Dais of Destinies (a seat in Ezida at Borsippa)

During New Year's festivals (Akkadian akītu), when the god Nabû was travelling to and from Babylon, he would stop at the "Dais of Destinies" (Akkadian parak šīmāti), which was located near the gate Kaumuša. The late Neo-Assyrian king Esarhaddon (r. 680–669 BC) and the Neo-Babylonian rulers Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 604–562 BC) and Neriglissar (r. 559–556 BC) are known to have plated this important brick structure with metal.

Names and Spellings

The Akkadian name of this seat of Nabû at Borsippa was parak šīmāti, which translates into English as the "Dais of Destinies."

Written Forms: BARA₂ NAM.MEŠ; BARA₂ ši-ma-a-ti; BARA₂ ši-ma-a-tim; pa-ra-ak ši-ma-a-ti; pa-rak NAM.MEŠ.

Known Builders

Neo-Assyrian (ca. 911–612 BC)

Esarhaddon (r. 680–669 BC)

Neo-Babylonian (ca. 625–539 BC)

Nebuchadnezzar II (r. 604–562 BC)

Neriglissar (r. 559–556 BC)

Building History

This seat of Nabû, which was used during New Year's festivals (Akkadian akītu), on the fifth and eleventh days of the ceremonies, was regularly refurbished during the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Periods. The Assyrian king Esarhaddon and the Babylonian ruler Nebuchadnezzar II both state that they provided Nabû's "Dais of Destinies" with a covering of "shiny silver" (Akkadian kaspu ellu). The later Babylonian king Neriglissar, on the other hand claims to have coated it with "shining gold (and) ornaments of brilliance" (Akkadian hurāṣu namru tiqnim melammu). According to Nebuchadnezzar II, the "Dais of Destinies" was located near the gate Kaumuša.

Archaeological Remains

Although parts of Ezida have been excavated, the "Dais of Destinies" has not been securely identified in the archaeological record.

Further Reading

Koldewey, R. 1911. Die Tempel von Babylon und Borsippa (Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft 15), Leipzig, pp. 50–59.
Unger, E. 1932. "Barsippa," Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie 1/6, p. 417 §55b.

Banner image: photograph of the remains of Ezida and Eurmeiminanki taken ca. 2002 (left); woodcut from "Pleasant Hours: A Monthly Journal of Home Reading and Sunday Teaching; Volume III" published by the Church of England's National Society's Depository, London, in 1863 (center); areal photograph of the ruins of Ezida and Eurmeiminanki taken in 1928 (right). Images from Getty Images.

Jamie Novotny

Jamie Novotny, 'Dais of Destinies (a seat in Ezida at Borsippa)', Babylonian Temples and Monumental Architecture online (BTMAo), The BTMAo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, [http://oracc.org/btmao/Borsippa/TemplesandZiggurat/Ezida/RoomsandGates/DaisofDestinies/]

BTMAo 2019-. BTMAo is based at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Historisches Seminar (LMU Munich, History Department) - Alexander von Humboldt Chair for Ancient History of the Near and Middle East. BTMAo is part of the four-year project Living Among Ruins: The Experience of Urban Abandonment in Babylonia (September 2019 to October 2023), which is funded by the Gerda Henkel Stiftung as part of the program "Lost Cities. Wahrnehmung von und Leben mit verlassenen Städten in den Kulturen der Welt," coordinated by Martin Zimmermann and Andreas Beyer. Content released under a CC BY-SA 3.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/] license, 2007-.
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