Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle

Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle
Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle
	The cuneiform inscription on this clay tablet highlights the conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar II and the surrender of Jehoiachin (Jeconiah), king of Judah, in 597 BC. From Babylon, Iraq
Material	Clay
Created	c. 595 BC
Discovered	1896
Present location	London, England, United Kingdom

The Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle, also known as Jerusalem Chronicle,^[1] is one of the series of Babylonian Chronicles, and contains a description of the first eleven years of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II. The tablet details Nebuchadnezzar's military campaigns in the west and has been interpreted to refer to both the Battle of Carchemish and the Siege of Jerusalem (597 BC). The tablet is numbered ABC5 in Grayson's standard text and BM 21946 in the British Museum.

It is one of two identified Chronicles referring to Nebuchadnezzar, and does not cover the whole of his reign. The ABC5 is a continuation of Babylonian Chronicle ABC4 (The Late Years of Nabopolassar), where Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned as the Crown Prince.^[2] Since the ABC 5 only provides a record through Nebuchadnezzar's eleventh year,^[3] the subsequent destruction and exile recorded in the Hebrew Bible to have taken place ten years later are not covered in the chronicles or elsewhere in the archaeological record.^[4]

As with most other Babylonian Chronicles, the tablet is unprovenanced, having been purchased in 1896^[5] via an antiquities dealer from an unknown excavation.^[6] It was first published 60 years later in 1956 by Donald Wiseman.^[7]

^ Lendering, Jona. "ABC 5 (Jerusalem Chronicle)". Livius.org. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
^ Lendering, Jona. "ABC 4 ( Late Years of Nabopolassar)". Livius.org. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
^ Lendering, Jona. "ABC 5 (Jerusalem Chronicle)".
^ Lemche, in Grabbe, p216; quote: "It is so easy to forget that 587 BCE is exclusively a biblical date. That the one of 597 BCE is confirmed by external sources does not prove that 597 BCE really took place. It is probably likely that something like 587 BCE happened, but it cannot be proven. The presence of members of the Judaean royal family at the Babylonian court in Neo-Babylonian times does not presuppose the destruction of 587 BCE not even according to the Old Testament-it only presupposes the abduction of Jehoiachin in 597 BCE"
^ Acquisition number 96-4-9, 51
^ Waerzeggers, Caroline (March 26, 2012). "The Babylonian Chronicles: Classification and Provenance". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 71 (2): 285–298. doi:10.1086/666831. S2CID 162396743 – via www.academia.edu.
^ "Wiseman, 1956, pages 1+2".

[1] Lendering, Jona. "ABC 5 (Jerusalem Chronicle)". Livius.org. Retrieved May 31, 2017.

[2] Lendering, Jona. "ABC 4 ( Late Years of Nabopolassar)". Livius.org. Retrieved May 31, 2017.

[3] Lendering, Jona. "ABC 5 (Jerusalem Chronicle)".

[Lemche-4] Lemche, in Grabbe, p216; quote: "It is so easy to forget that 587 BCE is exclusively a biblical date. That the one of 597 BCE is confirmed by external sources does not prove that 597 BCE really took place. It is probably likely that something like 587 BCE happened, but it cannot be proven. The presence of members of the Judaean royal family at the Babylonian court in Neo-Babylonian times does not presuppose the destruction of 587 BCE not even according to the Old Testament-it only presupposes the abduction of Jehoiachin in 597 BCE"

[5] Acquisition number 96-4-9, 51

[waerzeggers-6] Waerzeggers, Caroline (March 26, 2012). "The Babylonian Chronicles: Classification and Provenance". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 71 (2): 285–298. doi:10.1086/666831. S2CID 162396743 – via www.academia.edu.

[7] "Wiseman, 1956, pages 1+2".

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