View source for Chaldea

{{Short description|Small Semitic nation of ancient Mesopotamia}}
{{Distinguish|Chaldia|Chaldean Catholic Church}}
{{redirect|Ancient Chaldeans|other uses|Chaldeans (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
[[File:Babylonie chaldeens.svg|thumb|350px|The Chaldean tribes in Babylonia during the 1st millennium BC.]]

'''Chaldea''' ({{IPAc-en|k|æ|l|ˈ|d|iː|ə}}) refers to a region probably located in the marshy land of southern [[Mesopotamia]]. It is mentioned, with varying meaning, in [[Neo-Assyrian]] cuneiform, the [[Hebrew Bible]], and in classical Greek texts. The [[Hebrew Bible]] uses the term {{lang|he|כשדים}} (''Kaśdim'') and this is translated as ''Chaldaeans'' in the [[Greek Old Testament]].

During a period of weakness in the [[East Semitic languages|East Semitic]]-speaking kingdom of Babylonia, new tribes of [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]]-speaking migrants<ref>Nordhoff, Sebastian; Hammarström, Harald; Forkel, Robert; Haspelmath, Martin, eds. (2013). "West Semitic". Glottolog 2.2. Leipzig: Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.</ref> arrived in the region from [[the Levant]] between the 11th and 9th centuries BC. The earliest waves consisted of [[Suteans]] and [[Arameans]], followed a century or so later by the Kaldu, a group who became known later as the Chaldeans or the Chaldees. These migrations did not affect the powerful kingdom and empire of [[Assyria]] in [[Upper Mesopotamia]], which repelled these incursions.

These nomadic Chaldeans settled in the far southeastern portion of Babylonia, chiefly on the left bank of the [[Euphrates]]. Though for a short time the name commonly referred to the whole of southern Mesopotamia in Hebraic literature, this was a geographical and historical misnomer as Chaldea proper was in fact only the plain in the far southeast formed by the deposits of the [[Euphrates]] and the [[Tigris]], extending about {{convert|400|mi|km|order=flip}} along the course of these rivers and averaging about {{convert|100|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} in width.
{{anchor|Etymology|Names}} There were several kings of Chaldean origins who ruled Babylonia.<ref name=Beaulieu>{{Cite book|last=Beaulieu|first=Paul-Alain|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yMhQDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Dynasty+of+E%22|title=A History of Babylon, 2200 BC – AD 75|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|year=2018|isbn=978-1405188999|location=Hoboken}}</ref>{{rp|178}} From 626 BC to 539 BC, a ruling dynasty in later times referred to as the "[[Chaldean dynasty]]", named after their possible Chaldean origin,{{r|Beaulieu|p=4}} ruled the kingdom at its height under the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], although the final ruler of this empire, [[Nabonidus]] (556–539 BC) (and his son and regent [[Belshazzar]]) was a usurper of [[Assyrian people|Assyrian]] ancestry.

Despite the similarity in name, Chaldea is not to be confused with the modern [[Chaldean Catholic Church]] or its adherents, who are predominantly ethnic [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]]. Members of the Assyrian community have noted that [[Mandaeans]] hold a stronger connection to the region, while the theory of Chaldean origin arose around the time of a rise of Chaldean nationalism within the Assyrian community.<ref>{{cite web |last=Kasha |first=Jibrail |date=2021 |title=The Mandaeans: The Legitimate Heirs of the Chaldean Heritage |url=https://www.academia.edu/46899363/The_Mandaeans_The_Legitimate_Heirs_of_the_Chaldean_Heritage#:~:text=The%20Mandaeans%20are%20a%20small,traditionally%20been%20gold%2D%20and%20silversmiths. |website=academia.edu |location= |publisher= |access-date=12 February 2025}}</ref>

==Name==
The name ''Chaldaea'' is a [[Latinisation of names|latinization]] of the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] ''{{transliteration|grc|Khaldaía}}'' ({{lang|grc|Χαλδαία}}), a [[hellenization]] of [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] ''{{transliteration|akk|māt Kaldu}}'' or ''{{transliteration|akk|Kašdu}}'', suggesting an underlying /kaɬdu/.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vlaardingerbroek |first1=H.M. |title=Mesopotamia in Greek and Biblical Perceptions: Idiosyncrasies and Distortions |date=2014 |url=https://research.vu.nl/ws/portalfiles/portal/42132706/hoofdstuk+2.+Assyrians%2C+Babylonians%2C+Chaldeans.pdf |access-date=15 December 2021}}</ref> The term ''Chaldea'' appears in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] in the [[Bible]] as ''{{transliteration|he|Kaśdim}}'' ({{lang|he|כַּשְׂדִּים}}),{{sfn|McCurdy|Rogers|1902|pp=661–662}} while ''Chaldeans'' are Hebrew ''{{transliteration|he|Kaśdim}}'' ({{lang|he|כַּשְׂדִּים}}) and [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] ''{{transliteration|arc|Kaśdā'in|}}'' ({{lang|he|כַּשְׂדָּאִין}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7i4AwAAQBAJ&pg=PA78 |title=Daniel: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture |date=1994-08-31 |publisher=B&H Publishing Group |isbn=978-1-4336-7559-1 |pages=78 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Strong |first=James |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ts1NgCRJY8cC&pg=PA1518 |title=Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible |date=2009 |publisher=Hendrickson Publishers |isbn=978-1-59856-378-8 |pages=1518 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last1=FREEDMAN |first1=ed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P9sYIRXZZ2MC&pg=PA230 |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |last2=Freedman |first2=David Noel |date=2000 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-2400-4 |pages=230 |language=en}}</ref>

[[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 22:22 lists ''Kesed'' (כֶּשֶׂד, reconstructed /kaɬd/<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gzella |first=Holger |title=Ancient Hebrew |url=https://www.academia.edu/28343250}}</ref>), perhaps a singular form of ''Kasdim'', as son of [[Abraham]]'s brother [[Nahor, son of Terah|Nahor]] (and brother of Kemuel the father of Aram), residing in [[Aram Naharaim]]. [[Jubilees]] 11:7 claims that "Ur son of Kesed built the city of Ur-Kasdim, and he named it after himself and his father". 

Jewish historian [[Josephus|Flavius Josephus]] (37–{{Circa|100}}) links [[Arpachshad]] and Chaldaea in his ''[[Antiquities of the Jews]]'': "Arphaxad named the Arphaxadites, who are now called Chaldeans."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0146:book=1:section=143&highlight=chaldeans|title=Antiquities of the Jews|last=Josephus|first=Flavius |pages=Book 1, section 143}}</ref> [[Umberto Cassuto]] suggests that the name "Arpachshad" (ארפכשד) may be compounded from [[Kirkuk|Arapcha]]-Kesed.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cassuto on Genesis, From Noah to Abraham 10:22:4 |url=https://www.sefaria.org/Cassuto_on_Genesis,_From_Noah_to_Abraham.10.22.4 |access-date=2024-12-16 |website=www.sefaria.org}}</ref>

==Land==
[[File:Chaldea - Map - Chaldea and Neighboring Countries.png|thumb|Chaldea and neighboring countries]]In the early period, between the early 9th century and late 7th century BC, ''mat Kaldi'' was the name of a small sporadically independent migrant-founded territory under the domination of the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] (911–605 BC) in southeastern Babylonia, extending to the western shores of the [[Persian Gulf]].{{sfn|McCurdy|Rogers|1902|pp=661–662}}

The expression '' mat Bit Yâkin'' is also used, apparently synonymously. ''Bit Yâkin'' was the name of the largest and most powerful of the five tribes of the Chaldeans, or equivalently, their territory.<ref>''bit'' is the "house of" tribal denominator, ''Yâkin'' (''Ia-kin'') is presumably the name of a king of the Arabian Sealand. Sargon mentions ''Yakini'' as the name of the [[Marduk-Baladan]]'s father. G. W. Bromiley (ed.), ''The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia'' (1995), [https://books.google.com/books?id=Zkla5Gl_66oC&pg=PA325  p. 325].</ref>
The original extension of ''Bit Yâkin'' is not known precisely, but it extended from the lower Tigris into the [[Arabian Peninsula]]. [[Sargon II]] mentions it as extending as far as [[Dilmun]] or "sea-land" (littoral Eastern Arabia).<ref>Raymond Philip Dougherty, ''The Sealand of Ancient Arabia'', Yale University Press, 1932, 66ff.</ref> "Chaldea" or ''mat Kaldi'' generally referred to the low, marshy, alluvial land around the estuaries of the Tigris and Euphrates,<ref>{{Cite book |last1=FREEDMAN |first1=ed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P9sYIRXZZ2MC&pg=PA229 |title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible |last2=Freedman |first2=David Noel |date=2000 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-2400-4 |pages=229 |language=en}}</ref> which at the time discharged their waters through separate mouths into the sea.

The tribal capital ''Dur Yâkin'' was the original seat of [[Marduk-Baladan]].<ref>Trevor Bryce, ''The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Ancient Western Asia: From the Early Bronze Age to the Fall of the Persian Empire'' (2009), [https://books.google.com/books?id=QD9GrxiILH8C&pg=PA130  p. 130].</ref>

The king of Chaldea was also called the king of Bit Yakin, just as the kings of Babylonia and Assyria were regularly styled simply king of [[Babylon]] or [[Assur]], the capital city in each case. In the same way, what is now known as the Persian Gulf was sometimes called "the Sea of Bit Yakin", and sometimes "the Sea of the Land of Chaldea".

"Chaldea" came to be used in a wider sense, of Southern Mesopotamia in general, following the brief ascendancy of the Chaldeans during 608–557 BC. This is especially the case in the [[Hebrew Bible]], which was substantially composed during this period (roughly corresponding to the period of [[Babylonian captivity]]). The [[Book of Jeremiah]] makes frequent reference to the Chaldeans ([[King James Version]] ''Chaldees'' following [[Septuagint|LXX]] {{lang|grc|Χαλδαίοι}}; in [[Biblical Hebrew]] as ''Kasdîm'' {{lang|he|כַּשְׂדִּים}}). 
[[Book of Habakkuk]] 1:6 calls them  "that bitter and hasty nation" ({{lang|he|הַגֹּוי הַמַּר וְהַנִּמְהָר}}). [[Book of Isaiah]] 23:13 [[Douay–Rheims Bible|DRB]] states, “Behold the land of the Chaldeans, there was not such a people, the [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] founded it: they have led away the strong ones thereof into captivity, they have destroyed the houses thereof, they have brought it to ruin.”

==Ancient Chaldeans==
Unlike the [[East Semitic languages|East Semitic]] [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]]-speaking [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadians]], [[Assyria]]ns and [[Babylonians]], whose ancestors had been established in Mesopotamia since at least the 30th century BC, the Chaldeans were not a native Mesopotamian people, but were late 10th- or early 9th-century BC [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]] [[Levant]]ine migrants to the southeastern corner of the region, who had played no part in the previous three millennia  of Sumero-Akkadian and Assyro-Babylonian [[Mesopotamian civilization]] and history.<ref>A. Leo Oppenheim – Ancient Mesopotamia</ref>{{sfn|Roux|1992|p=}}{{page needed|date=August 2022}}

The ancient Chaldeans seem to have migrated into Mesopotamia sometime between c. 940 and 860 BC, a century or so after other new [[ancient Semitic-speaking peoples|Semitic arrivals]], the [[Arameans]] and the [[Suteans]], appeared in Babylonia, c. 1100 BC. According to Ran Zadok, they first appear in [[Recorded history|written record]] in cylinder inscriptions of the King of [[Mari, Syria|Mari]] Aššur-ketta-lēšir II (late 12th-early 11th century BC), which record them reaching Mesopotamia as early as the 11th century BC.{{sfn|Zadok|2017|p=333}} They later appear in the annals of the Assyrian king [[Shalmaneser III]] during the 850s BC. This was a period of weakness in Babylonia, and its ineffectual native kings were unable to prevent new waves of semi-nomadic foreign peoples from invading and settling in the land.<ref>A. Leo Oppenheim, ''Ancient Mesopotamia''</ref>

Though belonging to the same West Semitic speaking ethnic group and migrating from the same Levantine regions as the earlier arriving Aramaeans, they are to be differentiated; the Assyrian king [[Sennacherib]], for example, carefully distinguishes them in his inscriptions.

The Chaldeans were for a time able to keep their identity despite the dominant native Assyro-Babylonian (Sumero-Akkadian-derived) culture although, as was the case for the earlier [[Amorites]], [[Kassites]] and [[Suteans]] before them, by the time [[Fall of Babylon|Babylon fell]] in 539 BC, perhaps before, the Chaldeans ceased to exist as a specific [[ethnic group]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boldt |first=Andreas |title=Historical Mechanisms: An Experimental Approach to Applying Scientific Theories to the Study of History |publisher=Taylor & Francis |year=2017 |isbn=9781351816489 |pages=154}}</ref>

In the [[Hebrew Bible]], "[[Ur of the Chaldees]]" ([[Ur Kaśdim]]) is cited as the starting point of the patriarch [[Abraham|Abraham's]] journey to [[Canaan]].

===Language===
Ancient Chaldeans probably spoke a [[West Semitic languages|West Semitic]] language similar to [[Old Aramaic]].{{sfn|Vanderhooft|2017|p=173}} 

During the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]], [[Imperial Aramaic]] became the [[lingua franca]] of the empire under the rule of the [[Assyria|Assyrian]] king [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] in the mid-8th century BC. As a result, in late periods both the Babylonian and Assyrian dialects of [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] became marginalized, and Aramaic took its place across Mesopotamia, including among the Chaldeans, and later, also the [[southern Levant]]. One form of this once widespread Aramaic language was used in some books of the [[Hebrew Bible]] (the [[Book of Daniel]] and the [[Book of Ezra]]). The use of the name "Chaldean" (Chaldaic, Chaldee) to describe it, first introduced by [[Jerome of Stridon]] (d. 420),{{sfn|Gallagher|2012|p=123-141}} became common in early [[Aramaic studies]], but that [[Chaldean language (misnomer)|misnomer]] was later corrected, when modern scholars concluded that the [[Biblical Aramaic|Aramaic dialect]] used in the Hebrew Bible was not closely related to the ancient Chaldean language.{{sfn|Nöldeke|1871|p=113-131}}

==History==
{{Further|Neo-Babylonian Empire}}
[[File:East-Hem 1000bc.jpg|thumb|260px|Eurasia around 1000 BC, showing [[Babylonia|Babylon]], [[Assyria]], [[Aram (region)|Aramean states]] and their neighbors]]
The region that the Chaldeans eventually made their homeland was in relatively poor southeastern Mesopotamia, at the head of the Persian Gulf. They appear to have migrated into southern [[Babylonia]] from the Levant at some unknown point between the end of the reign of [[Ninurta-kudurri-usur II]] (a contemporary of [[Tiglath-Pileser II]]) circa 940 BC, and the start of the reign of [[Marduk-zakir-shumi I]] in 855 BC, although there is no historical proof of their existence prior to the late 850s BC.{{sfn|Roux|1992|p=298}}

For perhaps a century or so after settling in the area, these semi-nomadic migrant Chaldean tribes had no impact on the pages of history, seemingly remaining subjugated by the native [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] speaking kings of Babylon or by perhaps regionally influential Aramean tribes. The main players in southern Mesopotamia during this period were Babylonia and Assyria, together with [[Elam]] to the east and the [[Arameans|Aramaeans]], who had already settled in the region a century or so prior to the arrival of the Chaldeans.

The very first written historical attestation of the existence of Chaldeans occurs in 852 BC,<ref>A. K. Grayson (1996). Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC II (858–745 B.C.) (RIMA 3). Toronto University Press. pp. 31, 26–28. iv 6</ref> in the annals of the Assyrian king [[Shalmaneser III]], who mentions invading the southeastern extremes of Babylonia and subjugating one [[Mushallim-Marduk]], the chief of the [[Amukani]] tribe and overall leader of the Kaldu tribes,<ref>Door fitting from the [[Balawat]] Gates, BM 124660.</ref> together with capturing the town of [[Baqani]], extracting tribute from [[Adini]], chief of the [[Bet-Dakkuri]], another Chaldean tribe.

Shalmaneser III had invaded Babylonia at the request of its own king, [[Marduk-zakir-shumi I]], who, being threatened by his own rebellious relations, together with powerful Aramean tribes pleaded with the more powerful Assyrian king for help. The subjugation of the Chaldean tribes by the Assyrian king appears to have been an aside, as they were not at that time a powerful force or a threat to the native Babylonian king.

Important Kaldu tribes and their regions in southeastern Babylonia were [[Bit-Yâkin]] (the original area the Chaldeans settled in on the Persian Gulf), [[Bet-Dakuri]], [[Bet-Adini]], [[Bit-Amukkani|Bet-Amukkani]], and [[Bet-Shilani]].<ref name=":0" />

Chaldean leaders had by this time already adopted Assyro-Babylonian names, religion, language, and customs, indicating that they had become Akkadianized to a great degree.

The Chaldeans remained quietly ruled by the native Babylonians (who were in turn subjugated by their Assyrian relations) for the next seventy-two years, only coming to historical prominence for the first time in Babylonia in 780 BC, when a previously unknown Chaldean named [[Marduk-apla-usur]] usurped the throne from the native Babylonian king [[Marduk-bel-zeri]] (790–780 BC). The latter was a vassal of the Assyrian king [[Shalmaneser IV]] (783–773 BC), who was otherwise occupied quelling a civil war in Assyria at the time.

This was to set a precedent for all future Chaldean aspirations on Babylon during the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]; always too weak to confront a strong Assyria alone and directly, the Chaldeans awaited periods when Assyrian kings were distracted elsewhere in their vast empire, or engaged in internal conflicts, then, in alliance with other powers stronger than themselves (usually [[Elam]]), they made a bid for control over Babylonia.

Shalmaneser IV attacked and defeated Marduk-apla-user, retaking northern Babylonia and forcing on him a border treaty in Assyria's favour. The Assyrians allowed him to remain on the throne, although subject to Assyria. [[Eriba-Marduk]], another Chaldean, succeeded him in 769 BC and his son, [[Nabu-shuma-ishkun]] in 761 BC, with both being dominated by the new Assyrian king [[Ashur-Dan III]] (772–755 BC). Babylonia appears to have been in a state of chaos during this time, with the north occupied by Assyria, its throne occupied by foreign Chaldeans, and continual civil unrest throughout the land.

The Chaldean rule proved short-lived. A native Babylonian king named [[Nabonassar]] (748–734 BC) defeated and overthrew the Chaldean usurpers in 748 BC, restored indigenous rule, and successfully stabilised Babylonia. The Chaldeans once more faded into obscurity for the next three decades. During this time both the Babylonians and the Chaldean and Aramean migrant groups who had settled in the land once more fell completely under the yoke of the powerful Assyrian king [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] (745–727 BC), a ruler who introduced [[Imperial Aramaic]] as the [[lingua franca]] of the empire. The Assyrian king at first made [[Nabonassar]] and his successor native Babylonian kings [[Nabu-nadin-zeri]], [[Nabu-suma-ukin II]] and [[Nabu-mukin-zeri]] his subjects, but decided to rule Babylonia directly from 729 BC. He was followed by [[Shalmaneser V]] (727–722 BC), who also ruled Babylon in person.

When [[Sargon II]] (722–705 BC) ascended the throne of the Assyrian Empire in 722 BC after the death of [[Shalmaneser V]], he was forced to launch a major campaign in his subject states of [[Persia]], [[Mannea]] and [[Media (region)|Media]] in [[Ancient Iran]] to defend his territories there. He defeated and drove out the [[Scythians]] and [[Cimmerians]] who had attacked Assyria's Persian and [[Median]] vassal colonies in the region. At the same time, [[Egypt]] began encouraging and supporting the rebellion against Assyria in [[Israel]] and [[Canaan]], forcing the Assyrians to send troops to deal with the Egyptians.

These events allowed the Chaldeans to once more attempt to assert themselves. While the Assyrian king was otherwise occupied defending his Iranian colonies from the [[Scythians]] and [[Cimmerians]] and driving the Egyptians from Canaan, [[Marduk-apla-iddina II]] (the Biblical [[Marduk-apla-iddina II|Merodach-Baladan]]) of Bit-Yâkin, allied himself with the powerful [[Elamite]] kingdom and the native Babylonians, briefly seizing control of Babylon between 721 and 710 BC. With the Scythians and Cimmerians vanquished, the Medes and Persians pledging loyalty, and the [[Egyptians]] defeated and ejected from southern Canaan, [[Sargon II]] was free at last to deal with the Chaldeans, Babylonians, and Elamites. He attacked and deposed Marduk-apla-adding II in 710 BC, also defeating his Elamite allies in the process. After defeat by the Assyrians, Merodach-Baladan fled to his protectors in Elam

In 703, Merodach-Baladan very briefly regained the throne from a native Akkadian-Babylonian ruler [[Marduk-zakir-shumi II]], who was a puppet of the new Assyrian king, [[Sennacherib]] (705–681 BC). He was once more soundly defeated at [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], and once again fled to Elam where he died in exile after one final failed attempt to raise a revolt against Assyria in 700 BC, this time not in Babylon, but in the Chaldean tribal land of Bit-Yâkin. A native Babylonian king named [[Bel-ibni]] (703–701 BC) was placed on the throne as a puppet of Assyria.

The next challenge to Assyrian domination came from the [[Elamites]] in 694 BC, with [[Nergal-ushezib]] deposing and murdering [[Ashur-nadin-shumi]] (700–694 BC), the Assyrian prince who was king of Babylon and son of Sennacherib. The Chaldeans and Babylonians again allied with their more powerful Elamite neighbors in this endeavour. This prompted the enraged Assyrian king [[Sennacherib]] to invade and subjugate Elam and Chaldea and to sack Babylon, laying waste to and largely destroying the city. Babylon was regarded as a sacred city by all Mesopotamians, including the Assyrians, and this act eventually resulted in Sennacherib's being murdered by his own sons while he was praying to the god [[Nisroch]] in [[Nineveh]].

[[Esarhaddon]] (681–669 BC) succeeded Sennacherib as ruler of the Assyrian Empire. He completely rebuilt Babylon and brought peace to the region. He conquered Egypt, [[Nubia]] and [[Libya]] and entrenched his mastery over the Persians, Medes, Parthians, Scythians, Cimmerians, Arameans, Israelites, Phoenicians, Canaanites, Urartians, Pontic Greeks, Cilicians, Phrygians, Lydians, Manneans and Arabs. For the next 60 or so years, Babylon and Chaldea remained peacefully under direct Assyrian control. The Chaldeans remained subjugated and quiet during this period, and the next major revolt in Babylon against the Assyrian empire was fermented not by a Chaldean, Babylonian or Elamite, but by [[Shamash-shum-ukin]], who was an Assyrian king of Babylon, and elder brother of [[Ashurbanipal]] (668–627 BC), the new ruler of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.

[[Shamash-shum-ukin]] (668–648 BC) had become infused with Babylonian nationalism after sixteen years peacefully subject to his brother, and despite being Assyrian himself, declared that the city of Babylon and not [[Nineveh]] or [[Assur]] should be the seat of the empire.

In 652 BC, he raised a powerful coalition of peoples resentful of their subjugation to Assyria against his own brother [[Ashurbanipal]]. The alliance included the Babylonians, [[Persia]]ns, Chaldeans, [[Medes]], [[Elamites]], Sultans, Arameans, [[Israelites]], [[Arabs]] and [[Canaan#Canaanites|Canaanites]], together with some disaffected elements among the Assyrians themselves. After a bitter struggle lasting five years, the Assyrian king triumphed over his rebellious brother in 648 BC, Elam was utterly destroyed, and the Babylonians, Persians, Medes, Chaldeans, Arabs, and others were savagely punished. An Assyrian governor named [[Kandalanu]] was then placed on the throne of Babylon to rule on behalf of Ashurbanipal. The next 22 years were peaceful, and neither the Babylonians nor Chaldeans posed a threat to the dominance of Ashurbanipal.

However, after the death of the mighty [[Ashurbanipal]] (and Kandalanu) in 627 BC, the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]] descended into a series of bitter internal dynastic civil wars that were to be the cause of its downfall.

[[File:East-Hem 600bc.jpg|thumb|260px|Eurasia around 600 BC, showing [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]] (Chaldean Empire) and its neighbors]]
[[Ashur-etil-ilani]] (626–623 BC) ascended to the throne of the empire in 626 BC but was immediately engulfed in a torrent of fierce rebellions instigated by rival claimants. He was deposed in 623 BC by an Assyrian general (''[[turtanu]]'') named [[Sin-shumu-lishir]] (623–622 BC), who was also declared king of Babylon. [[Sin-shar-ishkun]] (622–612 BC), the brother of Ashur-etil-ilani, took back the throne of empire from Sin-shumu-lishir in 622 BC, but was then himself faced with unremitting rebellion against his rule by his own people. Continual conflict among the Assyrians led to a myriad of subject peoples, from [[Cyprus]] to Persia and [[The Caucasus]] to Egypt, quietly reasserting their independence and ceasing to pay tribute to Assyria.

[[Nabopolassar]], a previously obscure and unknown Chaldean chieftain, followed the opportunistic tactics laid down by previous Chaldean leaders to take advantage of the chaos and anarchy gripping Assyria and Babylonia and seized the city of Babylon in 620 BC with the help of its native Babylonian inhabitants.

[[Sin-shar-ishkun]] amassed a powerful army and marched into Babylon to regain control of the region. Nabopolassar was saved from likely destruction because yet another massive Assyrian rebellion broke out in Assyria proper, including the capital Nineveh, which forced the Assyrian king to turn back in order to quell the revolt. Nabopolassar took advantage of this situation, seizing the ancient city of [[Nippur]] in 619 BC, a mainstay of pro-Assyrianism in Babylonia, and thus Babylonia as a whole.

However, his position was still far from secure, and bitter fighting continued in the Babylonian heartlands from 620 to 615 BC, with Assyrian forces encamped in Babylonia in an attempt to eject Nabopolassar. Nabopolassar attempted a counterattack, marched his army into Assyria proper in 616 BC, and tried to besiege Assur and [[Arrapha]] (modern [[Kirkuk]]), but was defeated by Sin-shar-ishkun and chased back into Babylonia after being driven from Idiqlat (modern [[Tikrit]]) at the southernmost end of Assyria. A stalemate seemed to have ensued, with Nabopolassar unable to make any inroads into Assyria despite its greatly weakened state, and Sin-shar-ishkun unable to eject Nabopolassar from Babylonia due to constant rebellions and civil war among his own people.

Nabopolassar's position, and the fate of the Assyrian empire, was sealed when he entered into an alliance with another of Assyria's former vassals, the [[Medes]], the now dominant people of what was to become Persia. The Median [[Cyaxares]] had also recently taken advantage of the anarchy in the Assyrian Empire, while officially still a vassal of Assyria, he took the opportunity to meld the [[Iranian peoples]]; the [[Medes]], [[Persian people|Persians]], [[Sagartians]] and [[Parthia]]ns, into a large and powerful Median-dominated force. The Medes, Persians, Parthians, Chaldeans and Babylonians formed an alliance that also included the [[Scythians]] and [[Cimmerians]] to the north.

While Sin-shar-ishkun was fighting both the rebels in Assyria and the Chaldeans and Babylonians in southern Mesopotamia, [[Cyaxares]] (hitherto a vassal of Assyria), in alliance with the Scythians and Cimmerians launched a surprise attack on civil-war-beleaguered Assyria in 615 BC, sacking [[Kalhu]] (the Biblical [[Calah]]/[[Nimrud]]) and taking [[Arrapkha]] (modern [[Kirkuk]]). Nabopolassar, still pinned down in southern Mesopotamia, was not involved in this major breakthrough against Assyria. From this point however, the alliance of Medes, Persians, Chaldeans, Babylonians, Sagartians, Scythians and Cimmerians fought in unison against Assyria.

Despite the sorely depleted state of Assyria, bitter fighting ensued. Throughout 614 BC the alliance of powers continued to make inroads into Assyria itself, although in 613 BC the Assyrians somehow rallied to score a number of counterattacking victories over the Medes-Persians, Babylonians-Chaldeans and Scythians-Cimmerians. This led to a coalition of forces ranged against it to unite and launch a massive combined attack in 612 BC, finally besieging and sacking Nineveh in late 612 BC, killing [[Sin-shar-ishkun]] in the process.

A new Assyrian king, [[Ashur-uballit II]] (612–605 BC), took the crown amidst the house-to-house fighting in Nineveh, and refused a request to bow in vassalage to the rulers of the alliance. He managed to fight his way out of Nineveh and reach the northern Assyrian city of [[Harran]], where he founded a new capital. Assyria resisted for another seven years until 605 BC, when the remnants of the Assyrian army and the army of the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptian]]s, whose [[Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt|26th Dynasty]] had formed a brief allied coalition with the Assyrians, were defeated at [[Karchemish]]. Nabopolassar and his Median, Scythian and Cimmerian allies were now in possession of much of the huge [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]]. The Egyptians had belatedly come to the aid of Assyria, which they would have hoped to support as a secure buffer between Egypt and the new powers of Babylon, Medes and Persians, having already been raided by the Scythians.

The Chaldean king of Babylon now ruled all of southern [[Mesopotamia]] (Assyria in the north was ruled by the Medes),<ref>Ran Zadok (1984), Assyrians in Chaldean and Achaemenians Babylonia. Page 2.</ref> and the former Assyrian possessions of [[Aram (biblical region)|Aram]] ([[Syria]]), [[Phoenicia]], [[Israel]], [[Cyprus]], [[Edom]], [[Philistia]], and parts of [[Arabia]], while the Medes took control of the former Assyrian colonies in [[Ancient Iran]], [[Asia Minor]] and the [[Caucasus]].

Nabopolassar was not able to enjoy his success for long, dying in 604 BC, only one year after the victory at Karchemish. He was succeeded by his son, who took the name [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], after the unrelated 12th century BC native Akkadian-Babylonian king [[Nebuchadnezzar I]], indicating the extent to which the migrant Chaldeans had become infused with native Mesopotamian culture.

[[Nebuchadnezzar II]] and his allies may well have been forced to deal with remnants of Assyrian resistance based in and around [[Dur-Katlimmu]], as Assyrian imperial records continue to be dated in this region between 604 and 599 BC.<ref>Assyria 1995: Proceedings of the 10th Anniversary Symposium of the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project / Helsinki, September 7–11, 1995.</ref> In addition, the Egyptians remained in the region an attempt to revive the Asian colonies of the ancient Egyptian Empire.

Nebuchadnezzar II was to prove himself to be the greatest of the Chaldean rulers, rivaling another non-native ruler, the 18th century BC [[Amorite]] king [[Hammurabi]], as the greatest king of Babylon. He was a patron of the cities and a spectacular builder, rebuilding all of Babylonia's major cities on a lavish scale. His building activity at Babylon, expanding on the earlier major and impressive rebuilding of the Assyrian king [[Esarhaddon]], helped to turn it into the immense and beautiful city of legend. Babylon covered more than {{convert|3|sqmi|km2|0|order=flip|abbr=on}}, surrounded by moats and ringed by a double circuit of walls. The Euphrates flowed through the center of the city, spanned by a beautiful stone bridge. At the center of the city rose the giant [[ziggurat]] called [[Etemenanki]], "House of the Frontier Between Heaven and Earth," which lay next to the Temple of [[Marduk]]. He is also believed by many historians to have built [[The Hanging Gardens of Babylon]] (although others believe these gardens were built much earlier by an Assyrian king in Nineveh) for his wife, a [[Medes|Median]] princess from the green mountains, so that she would feel at home.

A capable leader, Nebuchadnezzar II conducted successful military campaigns; cities like [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], [[Sidon]] and [[Damascus]] were subjugated. He also conducted numerous campaigns in [[Asia Minor]] against the [[Scythians]], [[Cimmerians]], and [[Lydians]]. Like their Assyrian relations, the Babylonians had to campaign yearly in order to control their colonies.

In 601 BC, Nebuchadnezzar II was involved in a major but inconclusive battle against the [[Egyptians]]. In 599 BC, he invaded Arabia and routed the Arabs at [[Qedar]]. In 597 BC, he invaded [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], captured [[Jerusalem]] after the [[siege of Jerusalem (597 BC)]] and deposed its king [[Jehoiachin]], carrying the Israelites into [[Babylonian captivity|captivity in Babylon]]. Egyptian and Babylonian armies fought each other for control of the Near East throughout much of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, and this encouraged king [[Zedekiah]] of Judah to revolt. After an eighteen-month siege, Jerusalem was captured in 587 BC, thousands of Jews were deported to Babylon, and Solomon's Temple was razed to the ground.

Nebuchadnezzar successfully fought the Pharaohs [[Psammetichus II]] and [[Apries]] throughout his reign, and during the reign of Pharaoh [[Amasis II|Amasis]] in 568 BC it is rumoured that he may have briefly invaded Egypt itself.

By 572, Nebuchadnezzar was in full control of Babylonia, Chaldea, [[Aramea]] ([[Syria]]), [[Phonecia]], Israel, [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], [[Philistia]], [[Samarra]], [[Jordan]], northern Arabia, and parts of [[Asia Minor]]. Nebuchadnezzar died of illness in 562 BC after a one-year co-reign with his son, [[Amel-Marduk]], who was deposed in 560 BC after a reign of only two years.

===End of the Chaldean dynasty===
[[Neriglissar]] succeeded Amel-Marduk. It is unclear as to whether he was in fact an ethnic Chaldean or a native Babylonian nobleman, as he was not related by blood to Nabopolassar's descendants, having married into the ruling family. He conducted successful military campaigns against the [[Greeks|Hellenic]] inhabitants of [[Cilicia]], which had threatened Babylonian interests. Neriglissar reigned for only four years and was succeeded by the youthful [[Labashi-Marduk]] in 556 BC. Again, it is unclear whether he was a Chaldean or a native Babylonian.

Labashi-Marduk reigned only for a matter of months, being deposed by [[Nabonidus]] in late 556 BC. Nabonidus was certainly not a Chaldean, but an Assyrian from [[Harran]], the last capital of Assyria, and proved to be the final native Mesopotamian king of Babylon. He and his son, the regent [[Belshazzar]], were deposed by the Persians under [[Cyrus the Great]] in 539 BC.

When the Babylonian Empire was absorbed into the Persian [[Achaemenid Empire]], the name "Chaldean" lost its meaning in reference to a particular ethnicity or land, but lingered for a while as a term solely and explicitly used to describe a societal class of astrologers and astronomers in southern Mesopotamia. The original Chaldean tribe had long ago became Akkadianized, adopting Akkadian culture, religion, language and customs, blending into the majority native population, and eventually wholly disappearing as a distinct race of people, as had been the case with other preceding migrant peoples, such as the Amorites, Kassites, Suteans and Arameans of Babylonia.

The Persians considered this ''Chaldean societal class'' to be masters of reading and writing, and especially versed in all forms of [[incantation]], sorcery, [[witchcraft]], and the magical arts. They spoke of astrologists and astronomers as ''Chaldeans'', and it is used with this specific meaning in the [[Book of Daniel]] (Dan. i. 4, ii. 2 et seq.) and by classical writers, such as [[Strabo]].

The disappearance of the Chaldeans as an ethnicity and Chaldea as a land is evidenced by the fact that the Persian rulers of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] (539–330 BC) did not retain a province called "Chaldea", nor did they refer to "Chaldeans" as a race of people in their written annals. This is in contrast to Assyria, and for a time Babylonia also, where the Persians retained the names Assyria and Babylonia as designations for distinct [[geo-political]] entities within the Achaemenid Empire. In the case of the Assyrians in particular, Achaemenid records show Assyrians holding important positions within the empire, particularly with regards to military and civil administration.<ref>"Assyrians after Assyria". Nineveh.com. 4 September 1999. Archived from the original on 14 July 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.</ref>

==Legacy==
The term Chaldean was still in use at the time of [[Cicero]] (106–43 BC) long after the Chaldeans had disappeared. In one of his speeches he mentioned "Chaldean [[astrologers]]",<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0019:text=Mur.:chapter=11&highlight=chaldean|title=M. Tullius Cicero, For Lucius Murena, chapter 11|website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> and he spoke of them more than once in his ''[[De Divinatione]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cicero/de_Divinatione/1*.html|title=LacusCurtius • Cicero — De Divinatione: BookI|website=penelope.uchicago.edu}}</ref> Other classical Latin writers who speak of them as distinguished for their knowledge of astronomy and astrology are [[Pliny the Elder]], [[Valerius Maximus]], [[Aulus Gellius]], [[Cato the Elder]], [[Lucretius]], and [[Juvenal]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://alatius.com/ls/index.php?l=Chaldaeos|title=Lewis and Short|website=alatius.com}}</ref> [[Horace]]  in his ''[[Carpe diem]]'' ode speaks of the "Babylonian calculations" (''Babylonii numeri''), the [[horoscope]]s of astrologers consulted regarding the future.<ref>Horace, Odes 1.11</ref>

In the [[late antiquity]], a variant of Aramaic that was used in some books of the [[Bible]] was misnamed as ''Chaldean'' by [[Jerome of Stridon]].{{sfn|Gallagher|2012|p=123-141}} That inaccurate usage continued down the centuries in [[Western Europe]], and it was still customary during the nineteenth century, until the misnomer was corrected by scholars. In [[West Asian]], Greek and Hebraic sources, however, the term for the language spoken in Mesopotamia was commonly "Assyrian" and later also "Syriac".{{sfn|Nöldeke|1871|p=113-131}} Accordingly, in the earliest recorded "Western" mentions of the Christians of what is now [[Iraq]] and nearby countries, "Chaldean" is used with reference to their language. In 1220/1, [[Jacques de Vitry]] wrote that "they denied that [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] was the [[Catholic Mariology#Mother of God|Mother of God]] and claimed that [[Christ (title)|Christ]] existed in two persons. They consecrated [[Bread#Leavening|leavened bread]] and used the 'Chaldean' (Syriac) language".{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=83}} In the fifteenth century the term "Chaldeans" was first applied specifically to [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] living in [[Cyprus]] who entered a union with [[Holy See|Rome]], and no longer merely with reference to their language but the name of [[Chaldean Catholic Church|a new church]].

===Impact on Assyrian identity===
After an absence from history for many years, the name was revived during the formation of the [[Chaldean Catholic Church]]. The church was not founded and populated by the long extinct Chaldean tribes of southeastern Mesopotamia, but founded in northern Mesopotamia by a breakaway group of ethnic [[Assyrian people|Assyrians]] who had been members of the [[Church of the East]] before entering communion with Rome.<ref>George V. Yana (Bebla), "Myth vs. Reality" JAA Studies, Vol. XIV, No. 1, 2000 p. 80</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Angold|first1=Michael|title=The Cambridge History of Christianity|date=2006|publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-81113-2|edition=1. publ.}}</ref>

The naming by Rome is believed to be due to a misinterpretation of the term ''Ur Kasdim'', the supposed north Mesopotamian birthplace of Abraham in Hebraic tradition as ''Ur of the Chaldees'', and a reluctance to use the earlier terms, such as Assyrians, East Assyrians, East Syrians and Nestorians, due to their connotations with the Church of the East and [[Syriac Orthodox Church]].<ref>Biblical Archaeology Review May/June 2001: Where Was Abraham's Ur?.</ref> In modern times, Chaldea has been associated with attempts to declare Chaldeans as a separate ethnicity from Assyrians, through the belief that their descent is based in southern Babylonia. While some religious leaders of the Chaldean Catholic Church and activists in the West have advocated for a separate identity based on this notion, historians and international organizations generally treat Chaldeans as ethnic Assyrians, owing to genetic, linguistic, geographic, and modern historical factors. 

However, across the rest of Mesopotamia (particularly the North) after Chaldea fell, the terms "[[Assyrian people|Assyrian]]", and its derivative ''Syrian'' remained the common [[Ethnic group|ethnic]] term for the [[Aramaic]]-speaking inhabitants. These were used by the people themselves and their Persian, Armenian, Arab, Greek, Georgian and Kurdish neighbours both before and after the advent of Christianity in Iraq, Northeast Syria, Southeast Turkey and Northwest Iran. The [[Assyrian continuity]] in these regions is well documented.{{sfn|Baum|Winkler|2003|p=112}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Michael Angold|author2=Frances Margaret Young|author3=K. Scott Bowie|title=The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 5, Eastern Christianity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1xUV-nMxNGsC|date=17 August 2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-81113-2|page=527}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Sources==
{{Refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite book|last1=Baum|first1=Wilhelm|author-link1=Wilhelm Baum (historian)|last2=Winkler|first2=Dietmar W.|title=The Church of the East: A Concise History|year=2003|location=London-New York|publisher=Routledge-Curzon|isbn=9781134430192|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnSCAgAAQBAJ}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Brinkman|first=John A.|title=Notes on Arameans and Chaldeans in Southern Babylonia in the Early Seventh Century B.C.|journal=Orientalia|year=1977|volume=46|number=2|pages=304–325|jstor=43074768|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43074768}}
*{{citation |last=Dever |first=William G. |author-link=William G. Dever |title=What Did the Biblical Writers Know, and when Did They Know It?: What Archaeology Can Tell Us about the Reality of Ancient Israel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6-VxwC5rQtwC&q=%22respectable+archaeologists%22&pg=PA98 |year=2002 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-2126-3}}
* {{Cite book|last=Gallagher|first=Edmon L.|author-link=Edmon L. Gallagher|title=Hebrew Scripture in Patristic Biblical Theory: Canon, Language, Text|year=2012|location=Leiden-Boston|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004228023 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWkyAQAAQBAJ}}
*{{cite Jewish Encyclopedia|mode=cs2 |last=McCurdy |first=J. Frederic |last2=Rogers |first2=Robert W.|title=Chaldea |volume=3 |url=https://archive.org/stream/jewishencyclopedia03sing#page/661/mode/1up |pages=661–662}}
* {{citation |ref=none |last=Lenorman |first=Francois |title=Chaldean Magic: Its Origin and Development |location=London |publisher=Samuel Bagster & Sons |date=1877 }}
*{{citation |last1=Moore |first1=Megan Bishop  |last2=Kelle |first2=Brad E. |title=Biblical History and Israel's Past |year=2011 |publisher=Eerdmans |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=Qjkz_8EMoaUC&q=Thompson+%22Van+Seters%22&pg=PA19 |isbn=978-0-8028-6260-0}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Nöldeke|first=Theodor|author-link=Theodor Nöldeke|title=Die Namen der aramäischen Nation und Sprache|journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft|year=1871|volume=25|number=1–2|pages=113–131|jstor=43366019|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/43366019}}
*{{cite EB1911 |mode=cs2 |last=Prince |first=John Dyneley  |author-link=John Dyneley Prince  |wstitle=Chaldaea |volume=5  |page=804 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Roux |first1=Georges |title=Ancient Iraq |date=27 August 1992 |publisher=Penguin Books Limited |isbn=978-0-14-193825-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=klZX8B_RzzYC |language=en}}
* {{cite EB9 |mode=cs2 |ref=none |last=Sayce |first=Archibald Henry |author-link=Archibald Henry Sayce |wstitle=Babylon—Babylonia |volume=5 |page=182–194 |short=x}}
*{{cite EB9 |mode=cs2 |first=Archibald Henry |last=Sayce |author-link=Archibald Henry Sayce  |wstitle=Chaldea |volume=5 |page=372}}
* {{Cite book|last=Vanderhooft|first=David S.|chapter=Depictions of כשדים ‘Chaldeans’ in Judean Prophecy and Historiography|title=Now It Happened in Those Days: Studies in Biblical, Assyrian, and Other Ancient Near Eastern Historiography|year=2017|location=Winona Lake|publisher=Eisenbrauns|pages=171–182|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/34378851}}
* {{Cite book|last=Zadok|first=Ran|chapter=A Cylinder Inscription of Aššur-ketta-lēšir II|title=Now It Happened in Those Days: Studies in Biblical, Assyrian, and Other Ancient Near Eastern Historiography|year=2017|editor-last=Baruchi-Unna|editor-first=Amitai|location=Winona Lake|publisher=Eisenbrauns|pages=309–340|isbn=978-1575067612|editor-last2=Forti|editor-first2=Tova|editor-last3=Aḥituv|editor-first3=Shmuel|editor-last4=Ephʿal|editor-first4=Israel|editor-last5=Tigay|editor-first5=Jeffrey H.}}
* {{Cite book|last=Ragozin|first=Zénaïde A.|author-link=Zénaïde Alexeïevna Ragozin|title=Chaldea from the earliest times to the rise of Assyria|year=1886|location=London|publisher=Unwin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9H-VpCCd03AC}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Saggs|first=Henry W. F.|author-link=Henry W. F. Saggs|title=Chaldeans in the Nimrud Letters|journal= Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes|year=1996|volume=86|pages=379–390|jstor=23864750|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23864750}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}

{{Ancient Mesopotamia}}

[[Category:Chaldea| ]]
[[Category:States and territories established in the 10th century BC]]
[[Category:States and territories disestablished in the 6th century BC]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples]]
[[Category:Babylonia]]
[[Category:Ancient Mesopotamia]]
[[Category:Ur of the Chaldees]]
[[Category:Former kingdoms]]