Fall of Babylon
| Fall of Babylon | |||||||||
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| Part of the Persian conquest of the Neo-Babylonian Empire | |||||||||
The fall of Babylon; Cyrus the Great defeating the Chaldean (1819) by John Martin | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Persian Empire | Neo-Babylonian Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Cyrus the Great Gobryas |
Nabonidus Belshazzar | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
Babylon Location within modern-day Iraq | |||||||||
The fall of Babylon occurred in 539 BCE, when the Persian Empire conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The success of the Persian campaign, led by Cyrus the Great, brought an end to the reign of the last native dynasty of Mesopotamia and gave the Persians control over the rest of the Fertile Crescent.
Nabonidus, the final Babylonian king and son of the Assyrian priestess Adad-guppi, had ascended to the throne by overthrowing his predecessor Labashi-Marduk in 556. For long periods, he would entrust rule to his son and crown prince Belshazzar, whose poor performance as a politician lost him the support of the priesthood and even the military class, in spite of his capability as a soldier.
To the east, the Persians' political and military power had been growing at a rapid pace under the Achaemenid dynasty, and by 540, Cyrus had initiated an offensive campaign against the Neo-Babylonian Empire. In late 539, the Persian army secured a crucial victory in the Battle of Opis, thereafter triumphantly entering the city of Babylon.