Labashi-Marduk (Babylonian cuneiform: or , meaning "O Marduk, may I not come to shame") was the fifth and penultimate king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling in 556 BC. He was the son and successor of Neriglissar. Though classical authors such as Berossus wrote that Labashi-Marduk was just a child when he became king, Babylonian documents indicate that he had been in charge of his own affairs before his rise to the throne, suggesting he was an adult, though possibly still relatively young. Labashi-Marduk's reign was very short, lasting only one to three months, with the last evidence of Neriglissar's life dating in April 556 BC and documents dated to Labashi-Marduk's successor, Nabonidus, appearing in May that same year and becoming widespread in Babylonia by the end of June. Nabonidus's son Belshazzar led a coup against the king, deposing and killing Labashi-Marduk and proclaiming Nabonidus as king. The reason for Labashi-Marduk's deposition is unknown, Berossus simply describes the justification as Labashi-Marduk having indulged in "evil ways". One possible explanation is that whereas Neriglissar derived his claim to the throne from having married a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar II, a previous king, Labashi-Marduk may have been wholly unconnected to the Babylonian ruling dynasty, as a result of being the son of another wife. Background Labashi-Marduk was the son and heir of Neriglissar (560–556 BC), the fourth king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Labashi-Marduk's mother was a daughter of Nebuchadnezzar II (605–562 BC), the empire's second and most powerful king. Three daughters of Nebuchadnezzar are known; Kashshaya, Innin-etirat and Ba'u-asitu, but no cuneiform text explicitly mentions which daughter Neriglissar married. Historian David B. Weisberg proposed in 1974 that Neriglissar's wife was Kashshaya, since her name appears together with the name of Nebuchadnezzar and Neriglissar in economic documents. Though no concrete evidence exists, this identification has generally been accepted by subsequent historians, such as Donald Wiseman and Jona Lendering. Neriglissar was the son of a man by the name Bel-shum-ishkun and might originally have been from the Aramean clan of the Puqudu, since Bel-shum-ishkun is recorded as originating in the Babylonian province of the same name. According to the later Hellenistic-era Babylonian writer and astronomer Berossus, Naboukhodonosoros (Nebuchadnezzar) died of sickness after a reign of 43 years and was succeeded by his son Euilmaradokhos (Amel-Marduk), who "ruled capriciously and had no regard for the laws". After a reign of two years, Neriglassaros (Neriglissar) plotted against Amel-Marduk