Nabu-nahid or
Nabonidos, the son of Nabu-balasu-iqbi, another nominee of the
priesthood, was placed on the throne. He was unrelated to the royal
family, but proved to be a man of some energy and a zealous antiquarian.
He caused exca