Figure 1.--James Jacques Joseph Tissot was a noted French artist who painted many Biblical scenes. He entitled this one 'The Flight of the Prisoners' and the Babylonia relocation of the Jewish elite in Jerusalem to Babylon.

With the conquest of Israel the Assyrains extended their influence over the southern kingdom of Judah. The Assyrians never conquered Israel. They faced a new power--the Babylonians. A new empire arose in western Asia with the decline of the Assyrian Empire, The Neo-Babylonian Empire gradually expanded and threatened the Assyrians. Judah as an Assyrian client state fought Babylon. The Jews under their king Josiah were Assyrian allies. The Egyptians who were allied with the Babylonians dispatched troops to assist the Babylonians. Josiah and the Jews at the battle of Megiddo blocked the Egyptian column. The Babylonians even without Egyptian assistance, however, defeated the Assyrians. The Babylonian again became the dominant power in western Asia. Nebuhadnezzar II rebuilt Babylon as the world's most beautiful and advanced city. It was the site of the Hanging Gardens and Tower of Babel. It was Babylon that would conquer Judah and exile the Jewish people.

Second Babylonian Empire: The Chaldeans (606-539 BC)

Second or Neo-Babylonian Empire are commonly called the Chaldeans (606-539 BC). The Babylonians briefly returned to poewer. The Medes and Babylonians (called Chaldeans) defeated the Assyrians (606 BC). This was the second or neo-Babalonian Empire. Nabopolassar rebuilt Babylon as the world's most beautiful and advanced city. It was the site of the Hanging Gardens and Tower of Babel. Some describe this period as Babylon's Golden Age. Babylon continued as the mot powerful state in Mesopotamia under Nabopolassar's son Nebuchadnezzar II. This of course is the poerful king appearing in the Bible. As one historian reports, even while the fortunes of Babylon rose and fell, the city never lost its allure as the greatest metropolis of the ancient world. 【Kriwaczek 】

Babylonian Conquest (598-597 BC)

The Babylonians with the defeat of the Assyrians took over most of Western Asia. Judah without a powerful ally (Eother Assyria or Egypt) could not by itself resist the large Babylonian amies. Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, raised a large force to punish Judah for defecting to the Egyptians (598 BC). When the massive Babylonian Army appeared at walls of Jerusalem, the new king of Judah, Jehoiachin, realizing that resistance was futile, handed the city over to Nebuchadnezzar (597BC). The conquerer than appointed a new king for Judah, Zedekiah. As was the practice of the time, Nebuchadnezzar deported about 10,000 Jews to his capital in Babylon. This was a strategy to weaken resistance to foreign rule by eliminating the cultural elite. The deportees were carefully selected. They were the Jewish elite and drawn from professionals, the wealthy, and craftsmen. The peasant class and other ordinary people were permitted to stay in Judah. The deportation of the Jewiosh elite is now known as the Babylonian Exile. Further resistance and Baylonian actions followed. The Babylonians destroyed Solomon's great Temple, often called the First Temple (586 BC). The great prohets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) wrote pitiful lamentations about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. 【Book of Prophets】 The Jewish Prophets tried to understand why God had forsaken them and allowed pemitted the Babylonians to conquer and exile the Jewish people. They concluded that the Jews had not adequately observed the Law (the Ten Commandments). Essentially the Jewish people had not kept up their side of the Covenant, so God had not kept up his side. Ironically in our modern world, this is the same argument Islamicists use. They claim that the poverty and weakness of the Arab people is due to an inadequate commitment to Islam.

Babylonian Captivity (597-539/516 BC)

The Babylonian Captivity, also referred to as the Babylonian Exile, was a significant period in Jewish history (598/97-539 BC). Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II forcibly exiled conquered Judeans to Babylon (597 BC). It was an important turning point in Jewish history. Further exiles occurred asca result of an uprising (587/86 BC). Historians agree that he exile did not take place at one timem but at several times, primarily as the result of uprisings and that not all Jews were forced to leave their homeland. Dome believe the Babylonian captivity began when the young King Jehoiachin was deposed and sent into exile with his family, his court, and long along with thousands of other Judeans. King Jehoiachin/Jeconiah, also known as Coniah. ruled Judah for only a brief period before being captured by the Babylonians. After years in cruel captivity, Jehoiachin was released by Evil-Merodach, the next king of Babylon. After 37 years, it was a surprisding change. Jehoiachin was granted a position of honor at the Babylonian court. For Jews this was seen a proff that God had not given up on the covenent with the Jewish people. Other scolars believe that the first deportation only began with the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadrezzar (586). The Captivity led to the development of new religious practices, new cultural influences, but the preservation of Jewish identity during exile. The Captivity began with the conquest of Jerusalem and subsequent multiple deportations. It fundamentally altering the course of Jewish history. The Judeans undoubtedly suffered greatly, especially with the treks to ditant foreign lands. Although there is no verified accounts on his. We can look at the 19th century Trail of Tears in America fo the likely conequenes. The forced movemnt in ancient times wwold have surely been much worse. And once settled there would have been compelling cultural pressures in distant, alien lands. Even so, the Jews were allowed to maintain their national and religious identity. And the Jews took advantage of this opportunity. The elders continued to have influence and supervised the communities. Ezekiel was one of several prophets who first kept alive the hope of one day returning home--a faith that would survive in others Jew in other Diasporah communities over nearly three millennia. Jewish scholars believe this was probably the period when the first synagogues appeared. The Captivity Jews observed the Sabbath and religious holidays, practiced circumcision, and substituted prayers for the former ritual sacrifices in the Temple that dominared relgiou practices. There are differences as to the dates. This asffects how long the Jews were held in Babylonian captivity. One tradition accepts a tradition (Jeremiah 29:10) that the exile lasted 70 years. Some date the Captivity to (586 to about 516 BC). Some use the date when the rebuilt Temple was dedicated in Jerusalem (516 BC).

Sources

'Book of Prophets'

Kriwaczek, Paul. Babylon: Mesopotamia abnd the Birth of Civilization (2012).