THE JUDEAN EXILE.
Nebuchadnezzar, a powerful ruler famed for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, came to Jerusalem several times as he sought to spread the reach of his kingdom.
Each time he came - and one visit coincided with the destruction of Jerusalem's first temple in 586 BC - he either forced or encouraged the exile of thousands of Judeans.
One exile in 587 BC saw around 1,500 people make the perilous journey via modern-day Lebanon and Syria to the fertile crescent of southern Iraq, where the Judeans traded, ran businesses and helped the administration of the kingdom.
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