Verse Account of Nabonidus

A Student’s Guide to Essential Primary Sources

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https://doi.org/10.3735/9781961844193.book-part-039

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Abstract

After the death of Nebuchadnezzar in 562 BCE, the Neo-Babylonian (or Chaldean) Empire endured a series of minor rulers for six years. The last king of the dynasty was Nabonidus (r. 556–539 BCE), who was apparently not from the royal line but was the son of a priest of the moon god, Sin, from Harran in upper Mesopotamia. In a pseudo-autobiographical account of her life, his mother, Adad-guppi (who lived for more than a hundred years), claimed to have been instrumental in Nabonidus’s rise to power. Nabonidus appears to have favored the cult of Sin over the cult of Marduk, the chief god of Babylon, evidenced by a cuneiform text found near Harran. If true, this is perhaps what caused the rift between him and the religious leaders in Babylon.