Nebuchadnezzar II, also spelled Nebuchadrezzar II was the eldest son and successor of Nabopolassar, founder of the Chaldean empire. His strategic planning appeared in his attack on the Arab tribes of northwestern Arabia, in preparation for the occupation of Judah. He later attacked Judah and captured Jerusalem, deporting King Jehoiachin to Babylon.
After a further brief Syrian campaign, Nebuchadnezzar had to act in eastern Babylonia to repel a threatened invasion, probably from Elam. Tensions in Babylonia were revealed by a rebellion involving elements of the army, but he was able to put this down decisively enough to undertake two further campaigns in Syria.
Nebuchadnezzar’s further military activities are known for another attack on Jerusalem and a siege of Tyre and hints at an invasion of Egypt. The siege of Jerusalem ended in the deportation of prominent citizens. In this respect, he followed the methods of his Assyrian predecessors.
Much influenced by the Assyrian imperial tradition, Nebuchadnezzar consciously pursued a policy of expansion, claiming the grant of universal kingship by Marduk and praying to have “no opponent from horizon to sky.”