Editing Necho II (section)

====First campaign====
In the spring of 609 BC, Necho personally led a sizable force to help the Assyrians. At the head of a large army, consisting mainly of his mercenaries, Necho took the coast route [[Via Maris]] into [[Syria]], supported by his Mediterranean fleet along the shore, and proceeded through the low tracts of Philistia and Sharon. At [[Megiddo (place)|Megiddo]] (according to 2 Kings 23) he engaged the Judean king, [[Josiah]], and had the Judean king killed <ref>Bernd Schipper, 2010, ''Egypt and the Kingdom of Judah under Josiah and Jehoiakim, p. 218''</ref> (an alternative version, in 2 Chronicles 35, of a battle in Megiddo also exists.)

[[Herodotus]] reports the campaign of the pharaoh in his ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]], Book 2:159'':

{{cquote|Necos, then, stopped work on the canal and turned to war; some of his triremes were constructed by the northern sea, and some in the Arabian Gulf ([[Red Sea]]), by the coast of the Sea of Erythrias. The windlasses for beaching the ships can still be seen. He deployed these ships as needed, while he also engaged in a pitched battle at Magdolos with the Syrians, and conquered them; and after this he took Cadytis ([[Kadesh (Syria)|Kadesh]]), which is a great city of Syria. He sent the clothes he had worn in these battles to the [[Didyma|Branchidae]] of Miletus and dedicated them to Apollo.}}

Necho soon captured Kadesh on the Orontes and moved forward, joining forces with Ashur-uballit and together they crossed the Euphrates and laid siege to Harran. Although Necho became the first [[pharaoh]] to cross the Euphrates since [[Thutmose III]], he failed to capture Harran, and retreated back to northern [[Syria]]. At this point, Ashur-uballit vanished from history, and the Assyrian Empire was conquered by the Babylonians.
[[File:Tel megido.JPG|right|thumb| Aerial view of [[Tel Megiddo]] site of the [[battle of Megiddo (609 BC)|battle of Megiddo in 609 BC]].]]

Leaving a sizable force behind, Necho returned to [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]]. On his return march, he found that the Judeans had selected [[Jehoahaz of Judah|Jehoahaz]] to succeed his father Josiah, whom Necho deposed and replaced with [[Jehoiakim]].<ref>II. Chronicles by [[Philip Chapman Barker]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=p84UAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA447 p447]–448</ref> He brought Jehoahaz back to Egypt as his prisoner, where Jehoahaz ended his days (2 Kings 23:31-34; 2 Chronicles 36:1–4).