Neo-Babylonian Empire

The Neo-Babylonian Empire ruled from 626 to 539 BC, founded when Nabopolassar was crowned King of Babylon in November 626 BC after Babylon's successful revolt against Assyrian rule. Governed from the city of Babylon, it inherited much of the territory of the defeated Neo-Assyrian Empire and at its greatest extent, around 562 BC, covered approximately 500,000 square kilometers across Mesopotamia and the Levant, making it the last independent Mesopotamian empire ruled by native monarchs. Its golden age came under Nebuchadnezzar II, whose 43-year reign from 605 to 562 BC produced massive building projects in Babylon, including the Ishtar Gate and the Processional Street, alongside significant economic and population growth. The empire fell in 539 BC when the Achaemenid Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great diverted the Euphrates River and entered Babylon without battle, and King Nabonidus surrendered; Babylon never successfully restored its independence despite five later revolts against Persian rule.