Marduk-zakir-shumi I

Biography

There are few contemporary inscriptions bearing witness to his reign. A kudurru granting Ibni-Ištar, a *kalû-*priest of the temple of Eanna in Uruk, land by Marduk-zâkir-šumi, is dated to his second year. Nazi-Enlil was governor or šandabakku (inscribed LÚGÚ.EN.NA) of Nippur, the first appearance of this office since Kassite times, as he appears as a witness along with the crown prince, Marduk-balāssu-iqbi. A second kudurru records a private land sale near Dilbat. His son, Enlil-apla-uṣur, was to succeed him in Marduk-balāssu-iqbi’s reign.4 N-T 3:11'. A lapis lazuli seal of this king depicting Marduk's statue resting on his pet dragon, Mušḫuššu, was an offering intended to be hung around an idol's neck.

Marduk-bēl-ušati’s revolt

His younger brother, Marduk-bēl-ušati (inscribed mdAMAR.UTU-EN*-ú-sat*), rebelled and established a brief regime in the Diyāla region, seizing Daban.Synchronistic Chronicle (ABC 21), K4401a + Rm 854, iii 27-35. Assyrian sources describe him as šar ḫammā’i, "usurper." During years 851 and 850 BC, the Assyrian king Salmānu-ašarēdu III came to Marduk-zâkir-šumi‘s aid (ana nīrārūtišu) and campaigned in concertThe Assyrian account recalls: issu Marduk-zâkir-šumi ikšuda gārêšu, ”after Marduk-zâkir-šumi had conquered his enemies.” to force him to flee to the Jasubu mountainous region northeast, area of lower Diyāla. During the first of the campaigns, Marduk-bēl-ušati made a stand at Ganannate but was defeated outside the city walls. He was able to take refuge within the city which remained unconquered. The second campaign resulted in the city’s fall and he beat a hasty retreat with some of his officers, escaping "like a fox through a hole" to the city of Arman (Ḫalman) which itself was taken after a siege. Salmānu-ašarēdu left an account of these events on his Black Obelisk:

During his campaign, Salmānu-ašarēdu captured the city of Baqani, extracting tribute from Adini of Bit-Dakkuri,Door fitting from the Balawat Gates, BM 124660. also from Mušallim-Marduk of the Amukani and the leader of the Yakin tribes, the earliest attestation of these Chaldean groups and made a pilgrimage to Babylon where he recounted "I ascended to Esagila, the palace of the gods, the abode of the king of all …"e-li-ma ana é-sag-ila É.GAL DINGIR.MEŠ šu-bat MAN gim-ri … He practiced his religious devotions at other cultic shrines as his Black Obelisk recalls “I went to the great urban centers. I made sacrifices in Babylon, Borsippa and Kutha.”a-na ma-ḫa-zi rabûtimeš a-lik niqê(udu.siskur)meš ina Bābiliki Barsipki Ku-te-eki ēpuš. A relief from the front of his throne baseND 1 1000 = IM 65574, throne base from Fort Shalmaneser (Nimrud). depicts him gripping Marduk-zâkir-šumi’s hand in a public display of Assyro-Babylonian friendship. The kings are flanked by beardless youths identified as the crown princes and presumed to be Šamši-Adad V and Marduk-balāssu-iqbi, who would eventually come to conflict.

Babylonian intervention in the Assyrian succession

The opportunity came for Marduk-zâkir-šumi to return the favor when, in his 32nd year of rule, c. 826 BC, Salmānu-ašarēdu's own son, Aššur-danin-apli ("Aššur has strengthened the son") rebelled against his father. Šamši-Adad V recalled:

The Synchronistic History remains silent on these events, but a treatyStone tablet of treaty, Rm.II 427 (Weidner, AfO 8 (1932–33) 27-29; SAA II 001). between Šamši-Adad and Marduk-zâkir-šumi seems to place the Assyrian in an inferior position, indicative of his reliance on and debt to the Babylonian king. It concludes with a series of curses apparently copied from the Code of Hammurabi and notably omitting the god Aššur:

It may well have been concluded while Salmānu-ašarēdu was still alive and been accompanied by the diplomatic marriage of Marduk-zâkir-šumi's daughter, Shammuramat, the inspiration for the legend of Semiramis, to Šamši-Adad. The consequences were, however, that Šamši-Adad resented his subordinate position and came to wreak a terrible revenge during the reign of Marduk-zâkir-šumi's son and heir, Marduk-balāssu-iqbi.

Inscriptions

ABC Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (Grayson, 1975); AfO Archiv für Orientforschungen; AO siglum of objects in the collection of the Musée du Louvre; BM Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities, British Museum; IM National Museum of Iraq (Baghdad); K. Kouyunjik collection, British Museum; Rm Rassam collection, British Museum; KAV Keilschrifttexte aus Assur verschiedenen (Schroeder, 1920); ND prefix of field numbers, excavations at Nimrud 1949–63; RA Revue d'Assyriologie; SAA State Archives of Assyria; VA Vorderasiatische Abetilung, Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin; VAT Vorderasiatische Abetilung, Tontafel, siglum of tablets in Vorderasiatisches wing of the Pergamon Museum, Berlin; VS Vorderasiatische Schriftdenkmäler (Ungnad, 1907).

Notes

References

References

1. šumu 1c CAD Š III p. 289.
2. F. Thureau-Dangin. (1919). "Un acte de donation de Marduk-zākir-šumi". Revue d'Assyriologie et d'Archéologie Orientale.
3. J. A. Brinkman. (1968). "A political history of post-Kassite Babylonia, 1158-722 B.C.". Analecta Orientalia.
4. J. A. Brinkman. (1999). "Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie: Libanukasabas – Medizin". Walter De Gruyter.
5. A. K. Grayson. (1996). "Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC II (858-745 B.C.) (RIMA 3)". Toronto University Press.
6. A. K. Grayson. (1975). "Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles". J. J. Augustin.
7. S. Wise Bauer. (2007). "The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome". W. W. Norton & Company.
8. R. Borger. (1965). "Marduk-zākir-šumi I und der Kodex Ḫammurabi". Orentialia.
9. Carlo Zaccagnini. "Notes on the Pazarcik Stela". SAAB.