Ancient Iraq (63 page)
Chapter 23
1
. The principal sources for the political history of this period are: 1. The six Babylonian chronicles assembled by
A. K. GRAYSON
in
ABC
, pp. 87 – 111; 2. A few letters published by
E. EBELING
,
Neubabylonische Briefe
, München, 1949; 3. The Old Testament, notably
II Kings, II Chronicles
and the Prophets; 4. Some classical authors (Herodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Josephus, Berossus); 5. The royal inscriptions published by
S. LANGDON
,
Die Neubabylonischen Königsinschriften
(
NBK
), Leipzig, 1912; their bibliography has been updated by
P. R. BERGER
under the same title in
AOAT
, IV, Neukirchen-Vluyn, 1973.
2
.
HERODOTUS
, I, 102 ff. Cf.
DIODORUS SICULUS
, II, 26, I-4.
3
.
R. BORGER
, ‘Der Aufstieg des neubabylonischen Reiches’,
JCS
, XIX (1965), pp. 59 – 78;
J. OATES
, ‘Assyrian chronology, 631 – 612
B.C
.’,
Iraq
, XXVII (1965), pp. 135 – 59;
W. VON SODEN
, ‘Aššuretillilani, Sinsariškun, Sinšum(u) liser, und die Ereignisse im Assyrerreich nach 635 v.Chr.’,
ZA
, LVIII (1967), pp. 241 – 55;
J. READE
, ‘The accession of Sinsharishkun’,
JCS
, XXVIII (1970), pp. 1– 9.
4
. See the reservations expressed by J.
A. BRINKMAN
,
Prelude to Empire
, Philadelphia, 1964, p. 110, note 551, on the ethnic origin of Nabopolassar.
5
. This very important chronicle was first published by
C. J. GADD
,
The Fall of Nineveh
, London, 1923, then, with additions, by
D. J. WISEMAN
,
Chronicles of Chaldaean Kings
, London, 1956 and lately by
A. K. GRAYSON
in
ABC
, pp. 90 – 96. Cf.
ANET
, pp. 303 – 5.
6
.
II Kings
xxiii. 4, 15 – 19;
II Chronicles
xxxiv. 6.
7
.
D. J. WISEMAN
,
Chronicles
, p. 57;
ABC
, p. 93.
8
. Discussion by c. J.
GADD
,
The Fall of Nineveh
, pp. 10 – 11.
9
.
D. J. WISEMAN
,
Chronicles
, pp. 59 – 61;
ABC
, p. 94.
10
. Kalhu (Nimrud) is not mentioned in the chronicle. It seems that it was taken in 614 and destroyed in 610
B.C.
(D. OATES
,
Iraq
, XXIII (1961), pp. 9 – 10).
11
. The term
Umman-manda
, first used in the second millennium
B.C.
to designate Indo-European warriors on chariots (
F. CORNELIUS
, ‘
ERIN
-manda’,
Iraq
, XXV, 1963, pp. 167 – 70, then loosely used for the Cimmerians and/or the Scythians, here seems to apply to the Medes (
D. J. WISEMAN
,
Chronicles
, p. 16).
12
.
NBK
, p. 61;
A. T. OLMSTEAD
,
History of Assyria
, p. 640.
13
. Joyful reactions in Judah:
Zephaniah
ii. 13 ff.;
Nahum
ii. ff.,
Ezekiel
xxxi. 3 ff.; xxxii. 22 ff.
14
.
II Kings
xxiii. 29;
II Chronicles
xxxv. 20;
Jeremiah
xiv. 2;
HERODOTUS
, II, 159.
15
.
D. J. WISEMAN
,
Chronicles
, pp. 59 – 61;
ABC
, p. 99.
16
. The most recent general studies on this king and his reign are:
A. BOYD
and
T. S. R. BOASE
,
Nebuchadnezzar
, London, 1972;
D. J. WISEMAN
,
Nebuchadrezzar and Babylon
, Oxford, 1985.
17
. ‘Chronicle of the early years of Nebuchadnezzar II’, lines 6 – 7 and 9 – 10,
ABC
, p. 101.
18.
II Kings
xxiv.17;
Jeremiah
xxxvii. 1;
JOSEPHUS
,
Antiq. Jud
., X, 6;
D. J. WISEMAN
,
Chronicles
, pp. 32 – 5, 73.
19
. Cf.
A. GARDINER
,
Egypt of the Pharaohs
, pp. 260 – 61.
20
.
II Kings
, xxv. 6 – 7 (cf.
II Chronicles
xxxvi. 13 – 20;
Jeremiah
xxxiv. 1 – 18).
21
. Five years later, however, Jerusalem revolted and other Jews were deported (
Jeremiah
lii. 30). It has been estimated that 15,000 men with their families were deported in 587
B.C
and that the three deportations involved in all some 50,000 people.
22
.
D. J. WISEMAN
,
Chronicles
, pp. 30, 94 – 5.
23
. From an inscription of Nebuchadrezzar in Wadi-Brissa, Lebanon:
NBK
, p. 175;
ANET
, p. 307.
24
. HERODOTUS, I, 74.
25
.
BEROSSUS
, III, 108 – 10. Also see the Nabonidus stele in
ANET
, pp. 308 – 11. On Neriglissar, see:
R. H. SACK
, ‘Nergal-šarra-usur, King of Babylon, as seen in the cuneiform, Greek, Latin and Hebrew sources’,
ZA
, LXVIII (1978), pp. 129 – 49.
26
.
D. J. WISEMAN
,
Chronicles
, pp. 37 – 42, 75 – 7.
27
. General studies on Nabonidus's reign:
R. H. SACK
, ‘Nebuchadnezzar and Nabonidus in folklore and history’,
Mesopotamia
, XVII (1982), pp. 67 – 131;
P. A. BEAULIEU
,
The Reign of Nabonidus king of Babylon 556 – 539
B.C.
, New Haven/London, 1989.
28
. Nabonidus had written a biography of his mother after her death, in two stelae. Texts in
ANET
, pp. 311 – 12 and 560 – 62.
29
.
S. SMITH
, ‘The verse account of Nabonidus’,
Babylonian Historical Texts
, London, 1924, pp. 83–97. Cf.
ANET
, pp. 312 – 15.
30
.
Daniel
, IV, 28 – 33. Cf.
R. MEYER
,
Das Gebete des Nabonid
, Berlin, 1962;
W. DOMMERHAUSEN
,
Nabonidus im Buche Daniel
, Mainz, 1964.
31
.
SIR LEONARD WOOLLEY
and
P. R. S. MOOREY
,
Ur of the Chaldees
, London, 1982, pp. 251 – 3; J.
OATES
,
Babylon
, 1979, pp. 160 – 62.
32
.
HERODOTUS
, I, 127 – 30;
STRABO
, XV, 3, 8;
DIODORUS SICULUS
, II, 34, 6.
33
.
NBK
, p. 221. Cf.
A. L. OPPENHEIM
,
The Interpretation of Dreams in the Ancient Near East
, Philadelphia, 1956, p. 250, no. 12.
34
. Nabonidus Chronicle, II, 1 – 4 (
ABC
, p. 106;
ANET
, pp. 305 – 7).
35
. Nabonidus Chronicle II, 5 – 25.
36
.
C. J. GADD
, ‘The Harran inscription of Nabonidus’,
Anatolian Studies
, VII (1958), pp. 35 – 92.
37
. See notably:
W. RÖLLIG
, ‘Nabonid und Tema’,
Compte rendu de la XIe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
, Leiden, 1964, pp. 21 – 32;
W. G. LAMBERT
, ‘Nabonidus in Arabia’,
Proceedings of the Vth Seminar for Arabian Studies
, London, 1972, pp. 53 – 64;
P. A. BEAULIEU
, op. cit., note 27, pp. 178 – 85.
38
. Nabonidus Chronicle, III, 12 – 19 (
ABC
, pp. 109 – 10;
ANET
, p. 306).
39
.
JOSEPHUS
,
Contra Apionnem
, I, 21;
EUSEBIUS
,
Praep. Evang
. IX, 41.
40
.
F. H. WEISSBACH
,
Die Keilinschriften der Achaemeniden
, Leipzig, 1911, pp. 2 ff.;
ANET
, pp. 315 – 16.
Chapter 24
1
.
Jeremiah
, li., 7;
HERODOTUS
, I, 178. The Hebraic and Greek or Latin sources on Babylon have been assembled by
W. H. LANE
,
Babylonian Problems
, London, 1923, and the cuneiform sources by
E. UNGER
,
Babylon, die heilige Stadt nach der Beschreibung der Babylonier
, Berlin, 1970.
2
. Each important part of the site has been published separately in the series:
Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft (WVDOG)
, Berlin. Overall review of the results by
R. KOLDEWY
,
Das viedererstehende Babylon
, Leipzig, 1925 reprinted in Zurich in 1981. Also see:
J. WELLARD
,
Babylon
, New York, 1974, and
J. OATES
,
Babylon
, London, 1979, pp. 144 – 59.
3
.
F. WETZEL
,
Die Stadtmauern von Babylon (WVDOG
, 48), Leipzig, 1930.
4
.
R. KOLDEWEY
,
Das Ischtar-Tor in Babylon
(WVDOG, 32), Leipzig, 1918;
J. OATES
,
Babylon
, pp. 153 – 6, fig. 105 – 9;
A. PARROT
,
Nineveh and Babylon
, London, 1961; fig. 220 – 22.
5
.
R. KOLDEWEY
and
F. WETZEL
,
Die Königsburgen von Babylon
, II (
WVDOG
, 55), Leipzig, 1932.
6
.
O. REUTHER
,
Merkes, die Innenstadt von Babylon
(
WVDOG
, 47), Leipzig, 1926.
7
.
R. KOLDEWEY
and
F. WETZEL
,
Die Königsburgen von Babylon
, I (
WVDOG
, 54), Leipzig, 1931.
8
.
DIODORUS SICULUS
, II, 10;
STRABO
, XVI, i, 5;
QUINTUS CUR-TIUS
,
Hist Alex
., V, i, 31 – 5;
BEROSSUS in JOSEPHUS
,
Antiq. Jud
., X, 226 – 7;
Contra Apionnem
, I, 19.
9
.
J. OATES
,
Babylon
, p. 151. Lists of rations for the Jews exiled in Babylon have been found among these tablets (Cf.
ANET
, p. 308). On the ‘Hanging Gardens’, see:
W. NAGEL
,’ ‘Wo lagen die “Hängenden Gärten” in Babylon’,
MDOG
, CX, (1978), pp. 19 –28.
10
.
F. WETZEL, E. WEIBACH
,
Das Hauptheiligtum des Marduk in Babylon: Esagila und Etemenanki
(
WVDOG
, 59), Leipzig, 1938. On ziqqurats see the publications referred to in chapter 10, note 5.
11
.
HERODOTUS
, I, 182 – 3.
12
.
NBK
, pp. 125 – 7.
13
.
HERODOTUS
, I, 183.
14
. The New Year Festival can be reconstructed from various texts, the most important being the
akîtu
-ritual dating to the Seleucid period published by
F. THUREAU-DANGIN
,
Rituels Accadiens
, Paris, 1921, pp. 127 – 54 (
ANET
, pp. 331 – 4). Descriptions and studies in:
A. PALLIS
,
The Babylonian Akîtu Festival
, Copenhagen, 1926;
R. LABAT
,
Le Caractère Religieux
, pp. 166 – 76;
H. FRANKFORT
,
Kingship and the Gods
, pp. 313 – 33. Important article by
A. FALKEN-STEIN
,
akiti
-Fest und
akiti
-Festhaus, in
Festschrift Johannes Friedrich
, Heidelberg, 1959, pp. 147 – 82. Outside Babylon, New Year Festivals were celebrated in Assur, Nineveh, Erbil, Harran, Dilbat and Uruk, but at different dates.
15
. Partially excavated by the Germans in 1902 [
R. KOLDEWEY
,
Die Tempel von Babylon und Borsippa (WVDOG
, 15), Leipzig, 1911, pp. 50 – 59]. Important remains of the ziqqurat and of the temple.
16
.
ANET
, p. 334.
17
. For the significance of th gesture and its relationship with the legitimacy of the king, see
A. K. GRAYSON
, ‘Chronicles and the
akîtu
festival’, in
A. FINET
(ed.),
Actes de la XVIIe Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
, Ham-sur-Heure (Belgium), 1970, pp. 160 – 70.
18
. The
bît akîtu
of Assur, described by Sennacherib (
ARAB
, II, §§ 434 – 51c) has been excavated (
RLA
, I, p. 188;
AM
, I, pp. 228-30). Excavations at Uruk (
UVB
, 1956, pp. 35 – 42) have yielded the plan of its
bît akîtu
. According to
A. FALKENSTEIN
op. cit., there were three
akîtu
-temples in Babylon during the Neo-Babylonian period.
19
.
W. G. LAMBERT
, ‘The great battle of the Mesopotamian religious year: the conflict in the akitu house’,
Iraq
, XXV (1963), pp. 189 – 90.
20
. The main study on this subject is that of
D. COQUERILLAT
,
Palmeraies et Cultures de l'Eanna d'Uruk (559 – 520
), Berlin, 1968. See also:
H. F. LUTZ
,
Neo-Babylonian Administrative Documents from Erech
, Berkeley, 1927;
R. P. DOUGHERTY
,
Archives from Erech
, New Haven, 1927 – 33. On the temple administration,
H. W. F. SAGGS
, ‘Two administrative officials at Erech in the sixth century
B.C
.’,
Sumer
, XV (1959), pp. 29 – 38, and
The Greatness That Was Babylon
, op. cit., pp. 261 – 8;
P. GARELLI
in
Le Proche-Orient Asiatique
, II, pp. 159 – 64 and 287 – 90.
21
.
R. P. DOUGHERTY
,
The shirkûtu of Babylonian Deities
, New Haven, 1923.
22
.
O. KRUCKMANN
,
Neubabylonische Rechts- und Verwaltungstexte
, Leipzig, 1933;
H. H. FIGULLA
,
Business Document of the New Babylonian period
(
UET
, IV), London, 1949;
M. SAN NICOLO
and
H. PET-SCHOW
,
Babylonische Rechtsurkunden aus dem 6. Jahrhundert vor Chr
., München, 1960.
23
.
A. T. OLMSTEAD
,
History of Assyria
, pp. 256 – 7.
24
.
B. MEISSNER
,
Warenpreise in Babylonia
, Berlin, 1936;
W. H. DUBBER-TEIN
, ‘Comparative prices in later Babylonia‘,
AJSL
, LVI (1930), pp. 20 – 43. 1
qa
was worth 10
gar
, or 675 square feet. For a radically different opinion, cf. P.
GARELLI
, op.cit., pp. 285 – 7.
25
.
G. CHILDE
,
What Happened in History
, Harmondsworth, 1942, p. 193.
26
.
A. UNGNAD
, ‘Das Haus Egibi‘,
AfO
, XIV (1941 – 4), pp. 57 – 64;
R. BOGAERT
,
Les Origines Antiques de la Banque de Dépôt
, Leiden, 1966, pp. 105 – 18.