- Museum number
- 87220
- Description
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Black basalt kudurru (boundary stone): consists of a small stele with rounded top. The Obverse is nearly flat, and the surface of the Reverse has a pronounced curve. The upper part of the Obverse was carved in shallow relief with emblems, to a depth of at least 4 1/2 in. from the top; emblems were also carved on the top of the stele and down the sides to about the same level as those upon the Obverse. These symbols include: (1) Horned dragon beside a shrine, on which was probably the wedge; Top and right side, (2) Scorpion, (3) Seated bird on a shrine, (4) Portion of a shrine, with the symbol it supported broken away, (5) Lion-headed mace, the portion below the head being scaled like a serpent, supported upon a shrine, and (6) Serpent. The inscription occupies the rest of the Obverse and the whole of the Reverse, the lines of the text running right across the stone. The text contains a title-deed of two estates, situated in the Chaldean province of Bit-Dakuri, and known as Bit-Kha'rakhu and Bit-Nurea, recording the confirmation under seal of Adad-ibni's claim to their possession by Shamash-shum-ukin in the ninth year of his reign. Mushezib-Marduk, the father of Adad-ibni, had been dispossessed of the lands during the troubles which preceded Esarhaddon's conquest of Bit-Dakuri, and, on the restoration of order, he had been reinstated by the king. But Esarhaddon had omitted to give him the property under seal, and, now that both he and Esarhaddon were dead, Adad-ibni appealed to Shamash-shum-ukin to confirm him under seal in the possession of his father's estate. Nabu-ushallim, who had been appointed ruler of Bit-Dakuri by Esarhaddon, gave evidence that the land in question had always been private property, with no official claim upon it. Thereupon Shamash-shum-ukin confirmed Adad-ibni in possession of the estates, and a deed was drawn up to that effect and sealed by the king in the presence of witnesses. Incomplete; large pieces missing; restored(?).
- Production date
- 660BC
- Dimensions
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Length: 36 centimetres
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Thickness: 9.50 centimetres
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Width: 23 centimetres
- $Inscriptions
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- Curator's comments
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The text falls into the following sections :
Obv., ll. 1-14 : Titles and genealogy of Shamash-shum-ukin.
Obv., ll. 15 ff. ; Introduction to Adad-ibni's appeal to Shamash-shum-ukin.
Rev., ll. 1-9 r Adad-ibni's appeal, with the exception of the opening lines which were engraved at the end of the Obverse. In the portion preserved on the Reverse, Adad-ibni quotes Mushezib-Marduk's appeal to Esarhaddon (ll. 1-5), records Esarhaddon's action (ll. 6-7), and then makes his own petition (ll. 8-9).
Rev., ll. 10-14a : Nabu-ushallim's evidence.
Rev., ll. 14b-15 : The favourable reception of Adad-ibni's petition by the king.
Rev., ll. 16-23 : Formal description of Bit-Kha'rakhu.
Rev., ll. 24-28 : Formal description of Bit-Nurea.
Rev., ll. 29-31 : Confirmation of Adad-ibni's title under seal.
Rev., ll. 32-40 : Imprecations against infraction of the deed, or damage to the
record.
Rev., ll. 41-51 : List of witnesses and date.
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The first account of the kudurru was given by Winckler, who published a transliteration and translation of the text in his 'Altorientalische Forschungen', I, pp. 497 ff.; and, upon its acquisition by the British Museum, the inscription was included in Cuneiform Texts, X, pll. 4-7. The text is here republished with some improved readings, and in such a manner as to show clearly the size of the gaps in those lines in which only portions are preserved.
For Esarhaddon's account of his conquest of Bit-Dakuri and the capture of its king, Shamash-ibni, see Cun. Inscr. West. Asia, I. pl. 45 (Cyl. A), Col. II, ll. 42-54. Esarhaddon states that he restored to the men of Babylon and Borsippa the lands which Shamash-ibni had taken from them, and from the fact that among the witnesses to this title-deed are officials of Borsippa and of the temple Esagila in Babylon, it may be inferred that Mushezib-Marduk was one of the settlers from Babylon or Borsippa whose estates had been confiscated. That, in fact, he came from Borsippa is suggested by the position of Nabu's name, before that of Marduk, in the inscription (cf. ll. 8 and 14).
Since the text at the close of the Obverse is wanting, we do not know the occasion of Adad-ibni's appeal. It is possible that, on Mushezib-Marduk's death, the land had been claimed by the saknu or sapiru, or Adad-ibni may have been merely desirous to secure his title and thus forestall any claim from that quarter.
Bibliography:
Winckler, H. 1893. 'Altorientalische Forschungen' I. Leipzig : Eduard Pfeiffer;
The British Museum. 1962. 'Cuneiform texts from Babylonian tablets in the British Museum' X. London: British Museum Press;
The British Museum. 1861. 'The Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia' I. London: British Museum Press.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Incomplete; large pieces missing; restored?.
- Acquisition date
- 1894
- Department
- Middle East
- BM/Big number
- 87220
- Registration number
- 1894,0115.517
