cover the long-lost Asiatic possessions of Egypt, and
operated with an army and fleet. Gaza and Askalon were captured.
Josiah, the grandson of Manasseh, was King of Judah. "In his days
Pharaoh-nechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to
the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he (Necho)
slew him at Megiddo."[552] His son, Jehoahaz, succeeded him, but was
deposed three months later by Necho, who placed another son of Josiah,
named Eliakim, on the throne, "and turned his name to Jehoiakim".[553]
The people were heavily taxed to pay tribute to the Pharaoh.

When Necho pushed northward towards the Euphrates he was met by a
Babylonian army under command of Prince Nebuchadrezzar.[554] The
Egyptians were routed at Carchemish in 605 B.C. (_Jeremiah_, xvi, 2).

In 604 B.C. Nabopolassar died, and the famous Nebuchadrezzar II
ascended the throne of Babylon. He lived to be one of its greatest
kings, and reigned for over forty years. It was he who built the city
described by Herodotus (pp. 219 _et seq._), and constructed its outer
wall, which enclosed so large an area that no army could invest it.
Merodach's temple was decorated with greater magnificence than ever
before. The great palace and hanging gardens were erected by this
mighty monarch, who no doubt attracted to the city large numbers of
the skilled artisans who had fled from Nineveh. He also restored
temples at other cities, and made generous gifts to the priests.
Captives were drafted into Babylonia from various lands, and employed
cleaning out the canals and as farm labourers.

The trade and industries of Babylon flourished greatly, and
Nebuchadrezzar's soldiers took speedy vengeance on roving bands which
infested the caravan roads. "The king of Egypt", after his crushing
defeat at Carchemish, "came not again any more out of his land: for
the king of Babylon had taken from the river of Egypt unto the river
Euphrates all that pertained to the king of Egypt."[555] Jehoiakim of
Judah remained faithful to Necho until he was made a prisoner by
Nebuchadrezzar, who "bound him in fetters to carry him to
Babylon".[556] He was afterwards sent back to Jerusalem. "And
Jehoiakim became his (Nebuchadrezzar's) servant three years: then he
turned and rebelled against him."[557]

Bands of Chaldaeans, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites were harassing
the frontiers of Judah, and it seemed to the king as if the Babylonian
power had collapsed. Nebuchadrezz