Sippar

While Šamaš-šuma-ukīn was king of Babylon and certainly before his older brother incited a rebellion against him in 652, Ashurbanipal sponsored work on the most important Babylonian temple of the sun-god: Ebabbar ("Shining House"), the temple of Šamaš at Sippar.[157] Few details about the project itself are recorded in contemporary sources, but the construction, as is usually the case, was undertaken because the temple's brickwork was old and needed to be replaced. We do know, however, that Ashurbanipal roofed Šamaš' earthly abode with cedar beams transported all the way from Mount Sirāra and Mount Lebanon in the Levant and had doors of cedar installed in its (principal) gateways.

Since one inscription states that Sippar was in an abysmal state before the work on Ebabbar had started, it is likely that Ashurbanipal, either on his own or in collaboration with Šamaš-šuma-ukīn, undertook other construction projects in that city.[158] For example, Ashurbanipal might have assisted his older brother when the latter had Sippar's city wall Badullisâ (‟Wall Named in Ancient Times") rebuilt.[159]

Notes

[157] Jeffers and Novotny, RINAP 5/2 pp. 358–359 Asb. 231; and in the present volume Asb. 262. For details about Ebabbar, see, for example, George, House Most High p. 70 no. 97 and Weiershäuser and Novotny, RINBE 2 pp. 9–10.

[158] Jeffers and Novotny, RINAP 5/2 p. 358 Asb. 231 lines 3´b–5´a: "The city of privileged-status, which is depicted as the 'Crab' in the heavens and ... [...] its foundations were tottering. The abode of his city was torn out and one could not examine [its] structu[re ...] its [plain]s were full of lions instead of oxen and sheep."

[159] Frame, RIMB 2 pp. 249–251 B.6.33.1. The name of Sippar's city wall is called Baduldua ("Wall Built in Ancient Times") in the Kuyunjik Ziggurat List (George House Most High p. 47 no. 4 line 33).

Jamie Novotny

Jamie Novotny, 'Sippar', RINAP 5: The Royal Inscriptions of Ashurbanipal, Aššur-etel-ilāni, and Sîn-šarra-iškun, The RINAP/RINAP 5 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2023 [http://oracc.org/rinap/rinap5/rinap53introduction/buildinginbabylonia/sippar/]

 
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