The Reconstruction of Babylon

The rebuilding of Esaggil, the great temple complex in Babylon, dedicated to the god Marduk, also known as Bel, is the topic of several of these reports. The reconstruction of the Babylonian capital, which had been leveled in 689 by Esarhaddon's father Sennacherib (who also carried off the statue of Bel), became one of Esarhaddon's preoccupations. Reports from officials overseeing Babylon's reconstruction confirm claims made in his official inscriptions regarding the scope of this work. It is reported, for example, that the foundations of the city gates, the perimeter wall of Esaggil, and the great ziggurat had been laid (no. 161); that perfumes, sweet-scented oils, and precious stones were to be deposited in them (no. 161); and that the structures eventually rebuilt included battlements, courtyards, shrines, daises, and even drains (nos. 162, 168). Cedar was used to reconstruct the main gate (no. 162); cedar, cypress, and fir to roof the shrines (nos. 163, 164); precious metals to ornament the doors (no. 166); gold to manufacture the pedestal destined to receive the image of Bel (no. 179); gold to adorn the image of his spouse, Zarpanitu (no. 174); gems to ornament the crown of the Sky god and the solar disks (no. 174); and both gold and gems — 30 kg in all — to fashion Bel's equipment (no. 179).

But Bel had to be returned first. The inscriptions of Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal, as well as letters published previously in SAA 10, have already provided considerable information on the preparations for his return and its eventual accomplishment. But another curious detail connected with Bel's exile is found in our corpus. The god apparently spent time in Issete, a town in northeast Assyria, at some point in his journey either to or from Assur.[[1]] A royal official on an errand to the Province of the Chief Cupbearer reported having discovered statues of Babylonian deities in a house there, including the images of Nergal, Amurrû, Lugalbanda, Marat-Sin of Nemed-Laguda, Marat-Sin of Eridu, and Marat-Eridu. The inhabitants told him that these gods had arrived with Bel, and that the king's father had intended to send them to Babylon along with Bel (no. 190).

Pongratz-Leisten believes that this letter was directed to Esarhaddon and that the king who deported the statues was Sennacherib, who campaigned against Eridu and Nemed-Laguda in the course of his first campaign to Babylonia.[[2]] She is certainly correct in attributing their removal to Sennacherib. However, because the gods in question are said to have come with Bel to Issete, and because no mention is made of cult statues being deported in Sennacherib's account of his first Babylonian campaign, it is more likely that the divine images from Eridu and Nemed-Laguda were taken in 694, in the course of this king's naval campaign against the Yakinite exiles in Elam. The report of this expedition states that the exiles had taken the gods from the shrines of Bit-Yakin with them to Elam[[3]] and that at the conclusion of the venture all the gods of Bit-Yakin were loaded on ships and brought to Sennacherib in Bab-salimeti.[[4]] The other gods in question were taken in either 693 or 689. Inscriptions recording the events of 693 inform us that the king of Elam and the Babylonians who had gone with Merodach-baladan II to Elam came to Babylon and placed Šuzubu on the throne and that the Assyrians then advanced against Babylon, and afterwards Uruk. It was in Uruk that Sennacherib claims to have captured, among others, the statues of Beltu of Eridu (= Marat-Sin of Eridu) and Nergal, who are described as gods dwelling in Uruk.[[5]] Lugalbanda and Amurrû were probably taken at the time of the destruction of Babylon in 689, since both gods are known to have had sanctuaries in the Babylonian capital — Lugalbanda in the quarter of Kullab in Babylon,[[6]] and Amurrfi in both east Babylon[[7]] and west Babylon.[[8]]

The letter in question states that the addressee's father had intended to send these six gods to Babylon with Bel. It is almost certain, therefore, that the recipient was Assurbanipal, not Esarhaddon, since the latter's father, Sennacherib, showed nothing but animosity towards the Babylonians during his reign.

After or just prior to Bel's return to Babylon, arrangements were made for the provisioning of his cult. We are told that two towns in the vicinity of the capital were donated to the god, one of them being Apak, a cult center of Nergal from at least Sargonic times (no. 181).[[9]] We are also told that a cultic tax was imposed on the dates of a neighboring Chaldean shaykh (who however responded by intimidating the inhabitants of these towns and refusing to give the required dates), and that 300 jars of wine from Assyria, 330 sheep from the city of Halman in Iran, and an impost of sheep and oxen from the tax receipts of the governors were to be delivered annually to his temple (nos. 166, 181).



1 The reading of the toponym in question — written URU.1- — is uncertain: both lssetu and Anatu are possible. Anat, of course, was located on the middle Euphrates. For the problem of the localization of the Province of the Chief Cupbearer, see K. Kessler, Untersuchungen zur historischen Topographie Nordmesopotamiens nach Keilschriftlichen Quellen des 1. Jahrtausends v. Chr. (Wiesbaden 1980), esp. pp. 150-82.

2 Luckenbill Senn., p. 49:10 and p. 53:48; see Pongratz-Leisten Ina šulmi īrub, p. 166 n. 71.

3 Luckenbill Senn., pp. 86:19-87:26.

4 Ibid., pp. 75:97-76:100.

5 Ibid., p. 87:31-33; also Grayson Chronicles, p. 78f. It should be noted, however, that Grayson misunderstands the passage; see therefore instead A.L. Oppenheim in ANET3, p. 302 and L. Levine, JCS 34 (1982) 44f n. 52.

6 See George BTT, no. 1 = Tintir IV 27; 3, r. 9´; see also George House, p. 138 no. 953.

7 See George BTT, no. 1 = Tintir IV 6; also George House, p. 130 no. 846. The cult statue of this god was renewed by Esarhaddon; see Borger Asarh., p. 84 §53 r. 40.

8 See George BTT, no. I = Tintir IV 37; also George House, p. 124 no. 777. Note that Esarhaddon later returned the statue of Amurrû to Babylon; see Borger Asarh., p. 84 §53 r. 40-44.

9 The town is also mentioned in BM 55476 = 82-7-4,49 = George House, p. 51:30, an NB text from Sippar, divided in four sections, each of which is devoted to a particular town: Kiš, Hursagkalama, Cutha, and Apak, ending in the rubric: "26 lines: names of cities and temples, up to Apak." This is the same town as Ur III Apiʾak, listed in the cadastre text published by P.R. Kraus, who locates it west of Marad across the Abgal canal (see "Provinzen des neusumerischen Reiches von Ur," ZA 51 [1955] 56, 68). However, a location so far west is unwarranted, since contrary to Kraus's assumption, Abgal ≠ Pallukkatu. The town was more likely situated somewhere south of Kiš (since the Abgal is always mentioned in association with Kiš), still close to Babylon but within the region under the influence of Bit-Dakuri, the Chaldean tribe whose shaykh intimidated its inhabitants (see no. 181:10-16).

Steven W. Cole

Steven W. Cole, 'The Reconstruction of Babylon', Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Priests to Kings Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal, SAA 13. Original publication: Helsinki, Helsinki University Press, 1998; online contents: SAAo/SAA13 Project, a sub-project of MOCCI, 2020 [http://oracc.org/saao/saa13/lettersfrompriests/reconstructionofbabylon/]

 
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