1 2 14 16 19 24 27 28 32 47 2001
Two almost completely preserved, barrel-shaped clay cylinders, as well as a small fragment of a third cylinder, bear an inscription of Nabonidus recording renovations made to Babylon's inner wall Imgur-Enlil ("The God Enlil Showed Favor"); the text is written in two columns. One cylinder (ex. 1) was purchased in Istanbul sometime before 1900, while the other (ex. 2) was discovered in situ by Iraqi archaeologists in 1978, in the brick structure of Imgur-Enlil, near the Ištar Gate, in a clay box together with two clay cylinders of Nabopolassar (also recording work on Babylon's inner wall); the fragment (ex. 3) is registered as coming from Sippar. The text, which is written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script, states that Nabonidus rebuilt the dilapidated sections of Imgur-Enlil and raised the superstructure as high as a mountain. In addition, Nabonidus reports that he had inscriptions of an unnamed previous king of Babylon (undoubtedly Nabopolassar) placed in the brick structure of that wall alongside his own inscriptions; this claim can be confirmed from the archaeological record (see commentary below). Interestingly, the length of Imgur-Enlil is recorded in this text: 20 UŠ, which is approximately 7,200 m long (see the on-page note to i 22); according to A. George (BTT pp. 135–136), the actual length of the wall was 8,015 m. This text is referred to as "Nabonidus Cylinder II, 1," "[Nabonidus] Inscription A," and "the Imgur-Enlil Cylinder" in previous studies and editions.
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005398/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005398/] of Nabonidus 01.
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Four barrel-shaped clay cylinders are inscribed with an inscription recording Nabonidus' rebuilding of Emašdari ("House of Animal Offerings"), the temple of the goddess Ištar of Agade at Babylon; three of the cylinders were found in situ, in the brick structure of the temple. The text is written in two columns and the script of two of the exemplars (exs. 1–2) is archaizing Neo-Babylonian, while the script of the two other exemplars (exs. 3–4) is contemporary Neo-Babylonian. The text includes (1) a hymnic list of Ištar's titles and epithets that emphasize her warlike aspects; (2) a passage in which Nabonidus portrays himself as a pious ruler who humbly and submissively follows the will of his divine patrons and who abundantly provides for their temples and shrines; (3) a building report recording the renovation of the Emašdari temple, which Nabonidus claims was in such bad repair that alkali had eroded its brickwork and that little remained standing; and (4) a prayer to the goddess Ištar, asking for her blessing and for her to speak well of Nabonidus in the presence of Marduk. This text is referred to as "Nabonidus Cylinder II, 3," "[Nabonidus] Inscription B," and the "Emašdari Cylinder" in previous editions and studies.
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005399/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005399/] of Nabonidus 02.
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Two clay cylinders discovered at Kish preserve a small portion of an inscription of Nabonidus written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script; both pieces come from the first column of what are presumed to have originally been two-column cylinders. The extant text contains the end of the section recording the king's epithets and filiation and the beginning of a passage recording Marduk's nomination and support of Nabonidus as the legitimate king of Babylon. H. Schaudig refers to this badly preserved text as the "Kish Cylinder."
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005411/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005411/] of Nabonidus 14.
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One complete, large, three-column clay cylinder and several fragmentarily preserved cylinders are all inscribed with a lengthy Akkadian inscription of Nabonidus commemorating the restoration of Ebabbar ("Shining House") and Eduranna ("House, Bond of Heaven"), the temple and ziggurat of the sun-god Šamaš at Larsa. Despite the text's Larsa-centric contents, the majority of the copies of this inscription were found at Uruk (exs. 3–6), and not at Larsa (ex. 7) as one would expect. The script of all seven exemplars is contemporary Neo-Babylonian script. The inscription contains: (1) a long introduction enumerating how various gods and goddesses supported Nabonidus; (2) an account of the state of affairs at Larsa prior to Nabonidus' tenth regnal year (546); (3) a passage recording how Nabonidus came to find Ebabbar's original foundations with the help of the god Marduk; (4) a description of how the king confirmed the gods' will through extispicy, not once but twice; (5) a report of the rebuilding of Ebabbar and Eduranna on their original foundations; and (6) concluding formulae, which contain Nabonidus' petitions to Larsa's tutelary deities to look favorably upon him. According to this inscription, Nebuchadnezzar II (wrongly) rebuilt Šamaš' temple on the foundations of a Kassite king by the name of Burna-Buriaš, as he was unable to find Ebabbar's original ground plan; the site of that building was deemed (by Nabonidus) to be too small for its divine occupant. Nabonidus, on the other hand, was able to find Ebabbar's original foundations, which he states had been laid "700 years before Burna-Buriaš" by the famous Old Babylonian king Ḫammu-rāpi; Marduk is said to have sent strong winds that removed the debris covering Larsa's holy buildings and thereby revealed the original ground plans of Šamaš' temple and ziggurat. The inscription, which was composed during Nabonidus' tenth year as king (546) or slightly later, is referred to as "Nabonidus Cylinder III, 1," "[Nabonidus] Inscription 9," and the "Larsa Cylinder" in previous editions and studies.
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005413/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005413/] of Nabonidus 16.
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Two nearly complete, double-column clay cylinders bear an Akkadian inscription commemorating various building activities of Nabonidus in Babylonia, as well as the installation of his daughter En-nigaldi-Nanna as ēntu-priestess of the moon-god Sîn at Ur. The text, which is written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script, records that Nabonidus: (1) rebuilt Ebabbar ("Shining House"), the temple of the god Šamaš at Sippar; (2) raised up the superstructures of Ugal-amaru ("Great Storm, (which is) a Deluge") and Melem-kurkurra-dulla ("(Whose) Radiance Spreads over (All) Lands"), the city walls of Cutha and Kish respectively; (3) built the akītu-house of the god Uraš according to its original appearance; (4) undertook construction at the town Ubassu, a cult center of the goddess Nanāya, that was located between Babylon and Borsippa; (5) increased the offerings of Ekišnugal, the temple of the god Sîn at Ur, and installed his daughter as ēntu-priestess there; (6) reconstructed a ceremonial chariot of the god Lugal-Marda; and (7) completely rebuilt Eigikalama ("House, Eye of the Land"), the temple of Lugal-Marda at Marad. Based on the inscription's main building report, both cylinders are thought to have come from Marad, although there is no absolute proof of this. Although the inscription is not dated, its date of composition is generally thought to have been between Nabonidus' third (553) and tenth (546) regnal years, possibly before his sixth year (550) as king; for this opinion, see Beaulieu, Nabonidus pp. 26–27 and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 363. In previous editions and studies, this text is referred to as "Nabonidus Cylinder II, 5," "[Nabonidus] Inscription 7," and the "Eigikalama Cylinder."
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005416/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005416/] of Nabonidus 19.
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An Akkadian inscription recording Nabonidus' rebuilding of Ebabbar ("Shining House"), the temple of the sun-god Šamaš at Sippar, is known from two complete and three fragmentarily preserved, double-column clay cylinders. The text's two principal exemplars were both discovered in Ebabbar, near the main cella; the other three pieces are presumed to have come from Sippar. The inscription, which is written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script, includes a lengthy and detailed description of the rebuilding of Ebabbar, which Nabonidus claims was in an abysmal state when he ascended the throne. The temple's deplorable state of being is blamed on the fact that an unnamed previous builder (undoubtedly Nebuchadnezzar II) did not build Šamaš' earthly abode on its original foundations, so that the temple had not been constructed according to divine will. In contrast to his predecessor, Nabonidus records that he, his advisors, and his master builders painstakingly ensured that Ebabbar was renovated in exact accordance with its original and divinely-sanctioned plan: the gods Šamaš and Adad confirmed the undertaking's success via favorable haruspical queries and the new temple was built directly on top of the foundations laid by the Sargonid king Narām-Sîn (2254–2218). In addition, the inscription records that Nabonidus had the temple, especially its cella, suitably outfitted and lavishly decorated. The text ends with a long petition to Ebabbar's tutelary deities (Šamaš, Aya, and Bunene) to act beneficently towards the king. Although none of the cylinders bear a date, some scholars have suggested that the text was composed at the end of Nabonidus' second regnal year (554); see Beaulieu, Nabonidus p. 25 and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 385. This text is referred to as "Nabonidus Cylinder II, 9," "[Nabonidus] Inscription 5," and the "Ebabbar Cylinder" in previous editions and studies.
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005421/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005421/] of Nabonidus 24.
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This long, Akkadian inscription comprises four different texts, which are said to have originally been inscribed on steles erected in Agade, Larsa, Sippar, and Sippar-Anunītu. The final lines of the text state that it was composed so that people of later generations could hear about the deeds of Nabonidus' patron deity, the moon-god Sîn. The inscription, which is known from four exemplars (including a damaged three-column clay cylinder and a fragment of a multi-column clay tablet), was, despite the fact that the text does not record work on any holy building in that city, likely compiled for cylinders deposited in the structure of a building at Ur since ex. 1 was discovered in the ruins of Ur's ziggurat and since the concluding lines (iii 79–81) record that the inscription was intended to proclaim the deeds of Sîn, Ur's patron deity, to future generations. The four inscriptions record that Nabonidus renovated two temples for the god Šamaš, the Ebabbar ("Shining House") temples at Sippar and Larsa, and two temples for the goddess Ištar, the Eulmaš temples at Agade and Sippar-Anunītu. The king boasts in all four instances to have discovered ancient inscriptions and to have rebuilt the temples directly on their original foundations. Moreover, he criticizes his predecessors (Nebuchadnezzar II, as well as the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal) for their inability to discover the original, divinely-sanctioned foundations of those temples. All four copies of this text are written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script. The inscription was compiled after Nabonidus' return to Babylon, in Tašrītu (VII) of his thirteenth (543) regnal year, perhaps between the end of that year and his sixteenth (640) year as king; for details, see Beaulieu, Nabonidus p. 35 and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 447. In scholarly literature, this inscription is referred to as "Nabonidus Cylinder III, 4" and "[Nabonidus] Inscription 16."
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005424/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005424/] of Nabonidus 27.
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Numerous clay cylinders and cylinder fragments discovered at Sippar, as well as at Babylon, bear a lengthy Akkadian inscription of Nabonidus commemorating the rebuilding of Eḫulḫul ("House which Gives Joy"), the temple of the god Sîn at Ḫarrān, Ebabbar ("Shining House"), the temple of the god Šamaš at Sippar, and Eulmaš, the temple of the goddess Ištar-Anunītu at Sippar-Anunītu. The inscription, which was probably composed for objects deposited in Eulmaš, is distributed over three columns and the script of all of the extant copies of the text is contemporary Neo-Babylonian. For each building project, Nabonidus narrates the circumstances in which he came to rebuild the old and dilapidated temple. For example, with regard to construction at Ḫarrān, Nabonidus reports that the moon-god became angry with his temple Eḫulḫul, allowed it to be destroyed and turned into a mound of ruins by the Ummān-manda (the Medes), and, after a fifty-four-year period of abandonment, the gods Marduk and Sîn permitted him to rebuild that venerated temple, which he states that he was able to do because Persian king Cyrus II had defeated the Median ruler Astyages (Ištumegu) and driven off the Ummān-manda hordes near Ḫarrān; Nabonidus also states that his commission to renovate the temple was revealed to him in a dream by Marduk. In all three building accounts, Nabonidus states that he rebuilt the temples on the (original) foundations; the new Eḫulḫul temple was built on the foundations laid by the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (668–ca. 631), the renovated Ebabbar temple was constructed anew on top of the foundations laid by the Sargonic king Narām-Sîn (2254–2218), and the restored Eulmaš was built on top of the foundations of the Kassite ruler Šagarakti-Šuriaš (1245–1233). Two unusual features of this inscription are Nabonidus' Assyrian-style self-presentation and his address to future rulers who discover inscribed objects of his to respect them and return them to where they were found; the later feature is presently attested also in text nos. 17 (Larsa Stele), 29 (Eḫulḫul Cylinder), and 47 (Ḫarrān Stele). Although the cylinders inscribed with this text do not bear a date, scholars generally date this text to after Nabonidus' thirteenth (543) regnal year, perhaps his sixteenth year (540); for this opinion, see Beaulieu, Nabonidus p. 42 and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 48. The inscription is referred to as "Nabonidus Cylinder III, 2," "[Nabonidus] Inscription 15," and the "Eḫulḫul Cylinder" in previous editions and studies.
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005425/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005425/] of Nabonidus 28.
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Numerous double-column clay cylinders discovered at Ur bear an Akkadian inscription of Nabonidus recording his restoration of the ziggurat of the moon-god Sîn in that city, Elugalgalgasisa ("House of the King who Lets Counsel Flourish"). The text, which on all known copies is written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script, states that Nabonidus had Ur's ziggurat rebuilt according to its ancient plan, the one established by the founder of the Ur III Dynasty, Ur-Namma (2112–2095), and his son, Šulgi (2094–2047). Although none of the cylinders bear a date, scholars generally date this text after Nabonidus' thirteenth (543) regnal year, perhaps at the very end of his reign, in either his sixteenth (540) or seventeenth (539) year as king; see Beaulieu, Nabonidus p. 42 and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 48. In scholarly literature, this text is referred to as "Nabonidus Cylinder II, I," "[Nabonidus] Inscription 17," and the "Elugalgalgasisa Cylinder."
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005429/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005429/] of Nabonidus 32.
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This Akkadian inscription of Nabonidus is engraved on two rounded-top, basalt steles that were later reused to build the Great Mosque at Ḫarrān. The upper parts of both monuments are engraved with an image of the king standing before symbols of the moon (Sîn), sun (Šamaš), and the planet Venus (Ištar); the king faces left on both steles. This three-column text, which is written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script, gives an account of the ten years that Nabonidus spent on the Arabian peninsula and states that after he returned to Babylon he rebuilt Eḫulḫul ("House which Gives Joy"), the temple of the moon-god Sîn at Ḫarrān, and returned that holy building's divine statues. With regard to his long stay in Tēmā, this text records that it was the god Sîn who made Nabonidus live there because the citizens of Babylon were so sinful towards the moon-god. Moreover, unlike text nos. 28 (Eḫulḫul Cylinder) and 46 (Ḫarrān Cylinder), this inscription states that it was Sîn, not Marduk (Babylon's tutelary deity), who spoke to Nabonidus in his dreams about restoring Eḫulḫul and returning its divine occupants from Babylon. Because the inscription explicitly states that the project was undertaken after the king's return to Babylon after his ten-year sojourn in Tēmā, the date of composition can be securely assigned to after the month Tašrītu (VII) of Nabonidus' thirteenth (543) regnal year. As little information is given on the reconstruction of Eḫulḫul, some scholars generally think that the steles were engraved during his fourteenth (542) or fifteenth (541) year as king; for this opinion, see Beaulieu, Nabonidus p. 42 and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 48. This well-known text is referred to as "Nabonidus Stele Fragments III, 1," "[Nabonidus] Inscription 13," and the "Ḫarrān Stele."
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005444/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005444/] of Nabonidus 47.
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Two rounded-top steles bearing an identical Akkadian inscription of Nabonidus' mother Adad-guppi (Hadad-ḥappī) were discovered in and near Ḫarrān, one of the primary cult centers of the moon-god Sîn. The first (= ex. 2) was found in 1906 being used as a doorstep in a house in the village Eski Ḫarrān, which is 10 km from ancient Ḫarrān, while the second (= ex. 1) was found in 1956 in the north entrance of the Great Mosque at Ḫarrān, where it was used as a paving stone. The first two-thirds of the inscription give an autobiographical account of Adad-guppi's 104-year life, from the twentieth regnal year of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (649) to the ninth regnal year (547) of her son Nabonidus, which she claims was entirely devoted to serving the gods of her birth city, Ḫarrān; Adad-guppi reiterates that she never abandoned her love of the god Sîn, even though his temple, Eḫulḫul ("House which Gives Joy"), had been destroyed by a barbarian horde (the Medes) and was in ruins to the time of her death. The last third of the text records the pomp-filled, seven-day-long funeral that Nabonidus held for his beloved mother during his ninth year as king. This text, which is generally referred to as the "Adad-guppi Stele [Inscription]" in scholarly literature, also states that Nabonidus had Eḫulḫul rebuilt and its tutelary deities (Sîn, Ningal, Nusku, and Sadarnunna) returned to their new sanctuaries. This "pseudo-autobiographical" text was composed after the fifth day of Nisannu (I) in Nabonidus' ninth regnal year (April 6th 547), perhaps at the same time as text no. 47 (Ḫarrān Stele), which may have been engraved on steles during his fourteenth (542) or fifteenth (541) year as king, when he was reconstructing Eḫulḫul; for this opinion, see Beaulieu, Nabonidus p. 68 n. 1 and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 501.
Access the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005471/score] or the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005471/] of Nabonidus 2001.
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Jamie Novotny
Jamie Novotny, 'Information on Nabonidus Scores', RIBo, Babylon 7 Scores: Scores of the Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, The RIBo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2024 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/bab7scores/NabonidusScores/]