Akitu Chronicle (ABC 16)
For a very brief introduction to the literary genre of chronicles, go here. The translation on this webpage was adapted from A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975) and Jean-Jacques Glassner, Mesopotamian Chronicles (Atlanta, 2004).
The text of the Akitu Chronicle is preserved on a table, BM 86379 (original
registration number unknown), which measures 45 mm wide and 62 mm long.
It is well preserved, there being a small piece missing from the upper
right-hand corner and a few surface flaws.
Translation
| 1 For eight years under Sennacherib, |
| 2 for twelve years under Esarhaddon, |
| 3 twenty years altogether, Bêl stayed in Baltil (Aššur) |
| 4 and the Akitu festival did not take place. |
| 5 The accession year of Šamaš-šuma-ukin [2] (668/667): In the month Ajaru |
| 6 Bêl and the gods of Akkad went out from Baltil (Aššur) and |
| 7 on the twenty-fourth [1] day of the month Ajaru, they entered Babylon. |
| 8 Nabû and the gods of Borsippa went to Babylon. |
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| 9 The sixteenth year of Šamaš-šuma-ukin (652/651): From the month Ajaru until the month Tebêtu |
| 10 the major-domo conscripted troops in Akkad. |
| 11 On the nineteenth day of the month Tebêtu hostilities began between Assyria and Akkad. |
| 12 The king withdrew before the enemy into Babylon. |
| 13 On the twenty-seventh day of Addaru the armies of Assyria and Akkad |
| 14 did battle in Hiritu. The army of Akkad |
| 15 retreated from the battlefield and a major defeat was inflicted upon it. |
| 16 However, there were still hostilities and warfare continued. |
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| 17 The seventeenth year (651/650): There were insurrections in Assyria and Akkad. |
| 18 Nabû did not come from Borsippa for the precession of Bêl |
| 19 and Bêl did not come out. |
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| 20 The eighteenth year (650/649): Nabû did not come from Borsippa for the precession of Bêl |
| 21 and Bêl did not come out. |
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| 22 The nineteenth year (649/648): Nabû did not come and Bêl did not come out. |
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| 23 The twentieth year (648/647): Nabû did not come and Bêl did not come out. |
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| 24 After Kandalanu [2], in the accession year of Nabopolassar (626-625),[3] |
| 25 there were insurrections in Assyria and Akkad. |
| 26 There were hostilities and warfare continued. |
| 27 Nabû did not come and Bêl did not come out. Nabû did not come and Bel did not come out. |
Note 1:
Lines 1-8 are identical to ABC
14, lines 34-40,
but the date is different.
Note 2:
King of Babylonia (647-627), possibly identical to Aššurbanipal.
Note 3:
In this year, two Assyrian officials named Sin-šumlišir and Sin-šar-iškun
ruled Babylon. They were expelled by Nabopolassar.
Babylonian Chronicles
Latest revision: 1 April 2006
Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles