Person

Merodach-baladan II

8th century BCE · 8th century BCE · Also known as Marduk-apla-iddina II

Merodach-baladan II (Marduk-apla-iddina II) was a Chaldean chief of Bit-Yakin who seized the throne of Babylon in 721 BCE with Elamite support and held it until Sargon II of Assyria drove him out in 710 BCE. He briefly regained the city in 703 BCE before Sennacherib expelled him again. The Bible records his envoys to Hezekiah of Judah, and he became the symbol of Chaldean resistance to Assyria.

Merodach-baladan II
Image: Einsamer Schütze · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Mentioned in 2 state histories

Neo-Elamite kingdomBit-Yakin

See also

Cite this entry
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Merodach-baladan II. In The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/merodach-baladan-ii
MLA
“Merodach-baladan II.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/merodach-baladan-ii. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Merodach-baladan II.” The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/merodach-baladan-ii.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Merodach-baladan II’, The Epoch Institute Encyclopedia. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/encyclopedia/merodach-baladan-ii (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random entry ↻