116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126
Two fragments of a clay tablet from Nineveh contain a copy of an inscription describing the rebuilding of Babylon and Esagil, the temple of the god Marduk in Babylon. This text is commonly referred to as Babylon B (Bab. B) and is edited with the Babylon inscriptions, rather than with other inscriptions known only from tablet copies, since it duplicates texts (reportedly) from that city and since it concerns the rebuilding of Esagil and Babylon.
Access Esarhaddon 116 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003345/]
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K 192 (+) K 4513 appear to belong to the same tablet. On the basis of the script, the composition of the clay, and the contents of the pieces, R. Borger suggests that 82–3–23,55 (text no. 117) comes from the same object as K 192 (+) K 4513. This may be so, but lacking firm evidence it is better to edit them separately. This text (Babylon B) contains some passages known from Esarhaddon's other Babylon inscriptions and contains material or descriptions of events in Babylonia not recorded in other texts. Some passages in this damaged text can be restored from parallel passages in text no. 104 (Babylon A), text no. 105 (Babylon C), text no. 114 (Babylon D), text no. 108 (Babylon G), text no. 48 (Aššur-Babylon A), and text no. 109 (BM 122617+). The damaged text is restored as follows: line 3′ from text no. 104 i 25–27; lines 6′–7′ from text no. 109 ii 15′–17′; lines 9′–11′ from text no. 108 ii 3′–5′, 8′–9′, and 15′–16′; lines 14′–16′ from text no. 114 i 23–ii 6; lines 18′, 22′–rev. 2, and 4 from text no. 104 i 46–48, ii 23b–26, and 34–41; rev. 5–7a from text no. 48 lines 44–61; rev. 7b–14 from text no. 104 ii 49–iii 26a and 32–38; and rev. 20 from text no. 105 vi 27b–28. In addition, the restoration in lines 11′, 18′, 20′, and rev. 15 are based on Borger's suggestions (Asarh. pp. 14–15 and 22).
The current online version of text no. 116 differs from the 2011 print edition of RINAP 4 in a few places. These changes are based on further collations of the inscription by J. Novotny; see SAAB 19 (2011-2012) pp. 29-86 passim. In addition, the faint traces of the first line of the obverse were overlook were overlooked during the preliminary examination of the object and, therefore, this line was not included in the 2011 print version. The new line count of the obverse differs from the original edition by one line; obv. 2´–22´ correspond to obv. 1´–21´ of RINAP 4.
A piece from one face of a clay tablet from Nineveh contains what is likely a copy of one of Esarhaddon's Babylonian inscriptions. The fragment may be part of text no. 116 (Babylon B) and thus it is edited with the Babylon inscriptions, rather than with other inscriptions known only from tablet copies.
Access Esarhaddon 117 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003346/]
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On the basis of the script, the composition of the clay, and the contents of the pieces, R. Borger suggests that 82–3–23,55 comes from the same object as K 192 (+) K 4513 (text no. 116), a text commonly referred to as Babylon B. This may be so, but lacking firm evidence it is better to edit them separately. The preserved text duplicates, with deviation, text no. 109 (BM 122617+) i 6′–8′, 10′–12′, 17′–19′, and 22′. Some restorations are based on that text.
The current online version of text no. 117 differs from the 2011 print edition of RINAP 4 in a few places. These changes are based on further examinations of the inscription by J. Novotny; see SAAB 19 (2011-2012) pp. 29-86 passim.
A monumental lapis lazuli cylinder seal from Babylon has inscribed upon it two, or more likely three, inscriptions written in Akkadian. The longest records the dedication of the object to the god Marduk by Esarhaddon. This text is commonly referred to as Babylon H (Bab. H).
Access Esarhaddon 118 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003347/]
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The seal was found in a basket filled with various kinds of stones in room E of a Parthian building in Amran-ibn-Ali on April 18, 1900; see Wetzel, Spätzeit pl. 14 Dd8IV and pl. 15 for the location of the room. The two inscriptions are written in opposite directions on the seal; inscription A begins at the bottom of the seal, while inscription B begins at the top of the seal.
Watanabe (Bagh. Mitt. 16 [1985] pp. 390–391) has argued plausibly that inscription A may well be composed of two separate inscriptions. Since the god depicted on the seal is Adad, line 3 ("seal of the god Adad") may have been the original inscription on the piece. At some later point, an engraver was ordered to add the phrase "Property of the god Marduk of Esagil." He added "Property of the god Marduk" (line 1) and then began to put "of Esagil" immediately below it. However, after adding the first wedge (line 2) he realized that there was not quite enough room between line 1 and line 3 to put the new line. He thus put "of Esagil" (line 4) after the original inscription mentioning Adad. Still later, the inscription of Esarhaddon (inscription B) rededicating the piece to the god Marduk was added.
A few bricks from Babylon have an Akkadian inscription stamped upon them which states that Esarhaddon had paved the processional way of Esagil and Babylon for the god Marduk. This text is commonly referred to as Babylon I (Bab. I).
Access Esarhaddon 119 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003348/]
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450512,P450513,P450514,P450596]:
Exs. 1–3 have the inscription stamped on the face of the brick, while ex. 4 has it stamped on the edge. The stamped area of ex. 2 measures 15×7.2 cm and that of ex. 3 15.3×7.2 cm. Only the ends of the first three lines are preserved on ex. 4 and thus it is possible that this exemplar preserves some other inscription. There are no known variants, and no score for this brick inscription is provided on the CD-ROM.
Wetzel and Weissbach, Hauptheiligtum p. 86 states that BE 8050 bears an inscription of Esarhaddon and had the same provenance as BE 8084 (ex. 1) (followed by Porter, Images, Power, and Politics p. 189); however, BE 8050 is reported to be a terracotta plaque.
This Akkadian inscription is dedicated to the god Marduk by Esarhaddon and records the making of baked bricks for work on the Esagil temple and Babylon. This text is commonly referred to as Babylon J (Bab. J).
Access Esarhaddon 120 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003349/]
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450515,P450516,P450517]:
The inscription is stamped on the face of the brick. The stamped area of ex. 2 measures 15.6×7.2 cm. The provenance of ex. 1 given above comes from Wetzel and Weissbach, Hauptheiligtum p. 86; excavation records state that it comes from "Sahn op (Tor) aS20 [or a520]." For the pillar in which ex. 3 was found, see Reuther, Merkes pp. 70–71. There are no known variants, and no score for this brick inscription is provided on the CD-ROM.
An Akkadian inscription which is stamped on numerous bricks from Babylon and which is dedicated to the god Marduk states that Esarhaddon had baked bricks made for the Esagil temple and its ziqqurat Etemenanki ("House, Foundation of Heaven and Netherworld"). The inscription comes in three versions (text nos. 121–123), which are distinguished by their varying line arrangement and orthography. This text is commonly referred to as Babylon K (Bab. K).
Access Esarhaddon 121 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003350/]
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450518,P450519,P450520,P450521]:
The inscription on ex. 1 was in an almost perfect state of preservation when found (see the excavation photo), but is now damaged at a number of spots (see the copy in FuB 27). The exact findspot of ex. 2 is indicated by Wetzel and Weissbach, Hauptheiligtum pl. 9 (Schnitt 15, lower middle). Exs. 1–2 and probably 4 are stamped along the edge of the brick; ex. 3 is stamped on the face of the brick. The area stamped on ex. 1 measures 5×20.5 cm. According to Wetzel and Weissbach, there were two different stamps with this inscription and exs. 3–4 were stamped with a different stamp than exs. 1–2. There are no known variants and no score for this brick inscription is provided on the CD-ROM.
What is basically a duplicate of the previous inscription is found stamped on several other bricks from Babylon. This text is also commonly referred to as Babylon K (Bab. K).
Access Esarhaddon 122 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003351/]
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450522,P450523,P450524,P450525,P450526,P450527,P450528]:
| (1) VA Bab 04052c [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450522/] (BE 46402) | (2) BE 46403 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450523/] | (3) VA Bab 04052d [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450524/] (BE 46405) |
| (4) BE 46406 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450525/] | (5) VA Bab 04052e [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450526/] | (6) VA Bab 04052f [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450527/] |
| (7) BM 000197 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450528/] |
The inscriptions on exs. 1–2 have suffered some damage since the time the excavation photographs were made. A paper squeeze in the British Museum (squeeze 197) may have this inscription and may be connected to ex. 7, which cannot currently be located (see Wetzel and Weissbach, Hauptheiligtum p. 38). For the pillar in which exs. 1–4 were found, see Reuther, Merkes pp. 70–71. Exs. 1–4 and 6–7 are stamped on the face of the brick; ex. 5 is stamped down the edge. The area stamped on exs. 1 and 3 measures 15.8×7.3 cm, that on ex. 5 15×7 cm, and that on ex. 6 16.5×7.3 cm. There are no known variants and no score for this brick inscription is provided on the CD-ROM.
This Akkadian inscription stamped on a brick from Babylon is basically a duplicate of the two previous inscriptions. This text is also commonly referred to as Babylon K (Bab. K).
Access Esarhaddon 123 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003352/]
Source:
The brick was found on July 5, 1912 in the baked brick pillar in "Ziqqurat Street" (layer 34); for information on the pillar, see Reuther, Merkes pp. 70–71. The inscription is stamped on the face of the brick. The available photos of the brick suggest that the sign ú in line 10 may have been written upside down.
A brick from Babylon bears a stamped Akkadian inscription stating that Esarhaddon had Etemenanki (the ziqqurat at Babylon) restored. This text is commonly referred to as Babylon L (Bab. L).
Access Esarhaddon 124 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003353/]
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The brick was found at Babylon on July 5, 1912 in the baked brick pillar in "Ziqqurat Street" (layer 37); for information on the pillar, see Reuther, Merkes pp. 70–71. The inscription is stamped on the face of the brick. The present location of the brick is not known and the edition follows that of Weissbach, who worked from a "copy" ("Abschrift") by Wetzel.
A text written in Akkadian and inscribed upon a brick from Babylon records the fact that Esarhaddon had baked bricks made for the ziqqurat Etemenanki (name not fully preserved). This text is commonly referred to as Babylon M (Bab. M).
Access Esarhaddon 125 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003354/]
Source:
The brick was found at Babylon on July 5, 1912 in the baked brick pillar in "Ziqqurat Street" (layer 37); for information on the pillar, see Reuther, Merkes pp. 70–71. The text is inscribed along the edge of the brick. The present location of the brick is not known and the inscription has been edited from the excavation photograph, but the inscription is faint and some readings must be considered tentative. There may be traces of a few signs after the -me- in line 2.
A Sumerian inscription inscribed upon several bricks from Babylon states that Esarhaddon had (re)built Etemenanki for the god Asari (Marduk). This inscription was later seen and copied onto a clay tablet that belonged to one Šamaš-nāṣir. This text is commonly referred to as Babylon N (Bab. N).
Access Esarhaddon 126 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/rinap4/Q003355/]
Sources [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450532,P450533,P450534,P450535,P450536,P257579,P450537,P450538]:
| (1) BE 15316 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450532/] | (2) BE 41419 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450533/] | (3) BE 46410 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450534/] | (4) BE 46435 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450535/] |
| (5) BE 46436 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450536/] | (6) CBS 00014 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P257579/] | (7) VA Bab 04053 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450537/] | (8) AO 05470 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/rinap/sources/P450538/] |
For the pillar in which exs. 3–5 were found, see Reuther, Merkes pp. 70–71. Ex. 6 was part of the Khabaza collection, which was purchased from Joseph Shemtob for the University Museum, Philadelphia, on July 21, 1888; the brick was given the registration number JS 7–21–88–6. Additional information on ex. 7 was kindly provided by J. Marzahn.
The inscription is inscribed, not stamped. Exs. 1–2 and 7 are written in contemporary Babylonian script, ex. 6 in an archaizing script, and ex. 8 in contemporary Babylonian script, but with a few signs showing archaizing characteristics; the script of exs. 3–5 is not known. The inscription appears on the face of ex. 1, down the edge of exs. 2, 4, and 7, and along the edge of ex. 5. Its location on ex. 3 is not known; ex. 6 appears to have been cut down in size in modern times and it is thus uncertain whether the inscription was on the face or on the edge of the brick. The area inscribed on ex. 7 measures 13.7×4.7 cm. The line numbering and master line follow ex. 6. Ex. 5 has the inscription on five lines and ex. 8 on twelve lines (7 on the obverse of the tablet and 5 on the reverse, plus a two-line colophon). No score for this inscription is provided on the CD-ROM.
Erle Leichty
Erle Leichty, 'Babylon, Part 2', RINAP 4: Esarhaddon, The RINAP 4 sub-project of the RINAP Project, 2019 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap4/RINAP4TextIntroductions/Babylon/Part2/]