Marduk-shapik-zeri

Biography

He succeeded Marduk-nadin-aḫḫē, who may possibly have been his father or brother, during a time when the Arameans, driven by famine, were engaged in attacking the Assyrias under Tukultī-apil-Ešarra during his latter years, which Younger places in Tukultī-apil-Ešarra’s 32nd year, or 1081/80 BC. The events are recorded on a fragmentary chronicle.Assyrian chronicle fragment 4 8f. In a letter from the Babylonian astrologer Bel-ušezib to Esarhaddon, 681 – 669 BC, he wrote, “Bel has said: May Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, be seated on his throne like Marduk-šāpik-zēri! – I will deliver all the countries into his hands!” and this may suggest that he was a younger son of Nabû-kudurri-uṣur or there was perhaps a struggle over the succession.

He repaired the E-zida at Borsippa as witnessed by a building inscription, reproduced on a neo-Babylonian tablet,BM 26295. from the reign of Kandalanu whose colophon records that it was copied by Nabû-šumu-līšir. He provided gold votive offerings to the temples of Ur, Nippur and elsewhere. confirmed by the Eclectic ChronicleThe Eclectic Chronicle (ABC 24), tablet BM 27859 obverse lines 4 to 7. which continues:

The Synchronistic Chronicle**Synchronistic Chronicle (ABC 21) ii 25-30. confirms the alliance with Assyria, probably forged to counter the growing threat from the Arameans, and notes that he died during Aššur-bêl-kala’s reign. This records his name as Marduk-shapik-zer-mati and it has been argued by Poebel that this is merely a scribal error, where MAN, šar, “king,” was taken to be part of his name. There seems to have been a military intervention in the region of Dūr-Kurgalzu by Aššur-bel-kala towards the end of his reign, as the Assyrian king’s Broken Obelisk inscription records that he captured Kadašman-Buriaš, “governor of their land.”

A kudurruKudurru BM 104404, XII. records the recovery of certain landed property by Sîn-Kabti-ilāni, the son of Šamaš-šum-lišir and grandson of Kudurri, the šāqû (lúBI.LUL), “cupbearer”. He granted landLand grant to Širikti-Šuqamuna kudurru, IM 74651 in the National Museum of Iraq in his first year to his trusty šakin bāb ekalli, or palace gate officer, Širikti-Šuqamuna, the successor in this role to Uzib-Šiparru, and the land surveyor Nabû-zēra-iddina, “son of Arad-Ea”, was dispatched with a court official to measure it. A kudurru of his reignKudurru IM 80908. records another member of the Arad-Ea clan measuring a field with a local official. If the reference to Marduk-[…] can be identified with him in the Chronicle of the Market Prices,Chronicle of the Market Prices (ABC 23), broken tablet BM 48498, lines 14 and 15. the cost of goods was unexceptional. has a secondary inscription dated to his twelfth year. An inscription of Napsamenni, chief of the seers and high priest of Enlil in Nippur, adorns a duck weight, and there is an economic textIM 85484, fragment of an administrative document, excavated 1926–7 by Woolley in the domestic quarter just outside the south-west wall of the temenos at Ur. dated to his third year.

Inscriptions

Notes

References

References

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