People, Gods & Places

These are the names that appear in the inscriptions. Unless otherwise noted, all of the names are of Akkadian or Sumerian origin. The forms of the names match those found in the project's QPN Glossary and, therefore, always appear without long vowels and usually according to their ancient (not modern) name.

A B C D E F G Ŋ H I J K L M N O P Q R S Ṣ Š T Ṭ U V W X Y Z ~

A

Agade (place): A city in northern Babylonia, exact location unknown; possibly now Tell Muhammad.

Akkad (place): An ancient name for northern Babylonia.

Amurru (place): An ancient name for the land west of the Tigris PGP .

Anšan (place): The mountainous part of the land Elam and the capital of that region (modern Tall-i Malyan).

Aššur (place): An Assyrian city on the Tigris PGP , the original capital and ancestral home of the Assyrian royal family and many Assyrian nobles, now Qalat Sherqat.

Aššur-bani-apli (person): "Aššur is the creator of the heir": Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria (r. 668-ca. 631 BC). For further details, see this ruler's [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon6/periodofassyriandomination/ashurbanipal/index.html] essentials page.

B

Babili (place): Ancient Babylon, the most important city of Babylonia, near the modern city of Hilla.

Bel (deity): "Lord"; a name of Marduk PGP . For further details, see this deity's [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/index.html] essentials page on Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/].

D

Der (place): A city in northeastern Babylonia, now Tell Aqar.

E

Enlil (deity): Head of the Sumerian pantheon and one of the most important gods in Neo-Babylonian times. The western gate of the north wall of Babylon PGP bears his name. For further details, see this deity's [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/enlil/index.html] essentials page on Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/].

Esagil (place): "House Whose Top is High"; the temple of Marduk PGP at Babylon PGP .

Ešnunna (place): City to the northeast of modern Baghdad; now Tell Asmar.

Ezida (place): "True house"; the temple of Nabu PGP at Borsippa PGP .

G

Gutu (people): An archaic term for the Gutian tribes of the Zagros mountains.

I

Idiqlat (place): Tigris: The major river that runs through eastern Mesopotamia, on which the major cities of Assyria and Babylonia were situated. It is some 1,800 km long, rising in the eastern Taurus mountains and flowing south, where it emptied directly into the Persian Gulf in Babylonian times.

Imgur-Enlil (place): "The God Enlil Showed Favor": The great, inner wall of Babylon PGP .

K

Kambuziya I (person): Cambyses I, king of Anšan, and father of Cyrus II PGP .

Kambuziya II (person): Cambyses II, king of Anšan, and son of Cyrus II PGP .

Kuraš I (person): Cyrus I, king of Anšan.

Kuraš II (person): Cyrus II, king of Anšan. For further details, see this ruler's [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon8/rulers/cyrusii/index.html] essentials page.

M

Marduk (deity): The supreme god of Babylon PGP , where he was worshipped at the temple Esagil PGP ; father of the god Nabu PGP and consort of the goddess Zarpanitu. The middle gate of the east wall of Babylon PGP (leading to/from the Kullab district) bears his name. For further details, see this deity's [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/marduk/index.html] essentials page on Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/].

Me-Turan (place): A city mentioned in the Cyrus Cylinder.

N

Nabu (deity): God of wisdom and patron of scribes, son of Babylon's tutelary god Marduk PGP . For further details, see this deity's [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/listofdeities/nabu/index.html] essentials page on Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/amgg/].

Nabu-naʾid (person): Nabonidus, king of Babylon (r. 555-539 BC). For further details, see this ruler's [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon7/rulers/nabonidus/index.html] essentials page.

Q

Qīšti-Marduk (person): A scribe who wrote out a copy of the Cyrus Cylinder.

Š

Šišpiš (person): Teispes, king of Anšan, an ancestor of Cyrus II PGP .

Šuanna (place): A district of Babylon PGP .

Šušan (place): Susa, the capital of the land Elam, a powerful kingdom in southwestern Iran that was often in conflict with Assyria.

S

Sumer (place): An ancient name for the south of Babylonia.

U

Uru (place): Ur: A city in southern Babylonia, now Tell Muqayyar.

Z

Zamban (place): A city mentioned in the Cyrus Cylinder.

Jamie Novotny

Jamie Novotny, 'People, Gods & Places', RIBo, Babylon 8: The Inscriptions of Cyrus II and His Successors, The RIBo Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2016 [http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/babylon8/peoplegodsplaces/]