Fall of Babylon | |||||||||
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Part of the Persian conquest of Babylonia | |||||||||
![]() Cyrus the Great defeating the Babylonian army by John Martin (1831) | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
Cyrus the Great Gobryas |
Nabonidus Belshazzar ![]() | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
Location within modern-day Iraq |
The fall of Babylon was the decisive event that marked the total defeat of the Neo-Babylonian Empire to the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 539 BCE.
Nabonidus, the final Babylonian king and son of the Assyrian priestess Adad-guppi,[4] ascended to the throne in 556 BCE, after overthrowing his predecessor Labashi-Marduk. For long periods, he would entrust rule to his son Belshazzar, a capable soldier, but a poor politician who lost the support of the priesthood and the military class.[5] To the east, the Persians had been growing in strength under the leadership of Cyrus the Great, who soon lead a military expedition to conquer Babylon. In October 539 BCE, after the Battle of Opis, the Persian army triumphantly entered the capital city of Babylon, and Babylonia was incorporated into the Persian empire as a satrapy. As recorded in the Cyrus Cylinder, Cyrus vowed to respect the Babylonian people and also allowed exiled peoples to return to their homelands, most notably including the captives from Judah. He won the loyalty of the Babylonian elite, and was viewed as the legitimate successor of the ancient Babylonian kings.
surprise capture
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