Chronicle P, known as ''Chronicle 22'' in Grayson’s ''Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles'' and ''

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

n Chronicle 45'': "Chronicle of the Kassite Kings" in Glassner's ''Mesopotamian Chronicles'' is named for T. G. Pinches, the first editor of the text. It is a chronicle of the second half of the second millennium BC or the

Kassite The Kassites () were a people of the ancient Near East. They controlled Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire from until (short chronology). The Kassites gained control of Babylonia after the Hittite sack of Babylon in 1531 B ...

period, written by a first millennium BC

Babylonia Babylonia (; , ) was an Ancient history, ancient Akkadian language, Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Kuwait, Syria and Iran). It emerged as a ...

n scribe.

The tablet

The chronicle is preserved on a single fragment 180 mm wide and 120 mm long and is in fairly poor condition. It is the lower third of what was originally a large

clay tablet In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadian language, Akkadian ) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay t ...

inscribed with two columns of

Akkadian cuneiform Cuneiform is a logo- syllabic writing system that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. Cuneiform scripts are marked by and ...

per side, and is held in the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, now bearing the museum reference BM 92701. Its provenance is unknown but the internal evidence from the script characteristics betrays it to be a late Babylonian copy. It was purchased by the museum from Spartali & Co in 1882 and originally given the accession number 82-7-4, 38.

The text

The text is episodic, divided by horizontal lines into sections of differing length concerning the events of particular reigns. The narrative style switches from classic chronicler to epic poem when describing the events of the reign of

Kurigalzu II Kurigalzu II (c. 1332–1308 BC short chronology) was the 22nd king of the Kassite or 3rd dynasty that ruled over Babylon. In more than twelve inscriptions, Kurigalzu names Burna-Buriaš II as his father. Kurigalzu II was placed on the Kassite ...

, suggesting more than one historical source was consulted in its preparation. Although the section concerning the deposing of the grandson of Aššur-uballiṭ I differs from the

Assyria Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , ''māt Aššur'') was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed as a city-state from the 21st century BC to the 14th century BC and eventually expanded into an empire from the 14th century BC t ...

n ''Synchronistic History'' with respect to the names of the characters concerned, the identical phraseology suggests that the passages derive ultimately from a common source. Similarly, the section relating to Kurigalzu II and the battle of Sugagu varies only in the name of his Assyrian counterpart and the outcome of the battle. The narrative begins with discussion of a treaty and some form of restoration work, but the identity of the protagonist ( Burna-Buriyåš I?) is lost. It continues with a passage concerning Kadašman-Ḫarbe I that has been interpreted as a confusion of the history of this earlier king with that of

Kara-ḫardaš Kara-hardash (Kara-ḫardaš), also rendered ''Kadashman-Harbe'' and possibly ''Karaindash'', was a king of Babylon. He became king of Babylon around 1333 BC. He was the son of the Assyrian princess Muballitat-Sherua and the Babylonian king who pr ...

, the short-lived successor to Burna-Buriaš II. Kurigalzu’s victory against the

Elam Elam () was an ancient civilization centered in the far west and southwest of Iran, stretching from the lowlands of what is now Khuzestan and Ilam Province as well as a small part of modern-day southern Iraq. The modern name ''Elam'' stems fr ...

ites is likewise thought to confuse the campaign of

Kurigalzu I Kurigalzu I (died c. 1375 BC), usually inscribed ''ku- ri- gal-zu'' but also sometimes with the m or d determinative, the 17th king of the Kassite or 3rd dynasty that ruled over Babylon, was responsible for one of the most extensive and widespre ...

with his later namesake. The history then hops to the events surrounding Tukulti-Ninurta’s conquest of Babylonia, providing the only extant confirmation of his seven year rule through governors. It records the revolt which placed Adad-šuma-uṣur on the throne and then describes the events surrounding Tukulti-Ninurta’s overthrow (by Aššur-nasir-apli, probably a reproduction of the error for Aššūr-nādin-apli on some copies of the

Assyrian King List The king of Assyria (Akkadian language, Akkadian: , later ) was the ruler of the ancient Mesopotamian kingdom of Assyria, which was founded in the late 21st century BC and fell in the late 7th century BC. For much of its early history, Assyria was ...

). The text concludes with two sections about the incursions of Elamite king Kidin-Ḫudrudiš, thought to represent Kidin-Hutran, against the Kassite monarchs Enlil-nādin-šumi and Adad-šuma-iddina, kings recorded as ''preceding'' Adad-šuma-uṣur on the Babylonian king list The text is insufficiently preserved for it to be possible to ascertain its intended purpose. It contains a number of scribal errors, but, in marked contrast to the ''Synchronistic History'', it portrays Babylonian setbacks as matter of fact alongside their victories, which has led some modern historians to praise its impartiality, despite its apparent muddling of historical events.

Principal publications

Despite its fragmentary state, the text has been published by scholars in the following publications: * * * relating to iv 1–13. * * no. 37, relating to iv 1–13. * *

References

External links

* Chronicle P (ABC 22) a
Livius
* Catalogue entry for the Chronicle P tablet at th
British Museum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chronicle P Babylonia Mesopotamian chronicles Kassites Clay tablets 1st-millennium BC inscriptions