Unlike his famous father Nebuchadnezzar I [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon2/rulers/nebuchadnezzari/index.html], Enlil-nādin-apli (Akk.: "Enlil (is) giver of an heir"), the fifth king of the Second Dynasty of Isin [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon2/index.html], had a rather short reign: According to Babylonian King List C [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/kinglists/kinglistc/index.html] he ruled for only four years before he was succeeded by his uncle Marduk-nādin-ahhē [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon2/rulers/marduknadinahhe/index.html]. Only two inscribed objects that can securely be dated to his reign are known so far: A bronze dagger with a royal possession inscription [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon2/rulers/enlilnadinapli/inscriptions/index.html] and a kudurru dealing with the king's settlement of a dispute between a temple (represented by a priest named Nabû-šuma-iddina) and Ekarra-iqīša, the governor of the province of Bīt-Sîn-māgir, who had illegitimately claimed a strip of land previously belonging to the temple.[1] Additional information about Enlil-nādin-apli's reign may appear in a Babylonian chronicle [http://www.livius.org/sources/content/mesopotamian-chronicles-content/abc-25-walker-chronicle/]: That text mentions a king of Babylon being on campaign in Assyria, a rebellion, the name Nebuchadnezzar (twice in broken context), and the murder of someone (presumably the king) who had just returned to Babylonia. It has been convincingly suggested that this episode refers to the overthrow of Enlil-nādin-apli, who was successfully deposed by his uncle Marduk-nādin-ahhē [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon2/rulers/marduknadinahhe/index.html] (see Walker 1982). However, since the names of the relevant actors are no longer preserved, it can not be excluded that instead Enlil-nādin-apli's own coming to power (a coup against his father Nebuchadnezzar I [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon2/rulers/nebuchadnezzari/index.html]) or even a rebellion of Nebuchadnezzar I [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon2/rulers/nebuchadnezzari/index.html] against his father Ninurta-nādin-šumi [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon2/rulers/ninurtanadinshumi/index.html] is described here. Thus, until there are better, more complete sources, the circumstances of Enlil-nādin-apli's reign will remain a mystery.
For further information on the inscriptions of Enlil-nādin-apli, click here or on the "Inscriptions" link to the left.
Browse Enlil-nādin-apli Online Corpus [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon2/corpus/]
Brinkman, J.A., A Political History of Post-Kassite Babylonia. 1158-722 B.C. (Analecta Orientalia 43), Roma: Pontificium Institutum Biblicum, 1968 (esp. pp. 116-118 and 329-330 no. 5).
Frame, G., Rulers of Babylonia. From the Second Dynasty of Isin to the End of Assyrian Domination (1157-612 BC) (The Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia, Babylonian Periods 2), Toronto et al.: University of Toronto Press, 1995 (esp. pp. 36-37).
Walker, C.B.F., 'Babylonian Chronicle 25: A Chronicle of the Kassite and Isin II Dynasties,'in: G. van Driel (ed.), Zikir Šumim. Assyriological Studies Presented to F.R. Kraus on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday, Leiden: Brill, 1982, pp. 398-417.
[1] For this purpose, an investigation had to be carried out, in which the governor of the province of the Sealand, Eanna-šuma-iddina, is involved. The same person is mentioned in a second kudurru, which could thus also date to Enlil-nādin-apli's reign. [Go back to body text.]
Alexa Bartelmus
Alexa Bartelmus, 'Enlil-nādin-apli (1103-1000 BC)', RIBo, Babylon 2: The Inscriptions of the Second Dynasty of Isin, The RIBo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2016 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon2/rulers/enlilnadinapli/]