Nabonidus' Building Activities

It is known from extant textual and archaeological sources that Nabonidus sponsored construction in no fewer than fifteen Babylonian cities (Agade, Babylon, Borsippa, Cutha, Dilbat?, Kissik, Kish, Larsa, Marad, Seleucia, Sippar, Sippar-Anunītum, Ubassu, Ur, and Uruk), one major cult center on the border of modern-day Syria and Turkey (Ḫarrān) and one important trading center in present-day Saudi Arabia (Tēmā).^[[53]] His workmen undertook work on numerous religious (temples, shrines, ziggurats) and non-religious (palaces, city walls) structures.

General Comments

Nabonidus' inscriptions record that he sponsored the restoration, renovation, or complete rebuilding of a number of important temples and sanctuaries in Babylonia, as well as several city walls. Those self-aggrandizing sources regularly state that he instructed his workmen to carefully and painstakingly search for the original foundations of buildings in order to ensure that the buildings were constructed anew precisely on their original, divinely-sanctioned sites, thereby ensuring that structures endured for a long time and did not prematurely collapse. Some texts record that the king entrusted these important matters to his advisors, learned and experienced men (emqūti rāš ṭēmi) from Babylon and Borsippa.^[[54]] Like many of his predecessors, Nabonidus frequently mentions that the temples and sanctuaries that required his attention were in a woeful, dilapidated state, sometimes because a king of the past failed to construct the building on its ancient foundations and, occasionally, on account of divine wrath. To avoid missteps in building and to guarantee success, Nabonidus regularly consulted the gods, especially the sun-god Šamaš and the storm-god Adad, the lords of divination, through extispicy, often recording the (positive as well as negative) outcomes of those haruspicial queries in his inscriptions.^[[55]] In addition, he also claims to have initiated building projects after having been instructed to do so through a dream, one acceptable means for a king's divine patron to impart information to his/her earthy representative.^[[56]]

Another recurring trope of Nabonidus' building reports is the boast of discovering (ancient) inscribed objects (for example, statues or foundation documents) that had been deposited within the (original) structure of the building by a(n important) former king. References to selected, famous rulers of the past not only highlighted the special relationship that the divine occupant of the temple under construction/renovation had had with important men from the (distant) past, but also gave Nabonidus' pious deeds legitimacy since his workmen were able to uncover these records of the past, especially since those relics were found together with the temple's original foundations deep in the earth.^[[57]] Extant inscriptions record that Nabonidus discovered inscriptions of the following former Mesopotamian kings:

Babylonia

The capital Babylon, the city of the god Marduk that Nebuchadnezzar II had transformed and expanded into a spectacle to behold, received some attention from Nabonidus. From extant sources, this king states that he renovated and reinforced (sections of) the city wall Imgur-Enlil ("Enlil Has Shown Favor"); renovated and refurbished some of the principal gateways of Esagil ("House whose Top Is High"), the temple of Marduk, and installed copper(-plated) statues of mušḫuššu-dragons as gateway guardians, just as they had been in the reign of Neriglissar, as well as statues of goat-fishes (suḫurmāšū); and rebuilt Emašdari ("House of Animal Offerings"), the temple of the goddess Ištar of Agade at Babylon, which was reported to have been in ruins for a long time.^[[58]] Nabonidus might have also sponsored construction on a royal residence located near the Šamaš Gate, in the southwestern part of the city, assuming that the text in question actually dates to this time and records work in Babylon.^[[59]] Bricks bearing his name discovered at Babylon confirm that Nabonidus actually had work carried out in that city.^[[60]]

Nabonidus claims to have made generous donations to Babylon's temples and their divine residents. In addition to installing new wooden doors in Esagil, inscriptions of this king state that he made two large censers from reddish gold; had new ceremonial garments made for the deities Ea, Nabû and Tašmētu; and had a new arattû-throne installed for the god Ea in the Ekarzagina ("Quay of Lapis Lazuli") shrine.^[[61]] Moreover, he provided the akītu-house, Esiskur ("House of the Sacrifice"), and the gods Marduk, Nabû and Nergal with a rich gift of "100 talents and 21 minas of silver, 5 talents and 17 minas of gold in addition to the gifts for an entire year, which (come) from homage-gifts, the wealth of all of the lands, the yield of the mountain, the income from all of the settlements, the rich gifts of kings, the extensive possessions that the prince, the god Marduk had entrusted to me," as well as 2,850 prisoners of war, who were made to perform corvée labor throughout Babylonia.^[[62]]

At Agade, the capital city of the third-millennium-BC ruler Sargon whose location is still not known today, Nabonidus had his workmen restored Eulmaš, the temple of the goddess Ištar there.^[[63]] The precise location of the original temple in the sixth century BC, if Nabonidus' accounts are to be believed, were not easy to locate and it took a great deal of time (three years) and effort to find them;^[[64]] the king states that not one of his predecessors — including a Kassite king (one of the Kurigalzus), the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, and the famous Nebuchadnezzar II — had discovered these foundations and that a few of them openly admitted to such failure.^[[65]] So that future kings would have no problems locating the true, divine-approved, original foundations of the Eulmaš temple at Agade, Nabonidus records that he had the new temple built at ground level, on a high brick infill, constructed precisely over the Sargonic foundations "not (even) a fingerbreadth outside or inside (of them)."

Borsippa also received some attention from Nabonidus, who occasionally referred to himself as muddiš esagil u ezida "the one who renovates Esagil and Ezida." Few extant texts record work on Ezida ("True House"), the temple of the god Nabû there. A cylinder inscription states that the king focused his attention on the temple complex's enclosure walls. The new, reinforced walls improved the security of Ezida and the ziggurat Eurmeiminanki ("House which Gathers the Seven Mes of Heaven and Netherworld").^[[66]] Nabonidus also planned to renovate Ezida's processional way, but unfortunately no details about that building enterprise survive today, apart from the king's intent to carry out the work.^[[67]] Parts of the interior of Nabû's temple were renovated.^[[68]] Following in the footsteps of the Assyrian kings Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, Nabonidus had metal(-plated) statues of wild bulls (rīmū) set up in prominent gateway(s) of Ezida.^[[69]] In addition, he had the wooden doors of Tašmētu's cella plated with silver.

At Cutha and Kish, this Babylonian king states that he sponsored construction on those two cities' walls, respectively Ugal-amaru ("Great Storm, (which) Is a Deluge") and Melem-kurkurra-dulla ("(Whose) Radiance Spreads over (All) Lands"), both of whose superstructures Nabonidus boasts that he had raised as high as mountains.^[[70]] At Dilbat, Nabonidus rebuilt the akītu-house of the god Uraš, the patron deity of that city^[[71]] and, at Kissik, he had Eamaškuga ("House, Pure Sheepfold"), the temple of the goddess Ningal/Nikkal, constructed anew.^[[72]]

As he did at Sippar (see below), Nabonidus appears to have taken a deep interest in completely renovating the temple of the sun-god Šamaš at Larsa.^[[73]] Nabonidus' inscriptions state that Larsa, the Ebabbar ("Shining House") temple, and the ziggurat Eduranna ("House, Bond of Heaven") had lain in ruins for such a long time that their original ground plans had been forgotten and that when Nebuchadnezzar II had had Šamaš' temple renovated that king (wrongly) constructed Ebabbar anew on the earliest foundations that his workmen could find, those of the Kassite king Burna-Buriaš. Because the temple fell into ruins too quickly according to Nabonidus, who was often looking for ways to discredit the pious works of some of his predecessors (Nebuchadnezzar II in particular) and to bolster his own legitimacy, the temple's 'premature' demise was attributed to the fact that Ebabbar had not been on its original foundations and this negligent act angered Šamaš, who let that earthly residence of his become dilapidated. Therefore, Nabonidus had his workmen seek out the older remains of the temple, which they eventually discovered, or so we are told. In his tenth regnal year (546), the foundations of Ebabbar that the Old Babylonian king Ḫammu-rāpi had laid were uncovered, as well as the (original) site of the ziggurat Eduranna. In rhetoric typical of Nabonidus, several inscriptions report that the king had the new temples constructed precisely over their divinely-approved, Old Babylonian foundations, "not (even) a fingerbreadth outside or inside (of them)." Despite Nabonidus' biased, ideological account of construction at Larsa, which presumably contains some factual information, it is certain that this Neo-Babylonian king actually carried out work on that Šamaš temple since bricks of his were discovered at Larsa.

Following in the footsteps of Nebuchadnezzar II, Nabonidus restored the temple of the god Lugal-Marda, Eigikalama ("House, Eye of the Land"), at Marad.^[[74]] In addition, he states that he had an enclosure wall constructed around that holy building, something that had reportedly never been done before. Moreover, he refurbished and ornately decorated Lugal-Marda's chariot, parts of which were supposedly discovered among the ruins of the Eigikalama when the ruins of the dilapidated mudbrick superstructure were being cleared away.

Bricks discovered at Seleucia and Uruk (in the vicinity of Eanna) likely attest to Nabonidus having undertaken work in those two cities.^[[75]] Since no textual sources record the details of projects in the former city, it is uncertain which structure(s) Nabonidus worked on in Seleucia. At Uruk, however, it is clear from the bricks themselves and archival records that he restored Eanna ("House of Heaven"), the temple of the goddess Ištar.

Of Nabonidus' numerous building activities, those at Sippar, the principal cult center of the sun-god, are perhaps the best known today. No less than ten inscriptions of his record numerous details about the long and extensive rebuilding of Ebabbar ("Shining House"), the temple of Šamaš, its cellas, and its ziggurat Ekunankuga ("House, Pure Stairway of Heaven").^[[76]] Nabonidus' accounts of building at Sippar include information about every stage of construction, from start to finish, and, in typical Mesopotamian fashion, those texts narrate events in a manner that is more concerned with royal ideology rather than historical reality. Thus, according to these self-aggrandizing reports, Nabonidus had Ebabbar completely rebuilt anew since the temple constructed by Nebuchadnezzar II forty-five years earlier had (prematurely) collapsed, something that had happened because that ruler failed to construct Šamaš' temple on its original, divinely-approved foundations.^[[77]] After receiving divine confirmation through favorable responses to questions posed through extispicy and after much time and effort searching the ruins of the (allegedly) collapsed temple, Nabonidus' specialists from Babylon and Borsippa claim to have discovered the earliest foundation, the ones purportedly laid by the Sargonic king Narām-Sîn.^[[78]] So not to incur the anger of the sun-god, as Nebuchadnezzar II had done, the king's workmen were instructed to lay Ebabbar's new foundations precisely over the Sargonic-period foundations, "not (even) a fingerbreadth outside or inside (of them)." Once that arduous task had been accomplished, the new mudbrick superstructure was built, 5,000 beams of cedar were stretched out as its roof, new wooden doors were hung in its prominent gateways, and the most important rooms of the temple were lavishly decorated. In addition, Nabonidus states that he rebuilt (or renovated) the ziggurat Ekunankuga; constructed Ekurra ("House of the Mountain"), the temple of the god Bunene, Šamaš' vizier; and made repairs to (parts of) the enclosure wall of the Ebabbar temple complex. Moreover, Nabonidus had a new golden crown, one apparently with something called zarinnu,^[[79]] commissioned and dedicated to Šamaš; according to the inscription recording the manufacture of that sacred object, Nabonidus had a great deal of trouble obtaining divine consent to make that crown, and it was only after multiple haruspical queries that he was permitted to fashion the desired object for the sun-god.^[[80]]

In the vicinity of Sippar, at Sippar-Anunītu, Nabonidus had Eulmaš, the temple of the goddess Anunītu, rebuilt since it was reportedly destroyed by the Assyrian king Sennacherib (704–681).^[[81]] The temple, which shares a name with the Ištar temple at Agade (see above), was constructed anew on top of the foundations of Šagarakti-Šuriaš (1245–1233), a Kassite king of Babylon.

One inscription of Nabonidus states that the king undertook work at Ubassu, a town situated between Babylon and Borsippa. The exact nature of the project(s) there is uncertain as the passage recording the king's construction activities in that town is rather vague. Nevertheless, it seems that Nabonidus renovated/rebuilt a sanctuary of the goddess Nanāya.^[[82]]

Lastly, Nabonidus commissioned several large-scale building projects at Ur, one of the principal cult centers of the moon-god Sîn.^[[83]] In that important city, he made (extensive) repairs to the ziggurat Elugalgalgasisa ("House of the King who Lets Counsel Flourish"); rebuilt Enunmaḫ ("House of the Exalted Prince"), the bīt-ḫilṣi of the goddess Ningal/Nikkal, the consort of Sîn; and constructed Egipar, the traditional residence of the ēntu-priestess of the moon-god, anew for his daughter En-nigaldi-Nanna, after he had appointed her as Sîn's ēntu. Bricks bearing short inscriptions of Nabonidus, as well as an inscribed door socket, attest to this king actually carrying out work on these three important building at Ur. In addition, Nabonidus claims to have "made possessions (and) property copious inside Ekišnugal" and to have exempted temple personal from obligatory state service, including corvée labor, thereby, bestowing a highly coveted 'tax exempt' status upon Ur and its temples.^[[84]]

Ḫarrān

One of the most important and extensive building projects undertaken by Nabonidus was the rebuilding of Eḫulḫul ("House which Gives Joy"), the temple of the moon-god Sîn at Ḫarrān,^[[85]] which had been in ruins since 610, the year the Babylonian king Nabopolassar and his Median allies captured, plundered, and destroyed that city and its temples, thereby, bringing the once-great Assyrian Empire to an end once and for all.^[[86]] Probably after his return to Babylon, after his long sojourn in Arabia, Nabonidus started rebuilding the long-dilapidated Eḫulḫul temple and its sanctuaries. He claims to have rebuilt it directly on top of the foundations of Ashurbanipal (668–ca. 631), who is implied to have done the same since that Assyrian king had seen the earlier foundations of the ninth-century ruler Shalmaneser III (858–824).^[[87]] As one expects from an account of construction in a Mesopotamian royal inscription, the king boasts that he completed the brick superstructure of the temple, lavishly decorated it, and returned newly-refurbished statues of its divine occupants (Sîn, Ningal/Nikkal, Nusku, and Sadarnunna) to their proper places in their home town.^[[88]] It is unknown if construction on Sîn's temple at Ḫarrān had been completed or not by the time Cyrus captured Babylon and Nabonidus in 539.

Tēmā

Nabonidus, during his extended sojourn in Arabia, appears to have undertaken construction on a royal residence at Tēmā, as well as on other important structures in that oasis city. A few, rather vague details are recorded in the later, pro-Cyrus Verse Account. The relevant passage of that propagandistic text reads: "[He] made the city resplendent (and) buil[t a palace]. He built it (just) like the palace of Babylon, ... [... He constantly placed] the treasures of the city and l[and inside it]. He surrounded it with a garris[on ...]."^[[89]] Recent Saudi-German excavations at Tēmā have unearthed direct proof that Nabonidus actually lived in that important Arabian city.^[[90]]

53 For previous studies on Nabonidus' building activities, see, for example, Dandamayev, RLA 9/1–2 (1998) pp. 8–10; Da Riva, GMTR 4 p. 113; and Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids pp. 61–65.

54 For example, see Nabonidus 22–25.

55 See Nabonidus 16, 21–25, 27, and 34. Twice, Nabonidus recorded the entire oracular report in his official inscriptions; see Nabonidus 3 (Babylon Stele) and 25 (Tiara Cylinder).

56 See Nabonidus 3 (Babylon Stele), 17, 27–29, 47 (Ḫarrān Stele), and 53.

57 See Schaudig, Studies Kienast pp. 447–497, for a study of Nabonidus actively digging up ancient foundation documents to legitimize his kingship.

58 Nabonidus 1–2 and 4 (Babylon Stele). A brick found near the bank of the Euphrates (Nabonidus 7) might have been associated with this king's work on the stretch of Imgur-Enlil that ran alongside the Euphrates river between the Ištar Gate and the Uraš Gate, a part of Babylon's city wall that regularly required renovation and reinforcing due to damage caused by the Euphrates. On the other hand, that brick might have been from another, as-of-yet unattested building enterprise of Nabonidus.

59 Nabonidus 1001 (Palace Cylinder). The attribution to Nabonidus is not absolutely certain and the connection of the building account of that fragmentarily preserved inscriptions to Babylon is also not firmly established; Borsippa, Dilbat, Sippar, and Uruk have also been suggested as possible locations for the palace referred to in that text.

60 Nabonidus 7–9.

61 Nabonidus 3 (Babylon Stele) vii and ix, and 4 frgm. 13 col. ii´. A censer for Marduk is also mentioned in the fragmentary inscription written on the stele found at Tēmā (Nabonidus 56 [Tēmā Stele] line 22). It is uncertain if the two references to the censer on that stele refer to one and the same object or to two different censers given to Marduk.

62 Nabonidus 3 (Babylon Stele) ix 3´b–41´a.

63 For example, see Nabonidus 10–12 (Eulmaš Cylinders), 27, and 29 (Eḫulḫul Cylinder).

64 According to Nabonidus 27, the original, third-millennium foundations were discovered through divine providence, after torrential rains created a gully in the ruins of the temple, thereby exposing the foundations of Narām-Sîn of Agade.

65 Compare Schaudig, Studies Kienast pp. 474–478. According to Nabonidus 27, one of the Kurigalzus, perhaps the second of that name, recorded "I searched day and night for the (original) foundation(s) of Eulmaš, but I did not reach (them)"; and Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal wrote down "I sought out the (original) foundation(s) of that Eulmaš, but I did not reach (them). I cut down poplar(s) and maštû-tree(s) and (then) built a replacement Eulmaš and gave (it) to the goddess Ištar of Agade, great lady, my lady." Such admissions are never included in Mesopotamian inscriptions and, therefore, it can be confidently assumed that these statements were drafted by Nabonidus' scribes.

66 Nabonidus 13 (Ezida Cylinder). That text also records that Neriglissar started construction on that wall but never completed it. This building enterprise of Neriglissar is not known from his own inscriptions.

67 Nabonidus 44.

68 Nabonidus 4 frgm. 7.

69 Esarhaddon had four apotropaic bull statues placed in Borsippa's main temple and Ashurbanipal set up four, and later six, wild bulls in Ezida. See, for example, Leichty, RINAP 4 p. 117 Esarhaddon 54 (Smlt.) rev. 10b–16a; and Novotny and Jeffers, RINAP 5/1 p. 216 Ashurbanipal 10 (Prism T) ii 1–6 and p. 267 Ashurbanipal 12 (Prism H) i 4´–6´.

70 Nabonidus 19 (Eigikalama Cylinder). Both walls are also known from an explanatory temple list; see George, House Most High no. 6.

71 Nabonidus 19 (Eigikalama Cylinder).

72 Nabonidus 15 (Eamaškuga Cylinder).

73 Nabonidus 16 (Larsa Cylinder) and 27.

74 Nabonidus 19 (Eigikalama Cylinder).

75 Respectively Nabonidus 18 and 20. It is unclear if Nabonidus actually built at Seleucia or if he sponsored construction at Opis (ancient Upî; Tulūl al-Mujailiʿ), which is only a short distance away from Seleucia, and those bricks were later transferred from Opis to Seleucia.

76 Nabonidus 19, 21–26, 27–29, and 1008.

77 For a study of Nabonidus criticizing Nebuchadnezzar II, in particular for failing to build temples on their original foundations, see Schaudig, Studies Ellis pp. 155–161.

78 These ancient foundations of Ebabbar were said to have been found at a depth of eighteen cubits and to have been laid 3,200 years before Nabonidus. According to middle chronology (for example, Brinkman in Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia p. 335), Narām-Sîn, who is erroneously referred to as the son of Sargon, reigned ca. 2254–2218, which is only 1,663 years from the end of that Sargonic king's reign to Nabonidus' accession to the throne. For a discussion of this passage (Nabonidus 28 [Eḫulḫul Cylinder] ii 55b–60a), including the free interchangeability of the names of Sargonic kings in Nabonidus' inscriptions, see Schaudig, Studies Ellis pp. 157–159.

79 The meaning of the Akkadian word zarinnu is unclear; see the note on p. 127 of this volume for further details.

80 Nabonidus 25 (Tiara Cylinder).

81 Nabonidus 28–29 (Eḫulḫul Cylinders). For the rebuilding of Eulmaš, see Frame, Mesopotamia 28 (1993) pp. 21–50; and Bartelmus and Taylor, JCS 66 (2014) pp. 113–128.

82 Nabonidus 19 (Eigikalama Cylinder) ii 5–7 records "As for the city Ubassu, (which is) between Babylon and Borsippa, I raised up its superstructure with bitumen and baked brick(s) and (then) had the goddess Nanāya, the supreme goddess, enter her cella."

83 Nabonidus 19 (Eigikalama Cylinder) and 32–39.

84 Nabonidus 34 (En-nigaldi-Nanna Cylinder) ii 19 and 21–28, and Nabonidus 36.

85 Nabonidus 3 (Babylon Stele), 28–29 (Eḫulḫul Cylinders), 46–52, and 2001 (Adad-guppi Stele). For a study of earlier Assyrian building activities at Ḫarrān, see Novotny, Eḫulḫul.

86 Grayson, Chronicles p. 95 Chronicle 3 lines 63–64. Note that Nabonidus 3 (Babylon Stele) x 14´ credits only the Medes with this sacrilege, and not the Babylonian king.

87 According to J. Novotny (Eḫulḫul passim), Ashurbanipal did not necessarily rebuild Eḫulḫul precisely on earlier foundations since it is clear from several of that king's inscriptions that Eḫulḫul was substantially enlarged and that Nusku's temple Emelamana might have been built as an attached twin of the newly-enlarged Eḫulḫul temple. Based on extant textual and archaeological evidence, it is clear that Assyrian kings regularly moved and changed the plans of temples. Therefore, it was not problematic, generally speaking, for a Mesopotamian king to not build precisely on the original foundations of a temple. For some details, see Novotny, JCS 66 (2014) pp. 103–109; and Novotny, Kaskal 11 (2014) pp. 162–165.

88 It is certain from contemporary inscriptions discovered at Ḫarrān, including numerous inscribed bricks, that work was indeed carried out on Eḫulḫul. Like Ashurbanipal, Nabonidus claims to have stationed metal(-plated) statues of wild bulls (rīmū) and long-haired heroes (laḫmū) in prominent gateways of the temple. A partially intact bowl (Nabonidus 52) and a bead (Nabonidus 53) attest to this Neo-Babylonian king dedicating some (cult) utensils to Eḫulḫul, in particular, a kallu-bowl, a šulpu-vessel, and (most likely) an ornamental dagger.

89 Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 568 P1 ii 28´–31´.

90 See, for example, Eichmann, Schaudig, and Hausleiter, AAE 17 (2006) pp. 163–176.

Frauke Weiershäuser & Jamie Novotny

Frauke Weiershäuser & Jamie Novotny, 'Nabonidus' Building Activities', RIBo, Babylon 7: The Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, The RIBo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2024 [/ribo/babylon7/RINBE2Introduction/Nabonidus/Nabonidus'BuildingActivities/]