Nebuchadnezzar had no peers. He was the uncontested ruler of the world. Babylon rose out of the desert plains like a Manhattan skyline. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which he built for his wife, were one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The walls of his royal palace were 320 feet high and 80 feet thick. Two four-horse chariots could ride abreast on them. The mighty Euphrates River flowed through the city. During Nebuchadnezzar’s forty-three-year rule, greater Babylon’s population reached as high as half a million people. The king was part oil baron, part royalty, part hedge-fund
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