Marduk-apla-iddina I, contemporarily written in
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sh ...
as
dAMAR.UTU-IBILA-SUM-''na'' and meaning in
Akkadian: "
Marduk has given an heir", was the 34th
Kassite
The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC (short chronology).
They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon ...
king of
Babylon ca. 1171–1159 BC (
short chronology). He was the son and successor of
Melišipak, from whom he had previously
received lands, as recorded on a
kudurru,
[Land grant to Marduk-apla-iddina kudurru Sb 22, excavated at Susa and currently in the Louvre.] and he reigned for 13 years.
[''Kinglist A'', BM 33332, ii 13.] His reign is contemporary with the
Late Bronze Age collapse. He is sometime referred to as Merodach-Baladan I.
Biography
He claimed, like his father, descent from
Kurigalzu
The Kassites () were people of the ancient Near East, who controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire c. 1531 BC and until c. 1155 BC ( short chronology).
They gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Baby ...
and evidently kept court in
Dūr-Kurigalzu itself because tablets found in the burnt ruins of the Tell-el-Abyad quarter which marked the later
Elamite destruction of the city, are dated in the first two years of his reign. These include lists of garments received or distributed for the New Year, or ''
akitu'', festival and indicate a normal economic relationship with Babylonia's western and eastern neighbors, the Subarians and Elamites respectively, whose singers apparently entertained the royal household.
Documents surviving from his reign date only as late as his sixth year
[Namely, tablet IM 50025.] and include his repair of the E-zida temple at
Borsippa,
[VS 1, 34, VAT 4131.] where he credited the god
Enlil with raising him to kingship despite recording this in an inscription wholly dedicated to Marduk.
There is evidence of thriving commerce in woolen garments with Assyrian traders,
[IM 49992.] and numerous royal land grants in northern and especially northeastern Babylonia. The ''
Chronicle of the Market Prices''
[''Chronicle of Market Prices'' (ABC 23), BM 48498, lines 10 and 11.] references his 21st year, but neither king with this name ruled longer than 13 years. Like his two predecessors, some of the economic texts show a curious double-dating formula which has yet to be satisfactorily explained. The ''Synchronistic King List''
[''Synchronistic King List'' ii 9.] gives his
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 ...
n contemporary as
Ninurta-apal-Ekur
Ninurta-apal-Ekur, inscribed mdMAŠ-A-''é-kur'', meaning “Ninurta is the heir of the Ekur,” was a king of Assyria in the early 12th century BC who usurped the throne and styled himself king of the universe and priest of the gods Enlil and Ninu ...
, which is unlikely as he is also shown against the earlier two Kassite kings, despite his short reign.
''Kudurrus''
![Marduk-nadin-apli](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Marduk-nadin-apli.jpg)
Several inscribed ''
kudurrus'', or boundary stones, survive which document large donations of land and tax exemptions during his reign. Marduk-zākir-šumi, the bēl pīḫati, or provincial governor, was the beneficiary of a piece of land as a perquisite from the king. He was son of Nabû-nadin-aḫe, grandson of Rimeni-Marduk, great grandson of
Uballissu-Marduk, who had been ''šatammu'', or an official under
Kurigalzu II
Kurigalzu II (c. 1332–1308 BC short chronology) was the 22nd king of the Kassite or 3rd dynasty that ruled over Babylon. In more than twelve inscriptions, Kurigalzu names Burna-Buriaš II as his father. Kurigalzu II was possibly placed on the ...
’s regime and descendant of Arad-Ea, um-mi-a-niğ
2-kas
7, scholar of accounting. His responsibilities included inspector of temple and land and controller of
forced labor
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
.
[ One of the witnesses was Nabû-šakin-šumi, also described as “son of” Arad-Ea. Another stele records that Ina-Esağila-zēra-ibni, “son of” Arad-Ea, measured a field, after replacing the previous land surveyor.
The symbol of the stylus, representing the god of writing and wisdom, Nabû, makes its first appearance on one of his kudurrus. A kudurru comes with an unusual trinity of gods in its invocation of a divine curse,][dAG dNa-na-a ù dTaš-me-tum bēlē šipṭi u purussê ana lemutti lisḫurūš ana la ṭābti iše'uš.] “May Nabû, Nanaya and Tašmētum, lords of the decrees and decisions, surround him with evil and search him out for misfortune.”
The continuity of the reign with those earlier in the dynasty is evident in a kudurru providing confirmation of an earlier land grant by Adad-šuma-uṣur[Adad-bēl-kala kudurru AS 6035 (Sb 169) published as MDP VI 42.] and a copy of a kudurru[Kudurru of Nazi-Maruttaš, Sb 21, published as MDP II 86.] from the reign of Nazi-Maruttaš, the original of which was destroyed when a wall collapsed on it. Kudurrus were also used to record legal settlements, and two examples include a lawsuit[Land grant to Munnabittu kudurru, Sb 26, published as MDP VI 31.] concerning land in Ḫudadu (Baghdad?) province, on the Elamite border east of the Tigris from his accession year, and one[Kudurru of Marduk-apla-iddina, Sb 33 (AS 6018), published as MDP 6 39.] recording legal actions over a field.[
]
List of ''kudurrus'' dated to this reign
Around eighteen ''kudurrus'' could be assigned to his reign based upon the art-history of their iconography. The following lists those which actually identify him as the monarch in their texts.
* Land grant to Marduk-zākir-šumi kudurru
The Land grant to Marduk-zākir-šumi kudurru is an ancient Mesopotamian ''narû'', or entitlement stele, recording the gift (''irīmšu'') of 18 ''bur'' 2 ''eše'' (about 120 hectares or 300 acres) of corn-land by Kassite king of Babylon Mardu ...
, the bēl pīḫati[
* ]Land grant to Munnabittu kudurru
The Land grant to Munnabittu kudurru is an elongated egg-shaped black limestone ancient Mesopotamian ''narû'' or entitlement stele ( kudurru), 46.5 cm high and 20.5 cm wide, which details the reconfirmation of a gift of 30 GUR of land ( ...
[
* Uzbi-Enlil kudurru][Uzbi-Enlil kudurru, IM 67953, published as Sumer 23 (1967) 45–67, pl. 1–6.]
* Broken kudurru of Marduk-apla-iddina[
* Adad-bēl-kala kudurru confirming a gift by the earlier king Adad-šuma-uṣur][
* Fragmentary kudurru of Marduk-apla-iddina][Kudurru of Marduk-apla-iddina, NBC 9502, partially published as Hallo & Simpson (1988) 100, fig. 21.]
* The Tehran kudurru[Tehran kudurru, published as Borger AfO 23 (1970) 1–11.]
Also dated to his reign is the stone copy of the Nazimaruttaš kudurru stone
The Nazimaruttash kudurru stone is a boundary stone ( kudurru) of Nazimaruttaš, a Kassite king of Babylon, c. 1307–1282 BC ( short chronology). It was found at Susa and is now displayed at the Louvre.
Some kudurrus are known for their portr ...
.[
]
End of his reign
The events at the end of his reign are uncertain, but it is clear from later sources that it ended dramatically, when Elamite troops led by Shutruk-Nahhunte
Šutruk-Nakhunte was king of Elam from about 1184 to 1155 BC (middle chronology), and the second king of the Shutrukid Dynasty.
Elam amassed an empire that included most of Mesopotamia and western Iran.
Under his command, Elam defeated the Ka ...
, who had married a sister of Marduk-apla-iddina, invaded Babylonia and sacked several cities, including the capital. Whether these events were the cause of his demise, or whether they followed a succession crisis in which Zababa-šuma-iddina, an individual whose relationship with Marduk-apla-iddina is unknown, attempted to succeed him to the kingship, has yet to be determined.
The ''Prophecy A''[''Prophecy A'', tablet VAT 10179, KAR 421.] text may portray him in the figure of the 4th king, whose 13-year reign ends with an Elamite attack on Akkad, the booty of Akkad taken away, confusion, social disorder, usurpation and famine, events which seem to mirror much of what is known about this period.
Inscriptions
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marduk-apal-iddina I
12th-century BC Babylonian kings
Kassite kings
12th-century BC rulers