Nabopolassar (Akkadisch:Nabû-apal-usur) was de eerste koning (626-605 v.Chr.) van het Neo-Babylonische rijk.
Hij kwam (626 v.Chr.)in opstand tegen het Assyrische rijk (dat al 200 jaar over Babylon had geregeerd), nadat de laatste echt machtige Assyrische koning, Assurbanipal, was gestorven in 627 v.Chr.
De verzwakte Assyriërs konden de macht van de Babyloniërs en de Meden, die zich met elkaar hadden verbonden, niet weerstaan. De Assyrische hoofdstad Ninive werd geplunderd in 612 v.Chr.. Nabopolassar werd het gezag over Nineve toevertrouwd en deze vernietigde wat restte van het Assyrische rijk in 609 v.Chr.
Nabopolassar voerde vervolgens oorlog tegen Egypte van 610 tot 605 v.Chr.. Kort voor zijn dood behaalde zijn zoon Nebukadnezar een beslissende zege in de Slag bij Karkemish (605 v.Chr.). Het was dan ook deze zoon die hem als Nebukadnezar II opvolgde als koning van Babylon.
Nabopolassar (play /?næb?p?'læs?r/; Akkadian: Nebû-apal-usur; c. 658 BC 605 BC) was the king of the Babylonia and played a key role in the demise of the Assyrian Empire following the death of the last powerful Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal.[1] He ruled over Babylon for twenty years (625605 BC).
Military campaigns
Nabopolassar revolted against the Assyrian Empire (which had ruled Babylon for the previous 200 years) after the death of the last effective Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, some time between 631 BC and 627 BC. He then took on the title of King of Babylonia.
Assyria, weakened by internal strife and ineffectual rule following the death of Ashurbanipal, was unable to resist the alliance of the Chaldeans and Medes, who combined to sack the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 612 BC. Following a prolonged siege at the Battle of Nineveh, Nabopolassar took control of Nineveh. In 609 BC, Nabopolassar took the Assyrian city of Harran, where Assyrian forces had retreated after the fall of Nineveh.
From 610 BC until his death, Nabopolassar also waged war against Egypt, which was allied with Assyria. In 605 BC, his son Nebuchadnezzar fought Pharaoh Necho II of Egypt and the remnants of the Assyrian army at the Battle of Carchemish, shortly before Nabopolassar died.
Later years
Once his forces had defeated the Assyrians and their Egyptian allies, Nabopolassar gave up the throne in favour of his son, Nebuchadnezzar II. Within months of his abdication in 605 BC, Nabopolassar died of natural causes at about 53 years of age.
He is married to Shuadamqa van Assyrië.
They got marriedSource 3
Child(ren):