Marduk-zer-X

Marduk-zer-X
King of Babylon
Reign ca. 1046–1033 BC
Predecessor Marduk-aḫḫē-erība
Successor Nabû-šuma-libūr
Royal House 2nd Dynasty of Isin

Marduk-zer-X (ca. 1046–1033 BC) was the 10th and penultimate king of the 2nd Dynasty of Isin, the 4th Dynasty of Babylon. The last part of his name is unknown, as the principal sources of information, the King List A[i 1] and the Synchronistic King List[i 2] are both damaged at this place in the sequence, hence the “x”. The reading of “zer” in his name by Poebel is almost as uncertain as the character may be MU which would correspond to šuma or similar.[1] His Assyrian contemporary was Aššur-nasir-apli I.

Biography

He ruled twelve years according to the King List A.[i 1] At present, there are no inscriptions that have been identified as contemporaneous with his reign and it is only his appearance on the king lists which identify him.[2]

There has been some speculation by Hallo, Younger and others that the Prophecy A text[i 3] refers to the kings of this dynasty with King III corresponding to Marduk-nādin-aḫḫē, and King IV to Marduk-šāpik-zēri due to the coincidences of their length of reigns. For subsequent kings, the “prophecies” offer poor correlation with their reigns and known events. In this scheme, Marduk-zer-X is represented by King VI, whose text is very broken up but the rivers are said to have filled with silt.[3] This reconstruction depends on the identification of Adad-apla-iddina as an usuper, a position undermined by the discovery of the Walker Chronicle.[4]

He was succeeded by Nabû-šuma-libūr, whose relationship to him is uncertain.

Inscriptions

  1. ^ a b King List A, BM 33332,
  2. ^ Synchronistic King List A.117, Assur 14646c,
  3. ^ Prophecy A, tablet VAT 10179, KAR 421.

References

  1. ^ J. A. Brinkman (1968). A political history of post-Kassite Babylonia, 1158-722 B.C.. Analecta Orientalia. p. 45. 
  2. ^ D. J. Wiseman (1975). "XXXI: Assyria and Babylonia, c. 1200-1000 BC". In I. E. S. Edwards. Cambridge Ancient History, Volume 2, Part 2, History of the Middle East and the Aegean Region, c. 1380-1000 BC. Cambridge University Press. p. 471. 
  3. ^ Tremper Longman (July 1, 1990). Fictional Akkadian autobiography: a generic and comparative study. Eisenbrauns. p. 161. 
  4. ^ C.B.F. Walker (May 1982). "Babylonian Chronicle 25: A Chronicle of the Kassite and Isin II Dynasties". In G. van Driel. Assyriological Studies presented to F. R. Kraus on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Netherlands Institute for the Near East. p. 417.