Dagger

About the Book

"I took off my robe, the sign of my royal blood, and on my head I bore bricks and earth.  

As for Nebuchadrezzar my firstborn son, the beloved of my heart,  I made him bear the mortar, the offering of wine and oil, in company with my subjects. . . ."

Those were the words of King Nabopolassar circa 520 B.C., the King of Babylon.  His son, Nebuchadrezzar had two deep and faithful loves in his life:  His father King Nabopolassar, whom he worshiped and was true to his promises until Nebuchadrezzar died, and his wife Amytis, the Median Princess he agreed to marry by an accord between King Nabopolassar and her father, King Astyages.

The book is based on history, but only as far as the dates of the battles, archeological findings, and biblical historical information are concerned.  History has said little of the information one would have liked to know about Nebuchadrezzar’s physical characteristics, his personal life, or thoughts.  I have created the fictional man and his wife, their personal problems, wants, desires, friends, and the military personnel in his escort of people.

King Nebuchadrezzar, his wife Amytis, General Rabmag, and his wife Tabantha, are main characters in the book.  General Rabmag, Tabantha’s young husband is only twenty-eight years, and is the same age as the king.  Tabantha and Amytis are twenty-two and were born on the same hour of the same day and year. Tabantha, who calls Amytis her soul-sister, has telepathic powers. Tabantha also has some limited psychic powers, and is involved in several remarkable occurrences. The king, General Rabmag and his calvary of scouts searched over hundreds of miles for Amytis which resulted in serious repercussions, both with Amytis and with those who had kidnaped her. This caused the king to make several blood-and-guts decisions.

The Egyptian and Assyrian battles, some of which Nebuchadrezzar and his generals won decisively and lost painfully, was almost the downfall of Nebuchadrezzar because of his and his father´s hatred of the Egyptians.  The prophet Jeremiah, in his preaching to the Judeans in Jerusalem, obstreperously proclaimed that Nebuchadrezzar was´an instrument in God´s hands´ and the Judeans should give up the Egyptian way of life.  Jeremiah made announcements to the Judean populace that because of their transgressions, Jerusalem and their holy temple would result in destruction.  The battles which Nebuchadrezzar  won unquestionably were the battles of Carchemish, the cities of Ashkelon, Gaza, the sieges of Jerusalem and the city of Tyre.

Nebuchadrezzar refused to witness the downfall of Jerusalem because he couldn´t bear to watch the destruction of the Great God´s temple.  He left those major tasks to the work of his general of the army, General Nebuzaradan.

The building and reconstruction of the city Babylon was his personal dream which came true.  His wife Amytis worked with him on many projects except the hanging gardens. He managed to keep the gardens secret from her until it got so enormous and magnificent that the entire city was in awe of it.  From the very outset she helped him design their new palace and many of his building projects. The costs of the many construction projects were funded from the tribute paid by the countries Nebuchadrezzar defeated, creating the annual ´march around´ of his troops.

The story continues through the lives of Nebuchadrezzar´s wives and children, the happiness the family enjoyed in the royal gardens and vacations at the seashore which they took together.  The king then went through severe emotional problems which occurred during the deaths of his two wives, and finally the strange sickness that developed as punishment for his disobedience to Yahweh.  The sickness resulted in  the king  giving up his throne to one of his sons and living as a recluse for several years in the wilderness.  Upon his reconciliation with the Great god whom he loved, his kingship was restored

About the Author

Sanford Montross, is a retired engineer who practiced writing during forty years as an aerospace engineer, a technical writer, consultant, and an engineering supervisor, during which time he sharpened his editing skills. Well versed in the bible, especially the Old Testament period, his writings reflect this genre.