Musallam Al-Rawahneh
Abstract
The figure of Nebuchadnezzar II continues to fascinate scholars precisely because of the striking contradictions in how different sources remember him. While Babylonian records celebrate ...
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The figure of Nebuchadnezzar II continues to fascinate scholars precisely because of the striking contradictions in how different sources remember him. While Babylonian records celebrate a pious king and master builder, biblical texts cast him alternately as God’s instrument of judgment and a symbol of tyrannical pride. This study aims to unravel these competing narratives, examining how the trauma of exile has shaped Jewish memory and how theological concerns have influenced historical accounts. Rather than simply cataloging different perspectives, I argue that understanding Nebuchadnezzar requires recognizing how the Babylonian exile became a defining moment that fundamentally transformed Jewish identity. The destruction of the First Temple was not merely a political catastrophe—it forced an entire people to reimagine their relationship with the divine. The figure of Nebuchadnezzar, whether depicted as a divine agent or an arrogant tyrant, served the needs of different communities to make sense of this upheaval. Through careful analysis of Babylonian administrative records, biblical literature, and the later Islamic sources, this research reveals how historical memory gets constructed and reconstructed across cultures. The supposed “religious conversion” of Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel, I contend, tells us more about the theological struggles of the exiled Jews than about any genuine spiritual transformation of the Babylonian king.
