“All of his royal inscriptions speak of his constructions, to the point that it was long believed he was exclusively a builder king. He particularly beautified Babylon, which he referred to as ‘the city of his heart.’ There is an essential reason for this: Nebuchadnezzar was a deeply pious king. He venerated the god Marduk—the most important deity in the Babylonian pantheon, which comprised some 3,000 divinities.
In The Epic of Creation, the king of gods is described as the creator of the cosmos and of humankind, as well as the founder of the world’s order. The king beautified the city of Babylon for Marduk and endowed it with numerous temples, including the Etemenanki, a seven-tiered ziggurat (Editor’s note: a stepped Mesopotamian religious structure), which is the Tower of Babel from the Bible. Babylon was a religious and political capital, the first megalopolis of antiquity and the heart of Babylonia.”
His Royal Power Had to Be Renewed Every Year
“During the great Akitu festival—the Babylonian New Year—which was held in honor of Marduk and his son Nabû, the god of Knowledge, the king’s legitimacy was renewed for one year. During the ceremony, the high priest would slap the king, and he had to confess that he had committed no sins against Babylon in order to continue exercising his power.”
He Was a Great Conqueror, But Never Boasted About It
“In 1956, a summarized account of his conquests was discovered in the Babylonian chronicles, which cover the first part of his reign. Until then, specialists believed Nebuchadnezzar was a peaceful king. These chronicles have been corroborated by archaeological discoveries and by external sources. Nebuchadnezzar successfully maintained the empire bequeathed to him by his father Nabopolassar, which at that time ended at the Euphrates River. He enriched and expanded it by conquering a vast territory covering the region still known today as the ‘Fertile Crescent.’ He also succeeded, within Babylonia itself, in achieving cohesion among disparate populations and integrating representatives of rebellious tribes into the government. This was the ‘Babylonian Peace.’ It was achieved through violence and cruelty, but such was the rule of the time.”
He Was an Excellent Communicator
“He was a political propagandist, though Assyrian kings had done the same before him. In the inscriptions where he speaks of himself, the king attributed many qualities to himself! He also had six stelae—or bas-reliefs—erected in Lebanon, in strategically important transit locations along commercial and military routes, bearing lengthy inscriptions and images. These images are highly eloquent: they depict him in majesty. For example, he is shown fighting a lion or making a gesture of adoration before divine symbols. The first is located at Nahr el-Kalb—or ‘Dog River’—north of Beirut. The other five are situated north of the Lebanese coastal mountain range. Nebuchadnezzar was the first king to have opened routes through the impenetrable cedar forests of Lebanon. By placing his stelae there, he showed everyone that he dominated this region and also protected its inhabitants.”
He Was the First Archaeologist King in History
“The Babylonians held a pessimistic view of humanity. They believed that humankind was drifting away from the perfection of origins and that it was impossible to reverse the course of time. However, one could slow this decline by reconstructing buildings, always in the same locations. Now, if traces of previous constructions had been forgotten or erased by sandstorms, it was necessary, in order to find them and restore their original layout, to conduct what we would today call genuine archaeological research. He made many errors and the datings were approximate, but the king personally led the excavations, which were carried out by stratigraphic layers, from the most superficial to the deepest.”
He Was Cultured and Literate
“Nebuchadnezzar made Babylon a capital of extraordinary cultural influence in the fields of literature, science, and the arts. He had magnificent libraries built, where, under his impetus, encyclopedic knowledge developed. During his reign, astronomical research was also encouraged. Later, in the 2nd century CE, the Greek astronomer Ptolemy would draw extensively upon Babylonian observations.
The king took an interest in all the scholarly disciplines of his time. For example, when he found ancient tablets during his archaeological research, he was capable of deciphering them.
Interestingly, in his era, there was an archaizing movement that was very much in fashion. Writing had to be ‘in the ancient style,’ and scribes even fabricated historical forgeries! This was a way for the king to legitimize his measures by showing that they were inscribed within a long tradition. Thus, they were unlikely to be contested!”
He Was Not a Reformist King
“For example, the king wished to change the weight standard, and to implement this reform—the only one of his reign—he relied on what one of his predecessors had done. His reign was that of a traditional king anchored in fundamental immobility, which pleased his subjects and the clergy. The downside was that he failed to unify his empire, organize it, and make it endure. For him, the empire consisted of a juxtaposition of cities and territories, and it presented a structural fragility. Only Babylon truly mattered.”
He Entered Collective Memory
“An entire legend has been built around him, but it is dual in nature—both negative and positive.
The prophet Daniel portrays him in the Bible as a madman and a wild beast because he attacked Jerusalem, destroyed Solomon’s Temple, and deported the Judeans. This black legend has persisted to this day.”
