Chaldean

Of or from Chaldea, a small country of Semitic people who lived in Mesopotamia from the 9th to the 6th century BC. Chaldeans were a nomadic group who initially settled in the Southeastern part of Babylonia and eventually gained control of all of Babylonia and renamed it “Chaldea.” Chaldea is a latinization of the Greek Khaldia, which came from the Aramaic Kasda’in, in turn derived from the Akaddian Kaldu, a variant of Kasdu meaning “conquered, seized, attacked.” The Chaldeans were known for their ambitious diplomacy, forming alliances to take control of their rival, the Assyrian Empire. The Chaldeans were eventually conquered by the Persian army in 539 BC.