Nebuchadnezzar, son of Nabopalasar, ruled in Mesopotamia for 43 years - the longest of all the Assyro-Babylonian kings. Numerous legends are associated with his name. Under him, the famous gate of the goddess Ishtar, decorated with images of sacred bulls and dragons, and the Tower of Babel, which became a symbol of human pride in the Bible, were erected. He took the capital of Judea, Jerusalem, destroyed the temple of Solomon and led ten thousand Jews into 50-year-old Babylonian captivity. It is to him that tradition attributes the construction of the legendary hanging gardens.