Nebuchadnezzar II Nebuchadrezzar II, king of Babylon c. 605 BC – c. 562 BC, was the longest-reigning and most powerful monarch of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. His father Nabopolassar was an official of the Neo-Assyrian Empire who rebelled in 626 BC and established himself as the king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar ascended the throne in 605 BC and subsequently fought several campaigns in the West, where Egypt was trying to organize a coalition against him, his conquest of Judah is described in the Bible's Books of Kings, Books of Chronicles and Book of Jeremiah. His capital, Babylon, is the largest archaeological site in the Middle East; the Bible remembers him as the destroyer of Solomon's Temple and the initiator of the Babylonian captivity. He is an important character in the Book of Daniel, a collection of legendary tales and visions dating from the 2nd century BC. Nebuchadnezzar was the eldest son and successor of Nabopolassar, an Assyrian official who rebelled against the Assyrian Empire and established himself as the king of Babylon in 620 BC.

Nebuchadnezzar is first mentioned in 607 BC, during the destruction of Babylon's arch-enemy Assyria, at which point he was crown prince. In 605 BC he and his ally Cyaxares, ruler of the Medes, led an army against the Assyrians and Egyptians, who were occupying Syria, in the ensuing Battle of Carchemish, Pharaoh Necho II was defeated and Syria and Phoenicia were brought under the control of Babylon. Nabopolassar died in August 605 BC, Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon to ascend the throne. For the next few years, his attention was devoted to subduing his eastern and northern borders, in 595/4 BC there was a serious but brief rebellion in Babylon itself. In 594/3 BC, the army was sent again to the west in reaction to the elevation of Psamtik II to the throne of Egypt. During the Siege of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezar captured King Jehoiachin along with prominent citizens and craftsman and appointed Zedekiah as King of Judah in his place, the latter rebelled and attempted to organize opposition among the small states in the region but his capital, was taken in 587 BC.

In the following years, Nebuchadnezzar incorporated Phoenicia and the former Assyrian provinces of Cilicia into his empire and may have campaigned in Egypt. In his last years he seems to have begun behaving irrationally, "pay no heed to son or daughter," and was suspicious of his sons; the kings who came after him ruled only and Nabonidus not of the royal family, was overthrown by the Persian conqueror Cyrus the Great less than twenty-five years after Nebuchadnezzar's death. The ruins of Nebuchadnezzar's Babylon are spread over two thousand acres, forming the largest archaeological site in the Middle East, he enlarged the royal palace and repaired temples, built a bridge over the Euphrates, constructed a grand processional boulevard and gateway lavishly decorated with glazed brick. Each spring equinox, a statue of the god Marduk was paraded from its temple to a temple outside the walls, returning through the Ishtar Gate and down the Processional Way, paved with colored stone and lined with molded lions, amidst rejoicing crowds.

The Babylonian king's two sieges of Jerusalem are depicted in 2 Kings 24–25. The Book of Jeremiah calls Nebuchadnezzar the "destroyer of nations" and gives an account of the second siege of Jerusalem and the looting and destruction of the First Temple. Nebuchadnezzar's assault on Egypt four months before the fall of Jerusalem in 587 is represented in Ezekiel as a divine initiative undertaken "by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon". Nebuchadnezzar is an important character in the Old Testament Book of Daniel. Daniel 1 introduces Nebuchadnezzar as the king who takes Daniel and other Hebrew youths into captivity in Babylon, to be trained in "the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans". In Nebuchadnezzar's second year, Daniel interprets the king's dream of a huge image as God's prediction of the rise and fall of world powers, starting with Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar twice admits the power of the God of the Hebrews: first, after God saves three of Daniel's companions from a fiery furnace.

The consensus among critical scholars is. Nebuchadnezzar's conversion to Yahweh is an imaginary event, his period of madness is fictional, historians attributing it to rumors about Nabonidus's stay in Teima, which were subsequently applied to Nebuchadnezzar through conflation. His name is recorded in the Bible as "Nebuchadrezzar", but more as "Nebuchadnezzar"; the form Nebuchadrezzar is more consistent with the original Akkadian, some scholars believe that Nebuchadnezzar may be a derogatory pun used by the Israelites, meaning "Nabu, protect my jackass". Babylonia Kings of Babylonia List of biblical figures identified in extra-biblical sources Nabucco Neo-Babylonian Empire Inscription of Nabuchadnezzar. Babylonian and Assyrian Literature – old translation Nabuchadnezzar Ishtar gate Inscription Jewish Encyclopedia on Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar II on Ancient History En

Sara Seale, was the pseudonym by Mary Jane MacPherson and/or A. D. L. MacPherson, a British writing team of over 45 romance novels as from 1932 to 1971. Seale was one of the first Boon's authors published in Germany and the Netherlands. By the 1950s Seale was earning over £3,000/year. Mary Jane MacPherson began writing at an early age while still in her convent school. Besides being a writer, MacPherson was a leading authority on Alsatian dogs, was a judge at Crufts. Beggars May Sing Grace Before Meat Chase the Moon Summer Spell This Merry Bond Spread Your Wings a.k.a. My Heart's Desire Green Grass Growing Barn Dance a.k.a. Queen of Hearts Stormy Petrel The Silver Sty House of Glass a.k.a. Maggy Folly to Be Wise The Reluctant Orphan a.k.a. Orphan Bride The English Tutor The Gentle Prisoner These Delights The Young Amanda Then She Fled Me The Dark Stranger Wintersbride The Lordly One The Forbidden Island Turn to the West The Truant Spirit Time of Grace Child Friday Sister to Cinderella I Know My Love Trevallion Lucy Lamb a.k.a.

Lucy Lamb, Doctor's Wife Charity Child Dear Dragon Cloud Castle The Only Charity The Reluctant Landlord Valentine's Day By Candlelight The Youngest Bridesmaid The Third Uncle To Catch a Unicorn Green Girl The Truant Bride Penny Plain That Young Person Dear Professor Mr. Brown a.k.a. The Unknown Mr. Brown Green Girl / Penny Plain / Queen Of Hearts Young Amanda / Truant Bride / Beggars May Sing Do Something Dangerous / Youngest Bridesmaid / Doctor David Advises Surgeon's Marriage / The Only Charity / The Golden Peaks Mountain Clinic / Forbidden Island / Dear Fugitive Orphan Bride / Full Tide / House in the Timberwoods Then She Fled Me / Castle in Corsica / Scatterbrains-Student Nurse Wintersbride / Marriage Compromise / Tamarisk Bay Children's Nurse / Heart Specialist / Child Friday Harlequin Golden Library Vol. XLI: Over The Blue Mountains, Summer Lightning, Lucy Lamb, Doctor's Wife Masquerade / Rata Flowers Are Red / Unknown Mr. Brown Master of Comus / My Heart's Desire / Flight Into Yesterday

The Setagaya family murder refers to the unsolved murders of the Miyazawa family in Setagaya ward of Tokyo, Japan, on 30 December 2000. Mikio Miyazawa, Yasuko Miyazawa, Niina Miyazawa, Rei Miyazawa were murdered during a home invasion at night by an unknown assailant who remained in the Miyazawas' house for several hours before disappearing. Japanese police launched a massive investigation that uncovered the killer's DNA and many specific clues about their identity, but the perpetrator has never been identified; the media frenzy and long investigation of the Setagaya murders became a cause célèbre to abolish statute of limitations in Japan, removed in 2010. On 31 December 2000, the corpses of 44-year-old Mikio Miyazawa, his 41-year-old wife Yasuko, their children, 8-year-old Niina and 6-year-old Rei, were discovered by Yasuko's mother, Asahi Geino, at their house in the Kamisoshigaya neighborhood of Setagaya, in the western suburbs of Tokyo. Mikio and Niina had been stabbed to death while Rei had been strangled.

Investigation of the crime scene by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department concluded that the family had been murdered on December 30 at around 11:30 p.m. after which the killer stayed in the house for several hours. The Miyazawa's killer entered through the open window of the second floor bathroom at the rear of the house, located adjacent to Soshigaya Park, gained access by climbing up a tree and removing the window screen; the killer used his bare hands to strangle Rei, sleeping in his room on the second floor, killing him through asphyxiation. Mikio rushed up the first floor stairs after he detected the disturbance in Rei's room and injuring the killer until being stabbed in the head with a Sashimi bōchō knife. A police report claimed that part of the Sashimi knife's blade broke off inside Mikio's head, the killer attacked Yasuko and Niina with the broken knife until using a Santoku knife from the Miyazawa's house to murder them; the killer remained inside the Miyazawa house for 2 to 10 hours, using the family computer, consuming barley tea and ice cream from their refrigerator, using their toilet, treating his injuries using first aid kits and other sanitary products, taking a nap on a sofa in the second floor living room.

An analysis of Mikio Miyazawa's computer revealed that it had connected to the internet the morning after the murders at 1:18 a.m. and again at around 10 a.m. around the time Yasuko's mother Asahi entered the house and discovered the murders. Asahi became suspicious after being unable to call her daughter and visited the house but received no answer after ringing the doorbell. Authorities believe the killer had stayed in the house until at least 1:18 a.m. but the computer usage at 10 a.m. could have been accidentally triggered by Asahi during her discovery of the crime scene. Police have been able to deduce several specific clues to the perpetrator's identity, but have been unable to produce or apprehend a suspect, it was determined that the killer had eaten string beans and sesame seeds the previous day after analyzing feces from the killer in the Miyazawas' bathroom. They determined that the clothes and Sashimi knife left behind by the killer had been purchased in Kanagawa Prefecture. Police learned that only 130 units of the killer's sweater were made and sold, but they have only been able to track down twelve of the people who bought the sweaters.

The investigation into the murders is among the largest in Japanese history, involving over 246,044 investigators who have collected over 12,545 pieces of evidence. As of 2015, forty officers were still assigned to the case full-time; every year, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department makes an annual pilgrimage to the house for memorial ceremonies. The Seijo Police Station is designated to investigate the case; the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department is offering a 20 million yen reward to any person who can help officers to find clues that lead to a suspect and/or close the case. Tokyo police found the killer's DNA and fingerprints in the Miyazawas' house, but none matched the databases of the Tokyo police, indicating that they do not have a criminal record; the killer's blood was gained during an analysis of the murder scene that revealed traces of Type A blood, which would not have belonged to the Miyazawa family. A DNA analysis of the Type A blood determined the killer is male and mixed-race, with maternal DNA indicating a mother of European descent from a South European country near the Mediterranean or Adriatic Sea, paternal DNA indicating a father of East Asian descent.

It is considered possible that the European maternal DNA comes from a distant ancestor from the mother's line rather than a European mother. Analysis of the Y-chromosome showed the Haplogroup O-M122, a common haplogroup distributed in East Asian peoples, appearing in 1 in 4 or 5 Koreans, 1 in 10 Chinese, 1 in 13 Japanese; these results led to Tokyo Metropolitan Police to seek assistance through the International Criminal Police Organization as the killer may not be Japanese or present in Japan. Physically, the killer is believed to be around of thin build; the police estimate the killer was born between 1965 and 1985 due to the physicality required for entering the Miyazawa house and committing the murders. The Miyazawas' wounds indicate that the killer is to be right-handed. In 2015, An Irie, older sister of Yasuko Miyazawa, filed a complaint to the Broadcast and Human Rights and Other Related Rights Committee of the Broadcasting Ethics & Program Improvement Organization after she claimed that the TV Asahi doc