Neo-Babylonian cuneiform tablet recording Nebuchadnezzar's capture of Jerusalem on 2 Adar (March 15/16, 597 BC)
Part of the series of Neo-Babylonian Chronicles covering years 605–594 BC, providing the exact day-by-day imperial record of Nebuchadnezzar II's siege and capture of Jerusalem.
Rigorous 4-part empirical analysis separating ancient text from bias and consensus
Reverse lines 11–13: 'In the seventh year, the month of Kislev, the king of Akkad mustered his troops and marched to the Hattu-land. He encamped against the city of Judah (Al-Yahudu) and on the second day of the month of Adar he captured the city and took the king prisoner. He installed a king of his own choice there, received its heavy tribute, and sent them to Babylon.'
Matches 2 Kings 24:10–17 with mathematical precision: the capture of King Jehoiachin, the installation of Zedekiah ('a king of his own choice'), and the deportation of Jerusalem's elite.
Allows biblical historians to fix the first siege and fall of Jerusalem to the precise astronomical calendar date of March 15/16, 597 BC, anchoring the chronological baseline for Ezekiel and Jeremiah.
Official Babylonian temple archive chronicle recording king's military deeds in neutral, matter-of-fact formulaic style, but omitting domestic rebellions that troubled Nebuchadnezzar in 595 BC.
