Marduk-šāpik-zēri, inscribed in

cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedg ...

^dAMAR.UTU-DUB-NUMUN or phonetically ''-ša-pi-ik-ze-ri'', and meaning “

Marduk Marduk (Cuneiform: dAMAR.UTU; Sumerian: ''amar utu.k'' "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) was a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of the city of Babylon. When Babylon became the political center of the Euphrates valley in the time o ...

(is) the outpourer of seed”, reigned 1077–1065 BC, was the 7th king of the 2nd dynasty of

Isin Isin (, modern Arabic: Ishan al-Bahriyat) is an archaeological site in Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate, Iraq. Excavations have shown that it was an important city-state in the past. History of archaeological research Ishan al-Bahriyat was visited ...

and 4th dynasty of Babylon and he ruled for thirteen years.''Babylonian King List C'' 7. His relationship with his predecessor, Marduk-nādin-aḫḫē is uncertain. His reign overlapped that of the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the As ...

n king Aššur-bēl-kala and his immediate predecessor(s) as the ''Synchronistic King List''''Synchronistic King List'', tablet KAV 216, excavation reference Ass 14616c, ii 18, 20. places him alongside both Tukultī-apil-Ešarra and Aššur-bēl-kala.

Biography

He succeeded Marduk-nadin-aḫḫē, who may possibly have been his father or brother, during a time when the

Arameans The Arameans ( oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; syc, ܐܪ̈ܡܝܐ, Ārāmāyē) were an ancient Semitic-speaking people in the Near East, first recorded in historical sources from the late 12th century BCE. The Aramean ...

, driven by famine, were engaged in attacking the Assyrias under Tukultī-apil-Ešarra during his latter years, which Younger places in Tukultī-apil-Ešarra’s 32nd year, or 1081/80 BC. The events are recorded on a fragmentary chronicle.Assyrian chronicle fragment 4 8f. In a letter from the Babylonian astrologer Bel-ušezib to

Esarhaddon Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning "Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his ...

, 681 – 669 BC, he wrote, “Bel has said: May Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, be seated on his throne like ''Marduk-šāpik-zēri!'' – I will deliver all the countries into his hands!” and this may suggest that he was a younger son of Nabû-kudurri-uṣur or there was perhaps a struggle over the succession. He repaired the E-zida at

Borsippa Borsippa (Sumerian: BAD.SI.(A).AB.BAKI; Akkadian: ''Barsip'' and ''Til-Barsip'')The Cambridge Ancient History: Prolegomena & Prehistory': Vol. 1, Part 1. Accessed 15 Dec 2010. or Birs Nimrud (having been identified with Nimrod) is an archeologi ...

as witnessed by a building inscription, reproduced on a neo-Babylonian tablet,BM 26295. from the reign of

Kandalanu Kandalanu (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: ) was a vassal king of Babylon under the Neo-Assyrian kings Ashurbanipal and Ashur-etil-ilani, ruling from his appointment by Ashurbanipal in 647 BC to his own death in 627 BC. After the failed rebellion by ...

whose colophon records that it was copied by Nabû-šumu-līšir. He provided gold votive offerings to the temples of Ur, Nippur and elsewhere. He rebuilt the wall of Babylon, the Imgur-Enlil, for which a fragmentary inscription has come to light, confirmed by the ''

Eclectic Chronicle The Eclectic Chronicle, referred to in earlier literature as the ''New Babylonian Chronicle'', is an ancient Mesopotamian account of the highlights of Babylonian history during the post- Kassite era prior to the 689 BC fall of the city of Babylo ...

''The ''Eclectic Chronicle'' (ABC 24), tablet BM 27859 obverse lines 4 to 7. which continues, The ''Synchronistic Chronicle''''Synchronistic Chronicle'' (ABC 21) ii 25-30. confirms the alliance with Assyria, probably forged to counter the growing threat from the Arameans, and notes that he died during Aššur-bêl-kala’s reign. This records his name as ''Marduk-shapik-zer-mati'' and it has been argued by Poebel that this is merely a scribal error, where MAN, ''šar'', “king,” was taken to be part of his name. There seems to have been a military intervention in the region of Dūr-Kurgalzu by Aššur-bel-kala towards the end of his reign, as the Assyrian king’s Broken Obelisk inscription records that he captured Kadašman-Buriaš, “governor of their land.” A

kudurru A kudurru was a type of stone document used as a boundary stone and as a record of land grants to vassals by the Kassites and later dynasties in ancient Babylonia between the 16th and 7th centuries BC. The original kudurru would typically be store ...

Kudurru BM 104404, XII. records the recovery of certain landed property by Sîn-Kabti-ilāni, the son of Šamaš-šum-lišir and grandson of Kudurri, the ''šāqû'' (^lúBI.LUL), “cupbearer”. He granted landLand grant to Širikti-Šuqamuna kudurru, IM 74651 in the

National Museum of Iraq The Iraq Museum ( ar, المتحف العراقي) is the national museum of Iraq, located in Baghdad. It is sometimes informally called the National Museum of Iraq, a recent phenomenon influenced by other nations' naming of their national museum ...

in his first year to his trusty ''šakin bāb ekalli'', or palace gate officer, Širikti-Šuqamuna, the successor in this role to Uzib-Šiparru, and the land surveyor Nabû-zēra-iddina, “son of Arad-Ea”, was dispatched with a court official to measure it. A kudurru of his reignKudurru IM 80908. records another member of the Arad-Ea clan measuring a field with a local official. If the reference to Marduk- ��can be identified with him in the '' Chronicle of the Market Prices'',''Chronicle of the Market Prices'' (ABC 23), broken tablet BM 48498, lines 14 and 15. the cost of goods was unexceptional. Another fragment of a kudurruKudurru YBC 2154, in the Yale Babylonian Collection, New Haven. has a secondary inscription dated to his twelfth year. An inscription of Napsamenni, chief of the seers and high priest of Enlil in Nippur, adorns a duck weight, and there is an economic textIM 85484, fragment of an administrative document, excavated 1926–7 by Woolley in the domestic quarter just outside the south-west wall of the temenos at Ur. dated to his third year. This is an administrative record of an inspection by a storeman dated to the 30th day of the month of Ayaru (around March) marked with the seal of the king's officer, Adad-kudurra-uṣur. text 13.

Inscriptions

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marduk-shapik-zeri 11th-century BC Babylonian kings 11th-century BC rulers Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Kings of the Universe