Nebuchadnezzar's father Nabopolassar learned [g64] that the satrap whom he had set over the lords of the land of the Egyptians, the regions of the Syrians and the Phoenician districts had rebelled from him. Now because he himself was not able to supress [the rebellion], he put part of the troops he had assembled under the control of his son, Nebuchadnezzar, who had reached maturity [g65], and dispatched them. Nebuchadnezzar went and defeated the rebel in battle, and then subdued the land as before. Now it happened that his father Nabopolassar had become ill in Babylon and had died, after a reign of 21 years.
[13] When, after a long while, Nebuchadnezzar was informed of his father's death [g66], he settled and arranged affairs in the country of the Egyptians and in other lands. He entrusted the captives, Jews, Phoenicians, Syrians, and Egyptians, to some of his friends and ordered them to procede to Babylon with the heavily-armed troops. Meanwhile he himself [quickly] reached [the city] and found that his kingdom had been preserved by a certain one of the nobles. And so, [Nebuchadnezzar] ruled over his entire patrimonial state. He ordered that the captives be settled in goodly locales in the land of the Babylonians. Then he took booty from the war and adorned the temples of Bel and the other gods [g67] with great abundance. He increased [the flow of] water to the city proper and to the suburbs and secured the place so that no besieger would be able to divert the river into the city. He added three walls to the exterior of the city, in addition to the three walls on the inside of the city building half of baked brick and bitumen and half solely of brick. After enclosing the city with magnificent walls and splendidly decorating its gates, he constructed yet another palace near his father's palace [g68] whose size, beauty, and adornment one can hardly describe. Suffice it to say that it was a splendidly rare accomplishment, completely finished in fifteen days. The palace had a lofty turreted portion at the summit, constructed in such a manner as to resemble mountains and planted with a great variety of trees. This was named the Hanging Garden and it was created to satisfy the longing of his wife for the airy mountainous places where she was [g69] raised, in the high mountains of Media. This is what [Berosus] says about the king. He says a great deal more in the third book of his Chaldean History . There he lambasts Greek writers for vainly believing that Babylon was built by [Queen] Semiramis (Shamiram) and for attributing all the glorious wonders there to her.
One must accept this account from the Chaldean History as trustworthy. There is additional confirmation from Phoenician archival material which details [events from the reign of] this Babylonian king. For [Nebuchadnezzar] conquered Syria and all Phoenicia. The History of Philostratus supports this also where it describes the siege of Tyre. [Confirmation is also found] in the fourth volume of Megasthenes' History of the Indians , where he wants to demonstrate that the aforementioned king of the Babylonians surpassed [g70] Heracles in valor and bravery, for he mentions that [Nebuchadnezzar] conquered the greater part of Libya and Iberia. We mentioned earlier that the Temple in Jerusalem had been set afire by the Babylonian troops sent against [the city]. When Cyrus took the kingship of Asia, a start was made at rebuilding [the Temple]. Confirmation of this is found in the writings of Berosus, for in the third book of [his History ] he writes as follows.
Nebuchadnezzar fell ill and died after beginning the construction of the aforementioned wall. He had reigned for 43 years. His son Amel-Marduk took the kingship, but he governed in a corrupt and impious manner [g71]. He was murdered by his sister's husband, Neriglissar, after ruling for two years. Then that Neriglissar, who had committed the murder, held power for four years. The latter's son Labesorachus ruled as a child for nine months. However, he suffered a violent death at the hands of relatives because of his wicked behavior. After his murder, the conspirators assembled and by general agreement placed a certain Babylonian named Nabonidus on the throne. He had been a participant in the conspiracy.
[14] It was during [Nabonidus'] reign that the walls of Babylon by the river were constructed of baked brick and bitumen. Now in the 17th year of his reign, Cyrus [g72] came from Persia with an enormous army with which he conquered all the other kingdoms. Then he turned upon Babylon. When Nabonidus was informed about his invasion, he resisted him in battle with his troops. Defeated in battle, [Nabonidus] took to flight and then fortified himself in the city of Borsippa with a few of his followers.
After Cyrus had taken Babylon, he ordered that the city's outer wall be razed to the ground because of its [effective] fortification and the trouble it had presented [to him] in capturing the city. Then he went to besiege Nabonidus in Borsippa. Nabonidus surrendered right away since he could not endure a siege. Cyrus was merciful toward him and settled him in the land of Carmania [g73]. Thus Nabonidus was removed from Babylon and sent there, where he spent the remainder of his life, and died.
This is all true and in accord with our literature, which states that in the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar our temple was destroyed, and remained ruined for 50 years. In the second year of the kingship of Cyrus the foundations were laid and in the sixth year of Darius' reign it was completed.
I will now add to this the Phoenician records, for it will not be superfluous to add further supporting proofs. The following [citations] are for chronology. Nebuchadnezzar [g74] besieged Tyre for thirteen years in the days of Ithobal, their king; after him reigned Baal, ten years; after him these judges were appointed: Ecnibalus, the son of Baslacus, two months; Chelbes, the son of Abdeus, ten months; Abbar, the high priest, three months; Sipunostus and Gerastratus, the sons of Abdelemus, were judges six years; after whom Balatorus reigned one year; after his death they sent and fetched Merbalus from Babylon, who reigned four years; after his death they sent for his brother Hirom, who reigned twenty years. Under his reign Cyrus the Persian flourished.
So that the whole interval is fifty-four years besides three months; for in the seventh year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar he began to besiege Tyre, and Cyrus the Persian took the kingdom in the [g75] fourteenth year of Hirom. So that the records of the Chaldeans and Tyrians agree with our writings about this temple. The above is what Josephus has related.
Abydenus, after providing this account of the Chaldean kings, which is similar to [Alexander] Polyhistor's [account] then separately describes the Assyrian kings, one by one, as follows.
[15] Abydenus on the Assyrian Kingdom.
Here is the way the Chaldeans describe the kings of their land, from Alorus to [g76] Alexander. There is no special attention given to Ninus or Semiramis. So saying, [Abydenus] begins [g77] his account. He says that [the kings of the Assyrians] were Ninus, son of Arbelus, son of Chaalus, son of Arbelus, son of Anebus, son of Babus, son of the Assyrian king Belus [g78].
Then [Abydenus] describes [the rulers] one by one, from Ninus and Semiramis to Sardanapallus, who was the last of them. From the latter until the first [g79] Olympiad 67 years elapsed. Abydenus wrote about each of the Assyrian kings, one by one [g80] in this fashion. He is not the sole [author to write about them]. Castor, too, in the summary of his first Chronology describes the Assyrian kings in the same manner to the refuge of Solomon.
From the Summary of Castor, on the kingdom of the Assyrians.
[Castor] says: "Belus was the king of the Assyrians. During his reign [g81], the Cyclopes, using thunder and lightning, fought on Zeus' side in the battle Zeus (Aramazd) fought against the Titans. The kings of the Titans were known at this time, one of them being Ogygus. [Castor], after some brief words about him, states that the giants attacked the gods and were defeated after Heracles and Dionysius--who were descended from the Titans--came to the aid of the gods.
Belus, about whom we spoke earlier, died and was regarded as a god. After him Ninus ruled the Assyrians as king for 52 years. He married Semiramis. After [Ninus], Semiramis was the monarch for 42 years. Then Zames, also called Ninyas, ruled. Then [Castor continues] to mention each of the successive kings of the Assyrians to Sardanapallus. Shortly we too will provide a list of the names and regnal years of the monarchs. [Castor], in his Canons , also writes about who succeeded them [i.e. the rulers after Sardanapallus].
[Castor states:] First we described the kings of the Assyrians starting with Belus, but since the length of [g82] his reign has not been passed down with certainty, we have merely recorded his name. We have begun the chronology with Ninus and ended it with the other Ninus who held the kingship after Sardanapallus. In this fashion the entire duration [of the kingdom] may be shown clearly, as well as each individual king's [reign]. Thus it turns out that the [total] duration [of the Assyrian kingdom] was 1,280 years. This is Castor's [account]. Diodorus Siculus collected the same [material] in his Library . Here is what he wrote.
[16] From Diodorus' work on the kingdom of the Assyrians.
No testimony of the first kings of the Asian world [g83] has survived--neither about their deeds nor [even] their names. Ninus was the first king of the Assyrians found to be worthy of historical remembrance. [Ninus]' deeds and valor were great, and we shall endeavor to describe them briefly. And [Diodorus] informs after narrating other things, that Ninus had a son Ninyas from Semiramis, and that after [Ninus]' death, Semiramis buried Ninus' body in the palace [out of sight] and stopped being queen [ruling instead as king]. Then after a bit [Diodorus] says that Semiramis ruled over all the Asians except the Indians. She died as we previously stated after living 62 years and [g84] reigning for 42 years. Separately [Castor] says that after [Semiramis'] death, Ninyas, son of Ninus and Semiramis assumed power. He maintained peace, not emulating his mother's martial and industrious manner.
Again, further on, [Diodorus] says that in such a fashion royal power was handed down from father to son, from generation to generation until [g85] Sardanapallus. During his reign royal power passed from the Assyrians to the Medes, after lasting more than 1,300 years as Ctesias of Cnidus observes in his second book. But [these authors] did not bother to record the names of these kings or the lengths of their reigns, since they accomplished nothing worthy of recall. The only event meriting recording [during this interval] was the [military] assistance sent to the Trojans by the Assyrians under general Memnon, Tithonus' son [g86].
While Teutamus--the 26th king from Semiramis' son, Ninyas--was the reigning king of the Asian world the Greeks, under Agamemnon, mustered troops and went to the land of the Trojans to fight. By this time the Assyrians had ruled over Asia for more than a thousand years. Priam, king of Troy, in difficulty because of the war, beseechingly requested [g87] military aid from the Assyrian king. [Teutamus acceded] and provided [Priam] with 10,000 [troops] from the land of the Ethiopians, an equal number from the Nusians, and two hundred chariots, [all] under [the command of] Tithonus' son Memnon. [Diodorus] further states that the barbarians said that Memnon had performed such feats of bravery that they were recorded in the royal books.
Sardanapallus, the 35th king from Ninus who [g88] organized the state, became the final king of the Assyrians. He surpassed all his predecessors in luxurious living and laziness. After a bit [Diodorus] informs that [Sardanapallus] was so dissolute that not only did he ruin his own life, but he wreaked the entire Assyrian state which had endured from time immemorial. Now it happened that there was a certain Arbaces of Median nationality, a virtuous stout-hearted man who was a general of the Medes who were sent each year to Ninus' city. In the course of his military duties, he became friendly with the commander-in-chief of the Median army, who beseeched him to overthrow the Assyrian government. This is what Diodorus relates in book two of the Historical Library . Cephalion also mentions Assyrian rule. Here is what he says [g89].
[17] The historian Cephalion on the Assyrian kingdom.
Let me begin by writing about what others too have written. First Hellanicus [g90] of Lesbos and Ctesias of Cnidus, followed by Herodotus of Halicarnassus [have written about the Assyrians]. The first of the Assyrians to rule over the Asians was Belus' son, Ninus. During his reign many valorous deeds were done. Then he continues to discuss the birth of Semiramis, Zoroaster the Mage, war with the king of the Bactrians and the military defeat by Semiramis. Ninus' reign lasted for 52 years, and then he died. After him [g91] Semiramis ruled. It was she who built the walls around Babylon in the manner described by many [writers such as] Ctesias, Zenon, Herodotus and others after him.
Then he describes how Semiramis mustered troops [and went] against India, her defeat and flight; how she killed her own sons and then was killed by her son Ninyas, after a reign of 42 years. Then Ninyas assumed power. Cephalion says that he did nothing worthy of recall. Then he and others describe how for a thousand years power passed from father to son with none of them [g92] ruling for less than 20 years. Disliking warfare and strife they were effeminate, carefully keeping themselves fortified indoors, doing nothing, and seeing no one except their concubines or effeminate men. It seems to me that Ctesias records the names of some 23 of these kings, should someone want to know about them in more detail. But what pleasure or satisfaction would it bring to record the barbaric names [g93] of despicable, weak savages who displayed neither valor nor brave deeds?