Note 780 — Chapter XXXIV

Nabu-kudur-ussur, "Nebo protect the crown" (Schrader, ii. 48), or "the youth" (Oppert). The portrait of Nebuchadrezzar—this is the proper spelling, as generally in Jeremiah—is preserved for us on a black cameo which he presented to the god Merodach. It is now in the Berlin Museum, and shows strong but not cruel or ignoble characteristics. It is copied in Riehm's Handwörterbuch, ii. 1067. The Jews, as they were fond of doing to their enemies, made insulting puns on his name. Thus in the Vayyikra Rabba (Wünsche, Bibl. Rabb.) the Three Children are represented as saying to him, "You are Neboo-cad-netser: bark [nabach] like a dog; swell like a water-jar [kad], and chirp like a cricket [tsertser],"—in allusion to his madness.