Two Mesopotamian chronicles provide useful information both on the events of the reigns of Amēl-Marduk, Neriglissar, Lâbâši-Marduk, and Nabonidus and on the order of those events. The standard edition of Mesopotamian chronicles is the edition of A.K. Grayson (Grayson, Chronicles), but note also the recent edition by J.-J. Glassner (Glassner, Chronicles) and the ongoing work by I. Finkel and R.J. van der Spek (see www.livius.org/cg-cm/chronicles/chron00.html [2020]). For an excellent study dealing with classifications and provenances of Babylonian Chronicles, see Waerzeggers, JNES 71 (2012) pp. 285–298. For the convenience of the user of this volume, it has been thought useful to present translations of the relevant passages here; these translations have been adapted from the aforementioned works.
1. Chronicle of the Third Year of Neriglissar
(Grayson, Chronicles pp. 103–104 no. 6; Glassner, Chronicles pp. 230–233 no. 25)
1–4) The third year (557): [On the Nth day of the month ...] Appuašu, the king of the land Pirind[u, mus]tered h[is numerous] troops and [set ou]t to raid and plu[nder] (cities) Across the Rive[r (Syria-Palestine)]. Neriglissar muste[red his] troops [and] march[ed] to the city Ḫumê to oppose him.
5–13) Before his (Neriglissar's) (arrival), App[u]ašu placed the troops and mounted messengers whom he had conscripted in a gorge of the mountains for ambushes, but (when) Neriglissar reached them, he brought about th[eir] defeat. He killed many troops. He (Neriglissar) captured his (Appuašu's) troops and many of his horses. He pursued Appuašu for a distance of fifteen leagues of difficult mountain terrain, where the men had to walk one behind the other (lit. "man after man"), as far as the city Uraʾa, his royal city. [He capt]ured him, seized the city Uraʾa, and plundered it.
14) (erasure)
15–19) When he (Neriglissar) had marched from the city Uraʾa to the city Kirši, his ancestors' royal city, a distance of six leagues of hard mountain terrain (and) difficult (mountain) pass(es), he seized the city Kirši, a fortified city, his (Appuašu's) royal city. He burned with fire its wall, its palace, and its people.
20–23a) By means of boats, he (Neriglissar) seized the city Pitusu, a mountain that is in the midst of the sea, and the 6,000 combat troops who had gone into hiding inside it. He destroyed his city. Moreover, he took its people captive.
23b–27) In that same year, he started fires from the (mountain) pass of the city Sallunê to the border of Lydia. Appuašu disappeared and (therefore) [he (Neriglissar) did] not capture him. In the month Addaru (XII), the king of Akkad returned t[o] his [land].
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2. Nabonidus Chronicle
(Grayson, Chronicles pp. 104–111 no. 7; Glassner, Chronicles pp. 232–239 no. 26)[[165]]
i 1–8) [The first year (555): ...] ... [...] lifted his [...]. The king [... of] their land (whom/that) he had brought to Babylon. [...] were terrified, but he did not lift [...] their famil(ies), as many as there were [...]. The king mustered his troops and [marched] to (the city) Ḫumê. [...] ...
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i 9–10) [The second year (554)]: It was cold in the land Hamath during the month Ṭebētu (X). [...] ...
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i 11–22) [The third year (553): In the mon]th Abu (V), [he ...] Mount Ammanānu. [...] the fruit orchards, as many as there were, [...] in their midst, [he brought (them)] into Babylon. [The king became sic]k, but recovered. In the month Kislīmu (IX), the king [mustered] his troops [and ...] ... Moreover, [he ...] to Nabû-tattan-uṣur [...] ... of the land Amurru to [...] they set up [(their) camp against E]dom. [...] and numerous troops [... the ci]ty gate of the city Šinṭini [...] he killed him. [...] ... [... tr]oops
Lacuna[[166]]
ii 1–4) [he (Astyages) mu]stered [his troops] and, for conq[uest], marched against Cyrus (II), king of (the land) Anšan, and (then) [...]. (As for) Astyages (Ištumegu), his troops rebelled against him and he was captured. Th[ey handed (him) over] to Cyrus (II). Cyrus (II) <marched> to Ecbatana, his (Astyages') royal city, <and> took (back) to the land Anšan the silver, gold, possessions, property, [...] that he had carried off (from) Ecbatana. [He ...] the possessions (and) property of the troop[s of ...].
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ii 5–8) The seventh year (549): The king (stayed) in the city Tēmā. The heir designate, his magnates, (and) his troops (stayed) in Akkad. [The king] did not come to Babylon [in the month Nisannu (I)]. The god Nabû did not come to Babylon. The god Bēl (Marduk) did not come out. The [akītu]-festi[val did not take place]. Offering(s) in Esagil and Ezida were given to the gods of Babylon and Borsippa a[s in normal times]. The šešgallu-priest performed a strewn offering and oversaw the temple.
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ii 9) The eighth year (548): (contents left blank)
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ii 10–12) The ninth year (547): Nabonidus, the king, (stayed) <in> the city Tēmā. The heir designate, his magnates, (and) his troops (stayed) in Akkad. The king did not come to Babylon in the month Nisannu (I). The god Nabû did not come to Babylon. The god Bēl (Marduk) did not come out. The akītu-festival did not take place. Offering(s) in Esagil and Ezida were given to the gods of <Babylon> and Borsippa as in normal times.
ii 13–15a) On the fifth day of the month Nisannu (I), the mother of the king died in (the city) Dūr-karašu, which (is on) the bank of the Euphrates River, upstream of Sippar. The heir designate and his troops were mourning for three days (and) an (official) mourning ceremony took place. In the month Simānu (III), an (official) mourning ceremony for the mother of the king took place in Akkad.
ii 15b–18) In the month Nisannu (I), Cyrus (II), king of the land Parsu(a), mustered his troops [a]nd crossed the Tigris River downstream of Arbela. In the month Ayyāru (II), [he march]ed to Ly[dia]. He killed its king, took its possessions, (and) stationed a garrison of his own [ (inside) it]. Afterwards, the king (Cyrus) and his garrison (text: "his garrison and the king") were inside.
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ii 19–21a) The tenth year (546): The king (stayed) in the city Tēmā. The heir designate, his magnates, (and) his troops (stayed) in Akkad. The king [did not come to Babylon] in [the month Nisannu (I)]. The god Nabû did not come to Babylon. The god Bēl (Marduk) did not come out. The akītu-festival did not take place. Offering(s) in E[sagil and Ezida were gi]ven to the gods of Babylon and Borsippa as in normal times.
ii 21b–22) On the twenty-first day of the month Simānu (III), [...] of Elammya in Akkad ... [...] the provincial governor [...] in Uru[k ...].
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ii 23–25) The eleventh year (545): The king was (still) in the city Tēmā. The heir designate, his magnates, (and) his troops (stayed) in Akka[d. The king did not come to Babylon in the month Nisannu (I). The god Nabû] did not come [to Babylon]. The god Bēl (Marduk) did not come out. The akītu-festival did not take place. Offe[ring(s) in Esagil and Ezida] were given [to the gods of Bab]ylon and Borsippa [as in normal tim]es.
Lacuna[[167]]
iii 1´–4´) [...] killed [...]. [...] the [...] River [... In the month] Addaru (XII), [...] the goddess Ištar of Uruk [... the troop]s of the land Pa[rsu(a) ... troo]ps [...].
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iii 5´–8´a) [The seventeenth year (539): The god N]abû [came] from Borsippa for the procession of [the god Bēl (Marduk). The god Bēl (Marduk) came out. In the month] Ṭebētu (X), the king entered Eturkalamma. In the temple [...] ... he made a libation of wine ... [... The god B]ēl (Marduk) came out. They performed the akītu-festival as in normal times.
iii 8´b–12´a) In the month [..., the god Lugal-Marda and the god]s of Marad, the god Zababa and the gods of Kish, the goddess Mullissu [and the gods of] Ḫursagkalamma entered Babylon. Until the end of the month Ulūlu (VI), the gods of Akkad [...], which are upstream and downstream of Isin, were entering Babylon. The gods of Borsippa, Cutha, and Sippar did not enter (Babylon).
iii 12´b–16´a) In the month Tašrītu (VII), when Cyrus (II) did battle at (the city) Opis, (which is) on the [bank of] the Tigris River against the troops of Akkad, the people of Akkad retreated. He pillaged (the city Opis and) killed (its) people. On the fourteenth day, Sippar was captured without a fight. Nabonidus fled. On the sixteenth day, Ugbaru, the governor of the land Gutium, and the troops of Cyrus (II) entered Babylon without a fight.
iii 16´b–18´a) Afterwards, after Nabonidus had retreated, he was captured in Babylon. Until the end of the month, the shield-(bearers) of the land Gutium surrounded the gates of Esagil. There was no interruption of any kind in Esagil or (in) the (other) temples. Moreover, no appointed (festival) time was missed.
iii 18´b–22´a) On the third day of the month Araḫsamna (VIII), Cyrus (II) entered Babylon. (Drinking) straws were filled up before him. There was peace in the city (and) Cyrus (II) decreed peace for Babylon, all of it. Gubaru (Ugbaru?), his governor, appointed (provincial) governors in Babylon.[[168]] From the month Kislīmu (IX) to the month Addaru (XII), the gods of Akkad which Nabonidus had brought down to Babylon returned to their cult centers. On the night of the eleventh day of the month Araḫsamna (VIII), Ugbaru died.
iii 22´b– 24´a) In the mon[th ...], the king's wife died.[[169]] From the twenty-seventh <day> of the month of Addaru (XII) to the third day of the month Nisannu (I), [there were] (official) mourning ceremon(ies) in Akkad. All of [the peo]ple bared their heads.
iii 24´b– 28´) On the fourth day, when Cambyses (II), the son of C[yrus (II)], went to Egidrikalamasumu, (and) when he arrived (lit. "came"), the person (in charge of) the Egidri of the god Nabû, who [...] the scepter [..., did not let him (Cambyses) take] the hand of the god Nabû because of (his) Elamite attire. [... sp]ears and quivers from [...] the heir designate [...] to the wo[rk ...] the god Nabû to Esagil ... before the god Bēl (Marduk) and the son-of-B[ēl (Nabû) ...]
Lacuna[[170]]
165 See also Waerzeggers, JNES 71 (2012) pp. 285–298; Waerzeggers, Political Memory pp. 95–124; and Zawadzki, Who Was King pp. 142–154.
166 The lacuna between BM 35382 i 22 and ii 1 would have contained the rest of the description of the events of Nabonidus' third regnal year (553), accounts of that king's fourth (552) and fifth (551) regnal years, and the beginning of the account of the events of the sixth (550) regnal year.
167 The lacuna between BM 35382 ii 25 and iii 1´ might have contained the rest of the description of the events of Nabonidus' eleventh regnal year (545), reports of his twelfth (544) to fifteenth (541) regnal years, and the beginning of the account of the events of the sixteenth (540) regnal year.
168 J.-J. Glassner (Chronicles p. 239) translates this passage as "He [Cyrus] installed Gubaru as governor of (all) governors in Babylon."
169 This is presumably Cyrus', not Nabonidus', wife.
170 The contents of BM 35382 iv 1´–9´ are not translated here because that passage records information about the reign of Cyrus II.