Marduk-kabit-aḫḫēšu, "

Marduk Marduk (; cuneiform: Dingir, ᵈAMAR.UTU; Sumerian language, Sumerian: "calf of the sun; solar calf"; ) is a god from ancient Mesopotamia and patron deity of Babylon who eventually rose to prominence in the 1st millennium BC. In B ...

is the most important among his brothers", 1153–1136 BC, was the founder of the 2nd Dynasty of Isin, which was to rule

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

until around 1022 BC. He apparently acceded in the aftermath of 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 ...

ite overthrow of the Kassite Dynasty. His name and length of reign are most clearly ascertained from the ''Babylonian King List C''''Babylonian King List C''. which gives 18 years for his rule.

Biography

The name of the dynasty, ''BALA PA.ŠE'', is a wordplay on the term ''išinnu'', “stalk,” written as ''PA.ŠE'' and is the only apparent reference to the actual city of Isin as the seat of their rule was elsewhere. He should not be confused with the Middle-Assyrian scribe of the same name who authored two documentsKAR 24 and AfO TV 92771-73. in the library of Tukultī-apil-Ešarra around 30 years later. His

ite contemporary was probably Shilhak-Inshushinak I, the brother and successor of Kutir-Nahhunte II. In a series of campaigns he seems to have driven out the Elamite hordes. Whether there was an Elamite interregnum between the fall of the previous dynasty and the resumption of local rule or whether there was an overlap with the previous Kassite dynasty has not been determined. The Babylonian tradition has his succession following seamless after that of the last Kassite king, but this is unlikely. After seeing off the Elamites, he turned his attention to

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 ...

and the north, capturing the city of Ekallatum. The dynasty marks the ascendance of the cult of

, since 6 of the 11 kings of the dynasty were to include his name as a theophoric element, and he was to become entrenched as the supreme deity of the pantheon. He was succeeded by his son, Itti-Marduk-balāṭu.

Inscriptions

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marduk-kabit-ahheshu 12th-century BC kings of Babylon