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209 year of astounding events, as we shall see—that a reinvigo- rated Egypt also placed on its throne an assertive strongman named Necho. Just one year later one of the least under- stood—by historians, that is—geopolitical moves then took place. The Egyptians, who used to be on the same side as the Babylonians in opposition to Assyrian rule, emerged from Egypt and, rushing northward, overran territories and sacred sites that the Babylonians considered theirs. The Egyptian advance, all the way north to Carchemish, put them within striking distance of Harran; it also placed in Egyptian hands the two space-related sites, in Lebanon and in Judea. The surprised Babylonians were not going to let it stand. The aging Nabupolassar entrusted the task of recapturing the vital places to his son Nebuchadnezzar, who had already distinguished himself on the battlefields. In June 605 B.c.£., at Carchemish, the Babylonians crushed the Egyptian army, liberated “the sacred forest in Lebanon which Nabu and Marduk desired,” and chased the fleeing Egyptians all the way to the Sinai Peninsula. Nebuchadnezzar stopped the pursuit only on news from Babylon that his father had died. He rushed back, and was proclaimed King of Babylon that same year. Historians find no explanation for the sudden Egyptian thrust and the ferocity of the Babylonian reaction. To us it is evident that at the core of the events was the expectation of the Return. Indeed, it seems that in that year 605 B.c.£. the Return was deemed to be imminent, perhaps even overdue; for it was in that very same year that the Prophet Habakkuk began to prophecy in the name of Yahweh, in Jerusalem. Uncannily foretelling the future of Babylon and other na- tions, the Prophet asked Yahweh when the Day of the Lord— a day of judgment upon the nations, Babylon included—would come, and Yahweh responded, saying: Write down the prophecy, explain it clearly on the tablets, so that it may be quickly read: For the vision there is a set time; In the end it shall come, without fail! Darkness at Noon