Volta
Politics587 or 586 BC (fall of Jerusalem)

Neo-Babylonia and the Babylonian Captivity

Also called: Babylonian captivity, Babylonian exile, Chaldean Empire

Nebuchadnezzar II of Neo-Babylonia destroyed Jerusalem and carried the people of Judah off to Babylon (the Babylonian captivity). Babylon became a great city adorned with the Ishtar Gate.

Babylon’s Ishtar Gate, built by Nebuchadnezzar II, reconstructed in blue glazed brick — Pergamon Museum, Berlin
Babylon’s Ishtar Gate, built by Nebuchadnezzar II, reconstructed in blue glazed brick — Pergamon Museum, Berlin

Sinoulpgc · CC0 · Source

After Assyria fell, the Neo-Babylonian Empire founded by the Chaldeans took Mesopotamia and Syria. Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605–562 BC) defeated Egypt at Carchemish and struck the rebellious kingdom of Judah, destroying Jerusalem and its Temple in 587 or 586 BC. Many of its people were deported to Babylon, an exile known as the Babylonian captivity.

He adorned Babylon with massive walls and the Ishtar Gate of blue glazed brick and rebuilt its great ziggurat. The so-called Hanging Gardens are also attributed to him, though their existence is unconfirmed. In 539 BC Neo-Babylonia fell to Cyrus II of Persia, and the Jews returned home to rebuild their Temple.

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The map in 586 BC

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States at the time
Neo-Babylonian Empire · conqueror
Places
Babylon, Jerusalem

People

  • Nebuchadnezzar II562 BC

    monarch · King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire (r. 605–562 BC) who destroyed Jerusalem and deported the people of Judah to Babylon

Before and after

Earlier
671 BC Assyrian Unification of the Near East
Later
AD 30 Rise and Spread of Christianity

Themes that include this event

  • Early Civilizations and Empires3500 BC – 486 BC

    From the first civilizations in the great river valleys to the first empires of the Near East, India and China — comparing their writing, law, religion and rule