zawadzki - nebdnzr's campaign in 30th year, 575 bc with tyre (2008)

7/22/2019 ZAWADZKI - Nebdnzr's Campaign in 30th Year, 575 BC With Tyre (2008)

1/7


2/7

Nebuchadnezzars campaign in the 30th year(575 B.C.): a conflict with Tyre?

Stefan Zawadzki

Since D. J. Wiseman published the Neo-Babylonian Chronicles comprisingthe first eleven years of Nebuchadnezzars rule1 no new fragment of thechronicle, which would shed light on the successive years of this king, hasyet been found. Only rarely some additional data concerning the followingyears of his rule (from 12th till 43rd year) appear in the administrative textsproduced by the temple administration, where soldiers or military equipmentsent to the military campaign or campaign camp (madaktu) are mentioned.2The new text BM 79664 from the Ebabbar archives stored in the BritishMuseum belongs exactly to such a category of documents.3

BM 79664 (891014, 213)

5.5 x 3.2 cm

1. 8 GN K.BABBAR 2 kunu--tume

2. a-na 1 GN 4-t K.BABBAR PAP! 9 GN 4-t K.BABBAR3. mdUTU-E-MU A mdUTU-DU-E4. la-IGI- a-na si-di-tu45. mKi-i-dUTU u mdUTU-E-MU6. UKU.H I.A LUGAL a-na

1 D.J.Wiseman, Chronicles of Chaldean Kings (626556 B.C.) in the British Museum,London 1956, 66ff. and Pl. XIVXVI; cf. A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and BabylonianChronicles, Locust Valley, New York 1975, 99ff.

2 Concerning such additional data for the 3rd, 11th and 41st and 42nd years, see S. Zawadzki,Nebuchadnezzar and Tyre in the Light of New Texts from the Ebabbar Archives inSippar, in:Eretz-Israel27 (Jerusalem 2003), 276281 and J. MacGinnis, The Arrowsof the Sun. Armed forces in Sippar in the First Millennium BC, (to be published), whodiscussed four texts mentioning campaigns in 28th,29th and 30th year of Nebuchadnezzar.Two of these texts were already published (CT 56, 606 from the 29th year and CT 57,377 from the 30th year; two others were not known (BM 78828 from the 28th year, no.35 in MacGinnis book) and BM 63820 (no. 36 in MacGinnis). I am grateful to him for

permission to utilize his article before its publication.3 The text is published with the kind permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.


3/7

Stefan Zawadzki332

Rev. 7. ma-dak-tu4 (T: ku) i-u-8. it-ta-din K.BABBARul9. e-tir

10. ITI.ZZ U4.10.KM11. MU.30.KM mdAG-NG.DU-RU12. LUGAL TIN.TIR.KI

L.e. 13. 2kunu--tume a-na14. [m]Ki-i-dUTU u mdUTU-E-MU

L.h.e. 15. i-u- a-na16. -babbar-ra it-ta-[din] ina .GUR7.ME

L. 2. The sign following K.BABBAR is much more similar to BABBAR, but because

9 is the sum of 8 and 1 the reading PAP is preferred.Note that for some unknown reason the scribe, after some thought, found it importantto stress that both water bags were delivered to the bt-kar-storehouse, but because oflack of space he squeezed the words ina .GUR7.ME between lines 13 and 14. In thetransliteration this is presented as the continuation of l. 16.


4/7

Nebuchadnezzars campaign in the 30th year 333

8 shekels of silver (and) two water bags at the price of 1 shekelof silver, total! 9 shekels of silver, (which) were at his disposal,ama-ah-iddin, son of ama-mukn-ahi has given for the provision

that K-ama and ama-ah-iddin of the kings ration took to thecampaign camp.The silver has not been paid. 10th abatu, 30th year of Nebuchadnezzar,king of Babylon.The two water bags, which were brought for K-ama and ama-ah-iddin, he has given to the Ebabbar temple to the bt-kar-storehouse.

The text concerns the delivery of some equipment (two leather bags4 forwater) and silver5 for two persons: K-ama and ama-ah-iddin, both in

charge of the kings rations. Crucial for the proper understanding of the textis the phrase ana madaktu i,6 for which the best translation seems to beto bring to the campaign camp.The next question is who is the subject ofthe sentence kaspuul etir. In many texts from the Ebabbar archives, mostlyconcerning delivery of bitumen, the sentence is used to stress that the rawmaterials were delivered to the temple but the temple was unable to pay forthem. If the sentence was used in a similar sense here, it would seem thatama-ah-iddin son of ama-mukn-ahi gave silver to botha kurummatiarri, but the temple did not repay him. Ll. 13ff. where it is stated that the

water bags were delivered not directly to K-ama and ama-ah-iddinwhile they prepared their journey to the campaign camp, but to the Ebabbar

temple, more precisely to the bt-kar-storehouse (probably a little later),should be understood as an explanation (in fact correction) of ll.1 ff.

The person responsible for the delivery is ama-ah-iddin, son of ama-mukn-ahi. It cannot be excluded that he appears in Nbk 81, written in the9th year of Nebuchadnezzar where ama-ah-iddin, son of ama-mukn-ahireceived silver, the price of the carcass of an ox.7

Much more is known about the two soldiers. K-ama was known

already from two texts: Nbk 165 dated to the 26th

year, according to which he

4 Obviously one bag for each soldier (cf. Nbk 165: 1en kume-e-en2 mKi-i-dUTU and Nbk173: kume-e-en kunu--tu 2a-na mZLAG-dUTU ina UGU 3UKU.H I.A LUGAL SUMna4 kume-e-en kunu--tu 5 a-na mKi-i-dUTU 6 ina UGU UKU.H I.A LUGAL 7SUMna.Similarly, the silver was also most probably divided equally between both soldiers.

5 Silver as a part of the soldiers rations is mentioned in many texts from the Ebabbararchives, see MacGinnis, The Arrows, note 27.

6 The idiom ana madaktu na is not noted in the dictionaries and apart from this text itappears also in BM 62720 (MacGinnis, The Arrows , no. 38) and in BM 49824:57(Zawadzki, Nebuchadnezzar, 277*, now to be edited by MacGinnis, The Arrows ,no 34).

7 1 GN M 2pag-ga-ri GU43 ina IGI mdUTU-E-MU 4mdUTU-DU-PAP.


5/7

Stefan Zawadzki334

received a pair of shoes (kume en)and from Nbk 173 dated to the 27th year of

Nebuchadnezzar, where he received a pair of shoes (kume en)and a leatherbag (nutu).8 ama-ah-iddin, his colleague on campaign is additionally

known from three texts: Nbk 30 (3.6.Nbk [3]3 (?));9

CT 56, 29 (17.2.Nbk 36)where he received wax10 and Nbk 304:15 (22.7.Nbk 36), where he receivedsilver and a TG.KUR.RA-garment.11 It means that at least ama-ah-iddin,who took part in the campaign of the 30th year survived his life and wasactive during the next few years.

The most interesting fact is that BM 79664 is dated to the 30 th year ofNebuchadnezzar, i.e. to the period, from which four additional texts aredated (two published, and two which will be edited by John MacGinnis), allmentioning madaktu, i.e. military campaign or military camp. The first and

most interesting text is BM 7882812

, where rations and equipment comprising2 minas of silver, KUR.RA-blankets,iram-jerkins, oil, salt, cress and barleyare given to the carpenters for quite a long period of time from Simanu tillAddaru, 28th year; additionally provision for the first two months of the year(Nisanu and Ayyaru) are mentioned separately. Although the word siditu isused in the text to describe the provision,13 it is obvious that it is not travelprovisions, but provisions for the whole period of ten months,14 i.e. up till theend of the 28th year of Nebuchadnezzar. This means that when these peoplewere called up, a long engagement was implied, which suggests that the

campaign was already in progress and nobody expected its termination in ashort time. The enrollment of a group of four carpenters: Nab-ah-remanni,

8 See note 4 . Both are mentioned in J. MacGinnis, The Royal Establishment at Sipparin the 6th Century BC, ZA 84 (1994), 215 where the month date in Nbk 165 should

be corrected to Abu (not Duuzu). Most probably K-ama appears also in CT 56,779: 8, or 10 (it means that two different persons of the same name belonged to the kurummati arri in Sippar) because all individuals are described as receiving UKU.H I.A LUGAL and can be found in the Appendix A Table of individuals designated of therations of the king in MacGinnis, 215216 (except for one person mentioned in l. 9,

whose name is additionally badly preserved). Possibly he appears also in CT 56, 664:9(among the person who receivediram).

9 MacGinnis reconstructed the year as [4]3 (Royal Establishment, 215), but year [3]3,closer to the date of CT 56, 29 (17.2.Nbk 36) and Nbk 304 (22.7.Nbk 36), seems more

probable. Note that also the last element of the name is also reconstructed, but it seemswell founded because it is followed by UKU.H I.A LUGAL.

10 L. 1: 1 ma-na 1/3 5 GN GAB.LL11 1/3 GNx x A.AN x.KUR.RA a-na15 mdUTU-E-MU UKU.H I.A LUGAL.12 No. 35 in the unpublished book of MacGinnis.13 Such a translation is given also by MacGinnis, the editor of the text.14 It is clear from the fact that each carpenter received 10 kur of barley, i.e. one kur per

month. The separation of rations for two first months may suggest that they receivedthem before being dispatched on campaign.


6/7

Nebuchadnezzars campaign in the 30th year 335

ama-reua, ama-taklak and Tala15 to the army might be connected withthe building of siege engines and other wooden elements of the soldiersequipment, but also with the repair of ships; their specialization in this field

is probable because at least the chief of the team (Nab-ah-remanni) andTala came in the light of CT 57, 198 from the territory of Lebanon.

The similarities between other texts make probable the idea that all ofthem concern the same long-lasting campaign.In CT 55, 606 dated to the29th year of Nebuchadnezzar Nur-ama and ama-reua took 10 sheep,offerings of the kingfrom the campaign camp (ultu ma-dak-tu4!16ibuku ) andgave them to the temple (a-na DINGIRit-ta-lak).17 In BM 6382018 datedto the 30th year of Nebuchadnezzar 10 lambs, an offering of the king, weretaken again from the campaign camp (ultu ma-dak-tu4 ibuku)by Nur-ama

and given forsattukku offerings to Laqpu, obviously the herdsman of theregular offerings; 19 further the sheep were taken also by Ahuunu, again fromthe campaign camp (ultu ma-dak-tu4 ibuku) and given to the temple (a-na DINGIRit-ta-lak). In CT 57, 377, written in the same year and month asBM 63820 sheep offerings ([kal]um) were taken from the campaign camp(ultu ma-dak-tu4 ibukunu) by [Bel-at]ta-talei20 and Ahuunu, and given forsattukku offerings to Laqpu. The persons who delivered sheep from thecampaign camp can be easily identified as the a kurummati arri,21 whotook part in the military expedition. All these discussed texts and BM 79664

15 All are well known, see A.C. M. Bongenaar, The Neo-Babylonian Ebabbar Temple atSippar: Its Administration and Its Prosopography, Nederlands Instituut voor het NabijeOosten, PIHANS 80, Leiden 1997.402, 406, 407. Nab-ah-remanni, carpenter of theqpu (lNAGAR lT[IL.GD.DA]) in light of Nbk 236:4, mentioned in BM 78828first, receives one kur barley more than his colleagues and takes the entire sum of 41 kur

barley. Evidently he was the chief of that small team.16 Written ma-dak-ku, the same error like in BM 79664, which suggest that the same scribe

drafted both texts.17 The same phrase appears also in BM 63820:10.

18 MacGinnis no. 36.19 Bongenaar,Ebabbar, 417. Additional data, see R. Da Riva, Der Ebabbar-Tempel von

Sippar in frhneubabylonischer Zeit (640580 v. Chr.), AOAT 291, Mnster 2002, 433;S. Zawadzki, Neo-Babylonian Sippar in the Light of the Prosopographical Studies,

BiOr 56 (1999), 306 and BM 50348:10 (mLa-q-pi lSIPA gi-ni-e (dated [x].8.Nbk2[+x])).

20 By comparison with CT 56, 779: 1112 (the issue of wool formdH AR-D 12A mdEN-at-ta-DA) and BM 59592: 1314 (edited by Bongenaar, Ebabbar, 102 f. and Pl. III,where probably the same mdBu-ne-ne-D 14A-mdEN-at-ta-DA is a witness), the namemight be might be reconstructed as [mdEN-at]-ta-DA. He is most probably the father ofBunene-ibnia kurummati arri (MacGinnis, Royal Establishment, 215), i.e. the soninherited the fathers position.

21 Compare with Appendix A in MacGinnis, Royal Establishment.


7/7

Stefan Zawadzki336

seem to be internally coherent, which suggests that they are connected witha military engagement in the same unnamed place. The texts in which theword madaktu appears are dated to the period from the 28th till the 30th year.

However, also Nbk 165 and 173 dated to the 26 th and 27th, in which theword madaktu is missing, might be connected with the military expedition,because in these K-ama received sandals and bags, which belong to theequipment of the soldiers going on campaign. All in all, it seems at leastprobable that all these texts are related to the same military action acrossfive consecutive years.

No one text, just like other administrative texts, mentions the target ofthis campaign, lasting at least from the 28th till the 30th year, but probablyalready from the 26th year of Nebuchadnezzars reign. However, it seems

that there are some arguments to tie them with the west, particularly withactions against Tyre. First, no other conflict in a different part of the vastNeo-Babylonian kingdom is known, but a long conflict with Tyre is relatedby a source connected with the western part of the Empire.22 The same areais suggested by the enrollment of the carpenters, who might be engaged inthe building and repairing of siege engines; however, the use of ships in thewar against Tyre, whose territory consisted of an island as well as mainlandis highly probable. The phrase ina madakti alaku in BM 63820, accordingto which the carpenters are going on campaign with the king stresses the

importance of the termination of the war for the states authority. All thismakes it possible to suggest that the discussed texts might be connectedwith the conflict with Tyre. According to the chronology suggested byKatzenstein23 the thirteen years-long siege of the city of Tyre lasted fromthe 20th till 33rd year of Nebuchadnezzar, i.e. from 585 till 572 B.C., i.e.our texts should be related to the final years of the siege of the city. To sumup: it seems probable that the texts presented here deliver the first Neo-Babylonian data supporting the classical story about the 13-years siege ofTyre by Nebuchadnezzar.

Added in proof: An additional text BM 74919 dated to 29th Kislimu, 31year, seems to be connected with the same military expedition. It concernssome amount of silver M 1su-ni-e2[...x] kunu--tumes3 a-nalERN.ME UKU.H I.A LUGAL 4a-na ma-dak-tu i-u- 5mdUTU-ana--l[AGAB] e-tir. An additional sum of silver was given to bronze smith(nappah sippari). Because ama-ana-btiu, the leatherworker, is knownfrom a few texts written in the last decade of Nebuchadnezzar (see Bongenaar,Ebabbar, 414), the 31st year must be recognized as 31st year of that king.

22 Menander of Ephesus cited by Josephus, Contra Appionem I, 20, 143.23 H. J. Katzenstein,History of Tyre, Jerusalem 1973, 328.

zawadzki - nebdnzr's campaign in 30th year, 575 bc with tyre (2008)

Documents