History of the Jews

by Paul Johnson

Jerusalem fell in 597 BC, the Babylonian Chronicle, now in the British Museum, noting: ‘In the seventh year, in the month of Kislev, [Nebuchudnezzar] mustered his troops, and having marched to the land of Hatti, besieged the city of Judah, and on the second day of the month of Adar took the city and captured the king. He appointed therein a king of his own choice, received its heavy tribute and sent [them] to Babylon.’ This gives us the exact date, 16 March. The Second Book of Kings adds that the King of Judah, Jehoiakim, was taken to Babylon with ‘all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valour, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and all the smiths’; none remained, except ‘the poorest people of the land’. The gold vessels in the Temple