Nabonidus

The story says Nabonidus was afflicted with severe inflammation, confessed his sin to God, and a Jewish priest sent from the captives went to him and interpreted the significance of the issue (1117). Despite any similarities, there are several discrepancies between the accounts. First, the names of the kings are different, and both fall ill in different locations (Yamauchi 164). Second, Nebuchadnezzar was afflicted with a mental disease called boanthropy, not with a skin ailment (164). And third, Nabonidus was angry because he believed the people offended Sin, his preferred god, so he went to Arabia (164). He was not, however, insane…

There have been many people whose names, when referenced, are commonly accompanied by the phrase, “The Great”. Although it has been proven throughout history that many people are not shy of hyperbole, there is one historical figure whose greatness is not exaggerated. This man’s name was Cyrus the Great. As his title suggests, Cyrus the Great was highly regarded by his subjects, as well as people born years after his passing. “Father” to the Iranians, and “Liberator” to the Babylonians, Cyrus…

Nebunchadnezzar’s Cylinder in History Amongst the various intriguing and interesting personalities of the prehistoric past, the Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar has firmly cemented himself as a character who had a highly perceptible contribution to human history, and is even regarded by some as “The greatest King of Ancient Babylon” (Stokstad 44). His story begins as the son of a successful military general who successfully toppled the Assyrian government, (“Nebuchadnezzar II…

In the midst of oppressive rulers, many times throughout history the people of a civilization seek outside help in order to overthrow their exploiters. Repressive leaders weaken morale of its citizens, and make the people unsettled to trust its own leaders. The impact that religion has in the government’s ability to govern and show the people that it’s leaders are in fact of divine right is also profound. In Babylon, King Nabonidus was a very unpopular and unjust leader and was creating unrest…

in law. He reigned from 559 to 556 BC. At that point, Nabonidus overthrew him. Nabonidus was married to Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter, Nitocris. Therefore any children they had would be in direct line to the throne. This is probably one of the main reasons the people allowed him to become king. He reigned from 556 to 539.2,4 During his reign, Nabonidus renovated many of the temples, but he was more of a warrior than a ruler. While he was out on field campaigns, his son, Belshazzar, was regent in…

support from the people they lead. King Cyrus holds the throne of an expansive Persian Empire. In 539, claiming to be under the divine right the Babylonian God Marduk, he peacefully conquers Babylon and drives out Nabonidus, the last neo-Babylonian King. Cyrus produces a clay cylinder denouncing Nabonidus as an impious oppressor of the Babylonians, and contextualizes himself as the ruler destined to restore peace and order on behalf of the Babylonians, making the kingdom strong again. It…

was useful in both military and political situations and was useful in enabling him to establish and expand the Achaemenid dynasty of the Persian Empire, which lasted over two centuries, as successfully as he did. It is said in the Nabonidus Chronicle that “Cyrus gave battle” and “entered Babylon” meaning that he fought in battles alongside his army thus informing us that he was able to understand military tactics and be strongly involved in the planning and execution of military…

Throughout this period God uses Isaiah to speak of Cyrus as God’s chosen agent who will rebuild the city of Jerusalem (Isaiah 44:28). Although Cyrus himself did not know God, God chose to use to Persian King to defeat Babylon (Isaiah 45:4). Accounts of Cyrus’ rise can be found in the Cyrus Cylinder with the decree of Cyrus here Nabonidus, the Babylonian king failed to protect and provide for the people of Babylon. In the account found on the cylinder Nabonidus improperly worshipped Marduk and…

city god of Babylon who was known as Marduk. Cyrus believed that his position as king was destined by Marduk, and that according to the Cyrus cylinder “[Marduk] searched everywhere and then he took a righteous king, his favourite, by the hand, he called out his name. Cyrus, King of Ansan, he pronounced his name to be king all over the world”. The Cyrus Cylinder also states that Marduk encouraged Cyrus to command his army to march into Babylon with no death, specifically that “[Cyrus’s] vast…

In Balcer’s analysis of the Indo-European epics—in particular, the Behistun Inscription—he asserts that the nature of historiography as to how the panegyric text was formed through the methods of the scribal tradition detecting “the exposition…and the entire text as well possess[ing] numerous qualities of epic narrative and thematic development” (61). Yet, this continues as he finds the “epic form, based upon scattered kernels of historical oral traditions, produces a fictional narrative”, which…