ABC 21 (Synchronic Chronicle)

The Synchronic Chronicle (ABC 21) is a historiographical text from ancient Babylonia. It deals with the relations between Assyria and its southern neighbor Babylonia (which is called Karduniaš), and is an important source for those who want to study the chronology of this period, as it offers many synchronisms. The tablet was written in c. 800 BCE.

The Synchronic Chronicle

For a very brief introduction to the literary genre of chronicles, go here. The translation on this webpage was adapted from A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975) and Jean-Jacques Glassner, Mesopotamian Chronicles (Atlanta, 2004)

The text, which informs us about a number of boundary conflicts and has a strong pro-Assyrian bias, is preserved on three tablets from the library of king Aššurbanipal in Nineveh. Tablet A is the main text, which can (at the edge) be supplemented with tablets B and C. The chronicle purports to render the text of a boundary stone between Assyria and Babylonia that stood somewhere on the east bank of the Tigris. This may be a literary fiction. The Babylonian version is Chronicle P.

The text must have been composed after the accession of Adad-nirari III in 810, but not much later, because there are no references to later troubles.

This is the first part of this web page. The second part is here.

[ii.A3'] took his siege engines and Zanqi, a fortress in Assyria,

[ii.A14'] Tiglath-pileser I, king of Assyria, and Marduk-nadin-ahhe, king of Karduniaš.note

[ii.A13'] Karaštu[?], Nebuchadnezzar's field-marshal, was captured.

 

[ii.A12'] carried off his camp. Forty of his chariots with harness were taken away and

[ii.A11'] He fought with Nebuchadnezzar, brought about his total defeat, slaughtered his troops and

[ii.A10'] sent chariots and infantry to help the fortress.

[ii.A9'] went to conquer Idi, a fortress[8] of Assyria. Assur-reš-iši

[ii.A8'] This same Nebuchadnezzar with chariots and infantry,

[ii.A7'] He turned and went home.

[ii.A6'] To prevent the siege engines being taken from him, Nebuchadnezzar burnt them.

[ii.A5'] mustered his chariots to go against him.

[ii.A4'] he went to conquer. Aššur-reš-iši, king of Assyria,

[ii.A15'] Twice Tiglath-pileser drew up[16] a battle array of chariots, as many as were by the Lower Zab,

[ii.A2'] he went home.note

After he had gone, Nebuchadnezzarnote

[ii.A1'] [lacuna]

together they made an entente cordiale.

[ii.B12'] he captured. He took their vast booty to Assyria. 

 

[ii.B11'] Zaban, Irriya, Ugarsallu and [...]

[ii.B10'] Aššur-dan, king of Assyria, went down to Karduniaš.note

[ii.B9'] In the time of Zababa-šuma-iddina, king of Karduniaš,

[ii.B8'] But [...] arrived unexpectedly, so he turned and went home.

 

[ii.B7'] marched to conquer Libbi-ali (the city of Aššur).

[ii.B6'] went home. He mustered his numerous troops and

[ii.B5'] were engaged in battle, Ninurta-apil-ekur

[ii.B4'] did battle. As Enlil-kudurri-usur and Adad-šuma-usur

[ii.A26'] Marduk-šapik-zeri was the king of Karduniaš.

For columns III and IV, go [livius:13465|title:here|type:source].

[ii.A37'] were joined together.

 

[ii.A36'] The peoples of Assyria and Karduniaš

[ii.A35'] took her with a vast dowry to Assyria.

[ii.A34'] married the daughter of Adad-apla-iddina, king of Karduniaš, and

[ii.A33'] Aššur-bêl-kala, king of Assyria,

[ii.A32'] as sovereign over the Babylonians.

[ii.A31'] Aššur-bêl-kala appointed Adad-apla-iddina, son of Esagil-šaduni, son of a nobody,

[ii.A30'] Marduk-šapik-zeri, king of Karduniaš, passed away.

[ii.A29'] At the time of Aššur-bêl-kala, king of Assyria,

[ii.A28'] they together made.

[ii.A27'] An entente cordiale

[ii.B3'] Enlil-kudurri-usur, king of Assyria, and Adad-šuma-usur, king of Karduniaš,note with another

[ii.A25'] In the time of Aššur-bêl-kala, king of Assyria,note

[ii.A24'] He ruled every part of Suhu as far as Rapiqu.

 

[ii.A23'] he plundered as far as Lubda.

[ii.A22'] At that time, Ugarsallu

[ii.A21'] he captured together with their forts.

[ii.A20'] Babylon, and Upû, the great urban centers,

[ii.A19'] Sippar-ša-Anunitu,

[ii.A18'] Dur-Kurigalzu, Sippar-ša-Šamaš

[ii.A17'] in the second year he defeated Marduk-nadin-ahhe at Gurmarritu, which is upstream from Akkad.

[ii.A16'] opposite Ahizûhina, and

[ii.B2'] to Mount Kullar [...]

 

[ii.B1'] his servants, he made ...

[ii.C2] ... in open battle.

[lacuna]

Column II

[ii.C1] [lacuna]

[Tukulti-Ninurta, king of Assyria, and] Kaštiliašu, king of Karduniašnote