Part of the Babylonian Chronicle

The Babylonian Chronicle records events in ancient Babylon dating from about 750 BC to 280 BC. This tablet is part of that chronicle and records events from 605-594 BC including  Nebuchadnezzar II's campaigns in the west, where Jerusalem is. It also records the defeat of the Assyrians and the fall of the Assyrian Empire and the rising threat of Egypt. It records the Battle of Carchemish where Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon defeated Pharaoh Necho of Egypt in 605 BC. It records Nebuchadnezzar's rise to power, it records the removing of Jehoiachin, king of Judah and inserting Zedekiah as king in his place, as recorded in Scripture, and it records the capture of Jerusalem on the 16th of March, 598 BC. The discovery of this part of the Babylonian Chronicle is important in the study of Biblical Archaeology because it contains several events mentioned in the Bible that are in harmony with one another.

"And in the fifth month, on the seventh day of the month, which is the nineteenth year of king Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, came Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, a servant of the king of Babylon, unto Jerusalem: And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all the houses of Jerusalem, and every great man's house burnt he with fire." 2 Kings 25:8

Material - Cuneiform Clay Tablet 
Neo-Babylonian
Date: 550-400 BC
Length: 8.25 cm 
Width: 6.19 cm 
Depth: 
Babylon, southern Iraq
Excavated by: Robert Koldeway 1899-1914
Location: British Museum, London
Item: ANE 21946
Room: 55, Later Mesopotamia, case 15, no. 24

British Museum Excerpt

Cuneiform tablet with part of the Babylonian Chronicle (605-594 BC)

Nebuchadnezzar II's campaigns in the west

This tablet is one of a series that summarizes the principal events of each year from 747 BC to at least 280 BC. Each entry is separated by a horizontal line and begins with a reference to the year of reign of the king in question.

Following the defeat of the Assyrians (as described in the Chronicle for 616-609 BC), the Egyptians became the greatest threat to the Babylonians. In 605 Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian crown prince, replaced his father Nabopolassar as commander-in-chief and led the army up the Euphrates to the city of Charchemish. There he defeated the Egyptians. Later that year Nabopolassar died and Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon to be crowned. Over the next few years he kept his control over Syria and extended it into Palestine. In 601 BC he marched to Egypt, but withdrew on meeting the Egyptian army. After re-equipping his army, Nebuchadnezzar marched to Syria in 599 BC. He marched westwards again, in December 598 BC, as Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, had ceased to pay tribute. Nebuchadnezzar's army besieged Jerusalem and captured it on 15/16th March 597 BC. The new king of Judah, Jehoiachin, was captured and carried off to Babylon. A series of expeditions to Syria brings this Chronicle to an end in 594 BC. 

The British Museum