But as you can see here, the Assyrian Empire, at its peak, controlled much of the modern-day Middle East. Now, the Assyrian Empire would eventually collapse in the 7th century BCE, and it would be taken over by the Neo-Babylonian Empire. And I have a map of that right over here, which also controlled much of the modern Middle East. Probably the most famous ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire was Nebuchadnezzar II, from the Hebrew Bible, famous for taking the early Jewish people captive, the famous Babylonian captivity. But eventually they would be overthrown in, they will be overthrown in the 6th century BCE by the Persians and Cyrus the Great. And that will actually be the end of the Babylonian captivity, according to biblical accounts. But the big picture is that Mesopotamia is called the cradle of civilization for good reason.