Intro to Daniel 5: The Decline of the Neo-Babylonian Monarchy

 

B. The Steady Decline of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.

 

Following the death of the great Nebuchadnezzar, the Empire rapidly and steadily declined under the administration of lesser men. Babylon’s last two decades are characterized by a rising moral decadence, a lack of unified direction and purpose, religious confusion and controversy, military decline, crumbling international influence, and profound internal divisions and partisan paranoia—which was punctuated by destabilizing political coups.   

 

The decline of Babylon the Great can be illustrated in a brief survey focusing upon the seven rulers who presided over its administration, dating from its rise with the revolt and subsequent coronation of Nabopolssar in 626 BC, unto its fall some 87 years later with the Persian Conquest of Cyrus the Great in 539 BC.

 

1.     Nabopolassar (626-605 BC).

A tough and hardy Chaldean warrior rising from obscurity who was the self-described “son of a nobody,” Nabolpolassar took advantage of the weakness of the crumbling Assyrian Empire and led a revolt against his Assyrian overlords in 626 BC, declaring himself King of a revived Babylon. His leadership marks the Pioneer and early Conquest stages (using Sir John Glubb’s terminology) of the rising Neo-Babylonian Empire. His reign ended gloriously with the stunning defeat of Pharaoh Necho of Egypt at Carchemish in 605 BC, led by the generalship of his son, the Crown Prince Nebuchadnezzar.

 

2.     Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC).

Also known as “Nebuchadnezzar the Great,” he was the brilliant “Head of Gold” whose reign marks the supreme high-point of Neo-Babylonian power, wealth, influence, and cultural achievement. “The Destroyer of Nations” who consolidated and expanded upon his father’s victories, he was also noted for his astonishing building program and for his dominance in international trade. His legendary reign rightly represents the Conquest and Commercial stages of Glubb’s survey outlined in The Fate of Empires. Like our own George Washington, it could truly be said that he was “First in war, First in peace, and First in the hearts of his countrymen.” Let us here remind ourselves that this awesome sovereignty enjoyed by Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:37-38, 5:18-19; Jer. 27:5-8; 28:14) was the Lord’s doing: the King of Babylon, like all earthly sovereigns, was God’s chosen instrument for the fulfillment of His own purposes (Hab. 1:5-6).

 

3.     Evil-Merodach (562-60 BC), aka, Amel-Marduk.

Many unanswered questions surround the ascendancy of Nebuchadnezzar’s Crown Prince and appointed heir. It is known, for example, that Evil-Merodach was not Nebuchadnezzar’s eldest son, and that he also seemed to have been at extreme odds with his father at one juncture (attempted usurpation?)—even unto the point of imprisonment! Nonetheless, it was he who ascended to the throne in 562 BC.[1] Little is known of his life and career, other than opposition to his rule rose quickly from within the midst of the Royal Family, resulting in his assassination less than two years after his enthronement. He is best known by Bible students for his kindness towards King Jeconiah of Judah, whom he released from prison and treated with royal dignity and honors. Later Jewish tradition suggests that Evil-Merodach befriended Jeconiah during the time of their common imprisonment by Nebuchadnezzar.

 

2 Kings 25:27-30: Now it came about in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the year that he became king, released Jehoiachin king of Judah from prison; and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the throne of the kings who were with him in Babylon. Jehoiachin changed his prison clothes and had his meals in the king's presence regularly all the days of his life; and for his allowance, a regular allowance was given him by the king, a portion for each day, all the days of his life.

 

This act of clemency is the only surviving royal decree of Evil-Merodach, in that the annals of his reign are sparce, and much that survives from antiquity concerning him doubtlessly originates from the hands of his enemies. Let us note, with regard to the decline of Babylon, that we see here the beginnings of a destabilizing political factionalism within the Royal Household.

 

4.     Neriglissar (560-56 BC). Neriglissar (who has been identified by some as the Nergal-sar-ezer mentioned in Jer. 39:3, 13) was a prominent general and immensely wealthy and influential high official who served King Nebuchadnezzar—and who also became the King’s son-in-law when he married Nebuchadnezzar’s daughter Kashshaya. Through this marriage, it has been speculated by some scholars that Neriglissar became aligned to a less legitimate, but nonetheless wealthier and more prominently established Royal faction than that represented by Evil-Merodach. Usurping the throne after orchestrating his brother-in-law’s assassination in 560 BC, Neriglissar is noted for achieving success in his military campaign in Asia Minor (modern Turkey). His triumph was short lived however, in that he died soon afterward, after only serving some 3 ½ years upon the throne.

 

5.     Labashi-Marduk (556 BC).
The unfortunate son of Neriglissar who inherited his father’s throne as a mere youth (though perhaps after reaching the age of majority), but who was deposed and murdered after only three months upon the throne as the result of a coup orchestrated by a rival faction within the Royal Family. This conspiracy was presumably led by Belshazzar, who then seized and absorbed the young king’s considerable wealth and assets. It is possible that Labashi-Marduk’s mother was not Kashshaya, but another wife of Neriglissar. The possibility that he was not a blood descendent of the great Nebuchadnezzar would potentially have made him vulnerable to claims of regal illegitimacy.

 

6.     Nabonidus (556-39 BC). This enigmatic figure—another son-in-law of King Nebuchadnezzar, who was married to his daughter Nitocris—was apparently a most reluctant inheritor of the Royal Throne. One of his inscription’s flatly states: “I am Nabonidus, the only son, who has nobody. In my mind there was no thought of kingship.” It appears that while the plot against Labashi-Marduk was masterminded by the nobleman Belshazzar, it was nonetheless deemed unseemly by the conspirators to directly offer the throne to Belshazzar while his own father, Nabonidus, was still alive. Thus, the unlikely and rather elderly figure of Nabonidus—military officer, courtier, and scholar—became last full-king of Babylon.

 

Nabonidus is remembered chiefly for his iconoclastic and unconventional religious beliefs which led to his estrangement from the official religious-establishment of Babylon, as well as for his 10-year long absence from the capital city—all of which served to undermine his popularity with the nation.

 

Nabonidus was born the son of an Assyrian Priestess of the Moon god Sin—a deity to which he remained loyal throughout his life—and he thus dedicated much of his efforts the promotion and elevation of this foreign deity. Nabonidus was thus absorbed throughout his reign with temple-building projects—potentially with the aim of displacing Marduk and the traditional national deities of Babylon.

 

This matter of contention with the official establishment of Babylon may have been prominent with regard to his mysterious and self-imposed 10-year exile from the city of Babylon, during which time he resided in Tayma of Arabia. During this period, the capital was under the administration his son and co-regent, Belshazzar.

 

Arrested and deposed by the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great in 539 BC, it appears from the more reliable sources that Nabonidus was graciously granted a comfortable retirement in exile by Cyrus, living to a most advanced age (possibly outliving both Cyrus and his son Cambyses).

 

Let us carefully note some of the outstanding characteristics of Nabonidus’ reign in this terminal period of Babylon’s history—confusion, disunity, division, and lack of a unified national-purpose. As Nabonidus left the throne, his people appeared in the streets and cheered the entrance of the foreign conqueror from Iran!

 

7.     Belshazzar (co-regency with Nabonidus; 553-539 BC) was the son and co-regent of Nabonidus, as well as the last blood-heir of Nebuchadnezzar to sit upon the throne of Babylon. More of an “establishment man” then his father, his regency during Nabonidus’ 10-year absence saw a return to religious “orthodoxy,” catering to the traditional Babylonian oligarchy. Portrayed in Daniel as irreverent, drunken, dissolute, and debauched, Belshazzar is a fitting symbol for the decadent state of a dying Empire in its last gasps. Perhaps an old warhorse like Nabopolassar or an astonishing genius like Nebuchadnezzar would have been up to the challenge posed by the great Cyrus—but definitely not the discordantly individualistic Nabonidus, nor the self-centered and corrupt Belshazzar!

 

 

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[1] Evil-Merodach’s elevation constitutes an interesting outworking of Divine Providence. Why Nebuchadnezzar—who died a regenerate believer in the God of Israel—was led to elevate this unlikely candidate to the Kingship is unknown—but it definitely served God’s eternal purposes. Evil-Merodach’s favorable disposition towards King Jeconiah of Judah—perhaps an old prison-mate—would ultimately serve as a sign and source of encouragement unto the Hebrew People that God was not finished with the House of David, and that He was still mindful of the Davidic Covenant (2 Sam. 7) and its attending Messianic Hope.