This new examination of the reign of Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon (605-562 B.C.) includes a revised interpretation of the Babylonian Chronicles of his reign, especially for the years of the campaign against Judah and the capture of Jerusalem. On the basis of textual evidence, the author assesses the character of Nebuchadrezzar as a military and political leader, religious devotee, and legal administrator.

The library of Nimrud, probably established in 798 BC, was a prestigious royal foundation whose scribes had contacts all over the East, particularly with Nineveh. The 259 cuneiform tablets and fragments which constituted the library mainly described magical and medical rituals, prayers and instructions for training scribes. All the epigraphic finds from Sir Max Mallowan's excavations of 1955-7 are described in this volume, with additional material from the Iraq Archaeological Service's excavations of 1985.