journey. If we could complete it, or find a few more like it, we should
have a knowledge of geography such as we have not for any other part of
the world for early times.(947) We may summarize it as follows: On the
sixth, the writer went from Bagarri to Sarî, from Sarî to Arzuḫina, from
Arzuḫina to Tel-Arzuḫina. He stated the distances from city to city, but
these are now lost. This was the first journey. The second journey was
from Tel-Arzuḫina to Dûr-sisite. The third journey was from Dûr-sisite to
Maturaba, from Maturaba to Dûr-Taliti. The fourth journey was from
Dûr-Taliti to Babiti, from Babiti to Lagabgalagi. The fifth journey was
from Lagabgalagi to the river Radânu, thence to Asri. The sixth journey
was from Asri to Arrakdi. The seventh journey was from Ḥualsundi to
Napigi, thence to Dûr-Ashur. Here we get the whole distance from Arrakdi
to Dûr-Ashur as _two kaspu, twenty-four uš, twenty-four u_. The
identification of these places would be of enormous value for a
determination of the Assyrian measures of length. The distances are
correct to the cubit. The eighth journey was from Dûr-Ashur to Tarzini,
thence to Banbala. The ninth journey was from Banbala to Ishdi-dagurrai,
thence to Gupni-Bêl-Ḥarrân, _one kaspu, five uš, fifty-four u_. The tenth
journey was from Gupni-Bêl-Ḥarrân to Dûr-Adadi-rîmâni, thence to
Dûr-Tukulti-apil-esharra, on the seventeenth. Several of these places are
already known. Others may be identified with some certainty. The whole
would have a great value if preserved complete.
X. Letters Of The Second Babylonian Empire
(M851) Some Babylonian letters of the Second Empire are to be found in the
great collections published by Strassmaier. For the most part they are of
a business nature, asking for some payment to be made or some object sent
on.
Thus,(948) one reads:
(M852)
Note from Nabû-shum-lîshir to Bêl-uballiṭ and Ki ... my brothers.
Bêl and Nabû decree the well-being of my brothers. Two _GUR_ of
dates to Bêl-nâṣir, two _GUR_ to Shamash-pir’-uṣur, from the store
for seed let my brothers give. Adar the ninth, year eleven,
Nabonidus, King of Babylon.
Or,(949)
(M853)
Note from Shamash-erba to Ḥâr-ibnî, my brother: When I send
Shamash-uballiṭ to thy presence, do thou send ninety _ḲA_ of meal
by his hand. Verily thou knowest. Besides the twelve _ḲA_ of meal
before is this. Adar the thirteenth.
A somewhat longer but imperfect letter(950) reads:
(M854)
Note of Nadinu to the priest of Sippara, my brother: Verily, peace
be with thee. To my brother, may Bêl and Nabû decree the
well-being of my brother. When to my brother I [send], to the
presence of my lord.... Thou, my lord, knowest why seeds for the
_kêpu_ of Raḫza I sent, and money for the seeds I gave him. He
received it. Let me hear news and the welfare of my brother.
Of some interest for the nature of public works is:(951)
Note from Shâpik-zêr to Ḥâr-ibnî, my brother: The gods decree thy
well-being. Give ninety-six _ḲA_ of meal to the men who are
digging the canal. Kislîmnu, the twentieth, fifth year, Cyrus,
King of Babylon, king of lands.
Or this:(952)
(M855)
Note from the priests to Ḥâr-ibnî, our brother: The gods decree
thy welfare. Give thirty-six _ḲA_ of meal to Ardi-Ḥâr, for the
king’s men who dig the canal. Kislîmnu the twenty-fifth, year
five, Cyrus, King of Babylon, king of lands.
The following is another of the best-preserved letters of this
period:(953)
(M856)
Note from Nêrgal-aḫ-iddin to Iddin-Marduk, my father: Bêl and Nabû
decree the health and well-being of my father. Concerning the
money my father sent; the money is little, which has been given
for dates. Two minas of silver is needed. Let my father send it.
Concerning that (?), as it is good to thee. I have none. See,
Nabû-mattûa I have sent to my father. The governor has gone to
Babylon. As long as he is not here (?) at his side, he demands.
Let me hear news of my father. Whether it be corn or whether it be
anything that is with me, I will give to my father. Thy word is
indisputable with me.
(M857) For the most part the others are fragmentary and of no special
interest. It is noteworthy that they all begin with much the same form of
greeting.
Dr. T. G. Pinches published the text of three letters of this period in
_Recueil des Travaux_.(954) Two are very fragmentary; the third reads
thus:
Note from Suḳâ to Bêl-zêr-ibnî, my father: May Bêl and Nabû decree
health and wealth to my father. Now I am going without the ass.
Give the ass to Shamash-eṭir; let him send it. Give him the
clothes (?).
Here is an interesting letter:(955)
Note from Daian-bêl-uṣur to Shirḳu, my lord: Every day I pray to
Bêl and Nabû for the health of my lord’s life. Concerning the
lambs, which my lord sent, Bêl and Nabû know that there is a lamb
from before thee. I have set the crop and fixed the stable. I have
seen thy servant with the sheep; send thy servant with the lambs,
and direct that one lamb from among them be offered as a gift to
Nabû. I have not turned so much as one sheep into money. On the
twentieth I worked [or sacrificed] for Shamash. I saw fifty-six.
From his hands I sent twenty head to my lord. The garlic which the
governor received from my lord, the owners of the field, when they
came, took possession of; the governor of fields sold it for
money. I am deprived of the yoke of the harrow (?). As to what my
lord said to me, saying, “Wherefore hast thou not sent a messenger
and measured out the crop?” Forthwith (?) I will send to thee, let
a messenger of thy appointing (?) take it and keep it.
Several words in this text are not found elsewhere, but very strangely we
know much about the persons. Shirḳu, whose other name was
Marduk-nâṣir-aplu, son of Iddinâ, was of the important commercial house of
Egibi, and lived in the reign of Darius. He was a great ship-owner, and
had the tolls of a certain bridge. He travelled to Elam in the fifth year
of Darius. A great many of his business transactions are detailed by Dr.
Pinches.(956) Daian-bêl-uṣur and his wife Nanâ-bêl-uṣri were slaves of
Shirḳu, who pledged them with their six children, at one time. In the
sixteenth year of Darius their master gave them as part of her dowry, to
Amat-Bau, daughter of Kalbâ. They lived in the town of Suppatum.
The reader has now before him a few specimens of this extremely valuable
but very obscure class of literature. As time and study avail to clear up
the obscurities, much more will be learned of the life and customs of
these ancient peoples. Enough may have been given to stimulate research,
and interest a wider circle of readers. It is the writer’s hope that many
may be led, even by these scattered and disjointed specimens, to undertake
such studies as may render more perfect his slight contribution and rescue
from oblivion the heroes of a bygone civilization.
APPENDIX
I. The Prologue And Epilogue To The Code Of Ḥammurabi
The prologue and epilogue of the Code are very difficult to translate.
Often the phrases are simply stock expressions which occur in most of the
royal inscriptions. The meanings of many of these have degenerated to mere
titles of courtesy and their original significance is obscure. But early
translators found no difficulty in guessing the most complimentary things
to say, and more recent scholars in their efforts to be exact become
grotesque. When an ancient king called himself a “rabid buffalo” it
doubtless gave him satisfaction, but it would be very rude for us to do
so. On the other hand, it is very tiresome to an English reader to read a
sentence of three hundred lines in length before coming to a principal
verb. Such a sentence, a string of epithets and participles, is here
broken up into short clauses and the participles turned into finite verbs.
This is done, not because the translator is entirely ignorant of grammar,
but in pity for the reader. This further necessitates turning the third
person singular, in which the king speaks of himself, like a modern
acceptance of an invitation to dinner, into the more simple direct
narration in the first person. Anyone who wishes to compare this
translation with the original will please recall that this is done for
ease in understanding, not because the original was misunderstood.
A more serious difficulty is, that, as it was customary to apply the same
honorific titles to both a god and the king, it is often uncertain to
which the original meant to apply them. This may have been left
intentionally vague. Some translators have taken on themselves to settle
to which they will refer the epithet, to the god or to the king. Such
translations are only interesting as a record of private opinions. They
settle nothing, do not even give a presumption in favor of anything. It is
more honest to leave the translation as vague as the original, when this
can be done. This part of the stele is full of rare words, or what is just
as bad, words which invariably occur in the same context. If a king calls
himself by some strange honorific title, it is no assistance to
understanding the meaning of it that a score of successors should do the
same. Of many words, all we can conjecture is that the king was honored by
them. There is nothing to indicate what they really meant. In some cases
“mighty” is as likely to be correct as “wise.” There is no reason why we
should prefer either rendering. Both can hardly be right, neither may
really be. Some king may once have prided himself on being an expert
potter, as a modern monarch might on being a photographer. If he called
himself on a monument a “superb potter,” all his successors would keep the
title, though they never made a pot in their lives. We have only to peruse
the titles of modern monarchs to be sure of the fact. It is, therefore, to
be hoped that no one will build any far-reaching theories upon logical
deductions from the translations given here or elsewhere of such honorific
titles.
Prologue To The Code Of Ḥammurabi
When the most high God (Anu), king of the spirits of heaven (Anunnaki),
(and) Bêl, lord of heaven and earth, who settles the fates of all,
allotted to Marduk, the first-born of Ea, the lord God of right, a rule
over men and extolled him among the spirits of earth (Igigi), then they
nominated for Babylon a name above all, they made it renowned in all
quarters, and in the midst of it they founded an everlasting sovereignty,
whose seat is established like heaven and earth; then did God (Anu) and
Bêl call me by name, Ḥammurabi, the high prince, god-fearing, to exemplify
justice in the land, to banish the proud and oppressor, that the great
should not despoil the weak, to rise like the sun over the black-headed
race (mankind) and illumine the land, to give health to all flesh.
Ḥammurabi the (good) shepherd, the choice of Bêl, am I, the completer of
plenty and abundance, the fulfiller of every purpose. For Nippur, and
Dûrili (epithet of Nippur or part of it?), I highly adorned Ê-KUR (the
temple of Bêl there). In powerful sovereignty I restored Eridu and
cleansed Ê-ZU-AB (temple of Ea there). By onslaughts on every side (the
four quarters) I magnified the name of Babylon and rejoiced the heart of
Marduk my lord. Every day I stood in Ê-SAG-GIL (the temple of Marduk at
Babylon). Descendant of kings whom Sin had begotten, I enriched the city
of Ur, and humbly adoring, was a source of abundance to Ê-NER-NU-GAL (the
temple of Sin at Ur). A king of knowledge, instructed by Shamash the
judge, I strongly established Sippara, reclothed the rear of the shrine of
Aya (the consort of Shamash), and planned out Ê-BAB-BAR (temple of Shamash
at Sippara) like a dwelling in heaven. In arms I avenged Larsa (held by
the Elamite, Rim-Sin), and restored Ê-BAB-BAR (temple of Shamash at Larsa)
for Shamash my helper. As overlord I gave fresh life to Erech, furnishing
abundance of water to its people, and completed the spire of Ê-AN-NA
(temple of Nanâ at Erech). I completed the glory of Anu and Ninni. As a
protector of my land, I reassembled the scattered people of Nisin
(recently reconquered from the Elamites) and replenished the treasury of
Ê-GAL-MAḤ (temple of Nisin). As the royal potentate of the city and own
brother of its god Zamama, I enlarged the palace at Kish and surrounded
with splendor Ê-ME-TE-UR-SAG (the temple at Kish). I made secure the great
shrine of Ninni. I ordered the temple of Ḥarsagkalama Ê-KI-SAL-nakiri, by
whose assistance I attained my desire. I restored Kutha and increased
everything at Ê-SID-LAM (the temple there). Like a charging bull, I bore
down my enemies. Beloved of TU-TU (a name of Marduk) in my love for
Borsippa, of high purpose untiring, I cared for Ê-ZI-DA (temple of Nabû
there). As a god, king of the city, knowing and farseeing, I looked to the
plantations of Dilbat and constructed its granaries for IB (the god of
Dilbat) the powerful, the lord of the insignia, the sceptre and crown,
with which he invested me. As the beloved of MA-MA (consort of IB), I set
fast the bas-reliefs at Kish and renewed the holy meals for Erishtu
(goddess of Kish). With foresight and power I ordered the pasturages and
watering-places for Sirpurla and Girsu and arranged the extensive
offerings in Ê-50 (the temple of “the fifty” at Sirpurla). I scattered my
enemies. As the favorite of Telitim (a god), I fulfilled the oracles of
Ḥallab and rejoiced the heart of GIS-DAR (its goddess). Grand prince,
whose prayers Adad knows well, I soothed the heart of Adad, the warrior in
Bît Karkara. I fastened the ornaments in Ê-UD-GAL-GAL (temple there). As a
king who gave life to Adab, I repaired Ê-MAḤ (temple at Adab). As hero and
king of the city, unrivalled combatant, I gave life to Mashkan-Shabri and
poured forth abundance on SIT-LAM (temple of Nêrgal there). The wise, the
restorer, who had conquered the whole of the rebellious, I rescued the
people of Malkâ in trouble. I strengthened their abodes with every
comfort. For Ea and DAM-GAL-NUN-NA I increased their rule and in
perpetuity appointed the lustrous offerings. As a leader and king of the
city, I made the settlements on the Euphrates to be populous. As client of
Dagan, who begat me, I avenged the people of Mera and Tutul. As high
prince, I made the face of Ninni to shine, making the lustrous meals of
NIN-A-ZU secure. I reunited my people in famine by assuring their
allowances within Babylon in peace and security. As the shepherd of my
people, a servant whose deeds were acceptable to GIS-DAR in E-UL-MASH
(temple of Anunit) in the midst of Agade, noted for its wide squares, I
settled the rules and set straight the Tigris. I brought back to Asshur
the gracious colossus and settled the altar (?). As king of Nineveh I made
the waters of Ninni to shine in Ê-DUP-DUP. High of purpose and wise in
achievement for the great gods, descendant of Sumu-lâil, eldest son of
Sin-muballiṭ, long descended scion of royalty, great king, a very Shamash
(or sun) of Babylon, I caused light to arise upon Sumer and Akkad. A king
who commanded obedience in all the four quarters, beloved of Ninni am I.
When Marduk brought me to direct all people and commissioned me to give
judgment, I laid down justice and right in the provinces, I made all flesh
to prosper. Then—(_the words of the Code are the completion of the
sentence. The king implies that its regulations were the outcome of this
legislative decision_).
The Epilogue
The judgments of righteousness which Ḥammurabi, the powerful king,
settled, and caused the land to receive a sure polity and a gracious rule.
I am Ḥammurabi, the superb king. Marduk gave me to shepherd the
black-headed race, whom Bêl had assigned me. I did not forget, I did not
neglect, I found for them safe pastures, I opened the way through sharp
rocks, and gave them guidance. With the powerful weapon that Zamama and
Ishtar granted me, by the foresight with which Ea endowed me, with the
power that Marduk gave me, I cut off the enemy above and below, I lorded
it over the conquered. The flesh of the land I made to rejoice. I extended
the dwellings of the people in security. I left them no cause to fear. The
great gods chose me and I am the shepherd that gives peace, whose club is
straight; of evil and good in my city I was the director. I carried all
the people of Sumer and Akkad in my bosom. By my protection, I guided in
peace its brothers. By my wisdom, I provided for them. That the great
should not oppress the weak, to counsel the widow and orphan, in Babylon,
the city of Anu and Bêl, I raised up its head (the stele’s) in Ê-SAG-GIL
(temple of Marduk there), the temple whose foundation is firm as the
heaven and earth. To judge the judgment of the land, to decide the
decisions of the land, to succor the injured, I wrote on my stele the
precious words and placed them before my likeness, that of a righteous
king. The king that is gentle, king of the city, exalted am I. My words
are precious, my power has no rival. By the order of Shamash, the judge
supreme, of heaven and earth, that judgment may shine in the land; by the
permission of Marduk, my lord, I set up a bas-relief, to preserve my
likeness in Ê-SAG-GIL that I love, to commemorate my name forever in
gratitude. The oppressed who has a suit to prosecute may come before my
image, that of a righteous king, and read my inscription and understand my
precious words and may my stele elucidate his case. Let him see the law he
seeks and may he draw in his breath and say: “This Ḥammurabi was a ruler
who was to his people like the father that begot them. He obeyed the order
of Marduk his lord, he followed the commands of Marduk above and below. He
delighted the heart of Marduk his lord, and granted happy life to his
people forever. He guided the land.” Let him recite the document. Before
Marduk, my lord, and Ṣarpanitum, my lady, with full heart let him draw
near. The colossus and the gods that live in Ê-SAG-GIL, or the courts of
Ê-SAG-GIL, let him bless every day before Marduk, my lord, and Ṣarpanitum,
my lady.
In the future, in days to come, at any time, let the king who is in the
land, guard the words of righteousness which I have written on my stele.
Let him not alter the judgment of the land which I judged nor the
decisions I decided. Let him not destroy my bas-relief. If that man has
wisdom and is capable of directing his land, let him attend to the words
which I have written upon my stele, let him apprehend the path, the rule,
the law of the land which I judged, and the decision I decided for the
land, and so let him guide forward the black-headed race; let him judge
their judgment and decide their decision, let him cut off from his land
the proud and violent, let him rejoice the flesh of his people. Ḥammurabi,
the king of righteousness, to whom Shamash has granted rights, am I. My
words are precious, my deeds have no rival. Above and below I am the
whirlwind that scours the deep and the height. If that man has hearkened
to my words which I have written on my stele and has not frustrated
justice, has not altered my words, has not injured my bas-reliefs, may
Shamash make lasting his sceptre; like me, as a king of righteousness, let
him guide his people in justice.
But if that man does not hearken to my words which I wrote on my stele,
forgets my curses, fears not the malediction of God, sets aside the
judgment which I judged, alters my words and destroys my bas-reliefs,
effaces my inscribed name and writes in his own name; or, for fear of
these curses has charged another to do so; that man, be he king, lord,
patêsi, or noble, whose name is ever so renowned, may the great god (Anu),
the father of gods, who named my reign, turn him back, shatter his sceptre
in pieces, curse his fortunes; may Bêl the lord who fixes the fates, whose
command is not set aside, who extended my sovereignty, cause for him an
endless revolt, an impulse to fly from his home, and set for his fortune a
reign of sighs, short days, years of want, darkness that has no ray of
light and a death in the sight of all men. May he decree with his heavy
curse the ruin of his city, the scattering of his people, the removal of
his sovereignty, the disappearance of his name and his race from the land.
May Beltu, the great mother, whose command is weighty in Ê-KUR, the lady
who made my plans prosperous, make his words in the matter of justice and
law to be hateful before Bêl. May she bring about the downfall of his
country, the loss of his people, the efflux of his life like water, by the
order of the Bêl, the king. May Ea, the grand prince, whose destiny takes
premier rank, the messenger of the gods, who knows all, who has prolonged
my life, distort his understanding and intellect, curse him with
forgetfulness, dam up his rivers at their source. In his land may Ashnan
(the deity of wheat), the life of the people, not grow. May Shamash, great
judge of heaven and earth, who governs the creatures of life, the lord of
help, cut off his sovereignty; judge not his judgment; carry away his
path; annihilate the march of his armies; cast an evil look upon him to
uproot his rule, and fix for him the loss of his land. May the evil
sentence of Shamash quickly overwhelm him; deprive him of life among the
living above; and below in the earth, deprive his ghost of water. May Sin,
the lord of the sky, the god who creates, whose ray is splendid among the
gods, deprive him of crown and throne of kinship; surround him with a
great shirt of pain, a heavy penalty, that will not leave his body, and
make him finish his days, month by month, through the years of his reign,
in tears and sighs. May he multiply for him the burden of royalty. May he
grant him as his lot a life that can only be likened to death. May Adad,
lord of abundance, great bull of the sky, and the earth, my helper,
withdraw the rain from the heavens, the floods from the springs; destroy
his land with hunger and want; thunder in wrath over his city, and turn
his land to deluge mounds. May Zamama, great warrior, first born of
_Ê-KUR_, who goes at my right hand on the battlefield, shatter his weapon
and turn for him day into night. May he place his enemy over him. May
Ishtar, the lady of conflict and battle, who prospered my arms, my
gracious protector, who loved my reign, in her heart of rage, her
boundless fury, curse his sovereignty; turn all his mercies to curses,
shatter his weapon in conflict and battle, appoint him trouble and
sedition, strike down his heroes, and make the earth drink of their blood,
scatter the plain with heaps of the carcasses of his troops, grant them no
burial; deliver himself into the hands of his enemy, cause him to be
carried in chains to the enemy’s land. May Nêrgal, the powerful one of the
gods, who meets with no rival, who caused me to obtain my triumphs, burn
up his people with a fever like a great fire among the reeds. With his
powerful weapon may he drink him up, with his fevers crush him like a
statue of clay. May Erishtu, the exalted lady of all lands, the
creator-mother, carry off his son and leave him no name. May he not beget
a seed of posterity among his people. May Nin-karrak, the daughter of Anu,
the completer of my mercies in _Ê-KUR_, award him a severe malady, a
grievous illness, a painful wound, which cannot be healed, of which the
physician knows not the origin, which cannot be soothed by the bandage;
and rack him with palsy, until she has mastered his life; may she weaken
his strength. May the great gods of heaven and earth, the Anunnaki, in
their assembly, who look after the halls and the courts of this Ê-bar-ra
(temple of Shamash at Sippara, where the stele was clearly set up), curse
with a bitter curse his dynasty, his land, his soldiers, his people, and
his subjects. May the judgments of Bêl, which in his mouth are
irrevocable, curse him and quickly overcome him.
II. Chronology
The following tables make no pretence to finality. In Babylonian history
no date before B.C. 747 can be considered absolutely fixed. In Assyrian
history the Eponym Canon certainly goes back to about B.C. 893. Then
scattered notices in later writers enable us to approximate to earlier
dates and the varied synchronisms between Assyrian and Babylonian kings
render the dates probable, as far back as the First Dynasty of Babylon.
There is only one fixed date before that, the period of Sargon I., which
depends on a statement of Nabonidus.
The sequence of monarchs is, however, very probably correct. As knowledge
increases, more names will be added to fill up the gaps, and dated
documents will give the lengths of the reigns. A discussion of the grounds
for the dates cannot be given here. The reader may refer to Dr. P. Rost,
in the _Mittheilungen der Vorderasiatischen Gesellschaft_, 1897, No. 2,
and _Orientalistische Litteratur-Zeitung_, 1900, pp. 143, 175, 212.
Radau’s _Early Babylonian History_ may be consulted for the earliest
dates.
In the early periods, a vertical line between two names denotes that the
second was son of the former. This is often all we know, but it is useful
to mark the fact, as we cannot then insert other rulers between them.
Names printed in capitals are either Sumerian or their true pronunciation
is unknown. When these capitals are in Roman type, we know that they were
kings or Patesis; when they are printed in italic, we only know that they
were the parents of those whose names follow. We do not then know whether
they reigned or not.
For Assyrian chronology, see _Annals of the Kings of Assyria_, by Budge
and King, 1902.
Assyria
Early Patesis, Dates Conjectural, Order Uncertain
Ushpia,
Ilushuma,
|
Irishum, _circa_ B.C. 2100
|
Ikunum,
Ishme-Dagan, _circa_ B.C. 1930
|
Shamshi-Adad I., _circa_ B.C. 1910
Igur-kapkapu,
|
Shamshi-Adad II.,
Bêl-upaḫḫir (?),
|
Shamshi-Adad III.
Early Kings, Dates Conjectural
_circa_ B.C.