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Babylonian Exile

A journey · 6 stops

Babylonian Exile · −586

1. 1. Jerusalem −586 – −586

   After a long siege Nebuchadnezzar's army breaks in. The Temple and the city burn on the ninth of Av, and the people of Judah are led away in chains.

2. 2. Damascus −586 – −586

   The captives do not cross the desert. They take the long road north along the great trade route, past Damascus.

3. 3. Riblah −586 – −586

   Nebuchadnezzar's headquarters in Syria. King Zedekiah was brought here, saw his sons killed and was blinded. Here too the leaders of Judah were put to death.

4. 4. Carchemish −586 – −586

   Here the road reaches the Euphrates, at the city where Babylon had crushed Egypt some twenty years earlier.

5. 5. Mari −585 – −585

   They walk on downstream along the river, on the way into Mesopotamia, past the ruins of this old city.

6. 6. Babylon −585 – −560

   By the rivers of Babylon we sat down and wept. Yet the exiles build houses and keep their faith. Ezekiel prophesies here, and Jewish life outside the land begins.