Šandabakku
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The office of šandabakku, inscribed )
Lexical lists The cuneiform lexical lists are a series of ancient Mesopotamian glossaries which preserve the semantics of Sumerograms, their phonetic value and their Akkadian or other language equivalents. They are the oldest literary texts from Mesopotamia ...
such as IM 77106, 12 N 129 OIP 122 text 119, obv.4.
or sometimes as (), the latter designation perhaps meaning "archivist of (the god)
Enlil Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by t ...
," was the name of the position of governor of the
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...
n city of
Nippur Nippur (Sumerian language, Sumerian: ''Nibru'', often logogram, logographically recorded as , EN.LÍLKI, "Enlil City;"I. E. S. Edwards, C. J. Gadd, N. G. L. Hammond, ''The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory'': Vol. 1, Part 1, Ca ...
from the
Kassite The Kassites () were a people of the ancient Near East. They controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire from until (short chronology). The Kassites gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 B ...
period (mid second millennium BC) onward.
Enlil Enlil, later known as Elil and Ellil, is an List of Mesopotamian deities, ancient Mesopotamian god associated with wind, air, earth, and storms. He is first attested as the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon, but he was later worshipped by t ...
, as the tutelary deity of Nippur, had been elevated in prominence and was shown special veneration by the Kassite monarchs, it being the most common theophoric element in their names. This caused the position of the ''šandabakku'' to become very prestigious and the holders of the office seem to have wielded influence second only to the king.


The office

The term ''šandabakku'' first appears in texts from Mari, where it seems to represent a high-ranking administrative official, but it is not until the Kassite period that it became synonymous with the city of Nippur. Nippur had been depopulated sometime towards the end of the reign of
Samsu-iluna Samsu-iluna (Amorite: ''Shamshu-iluna'', "The Sun (is) our god") (–1712 BC) was the seventh king of the founding Amorite dynasty of Babylon. His reign is estimated from 1749 BC to 1712 BC (middle chronology), or from 1686 to 1648 BC (short chron ...
(ca. 1686–1648 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 remained abandoned until the end of the fifteenth century when the Kassites began a program of restoration of cultic centers. The earliest inscriptions of this restoration belong to Kurigalzu I. The office may be related in some manner to that of the '' nišakku'' () of Enlil, probably the senior priestly or dignitary position of the
Ekur Ekur ( ), also known as Duranki, is a Sumerian term meaning "mountain house". It is the assembly of the gods in the Garden of the gods, parallel in Greek mythology to Mount Olympus and was the most revered and sacred building of ancient Sumer ...
. Whether the post was held concurrently with that of the ''šandabakku'', or at some, perhaps, earlier stage in the career of the prospective governor, has yet to be determined, but it is clear that Enlil-kidinni and his immediate successors, all held both offices, and Amil-Marduk and Enlil-šuma-imbī were similarly honored. Only during the reign of Nazi-Maruttaš, were they held by separate individuals, with Nūr-Delebat and his son Ninurta-rēṣušu assuming the ''nišakku''-priest position, the latter of whom naming Enlil-kidinni’s father Enlil-bānī and Amīlatum as ancestors, on his clay quadrangular prism,BM 92699, votive prism. a votive dedication to the storm-god
Adad Hadad (), Haddad, Adad ( Akkadian: 𒀭𒅎 '' DIM'', pronounced as ''Adād''), or Iškur ( Sumerian) was the storm- and rain-god in the Canaanite and ancient Mesopotamian religions. He was attested in Ebla as "Hadda" in c. 2500 BCE. From ...
. The most prominent of the ''šandabakku'' officials were - Enlil-kidinni, who correspondedTablet CBS 19796, BE XVII no. 91. and exchanged gifts with the
Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...
n crown prince
Enlil-nirari Enlil-nirari (“Enlil is my helper”) was King of Assyria from 1327 BC to 1318 BC during the Middle Assyrian Empire. He was the son of Aššur-uballiṭ I. He was apparently the earliest king to have been identified as having held eponym, or ...
, if his name has been correctly restored, and, Amil-Marduk around a hundred years later, under whose rule Nippur experienced significant restoration work undertaken by servile laborers whose ''purchase documents'' and ''ration lists'' make up much of the so-called “governor's library.” In the later
Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire, also known as the Persian Empire or First Persian Empire (; , , ), was an Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great of the Achaemenid dynasty in 550 BC. Based in modern-day Iran, it was the large ...
period, from the reign of
Xerxes I Xerxes I ( – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a List of monarchs of Persia, Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was ...
, the title was replaced by that of the ''paqdu''.


List of ''šandabakku'' officials at Nippur

The ''šandabakku’s'' who held office during the Kassite period: * Amīlatum, father of Enlil-bāni (uncertain date) * Uššur-ana-Marduk, son of Usi-ana-nuri-? (uncertain position in sequence, but early)Cylinder seal of
Uballissu-Marduk Uballissu-Marduk, inscribed ''ú-ba-lí-su-''dAMAR.UTU, meaning “Marduk has kept him alive,” was a Babylonian accountant (''niğkas'') who rose to the rank of administrator (''sanqu'') in the Kassite government of Kurigalzu II, ca. 1332-1308 ...
BM 122696.
* Ninurta-nādin-aḫḫē, son of Enlil-bānī (from Kadašman-Enlil I until Burna-Buriaš, 1359–1333 BC) * Enlil-kidinni, son of Ninurta-nādin-aḫḫē (from Burna-Buriaš, through
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 placed on the Kassite ...
, 1332–1308 BC, until early Nazi-Maruttaš, 1307–1282 BC) * Enlil-alsa, son of Enlil-kidinna (attested in Nazi-Maruttaš year 8, 1300 BCTablet UM 29-15-653.) * Uzi-Šu ab(during Nazi-Maruttaš’ reign)CBS 12914, BE 14, no. 39, line 1. * Nazi-Enlil (during Nazi-Maruttaš’ reign) * Ninurta-apla-idinna, son of Nazi-Enlil (Nazi-Maruttaš or later, Kadašman-Turgu, 1281–1264 BC, Kadašman-Enlil, 1263–1255 BC) * Amil-Marduk (from
Kudur-Enlil Kudur-Enlil, rendered in cuneiform as ''Ku-dur'' dEN.LÍL (c. 1254–1246 BC short chronology), "son of Enlil," was the 26th king of the 3rd or Kassite dynasty of Babylon. He reigned into his ninth year, as attested in contemporary economic table ...
, 1254–1246 BC, until Šagarakti-Šuriaš’ reign, 1245–1233 BC) * Enlil-zākir-šumiThe
Estate of Takil-ana-ilīšu kudurru The estate of Takil-ana-ilīšu kudurru is an ancient Mesopotamian white limestone ''narû'', or entitlement stela, dating from the latter part of the Kassite era which gives a history of the litigation concerning a contested inheritance over thr ...
, BM 90827.
(during the reign of Adad-šuma-iddina, 1222–1217 BC) * Enlil-šuma-imbī, son of Daian-Marduk (during the reign of Adad-šuma-uṣur, 1216–1187 BC) The officials with this title in the post-Kassite period: * Nusku-zêra-iddinaLegal tablet BM 139424. ( Nabû-šumu-libūr year 1 or 1033 BC) * Nazi-EnlilKudurru AO 6684 in the Louvre, published as RA 16 (1919) 125–126. (during Marduk-zâkir-šumi’s reign, 855-819 BC) * Enlil-apla-uṣur,4 N-T 3:11'. son of Nazi-Enlil (during the reign of Marduk-balāssu-iqbi, 819–813 BC) * Kudurru (during the reigns of Nabu-naṣir, 747–732 BC, and Nabû-mukin-zēri, 731–729 BC) * Ēṭeru and Ērešu (around the time of Kudurru) * ? Šuma-idinna (executed by
Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (, also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 681 to 669 BC. The third king of the S ...
in his sixth year, 675 BC) * Enlil-bāni, Šamaš-šum-ukin's seventh year, c. 660 BC * Enlil-šāpik-zēri (apparently of Ṣurru near Uruk and not actually Nippur, during the reign of Nabû-kudurri-uṣur II, 634-562 BC) * Nabû-šumu-ēreš (during the reign of Nabû-naʾid, 556-539 BC) * Širiktu-Ninurta (from last year of Nabû-naʾid
39 BC __NOTOC__ Year 39 BC was either a common year starting on Friday, Saturday or Sunday or a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar (the sources differ, see leap year error for further information) and a common year starting on Satu ...
until the accession year of
Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...
22 BC


Inscriptions


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shandabakku Kassites