They say that the first men at that time were puffed up with pride because of their strength and height, and in their arrogance they thought that they were better than the gods. They built a huge tower where Babylon now is, and it was already close up to heaven. But the winds came to the aid of the gods, and threw down the structure around them. The remains of the tower were called Babylon. Up to that time they had shared a common language but then they received a great variety of different speech from the gods. Afterwards a war arose between Cronus and Titan.
[p35] The same author writes about Sennacherib, as follows.
[From the writings] of Abydenus, about Sennacherib
At this time, Sennacherib became the 25th of the [Assyrian] kings. He conquered Babylon and brought it under his control. He defeated a fleet of Greek ships in a naval battle off the coast of Cilicia. He established a temple of the Athenians, and erected bronze columns on which he inscribed in writing his mighty achievements. He built Tarsus with a design which was similar to Babylon, so that the river Cydnus flows through the middle of Tarsus, just as the Euphrates flows through the middle of Babylon.
After him Nergilus became king, but he was killed by his son Adramelus. Then Adramelus was killed by Axerdis, his half-brother (by the same father, but a different mother). Axerdis gathered an army and sent it against the city of Byzantium. He was the first king to seek help from mercenaries, and one of these was Pythagoras, who became a student of Chaldaean wisdom. Axerdis conquered Egypt and parts of lower Syria. Then Sardanapallus was [king].
Then Saracus became king of the Assyrians, [p37] and when he was informed that an army like a swarm of locusts had invaded by sea, he immediately sent his general Nabopolassar [ Busalossorus ] to Babylon. But this general started to plot rebellion, and betrothed his son Nebuchadnezzar [ Nabuchodonosor ] to Amytis the daughter of Astyages, the king of the Medes. And then he immediately set off to attack the city of Nineveh. When king Saracus learned of the attack, he burnt down the palace with himself inside it. Nebuchadnezzar took over power as king, and put up a strong wall around Babylon.
After saying this, Abydenus gives an account of Nebuchadnezzar, which agrees with the writings of the Hebrews, as follows.
[From the writings] of Abydenus, about Nebuchadnezzar
When Nebuchadnezzar came to power, he fortified Babylon with a three-fold circuit of walls in about fifteen days. He made a channel for the river Narmalacis, a branch of the Euphrates, [(?) and the Acracanus]. [p39] He dug a reservoir above the city of the Sippareni, which was 40 parasangs in circumference, and 20 fathoms deep; and he constructed gates, which could be opened to irrigate the whole plain. They call these gates ochetognomones . He protected [the shore] against flooding by the Red Sea, and he built the city of Teredon [to guard] against the raids of the Arabs. He adorned the palace with new kinds of plants, and called it "The Hanging Gardens".
Then he gives a detailed description of this Hanging Garden. He says that the Greeks regard it as one of the so-called seven wonders of the world.
And in another place the same author writes as follows: "It is said that in the beginning everything was water, which was called the sea. But Belus restrained [the sea] and assigned a region to each person. He surrounded Babylon with a wall, and at the appointed time he disappeared from sight. Later Nebuchadnezzar gave Babylon new walls, with gates of bronze, which lasted until the time of the Macedonians."
The words of Daniel are in accordance with everything that Abydenus says. In his book [Dan. 4:30] he relates how Nebuchadnezzar, becoming arrogant and puffed up with pride, declared; "Is this not the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?"
That Nebuchadnezzar regarded his power as proof of his good fortune, is made clear the words of the prophet Daniel. And Abydenus declares that he was "mightier than Heracles", when he writes as follows: [p41] "Megasthenes says that Nebuchadnezzar, who was mightier than Heracles, let his armies as far as Libya and Iberia. He conquered these countries, and settled some of their inhabitants on the right-hand shore of the Euxine Sea. But the Chaldaeans say that afterwards, when he went up to the palace, he was possessed by some god, and uttered these words: 'O Babylonians, I Nebuchadnezzar predict that a great disaster will befall you.' "
After adding some more details about this, the historian continues: "When he had (?) uttered this prediction, he immediately vanished from sight, and his son Amilmarudocus became king in his place. But Amilmarudocus was killed by his kinsman Niglisares, leaving a son called Labassoarascus. When he too died a violent death, they proclaimed Nabannidochus as king, although he had no right to assume royal power. When Cyrus captured Babylon, he made Nabannidochus the governor of Carmania; but king Dareius took some of the territory away from him.
All this is in accordance with what is said in the Hebrew scriptures. [p43] The book of Daniel tells how and in what way Nebuchadnezzar was afflicted in his mind. The Greek historians and the Chaldaeans turn his suffering to good account, by calling the madness a god who entered into him, or some demon which came to him. But this is not surprising, because it is their custom to attribute all such occurrences to a god, and to call the demons gods. All this is related by Abydenus.
Flavius Josephus, the Jewish historian, gives a similar account in the first book of his Antiquities [ Ap_1'128-160 ], as follows:
From the first book of the Antiquities of Josephus, about Nebuchadnezzar
I will now relate what has been written about us in the Chaldaean histories, which closely agree with our scriptures on various points. Berossus shall be witness to what I say: he was by birth a Chaldaean, well known by the learned, on account of his publication for Greek readers of books on Chaldaean astronomy and philosophy. This Berossus, therefore, following the most ancient records of that nation, describes in the same way as Moses the flood, and the destruction of mankind which it caused. He also gives us an account of the ark in which Noah, the forefather of our race, was preserved, when it was brought to the highest part of the Armenian mountains. Then he gives us a list of the descendants of Noah, with their dates; and at length comes down to Nabopolassar, who was king of Babylon, and of the Chaldaeans. And in his narrative of the acts of this king, he describes how he sent his son Nebuchadnezzar against Egypt, and against our land, with a great army, when he was informed that they had revolted from him. [p45] After he had subdued them all, and destroyed our temple at Jerusalem by fire, he removed our people entirely out of their own country, and transported them to Babylon. Then our city was deserted for a period of seventy years, until the days of Cyrus king of Persia. He adds that this Babylonian king conquered Egypt, and Syria, and Phoenicia, and Arabia, and exceeded in his exploits all the kings who had reigned before him in Babylon and Chaldaea.
I will set down Berossus' own words, which are as follows: "Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar, heard that the governor whom he had set over Egypt, and over the regions of Coele Syria and Phoenicia, had revolted from him. Because he was not able to bear the hardships of a campaign, he committed part of his army to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who was then a young man, and sent him against the rebel. Nebuchadnezzar joined battle with the rebel, and conquered him, and forced the country to submit to him again. Meanwhile it happened that his father Nabopolassar fell ill, and died in the city of Babylon, after he had reigned twenty-one years. When Nebuchadnezzar heard, soon afterwards, that his father Nabopolassar was dead, he set the affairs of Egypt and the other countries in order. He committed the captives he had taken from the Jews, and Phoenicians, and Syrians, and inhabitants of Egypt, [p47] to some of his friends, that they might conduct them with his heavy-armed forces troops, and the rest of his baggage, to Babylonia. He himself went in haste, having only a few companions with him, over the desert to Babylon. When he arrived there, he found that the public affairs were being managed by the Chaldaeans, and that the principal person among them had preserved the kingdom for him. Accordingly, he then took over complete control of his father's dominions.
"He ordered the captives to be placed in colonies in the most suitable places of Babylonia; but as for himself, he adorned the temple of Belus, and the other temples, in a magnificent manner, out of the spoils he had taken in this war. He also rebuilt the old city, and added another to it on the outside. He restored Babylon in such a way, that no-one who should besiege it afterwards might be able to divert the course of river, in order to force an entrance into it. He achieved this by building three walls about the inner city, and three about the outer city. Some of these walls he built of burnt brick and bitumen, and some of brick only. So when he had fortified the city on this grand scale, and had adorned the gates magnificently, he added a new palace to the one which his father had dwelt in. It was close by it, but was superior in its height, and also in its great splendour. It would require too long a narration, to describe it all in detail. However, as prodigiously large and magnificent as the palace was, it was finished in only fifteen days. In this palace he erected very high walks, supported by stone pillars, and by planting what was called a Hanging Garden, and adorning it with all sorts of trees, he gave it the appearance of a mountainous country. This he did to please his queen, because she had been brought up in Media, and was fond of mountainous scenery."
This is what Berossus says about Nebuchadnezzar, and he relates many other things about him in the third book of his Chaldaean History, in which he censures the Greek writers because they suppose, without any foundation, that Babylon was built by Semiramis, queen of Assyria, and they wrongly claim that those wonderful buildings were created by her. [p49] On this subject, the account in the Chaldaean History must surely be accepted. Moreover, we find confirmation of what Berossus says in the archives of the Phoenicians, concerning this king Nebuchadnezzar, that he conquered all of Syria and Phoenicia. Philostratus is in agreement on these matters in his History, where he mentions the siege of Tyre; as is Megasthenes, in the fourth book of his Indian History, in which he tries to prove that this king of the Babylonians was superior to Heracles in strength and the greatness of his exploits; for he says that he conquered most of Libya and Iberia.
I have said before that the temple at Jerusalem was attacked by the Babylonians, and burnt down by them, but it was restored after Cyrus had taken control of Asia. This is proved by what Berossus adds on the subject; for in his third book he says as follows: "Nebuchadnezzar, after he had begun to build the wall which I mentioned, fell sick and died, when he had reigned forty-three years. His son Evilmerodach became king, but he governed public affairs in an illegal and dishonest manner, and after he had reigned for only two years, Neriglissar, his sister's husband, plotted against him and killed him. After his death, Neriglissar, the man who had plotted against him, succeeded him in the kingdom, and reigned for four years; his son Laborosoarchod obtained the kingdom, though he was but a child, and kept it for nine months; but because of the depraved disposition which he showed, a plot was laid against him also, and he was beaten to death by his friends.
After his death, the conspirators met together, and by common consent entrusted the kingdom to Nabonidus [ Nabonnedus ], a Babylonian who had joined in the plot. In his reign the walls of the city of Babylon were built magnificently with burnt brick and bitumen; but when he had reached the seventeenth year of his reign, Cyrus advanced from Persia with a great army; and having already conquered all the rest of Asia, he marched against Babylonia. [p51] When Nabonidus heard that Cyrus was coming to attack him, he met him with his forces, but was defeated in battle. He fled away with a few of his troops, and was shut up in the city of Borsippa. Cyrus captured Babylon, and gave orders that the outer walls of the city should be demolished, because the city had proved very formidable, and was difficult to capture. He then marched away to Borsippa, to besiege Nabonidus, who immediately surrendered without waiting for a siege. Nabonidus was at first kindly treated by Cyrus, who sent him away from Babylonia and gave him Carmania, as a place to inhabit. Accordingly Nabonidus spent the rest of his time in that country, and there he died."
This account is true, and agrees with our scriptures; for in them it is written that Nebuchadnezzar, in the eighteenth year of his reign, destroyed our temple, and so it lay in ruins for fifty years; but in the second year of the reign of Cyrus its foundations were laid, and it was completed again in the second year of Dareius. I will now add the records of the Phoenicians, because I ought to give the reader abundant proof on this occasion. These records list the lengths of the reigns of their kings as follows:
Ithobal