Nebuchadnezzar I

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Nebuchadnezzar I
King of Babylon
Detail from kudurru of Nebuchadnezzar granting Marduk freedom from taxation[i 1]
Reign ca. 1126–1103 BC
Predecessor Ninurta-nādin-šumi
Successor Enlil-nādin-apli
Royal House 2nd Dynasty of Isin

Nebuchadnezzar I[nb 2] /ˌnɛbjəkədˈnɛzər/, ca. 1126–1103 BC, was the fourth king of the Second Dynasty of Isin and Fourth Dynasty of Babylon. He ruled for 23 years according to the Babylonian King List C,[i 2] and was the most prominent monarch of this dynasty. He is best known for his victory over Elam and the recovery of the cultic idol of Marduk.


He is unrelated to his namesake, Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur II, who has come to be known by the name “Nebuchadnezzar” by biblical scholars. Consequently it would be anachronistic to apply this designation retroactively to the earlier king, as he does not make an appearance in that later publication. He is misidentified on the Chronicle Concerning the Reign of Šamaš-šuma-ukin[i 4] as the brother of Širikti-šuqamuna probably in place of Ninurta-kudurrῑ-uṣur I.[1] He succeeded his father, Ninurta-nādin-šumi, and was succeeded in turn by his son Enlil-nādin-apli, brother Marduk-nādin-aḫḫē and then nephew Marduk-šāpik-zēri, the only members of this family known to have reigned during the dynasty.



—The seed of kingship, lines 15-24.

War with Elam[edit]

In the first instance, his invasion of Elam was thwarted when his army was struck by plague and he narrowly escaped death in the stampede to return home. In his second raid, or šiḫṭu, accompanied by the Kassite chieftain Šitti- or LAK-ti-Marduk who struck the decisive blow,[i 1] he was able to overrun Elam in a surprise attack conducted from Dēr during the hottest of the summer months, Dumuzi, when


—LAK-ti Marduk kudurru,  i 17–21.

A battle routed Elamite king Ḫulteludiš-Inšušinak on the banks of the river Ulaya, the dust of the battle darkening the sky. He was then able to sack Susa and retrieved the statue of Marduk (here called Bēl) and that of the goddess Il-āliya (DINGIR.URU-ia).[i 6] The campaign destroyed Elam as a power and provided a defining moment for the Babylonians akin to the siege of Troy for the ancient Greeks.[4]



Other conflicts[edit]


He is titled as the conqueror of the Amorite lands,[nb 4] “despoiler of the Kassites,” in the LAK-ti Marduk kudurru, despite the beneficiary being a Kassite chieftain and ally, and having smitten the mighty Lullubû with weapons.[6]

Domestic affairs[edit]


The earliest of three extant economic texts is dated to his eighth year. Together with two kudurru’s and a stone memorial tablet, these are the only contemporary commercial records extant. Apart from the two deeds related to the Elamite campaign, the other kudurru[i 14] bears witness to a land grant to the nišakku of Nippur, a certain Nudku-ibni.[7] His name appears on four Lorestān bronze daggers and there is a prayer to Marduk on two more. He may be the Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur who is mentioned in the Chronicle of Market Prices[i 15] which records his ninth year but the context is lost.

Period literature[edit]

The Uruk List of Sages and Scholars[i 16] names Šaggil-kīnam-ubbib as the ummânu, or sage, who served under him and the later king Adad-apla-iddina when he would author the Babylonian Theodicy,[8] and several literary texts are thought to originate from his age, written in both Sumerian and Akkadian.

Lambert has suggested that it was during his reign that Marduk was elevated to the head of the pantheon, displacing Enlil and that the Enûma Eliš was possibly composed, but some historians claim an origin during the earlier Kassite dynasty.[6] A text concerning chemical process (imitations for precious stones) bears a colophon identifying it as a copy of an older Babylonian original but places it in his library.[1]

See also[edit]

  1. ^ a b Kudurru BM 90858, BBSt 6 grant to LAK-ti Marduk.
  2. ^ a b Babylonian King List C, 4
  3. ^ Synchronistic King List, tablet excavation number Ass. 14616c (KAV 216), ii 15.
  4. ^ Šamaš-šuma-ukin Chronicle (ABC 15), tablet BM 96273.
  5. ^ The seed of kingship tablet K 4874.
  6. ^ Stone tablet BM 92987, BBSt 24 7-12.
  7. ^ Marduk Prophecy tablet K. 2158+.
  8. ^ The Epic of Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur, K.3426 (published as CT 13 48).
  9. ^ The Hymn to Marduk, DT 71.
  10. ^ Tablet K.2660, 3R 38.
  11. ^ Tablet BM 99067 K 3444, duplicated as K 3317 K 3319 K 5190 BM 35000.
  12. ^ Synchronistic History, tablets K4401a + Rm 854, ii 1–13.
  13. ^ Synchronistic King List 2-3 (KAV 12).
  14. ^ The Hinke Kudurru year 16.
  15. ^ Chronicle of Market Prices (ABC 23), BM 48498, line 13.


  1. ^ AN-AG-ŠA-DU-ŠIŠ
  2. ^ mdNabû-kudurrī-úṣur[nb 1][i 2] or mdNábû-ku-dúr-uṣur,[i 3] meaning "Nabû, protect my eldest son" or "Nabû, protect the border"
  3. ^ da-mi-iq-ti is-si-ma le-mu-ut-tu sad-rat.
  4. ^ KUR.MAR.TU.KI.


  1. ^ a b c A. K. Grayson (1975). Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles. J. J. Augustin. p. 231. 
  2. ^ P. Pitkanen (2004). Central Sanctuary and Centralization of Worship in Ancient Israel. Gorgias Press. p. 34. 
  6. ^ a b J. A. Brinkman (2001). "Nebukadnezar I". In Erich Ebeling, Bruno Meissner, Dietz Otto Edzard. Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie: Nab – Nuzi. Walter De Gruyter Inc. pp. 192–194. 