Nabû-šumu-libūr, inscribed ^dAG.MU''-li-bur''Tablet BM 33332 Kinglist A, iii 4'. or ^d''na-bi-um-''MU''-li-bur'',Tablet BM 139424, purchased in 1982 and on display in room 55 of the

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 ...

. meaning "O

Nabû Nabu ( akk, cuneiform: 𒀭𒀝 Nabû syr, ܢܵܒܼܘܼ\ܢܒܼܘܿ\ܢܵܒܼܘܿ Nāvū or Nvō or Nāvō) is the ancient Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom. Etymology and meaning The Akkadian "nab ...

, may (my) progeny / the son stay in good health," (ruled 1029–1022 BC) was the 11th and last king of the 2nd Dynasty of Isin, the 4th Dynasty 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 ...

. He ruled during a period of instability due to incursions of

Aramean The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean h ...

nomadic tribesmen in Northwest Babylonia.

Biography

There is very little extant material for his reign. The legal text pictured is from his first year. It was found at Kār-Bēlet-Ilāni near

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: '' ...

, and details the reimbursement of Nusku-zêra-iddina, the ''

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 ...

'', or governor of Nippur, with land, after he ransomed a man named Mudammiqu from the 'enemy'. The price was paid in kind, with the text listing various items provided by the purchaser with their cash equivalent, for a total of 420 shekels. It was first published in 1983 and the text provides the earliest recorded price for iron, where an iron dagger of unspecified weight was valued at two shekels of silver. It was witnessed by eleven individuals representing the roll call for the elite in Nippur and the god

Ninurta , image= Cropped Image of Carving Showing the Mesopotamian God Ninurta.png , caption= Assyrian stone relief from the temple of Ninurta at Kalhu, showing the god with his thunderbolts pursuing Anzû, who has stolen the Tablet of Destinies from En ...

is invoked as patron deity of boundaries. A stone duck weightAlabaster duck-weight with two panels of cuneiform inscription; top of bird's head lost; abraded, BM 91432. inscribed Nabû-šuma-libūr, optimistically titled '' šar kiššati'' (king of the world), found its way to the Northwest palace of Nimrud, where it was preserved as an antique and rediscovered by Layard in the mid 19th century, and perhaps indicates continued trade. It was marked 30 minas (about 15 kilograms). Ominous portents dated for his reign, are included in a damaged

Religious Chronicle The Religious Chronicle is an ancient Mesopotamian register of portents such as the straying of wild animals into urban areas and extraordinary natural phenomena which presaged the disruptions which interfered with the Akītu or new year festival ...

of the Seleucid era.The ''Religious Chronicle'', tablet BM 35968 (ABC 17) column 1. It records, "a lion was lying lurking and they killed it," a prophecy fulfilled by the fall of the dynasty. The events at the end of his reign are not known, but northern

Babylonia Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...

had been overrun by

tribesmen from the west, and the dynasty was followed by the 2nd Dynasty of Sealand when a substantial part of southern Mesopotamia seceded.

Inscriptions

Notes

References

{{Babylonian kings 11th-century BC Babylonian kings 11th-century BC deaths Year of birth unknown Kings of the Universe