Nazi-Maruttaš, typically inscribed Na-zi-Ma-ru-ut-ta-aš or m Na-zi-Múru-taš, Maruttaš (a Kassite deities synonymous with Ninurta) protects him, was a Kassites king of Babylon c. 1307–1282 BC (short chronology) and self-proclaimed šar kiššati, or "King of the World", according to the votive inscription pictured.[ He was the 23rd of the dynasty, the son and successor of Kurigalzu II, and reigned for twenty six years.][According to the Kinglist A tablet, BM 33332, column 2, line 2, in the British Museum.]
Reign
His reign can be seen as the peak of the Kassite Dynasty, exemplified by his successful military campaigns against Assyria and Elam, the glyptic style of cylinder seals,
Military campaigns
Conflict with Assyria
Nazi-Maruttaš faced a growing threat from the ascendancy of Assyria under Arik-den-ili and his successor Adad-Nirari I.[Devecchi, Elena. "4. Of Kings, Princesses, and Messengers: Babylonia’s International Relations during the 13th Century BC". Volume 1 Karduniaš. Babylonia under the Kassites 1, edited by Alexa Bartelmus and Katja Sternitzke, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2017, pp. 112-122] The containment of Assyria was conducted through a strategy of flank attacks supported by his agents, eastern hillmen such as the Gutian people, in a protracted war, avoiding a full frontal assault.[In the Epic of Adad-Nārāri, tablet VAT 9820 line 12: hi-ib-lat um-ma-ni MAN KUR ka.-.i-i a-bi ul ul-te-.èr.] that "my father could not rectify the calamities inflicted by the army of the king of the Kassite land" in a contemporary Assyrian epic.[
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He is mentioned in the Synchronistic Chronicle[ Synchronistic Chronicle (ABC 21) tablet C, column 1, lines 24 to 31.] as having fought a battle with Adad-Nīrāri's forces at "Kār-Ištar of Ugarsallu". The Assyrians claimed a complete victory over the Babylonians in this battle, plundering their camp and seizing the royal standards, thereby acquiring territory from them and causing the Assyro-Babylonian boundary to be adjusted southward.[ The conflict is fondly remembered in the Tukulti-Ninurta Epic,][ Tukulti-Ninurta Epic, extant in fragments BM 98496, BM 98730, BM 98731, BM 121033.] in its recounting of past Assyro-Babylonian conflicts,[ column 4, line 34.]
Other conflicts
There is evidence of a successful attack on Elam, because texts[Ration lists Ni 6932 Šagarakti-Šuriaš year 9 and Ni 7050 Kashtiliash IV accession year.] of this period concerning ration lists and foreign prisoners of war mention Nazi-Maruttaš in sections concerning the Elamites.[Tablet CBS 11014.] details his campaign in Mat Namri, a Hurrian region, and possibly his conquest of its twelve cities.
A fragment of a tablet[ K 11536 published in MSKH I as U.2.26, p. 282.] relates that "Marduk caused all the lands to at his feet".[ A treasury list][CBS 14180.] catalogues more than 125 precious artifacts and their move from Dur-Kurigalzu and Nippur to Ardi-Bêlit during his 5th year, possibly for safe keeping.[
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Building works
He is known to have made at least three Kudurru boundary stones, although the one pictured[Kudurru Sb. 21, a later stone copy of clay original.] is a later stone copy made during the reign of Marduk-apla-iddina I to replace the clay original ( narū ša haṣbi) which was crushed by a falling temple wall.
A shrine to Gula was uncovered in 1946 in an eroded building with a pavement of much damaged kiln-baked mudbrick stamp for Nazi-Maruttaš. This was located in the palace area at the Kassite capital, Dūr-Kurigalzu.[Clayden, Tim. "16. Dūr-Kurigalzu: New Perspectives". Volume 2 Karduniaš. Babylonia under the Kassites 2, edited by Alexa Bartelmus and Katja Sternitzke, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2017, pp. 437-478][Esarhaddon inscription YBC 2146.] Other cities formerly abandoned such as Larsa, Ur, Adab, and Isin show evidence of revival in his reign.[Clayden, Tim. "Ur in the Kassite Period". Babylonia under the Sealand and Kassite Dynasties, edited by Susanne Paulus and Tim Clayden, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2020, pp. 88-124]
There are nearly 400 text corpus dated to years up to the twenty fourth of his reign, detailing things as mundane as the receipt of barley and malt,[ BM 17729.] the issuing of grain,[ BM 13278.] , hides, sheep and oil. A tablet found in Tell Kirbasi, on the south side of the central Hor al-Hammar 30 km west of Basra, lists 47 head of cattle in the sixteenth year of Nazi-Maruttaš, showing the extent of trade.
The Hemerology for Nazi-Maruttaš
A single standard hemerology, or uttuku, was collated during his time. A 'hemerology' was a sort of almanac stating which days of each month were favorable, unfavorable, or dangerous for activities of interest to the king, such as those propitious for begetting children, or setting taxes.
The colophon of the work reads, "Auspicious days according to the seven apkallī? originals from Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, Ur, Larsa, Uruk and Eridu.[Enrique Jiménez. “Loose Threads of Tradition: Two Late Hemerological Compilations.” Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 68, 2016, pp. 197–227] The scholars excerpted, selected, and gave to Nazi-Maruttaš, king of the world."[KAR 147, KAR 177 (=VAT 9663), etc.] have been found, including a bilingual copy in Dur-Kurigalzu, another found in the house of LÚ.NAR.GAL "cultic singers" in Aššur and a third in the house of Kiṣir-Aššur, exorcist of the temple of Aššur during the reign of Ashurbanipal.[
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Lambert has argued that Ludlul bēl nēmeqi was composed during his reign based upon the identification of the protagonist Šubši-mašrâ-Šakkan with that of a character in a fragment of an epic of the Kassite times,[K 9952 W G Lambert BWL pl. 12 pp 296f., BM 35322, Sp. II,893.] and to the governor, or lúgar kur, of Ur during his 16th regnal year. Nazi-Maruttaš’ name appears on the reverse of a literary text fragment known as KAR 116[ KAR 116,
tablet VAT 11245 r. 10.] which Lambert identified as belonging to this work.
The prominent physician, or asû, from Nippur, Rabâ-ša-Marduk, began his lengthy, well-attested career during Nazi-Maruttaš’ reign.
See also
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Nazimaruttaš kudurru stone
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Maruts
Inscriptions
External links
