Kadašman-Turgu, inscribed ''Ka-da-aš-ma-an Túr-gu'' and meaning ''he believes in Turgu'', a
Kassite deity, (1281–1264 BC
short chronology
The chronology of the ancient Near East is a framework of dates for various events, rulers and dynasties. Historical inscriptions and texts customarily record events in terms of a succession of officials or rulers: "in the year X of king Y". Com ...
) was the 24th king of the
Kassite or 3rd dynasty of
Babylon. He succeeded his father,
Nazi-Maruttaš, continuing the tradition of proclaiming himself “king of the world”
and went on to reign for eighteen years.
[According to the ''Kinglist A'' tablet, BM 33332, column 2, line 3, in the British Museum, but note the name is mostly obliterated.] He was a contemporary of the
Hittite king
Ḫattušili III, with whom he concluded a formal treaty of friendship and mutual assistance, and also
Ramesses II
Ramesses II ( egy, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded a ...
with whom he consequently severed diplomatic relations.
Kadašman-Turgu reigned during momentous times, but seems to have played only a peripheral role. Ḫattušili III, in a letter
[''Letter from Ḫattušili III to Kadašman-Enlil II'', Bo 1802 KBo 1:10 r52: ''šarru ša giš.tukul.hi.a.iššaknūma ššabu', “A king who sat home when there is a war.”] to his son and successor
Kadašman-Enlil II, said of him, “they used to call
our fathera king who prepares for war but then stays at home”.
[ if the passage has been “correctly restored”.] His personal seal
[VAT 9672 tablet with seal impression recovered from ]Assur
Aššur (; Sumerian: AN.ŠAR2KI, Assyrian cuneiform: ''Aš-šurKI'', "City of God Aššur"; syr, ܐܫܘܪ ''Āšūr''; Old Persian ''Aθur'', fa, آشور: ''Āšūr''; he, אַשּׁוּר, ', ar, اشور), also known as Ashur and Qal'at ...
. included suckling animals in two registers, allegorically symbolizing his care for his subjects. The continued employment of the extinct
Sumerian language in royal votive inscriptions was in decline and the Babylonian calendar was under revision with the introduction of the
Akkadian Akkadian or Accadian may refer to:
* Akkadians, inhabitants of the Akkadian Empire
* Akkadian language, an extinct Eastern Semitic language
* Akkadian literature, literature in this language
* Akkadian cuneiform, early writing system
* Akkadian myt ...
term: ''Šanat rēš šarrūti'', “accession year.”
[Tablet Ni.435 from Nippur]
Relations with Assyria
Early in his reign, he brokered a treaty with the
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the As ...
n king
Adad-Nīrāri, preserved on a fragmentary clay tablet
[Tablet VAT 15420.] where the phrase “he pardoned his son of the crime”
[Fragment VAT 14400 copy of VAT 15420: ''mar-šu i-na hi-ti u-zak-ki'', “he pardoned his son for the crime.”] appears twice. Kadašman-Turgu’s father,
Nazi-Maruttaš had been engaged in a protracted war with both Adad-Nīrāri and his father
Arik-den-ili which had reached its dénouement in a
battle at "Kār-Ištar of Ugarsallu".
[''Synchronistic Chronicle'' (ABC 21) tablet C, column 1, lines 24 to 31] This settlement perhaps explains why there were no reports of any conflict between the Babylonians and Assyrians during this time. It also freed the Assyrians to turn their attention to conquering their westerly neighbor and former overlord the
Mitanni
Mitanni (; Hittite cuneiform ; ''Mittani'' '), c. 1550–1260 BC, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, c. 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat (''Hanikalbat'', ''Khanigalbat'', cuneiform ') in Assyrian records, or '' Naharin'' ...
.
[
]
The Hittite succession
He would no doubt have been aware of the Battle of Kadesh
The Battle of Kadesh or Battle of Qadesh took place between the forces of the New Kingdom of Egypt under Ramesses II and the Hittite Empire under Muwatalli II at the city of Kadesh on the Orontes River, just upstream of Lake Homs near the ...
, in 1274, the dramatic climax of the Hittite conflict with Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
and probably the largest chariot battle ever fought. The Hittite king Muwatalli II
:''See also Muwatalli I''
Muwatalli II (also Muwatallis, or Muwatallish) was a king of the New Kingdom of the Hittite empire c. 1295–1282 ( middle chronology) and 1295–1272 BC in the short chronology.
Biography
He was the eldest son of Mur ...
died around 1272 and was succeeded by his son, Urḫi-Teššup, who took the name Mursili III, and reigned for seven years.[''Apology of Ḫattušili III'' §11, “I submitted for seven years”.] But he found himself increasingly at odds with his uncle, Ḫattušili III, the heroic general of Kadesh, who eventually overthrew him. In the first instance, Urḫi-Teššup seems to have appealed to Kadašman-Turgu for support,[''Apology of Ḫattušili III'', §12, IV 34–5, “He would have plotted another plot, and driven to the land of Babylon, but when I heard the matter, I seized him, and I sent him to the sea coast.”] before turning to the Assyrians and finally seeking asylum at the court of Ramesses.
First, Ḫattušili demanded the handover of the fugitive. Then he sought support from Kadašman-Turgu complaining of the pharaoh's lack of complicity. Kadašman-Turgu was apparently sympathetic and willing to recognize the usurper as Hatti's legitimate king, motivated perhaps more by the need for a strong alliance with the Hittites to counter the threat of the Assyrians and maintain the uneasy peace. He promised to provide Ḫattušili with military support in any conflict with Egypt and “kept the messenger of the king of Egypt at bay”, i.e. terminated diplomatic links. According to Ḫattušili, they agreed that “the survivor shall protect the children of the one who goes first to his fate”.[
Relations must have warmed for at least a short time, before Kadašman-Turgu died, because Ḫattušili records in a letter to Kadašman-Enlil that his father loaned to the Hittite the services of a sculptor, who was subsequently returned.][ He had earlier loaned a physician named Rabâ-ša-Marduk and an exorcist to Ḫattušili’s brother ]Muwatalli II
:''See also Muwatalli I''
Muwatalli II (also Muwatallis, or Muwatallish) was a king of the New Kingdom of the Hittite empire c. 1295–1282 ( middle chronology) and 1295–1272 BC in the short chronology.
Biography
He was the eldest son of Mur ...
("as for the exorcist about whom my brother wrote me, saying 'the exorcist whom my brother wrote me has arrived and has begun the ritual'”[Kadašman-Turgu letter to Ḫattušili III (tablet Bo 6358 / KUB 3:71 / CTH 174)]
(Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin)) but these experts were never returned ("perhaps the exorcist has died"[).
]
Domestic affairs
His construction efforts are witnessed at the E’igi-kalama ziggurat
A ziggurat (; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ', D-stem of ' 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew ''zaqar'' (זָקַר) 'protrude') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has ...
of the tutelary deity
A tutelary () (also tutelar) is a deity or a spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept of safety a ...
Lugalmarada, in the city of Marad
Marad (Sumerian: Marda, modern Tell Wannat es-Sadum or Tell as-Sadoum, Iraq) was an ancient Near Eastern city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in modern-day Iraq and ro ...
, and also in the ziggurat area at Nippur.[ A single lapis lazuli bead inscribed with the name of Kadašman-Turgu was found during the excavation of the Ekur temple at Nippur. A single tablet dated to year 4 of Kadašman-Turgu was found in the main palace area at Dur-Kurigalzu.
The eighteen-year reign is confirmed by progression of date formulae appearing on more than a hundred economic texts, such as those of Irîmshu-Ninurta, a prominent official in Nippur, who recorded ten storehouse transactions, from Kadašman-Turgu’s reign, to that of his successor, his son Kadašman-Enlil II, in which he receives incoming taxes, he grants loans, and pays salaries to other officers.
]
Chronological problems
An economic text, first published in 1982 by Veysel Donbaz, has presented a chronological dilemma regarding the sequence of succession from Kadašman-Turgu to Kadašman-Enlil as it seems to place Kadašman-Enlil’s succession year in the past whilst describing events too recent to be explained by harking back to the earlier monarch, Kadašman-Enlil I, whose reign ended 90 years before the date (1270 BC) on this document. It describes the exchange of goods and real estate between Kidin-Gula and his son Martuku with Arad-Marduk. It provides the following heading at the start and a similar summary at the end:
Brinkman argues that the evidence for the traditional sequence, i.e. votive inscriptions of Kadašman-Enlil, son of Kadašman-Turgu and other contemporary documents, “is too strong simply to set aside.” In contrast, Boese suggests another Kadašman-Enlil may have briefly preceded the pair. The text comes from the archive of Itti-Ezida-lummir in Babylon (Pedersén M8) which also contains a text that may be from the 10th year of Kadašman-Ḫarbe II,[Bab 39045.] a king recorded as having only reigned for less than 2 years, and, for this reason, Werner Nahm suggests they are both ancient fabrications. The title to real estate pledged as security to debt valued in copper, rather than the gold or silver citations of the period, reflects a later era after 1175 BC, when the trade routes for these precious metals had been compromised and supports doubts about its authenticity.
Inscriptions
References
{{Babylonian kings
13th-century BC Babylonian kings
Kassite kings
13th-century BC rulers