Inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II from Babylon

11 [/ribo/babylon7/Q005482/]

A fragmentarily-preserved eight-sided clay prism is inscribed with a long Akkadian inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II. The text not only celebrates the rebuilding of the old palace (now generally called the "South Palace"), a royal residence that was located in the Ka-dingirra district and that was renovated by his father Nabopolassar, but also includes an extremely long list of the high-ranking officials (in Babylonia) and client rulers (including those from the Levantine coastal cities) who aided in the palace's construction. A small fragment of a second prism of Nebuchadnezzar is known and, as far as it is preserved, it duplicates verbatim the contents of this inscription. This unique text — which is generally called the "Hofkalender" (the court calendar) or the "[Nebuchadnezzar] Prism" and which is inscribed in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script — was written in Nebuchadnezzar's seventh regnal year (598), or possibly shortly thereafter, since that year is explicitly mentioned (iv 25´). It is unclear why Nebuchadnezzar's scribes choose to write this text on clay prisms (the preferred medium of seventh-century Assyrian kings), rather than the usual medium: multi-column clay cylinders. It is clear from Nbk. 36 (C031), however, that scribes were capable of writing inscriptions of up to 1,600 words on cylinders, so the length of the text was presumably not the primary reason for choosing a different medium for this (over-621-word) inscription.

As far as it is preserved, the inscription's prologue — which is similar to Nbk. 19 (C34), a text that was also composed to commemorate the renovation of the South Palace — describes work at Borsippa (namely on Ezida); details what was given as regular daily-offerings to the deities Nabû, Nanāya, Nergal, and Laṣ in Borsippa and Cutha; mentions that Nebuchadnezzar built anew the Ebabbar temples of the god Šamaš at Sippar and Larsa, the Ekišnugal temple of the god Sîn at Ur, and the Edurgina temple of the god Bēl-ṣarbi at Bāṣ, as well as stating what was provided as sumptuous offering to those deities for their New Year's festivals; and indicates how much grain, dates, and wine were stored in Esagil and the South Palace during the king's seventh year (598), an unusual feature for Neo-Babylonian inscriptions. Presumably, the text also recorded Nebuchadnezzar's work at Babylon (especially Marduk's temple and ziggurat, Esagil and Etemenanki, and the inner wall Imgur-Enlil and the new outer wall) and what regular daily-offerings were given to the god Marduk and the goddess Zarpanītu.

Access the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005482/] or the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005482/score] of Nebuchadnezzar II 11.

Source

(1) EŞ 7834 (BE 33081 + BE 33110 + BE 33401)

(1*) EŞ — (BE 8783^?)

Commentary

Ex. 1* (EŞ —) was identified and collated by G. Frame in the Eşki Şark Eserleri Müzesi (Istanbul). This small fragment comes from the lower part of a decagonal or octagonal prism; the bottom edge is preserved for two columns. According to O. Pedersén, there are two possible candidates for this prism: BE 8783, a fragment of a ten-sided prism that was discovered in the main courtyard of the South Palace (Kasr 24o), and BE 53838, a piece of an eight-sided prism found in the city area. The former is tentatively preferred in the present volume, although this cannot be proven, since it is assumed that the main building report of ex. 1*, like that of EŞ 7834 (ex. 1), recorded Nebuchadnezzar II's work on the (old) South Palace. Given the small size of EŞ —, the authors cannot confirm that the text on it is actually a duplicate of the text on EŞ 7834, rather than a hitherto unidentified inscription. For example, a text whose prologue was longer and whose main building report was more detailed, so that it was necessary to use a ten-sided prism instead of an eight-sided one; compare, for example, Leichty, RINAP 4 pp. 193–210 Esar. 104 (Babylon A) and 105 (Babylon C), which are written on seven- and ten-sided prisms respectively. Because the extant text of EŞ — duplicates Nbk. 11, this fragment is tentatively regarded as an uncertain exemplar of this text, rather than as a separate inscription. Because ex. 1* is rather small, only a partial score is presented on Oracc. As usual, the minor (orthographic) variants are given in the critical apparatus, at the back of the book. Ex. 1 (EŞ 7834) is the master text, except for v 9´–13´, which is a conflation of the two exemplars.

The present edition is generally based on the careful transliteration of R. Da Riva (ZA 103 [2013] pp. 206–221); her work is based on a firsthand examination of EŞ 7834 in the Eşki Şark Eserleri Müzesi (Istanbul) in September 2011. J. Novotny collated the text from Babylon excavation photographs Bab ph 1194–95 and 1215–20. The changes between the transliterations of Da Riva and the present volume are all relatively minor and mostly arise from RINBE style (which is based on the editorial conventions of RIM and RINAP). The authors suggest that readers consult Da Riva's article since that publication has detailed textual commentary, as well as photographs and hand-drawn facsimiles of all preserved inscribed surfaces of this multi-faced clay prism.

Based on the mention of Nebuchadnezzar II's seventh regnal year (598) in iv 25´, it is likely that this inscription was written in or (shortly) after 598. It is clear from the mention of the Ebabbar temples at Sippar and Larsa, both of which are dedicated to the sun-god Šamaš, that the present inscription was composed sometime after the inscriptions whose main building accounts record Nebuchadnezzar renovation of those two building. Thus, C23, C24, and C31 were written prior to this inscription. Moreover, it likely from the fact that the list of temples in iii 19´–27´, which only mentions Ekišnugal at Ur and Edurgina at Bāṣ, that this text was composed earlier than Nbk. 19 (C34) and 31 (C33); the former inscription states that Nebuchadnezzar also renovated E-ibbi-Anum at Dilbat and the latter text records that he not only finished E-ibbi-Anum but also Eanna at Uruk. If the proposed sequence proves correct, then this inscription would be earlier than Nbk. 32 (C36), C32, C37, C38, and C310, NeKA, NeKC, WBA, and WBC. Nbk. 2 (East India House), 23 (C35), and 36 (C031) were probably composed much later than the present text. Lastly, the present inscription was very probably composed later than Nbk. 18 (C29) and 20 (C011), two texts whose main building reports described Nebuchadnezzar's work on the South Palace. See the commentaries and on-page notes of those two texts for further information.

Bibliography

1908 Koldewey MDOG 36 p. 4 (provenance)

1925 Unger, ThLZ 50 pp. 481–486 (v 35´–vii 29´, edition; study)

1927 Unger, FuF 3 pp. 1–2 (v 35´–vii 29´, study)

1930 Wetzel Stadtmauern pl. 42 (provenance [marked 33401])

1931 Unger, Babylon pp. 282–294 no. 26 and pls. 53–56 (edition, study)

1933 Landsberger, ZA 41 pp. 297–298 (study)

1969 Oppenheim, ANET³ pp. 307–308 (v 34´–vii 29´, translation, study)

1973 Berger, NbK p. 313 Prism Frag. VIII (study)

1984–85 Borger, TUAT 1/4 pp. 405–406 (v 34´–vii 29´, study)

2002 Beaulieu, JCS 54 pp. 99–101 (vi 19´–32´, edition, study)

2005 Beaulieu, Approaching the Babylonian Economy p. 49 with n. 13 (v 21´–32´, edition; iv 25´, v 21´–32´, vi 1´–vii 29´, study)

2008 Beaulieu, JCSMS 5 pp. 7–8 (v 21´–32´, translation; study)

2008 Da Riva, GMTR 4 pp. 9, 11, 15, 30, 41, 68, 109, 111, 122 sub 2.3 Prism, and 130 sub 19 (study)

2008 Kleber, Tempel und Palast p. 312 (study)

2010 Jursa, Achämenidenhof pp. 67–106 (study)

2013 Da Riva, ZA 103 pp. 196–229 (copy, photo, edition)

2014 Jursa, Imperien und Reiche pp. 127–132 (study)

2014 Jursa, State Correspondence p. 96 (study)

2018 Jursa and Gordin, HeBAI 7 p. 44 (study)

2020 Beaulieu, HeBAI 9 pp. 10–11 (study)

2020 Levavi, JANEH 7 pp. 62–63 (study)

2021 Ouysook, Composition pp. 95–96 (iv 25´–31´, edition; study)

2021 Pedersén, Babylon pp. 111–112 and 152 (study)

2023 Jursa, OHANE 5 pp. 103 and 111–114 (study)

2024 Van Buylaere, Babylon Collection pp. 124 and 178 no. 68 (study)

Excavation photo (Bab ph 1216) of EŞ 7834 (Nbk. 11 ex. 1), the so-called "Hofkalender," an eight-sided clay prism discovered at Babylon that is inscribed with a text commemorating the rebuilding of the South Palace and a long list of the officials who aided in its construction. © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Vorderasiatisches Museum, Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft. Photo: Robert Koldewey, 1907.

Jamie Novotny & Frauke Weiershäuser

Jamie Novotny & Frauke Weiershäuser, 'Inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II from Babylon', RIBo, Babylon 7: The Inscriptions of the Neo-Babylonian Dynasty, The RIBo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2024 [/ribo/babylon7/Rulers/NebuchadnezzarII/Text11Babylon/]