NEBUCHADNEZZAR[1]

By CLARENCE COOK

(645-561 B.C.)

[Footnote 1: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.]

[Illustration: Nebuchadnezzar.]

With the death of Sardanapalus, the great monarch of Assyria, and the
taking of Nineveh, the capital city, by the Medes, the kingdom of
Assyria came to an end, and the vast domain was parcelled out among
the conquerors. At the time of the catastrophe, the district of
Babylonia, with its capital city Babylon, was ruled as a dependent
satrapy of Assyria by Nabopolassar. Aided by the Medes, he now took
possession of the province and established himself as an independent
monarch, strengthening the alliance by a marriage between the Princess
Amuhia, the daughter of the Median king, and his son Nebuchadnezzar.

In the partition of Assyria, the region stretching from Egypt to the
upper Euphrates, including Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, had fallen
to the share of Nabopolassar. But the tribes that peopled it were not
disposed to accept the rule of the new claimant, and looked about for
an ally to support them in their resistance. Such an ally they thought
they had found in Egypt.

Egypt was the great rival of Babylon, as she had been of Assyria. Both
desired to control the highways of traffic connecting the
Mediterranean with the farther East. Egypt had the advantage, both
from her actual position on the Mediterranean and her nearer
neighborhood to the coveted territory, and she used her advantage with
audacity and skill. No sooner, however, did Nabopolassar feel himself
firm on his throne than he resolved to check the ambition of Egypt and
secure for himself the sovereignty of the lands in dispute.

The task was not an easy one. Pharaoh Necho had been for three years
in possession of the whole strip along the Mediterranean--Palestine,
Phoenicia, and part of Syria--and was pushing victoriously on to
Assyria, when he was met at the plain of Megiddo, commanding the
principal pass in the range of Mount Carmel, by the forces of the
petty kingdom of Judah, disputing his advance. He defeated them in a
bloody engagement, in which Josiah, King of Judah, was slain, and then
continued his march to Carchemish, a stronghold built to defend one of
the few fordable passes of the upper Euphrates. This important place
having been taken after a bloody battle, Necho was master of all the
strategic points north and west of Babylonia.

Nebuchadnezzar was now put in command of an army, t