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====Nebuchadnezzar II’s Expansion of the Neo-Babylonian Empire ====
[[File: Nabuchodonosar_II.jpeg|250px|thumbnail|left|Statue of a Neo-Babylonian King Believed to Be Nebuchadnezzar II]]
Not long after Nebuchadnezzar II became the king, he marched with his army back into the Levant to assert Babylonian supremacy in the region. According to the primary text known as the “Babylonian Chronicle,” the campaign was done for punitive reasons and a show of strength to any city thinking of either going to Egypt to support or assert their independence.
After Jehoiakim died in 597 BC, his son, Jehoiachin, became the king of Judah at age eighteen. According to II Kings 24:10-16, Jehoiachin and thousands of other Judeans were taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar II. The precise reason why Jehoiachin was removed is never clarified, but the event is corroborated in Babylonian chronicles.
“Year seven, month Kislimu: The king of Akkad moved his army into Hatti land, laid siege to the city of Judah, and the king took the city on the second day of the month Addaru. He appointed in it a (new) king of his liking, took heavy booty from it, and brought it into Babylon.” <ref> Pritchard, James B, ed. <i>Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament.</i> 3rd ed. (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1992), p. 564</ref>
====How did Nebuchadnezzar impact Judah (modern-day Israel)====
