Inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II from Babylon

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This Akkadian inscription states that Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilt Emaḫ, the temple of the goddess Ninmaḫ in the Ka-dingirra district of Babylon. It is known from several original two-column clay cylinders (exs. 2, 4–5, 20–21, 23, 27–29), as well as numerous modern casts (exs. 1, 6–19, 22, 25) and replicas (ex. 10). In all instances, the script is contemporary Neo-Babylonian. This text is known as "[Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder] C21" or "Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder II, 1."

Access the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005500/] or the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005500/score] of Nebuchadnezzar II 29.

Sources

VA 2544 (Nbk. 29 ex. 4), a small, two-column clay cylinder that bears an inscription that records Nebuchadnezzar II's renovation of Emaḫ, the temple of the goddess Ninmaḫ at Babylon. © Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Vorderasiatisches Museum. Photo: Olaf M. Teßmer.

Commentary

This inscription is known principally from casts (exs. 1, 6–19, 22, 25), but also from several Neo-Babylonian Period originals (exs. 2, 4–5, 20–21, 23, 27–29); ex. 10 is a modern replica. It is uncertain if the remaining exemplars are originals or casts. F. Weiershäuser collated the cylinders in the British Museum (London), the Iraq Museum (Baghdad), and the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Berlin), as well as the pieces in the Penn Museum (Philadelphia) and the Yale Babylonian Collection (New Haven) from high-resolution digital photographs. G. Frame examined the cylinders in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York). The other exemplars were not collated, so the transliterations of them in the score are based on the published hand-drawn copies of them. In the case of exs. 2–3 and 27, this is because their present whereabouts are unknown. Ex. 3 was formerly in the possession of R. Rochette (Paris) according to P.-R. Berger (NbK p. 233) and ex. 27 is in a private collection in Germany based on information provided by W. Sallaberger (AfO 40/41 [1993–94] p. 63). The master text is ex. 4 (VA 2544). A score is presented on Oracc and the minor (orthographic) variants are given at the back of the book, in the critical apparatus. On the date of composition, see the commentary of Nbk. 30 (C39).

According to Tintir IV 18 (George, BTT pp. 58–59 and 313), Emaḫ was the temple of the goddess Bēlet-ilī; see the on-page note to Nbk. 2 (East India House) iv 14–17 for more details. R. Borger takes ^dNIN.MAḪ as a logogram for Bēlet-ilī (BiOr 55 [1998] col. 847; and see also Borger, MZ p. 451). It is uncertain if ^dNIN.MAḪ would have been pronounced in Akkadian as Bēlet-ilī or read as Sumerian Ninmaḫ in this text. Following previous editions, the authors tentatively assume that the goddess' name was pronounced Ninmaḫ; see also Beaulieu, Iraq 59 (1997) pp. 93–96. For further information on Emaḫ, see the on-page note to Nbk. 2 (East India House) iv 14–17.

Bibliography

This Akkadian inscription is known from three three-column clay cylinders. The text, which is written in archaizing Neo-Babylonian script, commemorates Nebuchadnezzar II's rebuilding of Emaḫ, the goddess Ninmaḫ's temple at Babylon. This inscription is sometimes called "[Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder] C39" in earlier publications.

Access the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005501/] or the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005501/score] of Nebuchadnezzar II 30.

Sources

Commentary

Ex. 1 (YBC 17069) was collated by F. Weiershäuser from high-resolution photographs provided by K. Wagensonner, while exs. 2 (B 63) and 3 (B 27) were collated by N. Heeßel. The master text is ex. 1, the only complete exemplar of this text. A score of the inscription is presented on Oracc and the minor (orthographic) variants are given at the back of the book, in the critical apparatus.

Nbk. 47 (B 12) is similar to the present text, but was written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script (rather in an archaizing one) and distributed over two columns (rather than three). It is assumed here that it was composed prior to the present text. This is based on the fact that Nbk. 47 seems to have been shorter; see the commentary of that text for further details. Moreover, regarding the date of composition, this text is assumed to have been written earlier than the inscriptions that mention the rebuilding of Emaḫ: Nbk. 2 (East India House), 31 (C33), and 32 (C36), as well as the C32, C37, C38, and WBA texts. Nbk. 29 (C21) is assumed here to have been earlier in date than the present text. For further information on Emaḫ, see the on-page note to Nbk. 2 (East India House) iv 14–17.

Bibliography

This three-column clay cylinder is inscribed with a 582-word Akkadian inscription that is written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script and was composed on the occasion of Nebuchadnezzar II's restoration of Eḫursagsikila, the temple of the goddess Ninkarrak (Gula) in the sacred Eridu district of East Babylon. The main building report is more detailed than many other building reports of Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon and it is unusual in two respects: (1) the description is concerned primarily with the early stages of construction, principally the examination of the temple's original foundations and brickwork and the laying of three courses of baked bricks precisely on Eḫursagsikila's old (divinely-sanctioned) foundations; and (2) it mentions that the king asked for divine approval through extispicy before his workmen started constructing the temple's structure. The phraseology of the text, especially the expression "the gods Šamaš and Adad had a firm 'yes' placed in my extispicy" (iii 28–30), is rarely attested in the extant Nebuchadnezzar corpus; however, it is frequently used in Nabonidus' inscriptions. Given the emphasis on the temple's foundations, the text must have been composed during the early stages of Eḫursagsikila's rebuilding. The inscription's long prologue records some of the king's building activities at Babylon (including the temples Esagil [with its main cella Eumuša], Emaḫ, Eniggidrukalamasuma, Enamḫe, and Ekitušgarza, the inner walls Imgur-Enlil and Nēmetti-Enlil) and Borsippa (namely Ezida [with its principal cella Emaḫtila] and the city wall Ṭābi-supūršu), as well as states that Nebuchadnezzar built anew the Ebabbar temples of the god Šamaš at Sippar and Larsa, the Ekišnugal temple of the god Sîn at Ur, the E-ibbi-Anum temple of the god Uraš at Dilbat, the Edurgina temple of the god Bēl-ṣarbi at Bāṣ, and the Eanna temple of the goddess Ištar at Uruk. This text is referred to in earlier scholarly literature as "[Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder] C33" or "Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder III, 3."

Access Nebuchadnezzar II 31 [ /ribo/babylon7/Q005502/].

Source

Commentary

This three-column cylinder is presumed to have come from Babylon. The British Museum purchased it in 1868 from Sir T.J. Malcolm. J. Novotny collated the original in the British Museum (London). Some additional minor changes were made by F. Weiershäuser based on high-resolution photographs.

Work on Eḫursagsikila, the temple of the goddess Gula/Ninkarrak, is recorded/mentioned in several other inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II. See, for example, Nbk. 2 (East India House) iv 38–43 and Nbk. 32 (C36) ii 41–44. This still-to-be-discovered temple, which is last mentioned around 90 BC in texts from the Parthian-Period Rahimesu archive (George, House Most High p. 102 no. 488), is not included in Tintir = Babylon Tablet IV (George, BTT pp. 57–62). Because there were two temples of Gula in Babylon according to Tintir IV (lines 4 and 42) — Egalmaḫ in the Eridu district of East Babylon and Esabad in the Tuba district of West Babylon — and inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar (Eḫursagsikila and Esabad), it is generally assumed that Eḫursagsikila is another name of Egalmaḫ; for details, see George, BTT pp. 305–306. Because this temple of Gula is mentioned in the prologues of Nbk. 2 (East India House), 32 (C36), C37, C38, WBA, and WBC, the present text is assumed to have been composed before those inscriptions. Because ii 6–11 mentions the temples Emaḫ, Eniggidrukalamasuma, and Ekitušgarza, it is presumed that this inscription was composed sometime after Nbk. 29 (C21), 30 (C39), 33 (C014), 46 (B12), and 50 (B 4). With regard to Nbk. 11 (Prism) and 19 (C34) being earlier in date than this text, see the on-page note to Nbk. 11 iii 19´–27´ and the commentary of Nbk. 19.

Bibliography

A partially-damaged three-column cylinder preserves part of an Akkadian text written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script that states that Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilt the temple of the god Muṣibbasâ at Babylon (which is located in Esagil, in the vicinity of Ezida, the cella of the god Nabû in that temple), in addition to undertaking construction on numerous projects in Babylon, Bāṣ, Borsippa, Cutha, Dilbat, Larsa, Marad, Sippar, Ur, and Uruk. As expected, the most detailed accounts describe work on Esagil and Etemenanki at Babylon and Ezida at Borsippa. Unlike most of the known inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar from his imperial capital, this text also describes the refurbishment of Maumuša and Maidḫedu, the ceremonial boats of the gods Marduk and Nabû that were used for processions during New Year's festivals. Work on the city and embankment walls of Babylon (Imgur-Enlil and Nēmetti-Enlil) and Borsippa (Ṭābi-supūršu) are also mentioned. Scholars generally refer to this inscription as "[Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder] C36" or "Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder III, 6."

Access Nebuchadnezzar II 32 [ /ribo/babylon7/Q005503/].

Source

Commentary

This three-column cylinder is presumed to have come from Babylon. The British Museum purchased it in 1899 from the Parisian antiquities dealer I. Géjou. J. Novotny collated the original in the British Museum (London). F. Weiershäuser made some additional minor changes based on high-resolution photographs.

Work on the temple of the god Muṣibbasâ — which, based on the information provided in the main building report of this text, appears to have been located in Esagil, near the section called Ezida — is not otherwise attested in Nebuchadnezzar II's inscriptions. Due to the fact that that part of the text is damaged, the building's Sumerian ceremonial name is not presently known. This part of the god Marduk's temple at Babylon is also not mentioned in any currently-extant "topographical text"; see George, BTT.

Based on information provided in its prologue, it is clear that this text was composed later in date than the previous text (Nbk. 31 [C33]); see the commentary and on-page notes of that inscription, as well as the on-page notes of this text, for further details. Because the C32 text has a near-identical prologue to Nbk. 31, that inscription must have also been composed prior to the present text; this is confirmed by the fact that Eigikalama, the temple of the god Lugal-Marda at Marad, appears in the prologue of this text (iii 7) as one of the buildings completed by Nebuchadnezzar. The C37 inscription is also presumed to have been written earlier since its main building report commemorates the rebuilding of Eulla, the temple of the goddess Gula/Ninkarrak at Sippar, a religious structure whose rebuilding is mentioned in this text's prologue (iii 5). The C38 inscription, as inferred from its prologue, was written around the same time as the present text, perhaps slightly earlier; see the on-page notes for further information. Since Ekitušgarza, Emaḫ, Eniggidrukalamasuma, and Etemenanki at Babylon, the Ebabbars at Sippar and Larsa, and Eanna at Uruk are all mentioned in this text's prologue, the cylinder inscriptions whose building reports record work on these temples are presumed to have been written earlier in Nebuchadnezzar's reign than the present text. These are Nbk. 27 (C41), 28 (CTMMA 4 170), 29 (C21), 30 (C39), 34 (C014), 45 (VA Bab 623), 46 (VA Bab 1922), 47 (B 12), 50 (B 4), C24, C211, C31, C310, C022, and C023. Because there is no mention of Eurmeiminanki, the ziggurat of the god Nabû at Borsippa, this text might have been written earlier or around the same time as the C212 and C041 inscriptions.

Bibliography

BM 85975 (Nbk. 32), a three-column clay cylinder that is inscribed with a long text that records Nebuchadnezzar's rebuilding of the temple of the god Muṣibbasâ at Babylon. © Trustees of the British Museum.

This fragment of a two-column clay cylinder preserves the first half of an Akkadian inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II commemorating the rebuilding of Eniggidrukalamasuma, the temple of the god Nabû of the ḫarû at Babylon, the building in whose ruins the object was discovered in 1979. The only sections of the text that remain are the king's name, the text's short prologue — which records the decoration of the Esagil temple at Babylon, the completion and ornamentation of the Ezida temple in Borsippa, and work on the processional street Ištar-lamassi-ummānīša — and the first two lines of the main building report, a passage that would have described the renovation of Eniggidrukalamasuma, a temple in the Ka-dingirra district that was next to the processional street. The now-missing text in col. ii would have included the rest of the building account and Nebuchadnezzar's address to Nabû of the ḫarû (or the god Marduk). Earlier scholarly literature sometimes calls this text "[Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder] C014."

Access Nebuchadnezzar II 33 [ /ribo/babylon7/Q005504/].

Source

Commentary

This fragment was discovered in Temple D I — a small 1,080-m² building built between Etemenanki and the South Palace and west of the processional way — in 1979 by Iraqi archaeologists led by D. Ishaq. The piece was not available for firsthand examination during K. Radner and F. Weiershäuser's visit to the Iraq Museum (Baghdad) in November 2018. Therefore, the edition presented here is based on A. Cavigneaux's hand-drawn facsimile (Sumer 37 [1981] p. 119).

Eniggidrukalamasuma, the temple of the god Nabû of the ḫarû, is frequently mentioned in the prologues of Nebuchadnezzar II's inscriptions; for example, see Nbk. 2 (East India House) iv 18–24. Almost no information about this building project is known from the currently extant Nebuchadnezzar corpus. The only details included are that the king had its superstructure built with bitumen and baked brick. The now-lost main building report of this inscription would have presumably recorded more details about the rebuilding of this religious structure. According to Tablet IV of the scholarly compendium Tintir = Babylon (George, BTT pp. 57–62), Eniggidrukalamasuma was one of the four temples located in the Ka-dingirra district of East Babylon and, according to that same text, it was one of the three religious buildings dedicated to Nabû at Babylon; the other two are Egišlaʾanki (in the Esagil complex in Eridu) and Ešiddukišarra (in the Tuba district of West Babylon). Eniggidrukalamasuma is identified as the Temple D I, which was excavated and partly reconstructed in 1979–81 by Iraqi archaeologists, from inscriptions discovered within its structure, including a clay cylinder of the Neo-Assyrian king Esarhaddon (r. 680–669), and from the colophons of tablets discovered in the northwest corner of the building. For further details on this temple, see, for example, George, BTT pp. 310–312; George House Most High pp. 132–133 no. 878; and Pedersén, Babylon pp. 167–174.

As for its date of composition, this text is probably earlier than the inscriptions that mention the rebuilding of the temple of Nabû of the ḫarû in their prologues: Nbk. 2 (East India House), 31 (C33), and 32 (C36), as well as the C32, C37, C38, WBA, and WBC texts. Because the work on Eniggidrukalamasuma was connected to the (successive) raising of the processional street and since the prologue of the present text mentions that broad road, this text might have been written later than or around the same time as Nbk. 34 (C214).

Bibliography

Three completely-preserved two-column clay cylinders are inscribed with an Akkadian inscription that commemorates the work on Babylon's processional streets for the gods Nabû and Marduk: respectively Nabû-dayyān-nišīšu and Ištar-lamassi-ummānīša. According to this text, which is written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script, Nebuchadnezzar II had to raise the level of these streets on three different occasions. This text is sometimes referred to as "[Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder] C214."

Access the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005505/] or the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005505/score] of Nebuchadnezzar II 34.

Sources

Commentary

All three exemplars were collated by F. Weiershäuser from the originals in the Iraq Museum (Baghdad). The master text of this fully-intact inscription is generally ex. 1 (IM 95862). A complete score of the inscription is presented on Oracc, while the minor (orthographic) variants are given at the back of the book, in the critical apparatus. According to Z. Niederreiter (personal communication), a fourth exemplar of this inscription is housed in the Musée royal de Mariemont. Because no further information about that two-column cylinder are known to the authors, that piece is not included in the score transliteration. Further information about this object will appear in a forthcoming publication by Niederreiter.

As for its date, this text might have been written earlier than or around the same time as Nbk. 33 (C014). This proposal is based on the fact that the rebuilding of Eniggidrukalamasuma, the temple of the god Nabû of the ḫarû, took place on account of the successive raisings of the processional street Ištar-lamassi-ummānīša. As noted already by A.R. George (BTT p. 361), the filling and repaving of the processional street, together with the construction of the bridge over the Lībil-ḫegalla canal and the work on that waterway, took place prior to the rebuilding of the Ištar Gate and the South Palace, and probably also Emaḫ (the temple of the goddess Ninmaḫ). Thus, this inscription would have been composed earlier in Nebuchadnezzar's reign than Nbk. 11 (Prism), 18 (C29), 19 (C34), 20 (C011), 24 (C012), 29 (C21), 30 (C39), 41 (B 43), 42 (B 5/VA Bab 607), 43 (VA Bab 618), and 47 (B 12). Moreover, it might have been composed earlier or around the same time as Nbk. 35 (C22), an inscription whose main building report records the construction of a bridge and the clearing out of debris from Babylon's eastern canal (Lībil-ḫegalla). For further information on Babylon's main streets, see, for example, George, BTT pp. 359–365, esp. pp. 359–361; and Pedersén, Babylon pp. 201–232, esp. pp. 215–217 and 224.

Bibliography

Three completely-preserved two-column clay cylinders contain an Akkadian inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II that is written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script. The text commemorates work on the infrastructure of Babylon, especially on the main, eastern canal Lībil-ḫegalla and the bridge where the processional street Ay-ibūr-šabû crossed that important canal. In earlier scholarly literature, this inscription is referred to as "[Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder] C22" or "Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder II, 2."

Access the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005506/] or the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005506/score] of Nebuchadnezzar II 35.

Sources

Commentary

Ex. 1 (BM 91119) was purchased by the British Museum (London) in 1825 from M. Rich, the widow of C.J. Rich, while ex. 2 (BM 91141) was donated to that museum in 1881 by C.D. Cobham; both pieces are presumed to have come from Babylon. Exs. 1–2 were collated by F. Weiershäuser from the originals. Ex. 3, however, could not be examined firsthand since the present location of the cylinder is unknown; the object was in a private collection in Paris in the 1850s (Oppert, EM 2 pp. 285–294). The master text of this fully-intact inscription is generally ex. 1 (BM 91119). A score is presented on Oracc and the minor (orthographic) variants are given in the critical apparatus at the back of the book.

According to Tintir = Babylon Tablet IV (George, BTT pp. 63–70), as well as Nebuchadnezzar II's inscriptions, Lībil-ḫegalla was Babylon's eastern canal. For further information on this canal, see, for example, George, BTT pp. 356–358.

As for the date of composition, this text might have been composed later than or around the same time as Nbk. 34 (C214). See the commentary of the previous inscriptions for further information.

Bibliography

Thirteen clay cylinder fragments from Babylon all appear to be inscribed with a text that is nearly identical to the "East India House Inscription" (Nbk. 2), a lengthy Akkadian text known from at least three exemplars written on large stone tablets; there are minor variations and orthographic differences between the two texts. The extant text, which is distributed over three columns and written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script, contains descriptions of various building activities at Babylon and Borsippa, including work on Babylon's processional street Ay-ibūr-šabû and the now-famous Ištar Gate (Ištar-sākipat-tēbîša). Despite the text's poor state of preservation, it is assumed here that the now-missing sections of this inscription would have also duplicated the "East India House Inscription" and, therefore, the text probably would have concluded with an account of this Nebuchadnezzar II's construction of the North Palace (the New Palace) and the fortification wall surrounding it (see Nbk. 2 viii 27–ix 44). This fragmentarily-preserved text is generally referred to as "Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder Fragment III, 1" or "[Nebuchadnezzar Cylinder] C031" in scholarly literature.

Access the composite text [/ribo/babylon7/Q005507/] or the score [/ribo/bab7scores/Q005507/score] of Nebuchadnezzar II 36.

Sources

Commentary

Although Nebuchadnezzar inscription C031 is now known from thirteen clay cylinder fragments, the last edition of it, in 1912 (Langdon, NBK pp. 192–195 no. 26), only utilized one of those pieces: VA 3219 (ex. 2); BM 90908 (ex. 1) was known to S. Langdon, but he used that object to simply note variants to the fully-preserved Nbk. 2 (East India House), rather than as an exemplar of the same text as VA 3219 (presumably since he did not have access to the original in the British Museum [London] or to K. Bellino's published copy of it). P.-R. Berger (Nbk pp. 306–307), followed by R. Da Riva (GMTR 4 p. 122), assigned two exemplars to this poorly-preserved text: (1) BM 90908 (+) VA 3219; and (2) five unnumbered cylinder fragments from Koldewey's excavations at Babylon. The five excavated pieces referred to by Berger (and Da Riva) might be any of the previously unpublished fragments BE 4851 (EȘ —; ex. 3), BE 55462 (B 35; ex. 4), BE 20908 (VA Bab 627; ex. 5), BE 55461 (B 19; ex. 6), BE 3200 (B 23; ex. 7), BE 65449 (B 24; ex. 8), BE 52808 (B 31; ex. 9), BE 29821 (VA Bab 613; ex. 10), BE 65450 (B 28; ex. 11), BE 65448 (B 38; ex. 12), and BE 57592 (B 40; ex. 13) since all of these fragments duplicate verbatim Nbk. 2 (East India House), although this cannot be proven with absolute certainty given the size of some of the pieces. The non-physical join between BM 90908 (ex. 1) and VA 3219 (ex. 2) is far from certain, especially now that additional cylinder fragments inscribed with exemplars of Nbk. 2 have been identified. Since that hypothetical join cannot be proven, it is best to edit BM 90908 and VA 3219 separately; this follows the editorial practices of the RINBE series.

All thirteen exemplars are assumed to have come from Babylon (Kasr), including exs. 1 and 2. BM 90908 was presented to the British Museum (London) by Sir R.K. Porter in 1821; this piece, which is currently on display in the Enlightenment Gallery has a yellow label with the number "A[ssyrian].R[emains]. C. A49" attached to it. VA 3219 was purchased by the Vorderasiatisches Museum (Berlin). The script of all exemplars is contemporary Neo-Babylonian, like most of Nebuchadnezzar II's cylinder inscriptions. Since the contents of exs. 1, 4, and 6 duplicate one another, as do those of exs. 2 and 5, it is certain that at least three different exemplars of this clay-cylinder version of the "East India House Inscription" are presently known. Note that the width of the columns of exs. 4 and 5 are noticeably narrower than those of exs. 1 and 2. F. Weiershäuser examined exs. 1–2, 5, and 10 from the originals in the British Museum and Vorderasiatisches Museum; G. Frame collated ex. 3 from the fragment in the Eşki Şark Eserleri Müzesi (Istanbul); and N. Heeßel and D. Schwemer examined exs. 4, 6–9, and 11–13 firsthand in Istanbul. Exs. 3–7 and 9–10 had originally been transliterated by J. Novotny from Babylon excavation photographs Bab ph 555, 557, 707, 3167, and 3219. None of the pieces bearing this inscription are complete, therefore the master text and lineation are a conflation of all thirteen exemplars. A score is presented on Oracc and the minor (orthographic) variants are given in the critical apparatus at the back of the book. See also the on-page notes for further details about this inscription.

With regard to the date of composition, see the commentary of Nbk. 2 (East India House). Note that the present text is probably (slightly) earlier in date than the version of the inscription written on large stone tablets.

Bibliography

Two now-joined fragments of a clay cylinder preserve the final parts of an Akkadian inscription of Nebuchadnezzar II, one that probably recorded the construction of a temple for the god Marduk at Babylon, either Esagil or the New Year's temple (Esiskur). The pieces are presumed to have come from a solid, three-column cylinder. This badly damaged and far-from-complete inscription, which is written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script, is occasionally referred to as "[Nebuchadnezzar] Cylinder C027."

Access Nebuchadnezzar II 37 [ /ribo/babylon7/Q005508/].

Source

Commentary

The British Museum (London) acquired BM 33334 in 1879 from H. Rassam's excavations at Babylon and purchased BM 55433 (82-7-4,2) in 1882 from Spartali and Co. Both F. Weiershäuser and G. Frame collated the text from the original in London.

Lists of items given as offerings (ii´ 1–16) also appear in a handful of other inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar II: Nbk. 11 (Prism) iii 3´b–14´ (for the god Nabû and the goddess Nanāya at Borsippa) and iv 1´–5´ (for New Year's festivals); Nbk. 19 (C34) i 16–28 (for the gods of Esagil and Babylon), ii 23b–35 (for Nabû and Nanāya at Borsippa) and iii 7–17 (for akītu-festivals); NeKA ii´ 1´–24´ (for Esagil and Ezida); NeKC frgm. 1 1´–10´ (for the god Marduk and the goddess Zarpanītu at Babylon); WBA iv 23–57 (for Marduk and Zarpanītu at Babylon), vi 51–vii 20 (for Nabû and Nanāya at Borsippa), xii 1´–5´ (for Esagil and Ezida); and WBC ii 1´–2* (for Marduk and Zarpanītu at Babylon), iv 1–25 (for Nabû and Nanāya at Borsippa), and vii 4–31 (for Esagil and Ezida).

The text is not sufficiently preserved that a date of composition can be proposed with confidence. On the assumption that its main building account recorded work on Esiskur, Babylon's New Year's temple, it is tentatively suggested here that this inscription was composed earlier than Nbk. 2 (East India House), as well as the Ištar Gate, WBA, and WBC texts, principally because all of those texts mention Nebuchadnezzar's rebuilding of Marduk's akītu-house in their prologues. Since Esiskur is not mentioned in the prologues of Nbk. 31 (C33), 32 (C36), C32, C37, and C38, it is possible that the present inscription was composed later than those texts, although this cannot be proven.

Regarding Marduk's New Year's temple, Esiskur was located outside of the inner city, north of the Ištar Gate, at the end of the processional way. Despite the akītu-festival's importance, during which the king took Marduk's hand to confirm or renew his position as king, this temple is first mentioned by its Sumerian ceremonial name in inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar, one of its only two certainly-known builders; Ashurbanipal (r. 668–ca. 631) is the only other ruler who is known with certainty to have worked on this building. Because it was not inside Babylon, Esiskur was not mentioned among the forty-three temples named in Tablet IV of Tintir = Babylon. This temple has not yet been positively identified in the archaeological record. It has been tentatively proposed that it might have been located in the area of the Large Parthian building excavated by German archaeologists under the direction of J. Schmidt (1967–72), in the area now-referred to as the "Eastern Tell." This building was ca. 230 m north of the unexcavated stretch of the processional way. Due to high groundwater, building levels earlier than the Parthian Period could not be explored, so it is not possible to confirm whether or not Esiskur might have been located under the ruins of this Parthian building. For further details, see, for example, George, House Most High p. 142 no. 993; and Pedersén, Babylon, pp. 200 and 267–268.

Bibliography

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/Texts29-37Babylon/]