ABC 22 (Chronicle P)

Chronicle P (ABC 22) is one of the historiographical texts from ancient Babylonia. It deals with several conflicts between Assyria, Babylonia, and Elam in the fourteenth to twelfth century BCE. It may be a Babylonian adaptation of the Assyrian 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 tablet, BM 92701 (82-7-4, 38), upon which Chronicle P is inscribed is in very poor condition. The fragment is 180 mm wide and 120 mm long and represents only about one third of the original tablet. The fragment comes from the bottom portion of the chronicle.

Column IV

[iv.1'] ...

[iv.2'] he threw iron bands and ...note

[iv.3'] ... Tukulti-Ninurta returned to Babylon and

[iv.4'] brought ... near. He destroyed the wall of Babylon and put[5] the Babylonians to the sword.

[iv.5'] He took out the property of the Esagila and Babylon amid the booty. The statue of the great lord Marduk

[iv.6'] he removed from his dwelling-place and sent him to Assyria.

[iv.7'] He put his governors[6] in Karduniaš. For seven years, Tukulti-Ninurta

[iv.8'] controlled Karduniaš[7]. After the Akkadian officers of Karduniaš had rebelled and

[iv.9'] put Adad-šuma-ušur on his father's throne,

[iv.10'] Aššur-nasir-apli, son of that Tukulti-Ninurta who had[9] carried criminal designs against Babylon, and the officers of Assyria rebelled against Tukulti-Ninurta,

[iv.11'] removed him from the throne, shut him up in Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta and killed him.

[iv.12'] For sixty[?]-six (until the time of Ninurta-tukulti-Aššur),note Bêl stayed in Assyria, in the time of Ninurta-tukulti-Aššur, Bêl

[iv.13'] went to Babylon.

 

[iv.14'] At the time of Enlil-nadin-šumi, the king,note Kiden-Hutran, king of Elam, attacked.

[iv.15'] He went into action against Nippur and scattered its people. Der and Edimgalkalamma

[iv.16'] he destroyed, carried off its people, drove them away and eliminated the suzerainty of Enlil-nadin-šumi, the king.

[iv.17']  

At the time of Adad-šuma-iddina,note Kiten-Hutran returned and attacked Akkad a second time.

[iv.18'] ... he destroyed Isin, crossed the Tigris, all of

[iv.19'] ... Maradda. A terrible defeat of an extensive people 

[iv.20'] he brought about. ... and with oxen ...

[iv.21'] ... he removed to wasteland ...

[iv.22'] ...

[iv.23']  

... he dominated ...

[iv.24'] [Too broken]