Nazi-Maruttaš, typically inscribed ''Na-zi-Ma-ru-ut-ta-aš'' or
m''Na-zi-Múru-taš'', ''Maruttaš'' (a
Kassite god synonymous with
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 ...
) ''protects him'', was a
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
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
c. 1307–1282 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 ...
) and self-proclaimed ''
šar kiššati'', or "King of the World", according to the votive inscription pictured.
[ He was the 23rd of the dynasty, the son and successor of ]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 th ...
, and reigned for twenty six years.[According to the ''Kinglist A'' tablet, BM 33332, column 2, line 2, in 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 ...
.
His reign can be seen as the peak of the Kassite Dynasty, exemplified by his successful military campaigns against 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 ...
and Elam
Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...
, the glyptic style of cylinder seals, the literature inspired by him (Hemerology for Nazi-Maruttaš), and his appearance in the period piece Ludlul bēl nēmeqi
("''I Will Praise the Lord of Wisdom''"), also sometimes known in English as ''The Poem of the Righteous Sufferer'', is a Mesopotamian poem (ANET, pp. 434–437) written in Akkadian that concerns itself with the problem of the unjust suffe ...
, which was set during his reign.
Conflict with Assyria
Nazi-Maruttaš faced a growing threat from the ascendancy of 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 ...
under Arik-den-ili
Arik-den-ili, inscribed mGÍD-DI-DINGIR, “long-lasting is the judgment of god,” was King of Assyria 1317–1306 BC, ruling the Middle Assyrian Empire. He succeeded Enlil-nirari, his father, and was to rule for twelve years and inaugurate the t ...
and his successor Adad-Nīrāri I. The containment of Assyria was conducted through a strategy of flank attacks supported by his agents, eastern hillmen such as the Gutians, in a protracted war, avoiding a full frontal assault. Under Arik-den-ili, he seems to have had the upper hand, because Adad-Nīrāri, who styles himself "King of the Universe", later recounts[In the ''Epic of Adad-Nārāri'', tablet VAT 9820 line 12: ''hi-ib-lat um-ma-ni'' MAN KUR ''ka.-.i-i a-bi ul ul-te-.èr''.] that "my father could not rectify the calamities inflicted by the army of the king of the Kassite land" in a contemporary Assyrian epic.[
He is mentioned in the ''Synchronistic Chronicle''][''Synchronistic Chronicle'' (ABC 21) tablet C, column 1, lines 24 to 31.] as having fought a battle with Adad-Nīrāri's forces at "Kār-Ištar of Ugarsallu". The Assyrians claimed a complete victory over the Babylonians in this battle, plundering their camp and seizing the royal standards, thereby acquiring territory from them and causing the Assyro-Babylonian boundary to be adjusted southward.[ The conflict is fondly remembered in the ]Tukulti-Ninurta Epic
Tukilti-Ninurta Epic is an Assyrian epic written in Akkadian describing and glorifying the wars and conquests of the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I against the Babylonian king Kashtiliash IV during the Kassite dynasty. Though in principle success ...
,[''Tukulti-Ninurta Epic'', extant in fragments BM 98496, BM 98730, BM 98731, BM 121033.] in its recounting of past Assyro-Babylonian conflicts, where he says, "And like Adad – I will send a devastating flood upon your camp!"
Other conflicts
There is evidence of a successful attack on Elam
Elam (; Linear Elamite: ''hatamti''; Cuneiform Elamite: ; Sumerian: ; Akkadian: ; he, עֵילָם ''ʿēlām''; peo, 𐎢𐎺𐎩 ''hūja'') was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of modern-day Iran, stretc ...
, because texts[Ration lists Ni 6932 Šagarakti-Šuriaš year 9 and Ni 7050 Kaštiliašu IV accession year.] of this period concerning ration lists and foreign prisoners of war mention Nazi-Maruttaš in sections concerning the Elamites. A historical letter[Tablet CBS 11014.] details his campaign in Mat Namri, a Hurrian region, and possibly his conquest of its twelve cities.
A fragment of a tablet[K 11536]
published in MSKH I as U.2.26, p. 282. relates that "Marduk
Marduk (Cuneiform: dAMAR.UTU; Sumerian: ''amar utu.k'' "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) was a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon. When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time of ...
ca sedall the lands o bow down
O, or o, is the fifteenth Letter (alphabet), letter and the fourth vowel letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the English alphabet, modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in ...
at his feet".[ A treasury list][CBS 14180.] catalogues more than 125 precious artifacts and their move from Dūr-Kurigalzu and Nippur to Ardi-Bêlit during his 5th year, possibly for safe keeping.[
]
Building works
He is known to have made at least three Kudurru
A kudurru was a type of stone document used as a boundary stone and as a record of land grants to vassals by the Kassites and later dynasties in ancient Babylonia between the 16th and 7th centuries BC. The original kudurru would typically be stor ...
boundary stones, although the one pictured[Kudurru Sb. 21, a later stone copy of clay original.] is a later stone copy made during the reign of Marduk-apla-iddina I
Marduk-apla-iddina I, contemporarily written in cuneiform as dAMAR.UTU-IBILA-SUM-''na'' and meaning in Akkadian: " Marduk has given an heir", was the 34th Kassite king of Babylon ca. 1171–1159 BC ( short chronology). He was the son and succes ...
to replace the clay original (''narū ša haṣbi'') which was crushed by a falling temple wall.
A shrine to Gula was uncovered in 1946 in an eroded building with a pavement of much damaged kiln-baked bricks, some inscribed for Nazi-Maruttaš. This was located in the palace area at the Kassite capital, Dūr-Kurigalzu. Work was also undertaken at 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 excavations have yielded various tablet
Tablet may refer to:
Medicine
* Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill"
Computing
* Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...
s. He was also active in building as far south as 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 ...
, the cella of the Eḫiliana of Nanâ, as attested to by a later inscription by Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his ...
.[Esarhaddon inscription YBC 2146.] Other cities formerly abandoned such as Larsa, Ur, Adab, and Isin
Isin (, modern Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. Excavations have shown that it was an important city-state in the past.
History of archaeological research
Ishan al-Bahriyat was visited b ...
show evidence of revival in his reign.[
There are nearly 400 economic texts dated to years up to the twenty fourth of his reign, detailing things as mundane as the receipt of ]barley
Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...
and malt, the issuing of grain, goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
s, hides, sheep and oil. A tablet found in Tell Kirbasi, on the south side of the central Hor al-Hammar 30 km west of Basra
Basra ( ar, ٱلْبَصْرَة, al-Baṣrah) is an Iraqi city located on the Shatt al-Arab. It had an estimated population of 1.4 million in 2018. Basra is also Iraq's main port, although it does not have deep water access, which is hand ...
, lists 47 head of cattle in the sixteenth year of Nazi-Maruttaš, showing the extent of trade.
The Hemerology for Nazi-Maruttaš
A single standard hemerology, or ''uttuku'', was collated during his time. A 'hemerology' was a sort of almanac stating which days of each month were favorable, unfavorable, or dangerous for activities of interest to the king, such as those propitious for begetting children, or setting taxes. It was typically used by scribe
A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing.
The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...
s, temple administrators, priests, cultic singers and exorcists and provided detailed instructions for "auspicious days".
The colophon of the work reads, "Auspicious days according to the seven a kallī?originals from Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, Ur, Larsa, 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 ...
and Eridu. The scholars excerpted, selected, and gave to Nazi-Maruttaš, king of the world." Five extant examples[KAR 147, KAR 177 (=VAT 9663), etc.] have been found, including a bilingual copy in Dur-Kurigalzu, another found in the house of ''LÚ.NAR.GAL'' "cultic singers" in Aššur and a third in the house of Kiṣir-Aššur, exorcist of the temple of Aššur during the reign of Aššurbanipal.[
Lambert has argued that ''Ludlul bēl nēmeqi'' was composed during his reign based upon the identification of the protagonist Šubši-mašrâ-Šakkan with that of a character in a fragment of an epic of the Kassite times,][K 9952 W G Lambert BWL pl. 12 pp 296f., BM 35322, Sp. II,893.] and to the governor, or ''lúgar kur'', of Ur during his 16th regnal year. Nazi-Maruttaš’ name appears on the reverse of a literary text fragment known as KAR 116[KAR 116]
tablet VAT 11245
r. 10. which Lambert identified as belonging to this work.
The prominent physician, or ''asû'', from Nippur, Rabâ-ša-Marduk Rabâ-ša-Marduk, “great are (the deeds) of Marduk”, was a prominent physician, or ''asû'', from the city of Nippur who was posted to the Hittite court of Muwatalli II (c. 1295–1272 BC short chronology) in Anatolia in the thirteenth centur ...
, began his lengthy, well-attested career during Nazi-Maruttaš’ reign.
See also
*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 portrayal ...
Inscriptions
References
External links
Kudurru Image
{{Babylonian kings
14th-century BC Babylonian kings
13th-century BC Babylonian kings
14th-century BC rulers
13th-century BC rulers
Kassite kings
Kings of the Universe