CM 52 (Nabu-šuma-iškun)
The following, very fragmentary text from Uruk, is a chronographic document dealing with the history of Babylonia in the eighth century BCE, and especially the demise of king Nabû-šuma-iškun, who died in 748, after he had broken all written and unwritten laws of his civilization. The text was already damaged in Antiquity: the scribe notes several breaks in the original he was copying.
For a very brief introduction to the literary genre of chronicles, go here. More information can be found in Jean-Jacques Glassner, Mesopotamian Chronicles (Atlanta, 2004), in which this is text CM 52.
Translation of Column i |
||
|
[i.1'] Marduk-apla-usur ...] the Chaldaean. |
||
|
[i.2'] '... the Tigris ... |
||
|
[i.3'] ... a messenger ... he killed and .... |
||
|
[i.4'] ... |
||
|
[i.5'] Forced labor and corvée were imposed and ... slave. |
||
|
[i.7'] the boat Idhedu ... for the Esagila. |
||