Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Nebuchadnezzar (The Great)

NEBUCHADNEZZAR, or NEBUCHADREZZAR, surnamed The Great, a king of Babylon, the son and successor of the preceding. He immediately entered on a war, by which he extended his empire over the greater part of Asia, and from the Caucasian Mountains in the N. to the Great Desert of Africa in the S. He defeated the Edomites and Ammonites, took Jerusalem, and led the inhabitants captive to Babylon. His vassal king of Judah, Jehoiakim, having revolted, he 13 years later deposed him, and put an end to the kingdom of Judah. He next turned his arms against Tyre, which after an obstinate resistance of more than 12 years, he finally took, and which, with Egypt and Persia, made his empire and power enormous. The celebrated hanging gardens of Babylon, one of the seven wonders of the world, were executed by this monarch, to please his beautiful wife, a Median princess. He died 562 B. C.