Meanwhile Jehoiakim, set up by Necho to be king of Judah, undisturbed by his dependence on Egypt, or by the contribution which the land had to pay, occupied himself with building palaces in Jerusalem, and for that object extorted money and service from his subjects. The prophet Jeremiah, who had supported the introduction of the Book of the Law under the reign of his father, opposed this action of the king without regard to consequences: "Weep not for the dead king," Jeremiah said to the Jews, "neither bemoan him; weep rather for him who is carried away (Jehoahaz): he will die there, and see no more his native country. They will not lament for Jehoiakim, saying, Ah! my brother. Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work. Woe to him that saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows, and it is ceiled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. Shalt thou reign because thou contendest with houses of cedar? Thy father did eat and drink, but he did judgment and justice; he judged the cause of the poor and needy, and it was well with him. But thine eyes and thy heart are for nought but thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression and violence. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn forth and cast beyond the gates of Jerusalem."[583] The prophet had to thank the protection of Ahikam, a son of the scribe Zaphan (p. 213), that he escaped the anger of the king. Another prophet who prophesied in the same strain, Urijah by name, was brought by Jehoiakim out of Egypt, whither he had fled, and put to death.[584] While Necho, in Syria, subjugated one district after another, the Babylonians and Medes were engaged in a severe struggle with the remnant of Assyria. At length Nineveh fell. Soon after, in the year 605 B.C., Necho marched to the Euphrates, no doubt with the intention of extending his dominion as far as Karchemish. The roads through the deserts, traversed by the caravans, by which the armies of the Assyrians had so often travelled, ran from Hamath and Damascus to Thipsach and Karchemish, which lay opposite the modern Biredshik.