626 – 539 BCE
Neo-Babylonian
Nebuchadnezzar, exile, late astronomy.
Babylon's last great flowering. Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilds the city with the Ishtar Gate and the legendary hanging gardens; he also exiles the Judeans, an event recorded both in the Hebrew Bible and in his own tablets. Babylonian astronomers reach unprecedented precision in tracking the planets.
Primary sources
Tablets from this period
4950 tablets dated to Neo-Babylonian — showing 24 below; browse all 4950.
RINBE 1, Nebuchadnezzar II nn, ex. nn
[Nebuchadnezzar,] [king of Ba]bylon, [the one who provides for] Esagil [and Ezi]da, [foremost] heir [of Nab]opol[assar,] [king of Babylon, am I.]
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 1, Nebuchadnezzar II nn, ex. nn
[Nebuchadnezzar (Nabû-kudurrī-u]ṣur), king of Babylon, [provider of] [Esagil] and Ezida, [foremost] heir [of Nabopolassar (Nabû-apla-uṣur)], king of Babylon.
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 03
(obverse? — only line-ends preserved) [...] ... his mouth (i.e., his [command/utterance]) [...] I stretched (beams) across [... O ...], resplendent lord, the god, light of the gods, his fathers [... his] exalted [command(?)] which cannot be altered, [...] may I be sated with its/his [...] [...] may I attain [...] ... [... wherever(?)] the sun rises
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 04
(obverse, fragmentary) In [...] (which) no (former king) had [erected(?) ...] (but) me, the humble, [submissive one ...] I fashioned, and eight [mušḫuššu-dragons of copper ...] which upon the wicked and [the enemy spray venom of death ...] with a plating of si[lver ...] in the gate(s) of [...] on the platform(s) (kisû) [...] (remainder broken)
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 05
(beginning broken) [...] ... lordship(?) ... [...] [... of a] former [king(?)] ... he cast/fashioned in silver [...] [...] shining ..., with ornament and awe-inspiring radiance I clothed it. [...] the Euphrates, the river of abundance, which from its creation [... flowed] straight past Esagil — its massive waters, [... in the days(?)] of a former king, its waters from the border of Esagil [...] had receded (too far) for the drawing of water. [...] I sought out its ancient site, and [...] its waters as of old [... to the bor]der of Esagil I directed [straight]. The [...] which a former king had…
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 07
Neriglissar, king of Babylon [(...)], the renovator of Esagil and E[zida], the one who does good [deeds], whom, in order to exercise his kingship, [...] the great gods established [...] their [counsel(?) ...]; [whom(?)] Marduk, foremost of the gods, the one who de[crees destinies(?) ...], [... with(?)] dominion over (all) the lands [...], [... the shep]herdship of the black-[headed people ...], [...] true/faithful [...], [...] ... [...], [... m]ighty(?) [...], [...] ... [...]. (The remainder of the tablet is broken.)
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythRINBE 2, Neriglissar 03, ex. 08
(obverse, all lines broken at the right edge) [Ne]riglissar, king of Babylon, [...] [the one who reno]vates(?) Esagil and [Ezida ...] with [...] like the (original) appurtenances [...] I set up [...]. The Dais of Destinies, which is inside [...], upon which at the New Year (zammukku), the beginning [of the year], during the akītu-festival, (at) the setting-out of the Enlil of the g[ods, Marduk], Nabû, the true heir, processes t[o ...] Šuanna [...], (on) the 5th day (and) the 11th day, in going and retu[rning ...] (remainder of this exemplar broken)
Writing & LiteratureReligion & MythAuOr 37, 043-044 01
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — AuOr 37, 043-044 01. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Economy
AuOr 37, 044-045 02
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — AuOr 37, 044-045 02. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Economy
AuOr 37, 045-046 03
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — AuOr 37, 045-046 03. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Economy
AuOr 37, 047 04
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — AuOr 37, 047 04. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Economy
AuOr 37, 047-049 05
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — AuOr 37, 047-049 05. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Economy
BAM 4, 392
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — BAM 4, 392. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Daily Life
BM 091441
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — BM 091441. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
CDLB 2014/004 §2.2
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CDLB 2014/004 §2.2. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Law
CDLI Literary 002701.01, ex. 023 & 002701.05, ex. 010
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CDLI Literary 002701.01, ex. 023 & 002701.05, ex. 010. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Religion & MythDaily Life
CDLI Literary 002701.05, ex. 011
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CDLI Literary 002701.05, ex. 011. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Religion & MythDaily Life
CDLJ 2007/1 §3.49
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CDLJ 2007/1 §3.49. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
CDLJ 2007/1 §3.50
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CDLJ 2007/1 §3.50. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
CDLJ 2007/1 §3.54
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CDLJ 2007/1 §3.54. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Economy
CDLJ 2007/1 §3.55
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CDLJ 2007/1 §3.55. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Law
CUSAS 15, 043
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC)) — CUSAS 15, 043. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & Literature
DUROM 2009.9
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC) ?) — DUROM 2009.9. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Writing & LiteratureReligion & Myth
Fs Lambert 210-211 53 A3
Catalogue entry from CDLI (Neo-Babylonian (ca. 626-539 BC) ?) — Fs Lambert 210-211 53 A3. No scholarly translation has been published; the transliteration is from the ATF (CDLI's Atf-Friendly format).
Religion & Myth