Nebuchadnezzar (governor of Uruk)

Nebuchadnezzar (Babylonian cuneiform: Nabû-kudurri-uṣur,[1] meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir"),[2] also spelled Nebuchadrezzar,[2] and most commonly known under the nickname Kudurru, was a governor of the city Uruk in Babylonia under the rule of Ashurbanipal (r. 669–631 BC) of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, appointed after the defeat of Shamash-shum-ukin of Babylon, Ashurbanipal's brother who had rebelled against Assyria, c.  648 BC. He was likely the son of the high priest Nabonassar.[3]

In the reign of Ashurbanipal's son Sinsharishkun (r. 627–612 BC), the grave of Nebuchadnezzar was desecrated, with the perpetrators going so far as dragging his body through the streets of Uruk. This was done as a response to the anti-Assyrian activities of his two sons. In 2007, Assyriologist Michael Jursa identified Nebuchadnezzar as the father of Nabopolassar, the founder of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, who rebelled against Sinsharishkun in 626 BC (this being the anti-Assyrian activities). If Nabopolassar was his son, Nabopolassar would go on to name his own son, Nebuchadnezzar II, after his father.[3]

  1. ^ Sack, Ronald H. (2004). Images of Nebuchadnezzar: The Emergence of a Legend (2nd Revised and Expanded ed.). Selinsgrove: Susquehanna University Press. ISBN 1-57591-079-9.
  2. ^ a b Saggs, Henry W. F. (1998). "Nebuchadnezzar II". Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b Jursa, Michael (2007). "Die Söhne Kudurrus und die Herkunft der neubabylonischen Dynastie" [The Sons of Kudurru and the Origins of the New Babylonian Dynasty]. Revue d'assyriologie et d'archéologie orientale (in German). 101 (1): 125–136. doi:10.3917/assy.101.0125.