- Nebuchadnezzar II (Nabu-kudurri-usur II) — the most powerful king of Babylon (605–562 BC) from the Chaldean dynasty. Histoire ancienne des peuples de l'Orient. Maspero 1889 AD.
Chaldeans — inhabitants of Chaldea, the southwestern part of Babylonia, between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. Chaldeans is the Greek form of the Semitic name of an Aramean tribe that, in alliance with the Medes, overthrew Assyrian rule and founded the Neo-Babylonian Kingdom. Over time, the word 'Chaldeans' acquired among the Romans the meaning of 'astrologers,' 'soothsayers,' since Chaldean priests were considered in ancient times as representatives of Near Eastern secret teachings; 2) an Armenian tribe; 3) ancient authors placed tribes with this name between Trapezus and Batumi; 4) a tribe in Cappadocia, possibly identical to the Chalybes.
They waged a struggle with Assyria for the possession of Babylon. In 626–536 BC, the Chaldean dynasty ruled in Babylon, founding the Neo-Babylonian Kingdom. They spoke the Aramaic language.
The Conversion of Georgia. Translation by Takayshvili. "Metsniereba" 1989. Moktsevai Kartlisai. Chapter I: "Then [during the reign of Alexander [1]] the warlike tribe of the Hons, which had separated from the Chaldeans [2], arrived and asked the ruler of the Bun-Turks for a place [under the condition of paying] tribute, and they settled in Zanavi. And they possessed it, [the place] for which they paid tribute, and it is called Kherki."
Commentaries by the editors:
[1] Alexander the Great — king of Macedon from 336 BC — June 10, 323 BC.
[2] The last ruling dynasty in independent Babylonia, as is known, was precisely Chaldean (626–539 BC). In this case, however, it probably refers not to Babylonia of the New Kingdom period, but to the Achaemenid state. The Achaemenids, having defeated the Chaldean dynasty of Babylon, were at one time called Chaldean rather than Persian kings. That the Chaldeans mentioned in the "Conversion of Georgia" refer to the Persians is also clearly seen from the context — after all, contemporary with Alexander the Great, it was Achaemenid Persia that had political significance in the world. Very noteworthy in this regard are the observations of K. S. Kekelidze, who noted that in the monuments of ancient Georgian literature, ancient Iran is often mentioned as the country of the Babylonians or Chaldeans; this, according to the scholar, is quite logical if one considers that the country of the Chaldeans was also part of Persia (Kekelidze K. S. Notes from the history of ancient Georgian literature: Itrudzhan. — In: Studies on the history of ancient Georgian literature, I, Tb., 1956, p. 269, in Georgian).
VARIANT NAMES: Latin. Caldei, Casdei, Chalidaei, Αρφαζαΐοι, Greek. Χαλδοι, Χαλδαιων, Χαλδαιοι, Russian. Khaldei, Khaldy, Arfaksei, Kaldei, Khalidei, Hebrew. כַּשְׂדִּים (Kasdim), Babylonian. Kaldu.
Sources:
Ethnogenesis of the Abkhazians. D.A. Arshba, 2015