X. Letters Of The Second Babylonian Empire
Some Babylonian letters of the Second Empire are to be
found in the great collections published by Strassmaier.
For the most part they are of a business nature, asking for
some payment to be made or some object sent on.
Thus,948 one reads:
Note from Nabû-shum-lîshir to Bêl-uballiṭ and Ki ...
my brothers. Bêl and Nabû decree the well-being of my brothers.
Two GUR of dates to Bêl-nâṣir, two GUR
to Shamash-pir'-uṣur, from
the store for seed let my brothers give. Adar the ninth, year
eleven, Nabonidus, King of Babylon.
Or,949
Note from Shamash-erba to Ḥâr-ibnî, my brother: When I send
Shamash-uballiṭ to thy presence, do thou send ninety ḲA of meal
by his hand. Verily thou knowest. Besides the twelve ḲA of meal
before is this. Adar the thirteenth.
A somewhat longer but imperfect letter950 reads:
Explanation of the filling of an order
Note of Nadinu to the priest of Sippara, my brother: Verily,
peace be with thee. To my brother, may Bêl and Nabû decree the well-being
of my brother. When to my brother I [send], to the presence
of my lord.... Thou, my lord, knowest why seeds for the
kêpu of Raḫza I sent, and money for
the seeds I gave him. He received
it. Let me hear news and the welfare of my brother.
[pg 383]
Of some interest for the nature of public works is:951
Note from Shâpik-zêr to Ḥâr-ibnî, my brother: The gods decree
thy well-being. Give ninety-six ḲA of meal to the men who are
digging the canal. Kislîmnu, the twentieth, fifth year, Cyrus, King
of Babylon, king of lands.
Or this:952
Requisition for supplies for canal digging
Note from the priests to Ḥâr-ibnî, our brother: The gods decree
thy welfare. Give thirty-six ḲA of meal to Ardi-Ḥâr, for the king's
men who dig the canal. Kislîmnu the twenty-fifth, year five, Cyrus,
King of Babylon, king of lands.
The following is another of the best-preserved letters of
this period:953
Note from Nêrgal-aḫ-iddin to Iddin-Marduk, my father: Bêl and
Nabû decree the health and well-being of my father. Concerning
the money my father sent; the money is little, which has been given
for dates. Two minas of silver is needed. Let my father send it.
Concerning that (?), as it is good to thee. I have none. See, Nabû-mattûa
I have sent to my father. The governor has gone to
Babylon. As long as he is not here (?) at his side, he demands.
Let me hear news of my father. Whether it be corn or whether it
be anything that is with me, I will give to my father. Thy word
is indisputable with me.
For the most part the others are fragmentary and of no
special interest. It is noteworthy that they all begin with
much the same form of greeting.
Dr. T. G. Pinches published the text of three letters of
this period in Recueil des Travaux.954 Two are very fragmentary;
the third reads thus:
Note from Suḳâ to Bêl-zêr-ibnî, my father: May Bêl and Nabû
decree health and wealth to my father. Now I am going without
the ass. Give the ass to Shamash-eṭir; let him send it. Give him
the clothes (?).
[pg 384]
Here is an interesting letter:955
Note from Daian-bêl-uṣur to Shirḳu, my lord: Every day I pray
to Bêl and Nabû for the health of my lord's life. Concerning the
lambs, which my lord sent, Bêl and Nabû know that there is a lamb
from before thee. I have set the crop and fixed the stable. I have
seen thy servant with the sheep; send thy servant with the lambs,
and direct that one lamb from among them be offered as a gift to
Nabû. I have not turned so much as one sheep into money. On
the twentieth I worked [or sacrificed] for Shamash. I saw fifty-six.
From his hands I sent twenty head to my lord. The garlic which
the governor received from my lord, the owners of the field, when
they came, took possession of; the governor of fields sold it for
money. I am deprived of the yoke of the harrow (?). As to what
my lord said to me, saying, “Wherefore hast thou not sent a messenger
and measured out the crop?” Forthwith (?) I will send to
thee, let a messenger of thy appointing (?) take it and keep it.
Several words in this text are not found elsewhere, but
very strangely we know much about the persons. Shirḳu,
whose other name was Marduk-nâṣir-aplu, son of Iddinâ,
was of the important commercial house of Egibi, and lived
in the reign of Darius. He was a great ship-owner, and had
the tolls of a certain bridge. He travelled to Elam in the
fifth year of Darius. A great many of his business transactions
are detailed by Dr. Pinches.956 Daian-bêl-uṣur and
his wife Nanâ-bêl-uṣri were slaves of Shirḳu, who pledged
them with their six children, at one time. In the sixteenth
year of Darius their master gave them as part of her dowry,
to Amat-Bau, daughter of Kalbâ. They lived in the town
of Suppatum.
The reader has now before him a few specimens of this
extremely valuable but very obscure class of literature. As
time and study avail to clear up the obscurities, much more
will be learned of the life and customs of these ancient peoples.
Enough may have been given to stimulate research,
[pg 385]
and interest a wider circle of readers. It is the writer's
hope that many may be led, even by these scattered and
disjointed specimens, to undertake such studies as may
render more perfect his slight contribution and rescue from
oblivion the heroes of a bygone civilization.