<P> The Neo-Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC . During the preceding three centuries , Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours , Assyria . A year after the death of the last strong Assyrian ruler , Assurbanipal , in 627 BC , the Assyrian empire spiralled into a series of brutal civil wars . Babylonia rebelled under Nabopolassar . In alliance with the Medes , Persians , Scythians and Cimmerians , they sacked the city of Nineveh in 612 BC , and the seat of empire was transferred to Babylonia for the first time since the death of Hammurabi in the mid 18th century BC . This period witnessed a general improvement in economic life and agricultural production , and a great flourishing of architectural projects , the arts and science . </P>
when did the neo babylonian empire start and end
began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC