Marduk-zakir-shumi I
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Marduk-zâkir-šumi, inscribed mdAMAR.UTU''-za-kir-''MU in a reconstruction of two kinglists,''Synchronistic Kinglist'' KAV 10 (VAT 11261) ii 9.''Synchronistic Kinglist'' KAV 182 (Ass. 13956dh) iii 12. “Marduk pronounced the name,” was a king of
Babylon ''Bābili(m)'' * sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠 * arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel'' * syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel'' * grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn'' * he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel'' * peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru'' * elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
from 855 to 819 BC during the mixed dynastic period referred to in antiquity as the dynasty of ''E''. He was a contemporary of 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 A ...
n kings, Salmānu-ašarēdu III) (commonly known as Shalmaneser III)''Synchronistic Kinglist'', KAV 216 (Ass. 14616c), iii 20. (859–824 BC) and Šamši-Adad V (824–811 BC) with whom he was allied.''
Eclectic Chronicle The Eclectic Chronicle, referred to in earlier literature as the ''New Babylonian Chronicle'', is an ancient Mesopotamian account of the highlights of Babylonian history during the post-Kassite era prior to the 689 BC fall of the city of Babylon. ...
'' (ABC 24) BM 27859 reverse (r 5-7).


Biography

There are few contemporary inscriptions bearing witness to his reign. A kudurru granting Ibni-Ištar, a ''kalû-''priest of the temple of Eanna in
Uruk Uruk, also known as Warka or Warkah, was an ancient city of Sumer (and later of Babylonia) situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.Harm ...
, land by Marduk-zâkir-šumi, is dated to his second year. Nazi-Enlil was governor or ''
šandabakku The office of šandabakku, inscribed (LÚGÚ.EN.NA)Lexical lists such as IM 77106, 12 N 129 OIP 122 text 119, obv.4. or sometimes as (GÁ.DUB.BA.A EN.LÍLKI), the latter designation perhaps meaning "archivist of (the god) Enlil," was the name o ...
'' (inscribed GÚ.EN.NA) of
Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. Akkadian language, Akkadian: '' ...
, the first appearance of this office since
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 ...
times, as he appears as a witness along with the crown prince, Marduk-balāssu-iqbi. A second kudurru records a private land sale near
Dilbat Dilbat (modern Tell ed-Duleim or Tell al-Deylam, Iraq) was an ancient Sumerian minor '' tell'' (hill city) located southeast from Babylon on the eastern bank of the Western Euphrates in modern-day Al-Qādisiyyah, Iraq. The ziggurat E-ibe-Anu, de ...
. His son, Enlil-apla-uṣur, was to succeed him in Marduk-balāssu-iqbi’s reign.4 N-T 3:11'. A
lapis lazuli Lapis lazuli (; ), or lapis for short, is a deep-blue metamorphic rock used as a semi-precious stone that has been prized since antiquity for its intense color. As early as the 7th millennium BC, lapis lazuli was mined in the Sar-i Sang mines, ...
seal of this king depicting Marduk's statue resting on his pet dragon,
Mušḫuššu The ''mušḫuššu'' (; formerly also read as or ) or mushkhushshu ( or ), is a creature from ancient Mesopotamian mythology. A mythological hybrid, it is a scaly animal with hind legs resembling the talons of an eagle, lion-like forelimbs, a ...
, was an offering intended to be hung around an idol's neck.


Marduk-bēl-ušati’s revolt

His younger brother, Marduk-bēl-ušati (inscribed mdAMAR.UTU-EN''-ú-sat''), rebelled and established a brief regime in the Diyāla region, seizing Daban.''Synchronistic Chronicle'' (ABC 21), K4401a + Rm 854, iii 27-35. Assyrian sources describe him as ''šar ḫammā’i'', "usurper." During years 851 and 850 BC, the Assyrian king Salmānu-ašarēdu III came to Marduk-zâkir-šumi‘s aid (''ana nīrārūtišu'') and campaigned in concertThe Assyrian account recalls: ''issu Marduk-zâkir-šumi ikšuda gārêšu'', ”after Marduk-zâkir-šumi had conquered his enemies.” to force him to flee to the Jasubu mountainous region northeast, area of lower Diyāla. During the first of the campaigns, Marduk-bēl-ušati made a stand at Ganannate but was defeated outside the city walls. He was able to take refuge within the city which remained unconquered. The second campaign resulted in the city’s fall and he beat a hasty retreat with some of his officers, escaping "like a fox through a hole" to the city of Arman (Ḫalman) which itself was taken after a siege. Salmānu-ašarēdu left an account of these events on his ''
Black Obelisk The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black limestone Assyrian sculpture with many scenes in bas-relief and inscriptions. It comes from Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northern Iraq, and commemorates the deeds of King Shalmaneser III (reigned 858 ...
'': During his campaign, Salmānu-ašarēdu captured the city of Baqani, extracting tribute from Adini of Bit-Dakkuri,Door fitting from the
Balawat Balawat ( syc, ܒܝܬ ܠܒܬ, ') is an archaeological site of the ancient Assyrian city of Imgur-Enlil, and modern village in Nineveh Province (Iraq). It lies southeast from the city of Mosul and to the south of the modern Assyrian town of Bakh ...
Gates, BM 124660.
also from Mušallim-Marduk of the Amukani and the leader of the Yakin tribes, the earliest attestation of these Chaldean groups and made a pilgrimage to Babylon where he recounted "I ascended to Esagila, the palace of the gods, the abode of the king of all …"''e-li-ma ana é-sag-ila'' É.GAL DINGIR.MEŠ ''šu-bat'' MAN ''gim-ri'' … iv 6. He practiced his religious devotions at other cultic shrines as his ''Black Obelisk'' recalls “I went to the great urban centers. I made sacrifices in Babylon,
Borsippa Borsippa ( Sumerian: BAD.SI.(A).AB.BAKI; Akkadian: ''Barsip'' and ''Til-Barsip'')The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. or Birs Nimrud (having been identified with Nimrod) is an archeologi ...
and
Kutha Kutha, Cuthah, Cuth or Cutha ( ar, كُوثَا, Sumerian: Gudua), modern Tell Ibrahim ( ar, تَلّ إِبْرَاهِيم), formerly known as Kutha Rabba ( ar, كُوثَىٰ رَبَّا), is an archaeological site in Babil Governorate, Iraq. ...
.”''a-na ma-ḫa-zi rabûti''meš ''a-lik niqê''(udu.siskur)meš ''ina Bābili''ki ''Barsip''ki ''Ku-te-e''ki ''ēpuš''. A relief from the front of his throne baseND 1 1000 = IM 65574, throne base from Fort Shalmaneser (
Nimrud Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a majo ...
).
depicts him gripping Marduk-zâkir-šumi’s hand in a public display of Assyro-Babylonian friendship. The kings are flanked by beardless youths identified as the crown princes and presumed to be Šamši-Adad V and Marduk-balāssu-iqbi, who would eventually come to conflict.


Babylonian intervention in the Assyrian succession

The opportunity came for Marduk-zâkir-šumi to return the favor when, in his 32nd year of rule, c. 826 BC, Salmānu-ašarēdu's own son, Aššur-danin-apli ("Aššur has strengthened the son") rebelled against his father. Šamši-Adad V recalled: The ''Synchronistic History'' remains curiously silent on these events, but a treatyStone tablet of treaty, Rm.II 427 (Weidner, AfO 8 (1932-33) 27-29; SAA II 001). between Šamši-Adad and Marduk-zâkir-šumi seems to place the Assyrian in an inferior position, indicative of his reliance on and debt to the Babylonian king. It concludes with a series of curses apparently copied from the
Code of Hammurabi The Code of Hammurabi is a Babylonian legal text composed 1755–1750 BC. It is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text from the ancient Near East. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian, purportedly by Hamm ...
and notably omitting the god
Aššur 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 ...
: It may well have been concluded while Salmānu-ašarēdu was still alive and been accompanied by the diplomatic marriage of Marduk-zâkir-šumi's daughter,
Shammuramat Shammuramat (Akkadian: ''Sammu-rāmat'' or ''Sammu-ramāt''), also known as Sammuramat or Shamiram, was a powerful queen of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Beginning her career as the primary consort of the king Shamshi-Adad V (824–811 BC), Shammura ...
, the inspiration for the legend of
Semiramis ''Samīrāmīs'', hy, Շամիրամ ''Šamiram'') was the semi-legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and Ninus, who succeeded the latter to the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who dre ...
, to Šamši-Adad. The consequences were, however, that Šamši-Adad resented his subordinate position and came to wreak a terrible revenge during the reign of Marduk-zâkir-šumi's son and heir, Marduk-balāssu-iqbi.


See also

*
Marduk-zakir-šumi I kudurru The Marduk-zakir-shumi I kudurru is a boundary stone ( kudurru) of Marduk-zakir-šumi I, a king in the 9th dynasty of Babylon from 855 - 819 BC. The kudurru of Marduk-zakir-shumi is a stele-like kudurru, with a front face of cuneiform, and a sem ...


Inscriptions

ABC ''Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles'' (Grayson, 1975); AfO ''Archiv für Orientforschungen''; AO ''siglum of objects in the collection of the
Musée du Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
''; BM ''Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities,
British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
''; IM ''
National Museum of Iraq The Iraq Museum ( ar, المتحف العراقي) is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq, a recent phenomenon influenced by other nations' naming of their national museum ...
(Baghdad)''; K. ''Kouyunjik collection, British Museum''; Rm ''Rassam collection, British Museum''; KAV ''Keilschrifttexte aus Assur verschiedenen'' (Schroeder, 1920); ND ''prefix of field numbers, excavations at Nimrud 1949–63''; RA ''Revue d'Assyriologie''; SAA ''State Archives of Assyria''; VA ''Vorderasiatische Abetilung,
Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin The Vorderasiatisches Museum (, ''Near East Museum'') is an archaeological museum in Berlin. It is in the basement of the south wing of the Pergamon Museum and has one of the world's largest collections of Southwest Asian art. 14 halls distrib ...
''; VAT ''Vorderasiatische Abetilung, Tontafel, siglum of tablets in Vorderasiatisches wing of the
Pergamon Museum The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of German Emperor Wilhelm II according to plans by Alfred Messel and Ludwig Hoffmann in Stripped Class ...
, Berlin''; VS ''Vorderasiatische Schriftdenkmäler'' (Ungnad, 1907).


Notes


External links


Kuddurru of the Babylonian King Marduk-Zakir-Shumi, Iran, Late Assyrian Period, circa 850 BC
baghdadmuseum.org. 2006. Retrieved on 2009-09-07.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marduk-zakir-shumi I 9th-century BC Babylonian kings 9th-century BC rulers