He’s wading into a historical debate, and it's more tangled than you might think.

Josephus brings up Berosus, a Babylonian priest and historian, who wrote a Chaldean History. Berosus is pretty steamed about the Greeks crediting Semiramis, the queen of Assyria, with building Babylon. Berosus, as Josephus tells it, insists that these incredible Babylonian structures weren't Semiramis' doing at all. As Josephus points out, when it comes to Babylonian affairs, the Chaldean History has to be the most reliable source.

And it's not just Berosus. Josephus mentions that the archives of the Phoenicians confirm that King Nabuchodonosor (Nebuchadnezzar) conquered all of Syria and Phoenicia. Philostratus agrees, mentioning the siege of Tyre in his history. Megasthenes, in his Indian History, even claims that Nebuchadnezzar was stronger than Hercules, conquering a large part of Libya and Iberia! Quite the resume, right?

But what about Jerusalem? Josephus reminds us that the Babylonian's attacked and burned the Temple, but it was later reopened when Cyrus took control of Asia. To back this up, he shares more from Berosus's third book: "Nabuchodonosor, after he had begun to build the forementioned wall, fell sick, and departed this life, when he had reigned forty-three years; whereupon his son Evilmerodach obtained the kingdom."

Things get a little Game of Thrones-y from here. Evilmerodach, Nebuchadnezzar's son, ruled "after an illegal and impure manner" for just two years before being assassinated by Neriglissoor, his own sister's husband! Neriglissoor then took the throne for four years. His son, Laborosoarchod, became king as a child but was killed after only nine months due to his "ill temper and ill practices." Yikes.

After that, the conspirators got together and crowned Nabonnedus, a Babylonian who was involved in the insurrection. According to Berosus, it was during Nabonnedus’s reign that the walls of Babylon were impressively built with burnt brick and bitumen. But his reign wasn't peaceful.

In Nabonnedus's seventeenth year, Cyrus of Persia arrived with a massive army. Nabonnedus met him in battle but was defeated and fled to the city of Borsippus. Cyrus captured Babylon and ordered the outer walls of the city demolished because they had been too troublesome to overcome. He then besieged Nabonnedus in Borsippus. Nabonnedus eventually surrendered. Cyrus initially treated him kindly, giving him Carmania as a place to live, but exiled him from Babylonia. Nabonnedus spent the rest of his days in Carmania, where he eventually died.

Josephus, through Berosus, paints a vivid picture of power struggles, conquests, and the rise and fall of kings. It's a reminder that history is rarely simple, and the stories we inherit are often shaped by the perspectives and agendas of those who tell them. And it makes you wonder: how many other historical narratives have been shaped, twisted, or outright fabricated over the centuries? It's something to ponder, isn't it?