Nebuchadnezzar II
Nebuchadnezzar II, also known as Nebuchadnezzar the Great, was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. He became king of the empire when his father, Nabopolassar, died around 605 BCE.
Nebuchadnezzar II was born around 642 BCE, and lived until around 562 BCE, where he died at around the age of 80. Similar to Hammurabi in the first Babylonian Empire, Nezbuchadnezzar II was
one of the best leaders of the ancient world. When he took the throne, he quickly was able to fight back many of Babylonia's attackers, and even conquer much of the attackers' territories.
After the great expansion of the empire's borders, Nezbuchadnezzar II turned his focus to improving the cities of the empire (Saggs).
Many of the buildings constructed in the Neo-Babylonian Empire are well-known, and served great purpose to the empire. One of the projects he first undertook was the expansion of the Walls of
Babylon that Hammurabi had constructed. The expanded walls helped to defend the cities in the empire from the many hostile empires that were against the Babylonians. Another project of his
was the Ishtar Gate, which was an extravagant gate built around the Walls of Babylon, which still stands to this day. One of his most well-known projects he undertook
is supposedly the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were labelled as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (Saggs).
Martin Heemskerck