Neriglissar
Babylonian king
Neriglissar (Neo-Babylonian Akkadian: 𒀭𒌋𒄥𒈗𒋀, romanized: Nergal-šar-uṣur or Nergal-šarra-uṣur, meaning "Nergal, protect the king") was the fourth king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from his usurpation of the throne in 560 BC to his death in 556 BC. Though unrelated to previous Babylonian kings, possibly being of Aramean ancestry, Neriglissar was a prominent official and general in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605–562 BC) and became even more influential through marrying one of Nebuchadnezzar's daughters, possibly Kashshaya.
Nebuchadnezzar was initially succeeded by his son, Amel-Marduk, but Amel-Marduk's reign only lasted for two years before Neriglissar usurped the Babylonian throne and put him to death. Through his marriage to Nebuchadnezzar's daughter, possibly significantly older than any of the old king's sons, Neriglissar might have represented a less legitimate but more wealthy and well-established faction of the royal family, even if he himself was not part of this family.
The most well documented event of Neriglissar's reign is his successful 557–556 BC campaign in Anatolia against Appuwashu, king of a small kingdom in Cilicia. Neriglissar successfully captured Appuwashu's capital, Ura, as well as another city, Kirshu, before conducting an amphibious attack against a nearby island and then laying waste to mountain passes on the western border to Lydia. Shortly after returning home to Babylonia victorious, Neriglissar died in April 556 BC. He was succeeded as king by his son, Labashi-Marduk, whose reign would only last for two or three months before being deposed and killed in favour of Nabonidus.
Background
Reign of Nebuchadnezzar
The Neo-Babylonian Empire reached the apex of its power during the reign of its second king, Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 605–562 BC). During his rule, the empire consolidated its territories and army and established its hegemony over territories that had once belonged to the Neo-Assyrian Empire, defeated and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's father Nabopolassar (r. 626–605 BC). Throughout his reign, Nebuchadnezzar spent much time and many resources on extensive building projects throughout Babylonia, mostly focusing on his capital, Babylon. As the royal treasury became more and more strained under the weight of the expenditures, local businessmen would come to grow wealthier and, as a consequence, more influential in political matters.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Neriglissar” as babylonian king. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as babylonian king. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q379716. VIAF identifies the subject as 232497329. The Library of Congress control number is n98055971. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Neriglissar” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.