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Nebuchadnezzar’s first campaign. The Egyptian army under Pharaoh Neco marched (solid line) to Carchemish in 609 B.C. to help the Assyrians try to reconquer Haran. The invasion failed, but the Egyptians retained possession of Palestine and Syria and installed Jehoiakim as king of Judah. In the fourth year of Jehoiakim’s reign (c. 605 B.C.), Nebuchadnezzar’s Babylonian army (dotted line) defeated the Egyptians twice in succession at Carchemish and Hamath. These events confirmed Jeremiah’s warnings—dictated to his scribe, Baruch—against Judah’s alliance with Egypt. Nothing stood between Judah and the onslaught of the Babylonians now that the Egyptians were in full retreat. Nebuchadnezzar’s forces swept through the Holy Land a year later, conquered Ashkelon, and in 586 B.C. turned east to Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple and the city.