Editing Neriglissar (section)

== Reign ==

=== Early activities ===
There are only a small number of cuneiform sources for the period between 594 BC and 557 BC, covering much of the later reign of Nebuchadnezzar as well as the reigns of Amel-Marduk, Neriglissar and Neriglissar's son and successor [[Labashi-Marduk]]. Historical reconstructions of this period as such generally follow secondary sources in Hebrew, Greek and Latin to determine what events transpired at the time, in addition to contract tablets from Babylonia.{{Sfn|Sack|1978|p=129}} The last document dated to the reign of Amel-Marduk is a contract dated to 7 August 560 BC, written in Babylon. Four days later, documents instead dated to Neriglissar are known from both Babylon and Uruk. Judging by increased economic activity attributed to him in the capital, Neriglissar was at Babylon at the time of the usurpation.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=242}}

After becoming king, Neriglissar increased his hold on the throne through marrying his daughter, Gigitum (''Gigītu''), to Nabu-shuma-ukin, the administrator of the [[Ezida]] temple in [[Borsippa]] and an influential religious leader. Not much is otherwise documented from Neriglissar's first two years as king. He is known to have continued construction and repair work on the [[Esagila]], the main temple in Babylon, as well as repaired the royal palace and the eastern bank of the [[Euphrates]] river after its annual flooding.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=242}}

=== Campaign in Anatolia ===
In Neriglissar's third year as king, 557 BC, he led a successful military campaign into [[Anatolia]], an expedition chronicled in contemporary annals (chiefly the 'ABC 6' chronicle).{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=242}} The campaign was in response to rumours that Appuwashu{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=242}} (''Appuašu''),{{Sfn|Lendering|2006|p=}} king of Piriddu{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=242}} or Pirindu,{{Sfn|Lendering|2006|p=}} was planning a raid into Syria. To counter this raid, Neriglissar marched his army into Hume (eastern [[Cilicia]], under Babylonian control ever since the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire). Although Appuwashu, who ruled a portion of territory west of Hume, had prepared ambushes and attacks to halt the Babylonian advance, he was defeated and pursued by Neriglissar for more than {{convert|25|km|mi}} of mountainous terrain along the Cilician coast until he reached his capital, [[Ura, Anatolia|Ura]], which was taken and sacked by Neriglissar.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=242}} Where Ura was located is unclear today, but it must have been somewhere in the vicinity of the modern city [[Silifke]].{{Sfn|Lendering|2006|p=}} After this victory, Neriglissar continued his campaign, marching another 65 kilometres to the north{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=242}} along the [[Göksu]] river{{Sfn|Lendering|2006|p=}} to attack and destroy the city [[Kirshu]] (rebuilt centuries later as [[Claudiopolis (Cilicia)|Claudiopolis]]).{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=242}}

After having taken Kirshu, Neriglissar undertook an amphibious attack against the island Pitusu, two miles off-shore, and then laid waste to the mountain passes that led to the settlement [[Sallune]] at the border of [[Lydia]]. Though Appuwashu escaped Neriglissar's onslaught, the campaign was successful in asserting Babylonian control of Piriddu and turned the small kingdom into a buffer state between the Babylonian, Lydian and [[Medes|Median]] empires.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=242}}

The account of the campaign presented in the ABC 6 chronicle reads:{{Sfn|Lendering|2006|p=}}
{{quote| quote = Appuašu, the king of Pirindu, mustered a large army and set out to plunder and sack Syria. Neriglissar mustered his army and marched to Hume to oppose him.<br>Before his arrival Appuašu placed the army and cavalry which he had organized in a mountain valley ambush. When Neriglissar reached them he inflicted a defeat upon them and conquered the large army. The army and numerous horses he captured. He pursued Appuašu or a distance of fifteen double-hours and marched through difficult mountains, where men must walk in single file, as far as Ura, the royal city.<br>He captured him, seized Ura, and sacked it. When he had marched for a distance of six double hours through rough mountains and difficult passes, from Ura to Kirši – his forefather's royal city – he captured Kirši, the mighty city, his royal metropolis. He burnt its wall, its palace, and its people.<br>Pitusu, a land in the midst of the ocean, and six thousand combat troops who were stationed in it he captured by means of boats. He destroyed their city and captured their people.<br>In that same year from the pass of Sallune to the border of Lydia he started fires. Appuašu fled, so he did not capture him.{{Sfn|Lendering|2006|p=}}|author=|title=|source=}}

In February 556 BC, Neriglissar turned home, a journey which probably would have taken him about fifty days. That his campaign had been conducted so far from Babylonia's core territory could mean that he was aided by the Median Empire, or that the campaign was partially intended to counteract the growing influence of the Medes in Anatolia.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=242}}

=== Death and succession ===
Neriglissar did not rule for long. The last known documents dated to Neriglissar's reign are a contract from 12 April 556 BC at Babylon and a contract from 16 April that same year at Uruk.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=243}} The Uruk King List (IM 65066, also known as King List 5), a record of rulers of Babylon from [[Shamash-shum-ukin]] ({{Reign}}668–648 BC) to the [[Seleucid Empire|Seleucid]] king [[Seleucus II Callinicus]] ({{Reign}}246–225 BC),{{sfn|Oppenheim|1985|p=533}}{{sfn|Lendering|2005}} accords Neriglissar a reign of three years and eight months, consistent with the possibility that Neriglissar died in April.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=243}}

Berossus writes that Neriglissar ruled four years before dying and being succeeded by his son Laborosoardokhos (Labashi-Marduk). Berossus erroneously gives Labashi-Marduk's reign as nine months (though it is possible that this is a scribal error) and states that Labashi-Marduk's "evil ways" led to his friends plotting against him, eventually resulting in the child king being beaten to death. The plotters then agreed that Nabonnedos ([[Nabonidus]]), one of the plotters, should rule.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|2006|p=139}} The Uruk King List only gives Labashi-Marduk a reign of three months{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=243}} and contract tablets from Babylonia suggest that he might have ruled as briefly as just two months.{{Sfn|Beaulieu|2006|p=139}} Although Berossus refers to Labashi-Marduk as a child, it possible that he became king as an adult since commercial texts from two years earlier indicate that Labashi-Marduk was in charge of his own affairs at that time.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=243}}

Why Labashi-Marduk was deposed and killed in a coup (led by Nabonidus's son, [[Belshazzar]]) is unclear. It is possible that the reason was that although Labashi-Marduk and his father before him were well-connected and rich, they were ultimately seen as commoners, lacking noble blood.{{Sfn|Lendering|2006|p=}} Additionally, it is possible that while Neriglissar was seen as legitimate due to his connection to Nebuchadnezzar through his wife, Labashi-Marduk might have been the son of another wife of Neriglissar and thus completely unconnected to the royal dynasty.{{Sfn|Gruenthaner|1949|p=409}} Despite this, and despite his brief reign, Neriglissar was remembered favourably by later Babylonians. In his inscriptions, Nabonidus specifically mentions Nebuchadnezzar and Neriglissar as good kings with whom he had been associated.{{Sfn|Wiseman|1991|p=243}}