This is a fictional conversation informed by Daniel, 2 Kings, Jeremiah, the Babylonian Chronicles, and Nebuchadnezzar’s building inscriptions. His father Nabopolassar and the Medes destroyed the Assyrian imperial center; Nebuchadnezzar then defeated the remaining Assyrian-Egyptian coalition at Carchemish and secured Babylonian control of the western territories. The exact date of Daniel 4’s events is not known.