MARDUK-APLA-IDDINA
I
![](680px-Kudurru_Louvre_Sb31.jpg)
Kudurru
of Marduk-apla-iddina I
Reign
: ca. 1171 - 1159 BC
Preceded by : Meli-Šipak II
Succeeded by : Zababa-šuma-iddina
Regnal
titles of Marduk-apla-iddina I / Merodach-Baladan : King
of the Babylon
House : Kassite
Marduk-apla-iddina
I / Merodach-Baladan, contemporarily written in cuneiform as dAMAR.UTU-IBILA-SUM-na
and meaning in Akkadian: "Marduk has given an heir", was
the 34th Kassite king of Babylon ca. 1171–1159 BC (short chronology).
He was the son and successor of Melišipak, from whom he had
previously received lands, as recorded on a kudurru, and he reigned
for 13 years. His reign is contemporary with the Late Bronze Age
collapse. He is sometime referred to as Merodach-Baladan I.
Biography
:
He claimed, like his father, descent from Kurigalzu and evidently
kept court in Dur-Kurigalzu itself because tablets found in the
burnt ruins of the Tell-el-Abyad quarter which marked the later
Elamite destruction of the city, are dated in the first two years
of his reign. These include lists of garments received or distributed
for the New Year, or akitu, festival and indicate a normal economic
relationship with Babylonia's western and eastern neighbors, the
Subarians and Elamites respectively, whose singers apparently entertained
the royal household. Documents surviving from his reign date only
as late as his sixth year and include his repair of the E-zida temple
at Borsippa, where he credited the god Enlil with raising him to
kingship despite recording this in an inscription wholly dedicated
to Marduk.
There
is evidence of thriving commerce in woolen garments with Assyrian
traders, and numerous royal land grants in northern and especially
northeastern Babylonia. The Chronicle of the Market Prices references
his 21st year, but neither king with this name ruled longer than
13 years. Like his two predecessors, some of the economic texts
show a curious double-dating formula which has yet to be satisfactorily
explained. The Synchronistic King List gives his Assyrian contemporary
as Ninurta-apal-Ekur, which is unlikely as he is also shown against
the earlier two Kassite kings, despite his short reign.
Kudurrus
:
![](640px-Marduk-nadin-apli.jpg)
Detail
from a kudurru of Marduk-apla-iddina I
Several inscribed kudurrus, or boundary stones, survive which document
large donations of land and tax exemptions during his reign. Marduk-zakir-šumi,
the bel pihati, or provincial governor, was the beneficiary of a
piece of land as a perquisite from the king. He was son of Nabû-nadin-ahe,
grandson of Rimeni-Marduk, great grandson of Uballissu-Marduk, who
had been šatammu, or an official under Kurigalzu II’s
regime and descendant of Arad-Ea, um-mi-a-nig2-kas7, scholar of
accounting. His responsibilities included inspector of temple and
land and controller of forced labor. One of the witnesses was Nabû-šakin-šumi,
also described as “son of” Arad-Ea. Another stele records
that Ina-Esagila-zera-ibni, “son of” Arad-Ea, measured
a field, after replacing the previous land surveyor.
The
symbol of the stylus, representing the god of writing and wisdom,
Nabû, makes its first appearance on one of his kudurrus. A
kudurru comes with an unusual trinity of gods in its invocation
of a divine curse, “May Nabû, Nanaya and Tašmetum,
lords of the decrees and decisions, surround him with evil and search
him out for misfortune.”
The
continuity of the reign with those earlier in the dynasty is evident
in a kudurru providing confirmation of an earlier land grant by
Adad-šuma-usur and a copy of a kudurru from the reign of Nazi-Maruttaš,
the original of which was destroyed when a wall collapsed on it.
Kudurrus were also used to record legal settlements, and two examples
include a lawsuit concerning land in Hudadu (Baghdad?) province,
on the Elamite border east of the Tigris from his accession year,
and one recording legal actions over a field.
List
of kudurrus dated to this reign :
![](Male_head_from_Dur-Kurigalzu,_Iraq,_reign_of_Marduk-apla-iddina_I._Iraq_Museum.jpg)
Male
head from Dur-Kurigalzu, Iraq, reign of Marduk-apla-iddina I. Iraq
Museum
Around eighteen kudurrus could be assigned to his reign based upon
the art-history of their iconography. The following lists those
which actually identify him as the monarch in their texts.
•
Land grant to Marduk-zakir-šumi kudurru, the bel pihati
• Land grant to Munnabittu kudurru
• Uzbi-Enlil kudurru
• Broken kudurru of Marduk-apla-iddina
• Adad-bel-kala kudurru confirming a gift
by the earlier king Adad-šuma-usur
• Fragmentary kudurru of Marduk-apla-iddina
• The Tehran kudurru
Also dated to his reign is the stone copy of the Nazimaruttaš
kudurru stone.
End
of his reign :
The events at the end of his reign are uncertain, but it is clear
from later sources that it ended dramatically, when Elamite troops
led by Shutruk-Nahhunte, who had married a sister of Marduk-apla-iddina,
invaded Babylonia and sacked several cities, including the capital.
Whether these events were the cause of his demise, or whether they
followed a succession crisis in which Zababa-šuma-iddina, an
individual whose relationship with Marduk-apla-iddina is unknown,
attempted to succeed him to the kingship, has yet to be determined.
The
Prophecy A text may portray him in the figure of the 4th king, whose
13-year reign ends with an Elamite attack on Akkad, the booty of
Akkad taken away, confusion, social disorder, usurpation and famine,
events which seem to mirror much of what is known about this period.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Marduk-apla-iddina_I