Mesopotamian stele
The estate of Takil-ana-ilīšu kudurru is an ancient Mesopotamian white limestone "narû", or entitlement stela, dating from the latter part of the Kassite era which gives a history of the litigation concerning a contested inheritance over three generations or more than forty years. It describes a patrimonial redemption, or "lineage claim", and provides a great deal of information concerning inheritance during the late Bronze Age. It is identified by its colophon, "asumittu annītu garbarê šalati kanīk dīnim", "this stela is a copy of three sealed documents with (royal) edicts" and records the legal judgments made in three successive reigns of the kings, Adad-šuma-iddina (c. 1222–1217 BC), Adad-šuma-uṣur (c. 1216–1187 BC) and Meli-Šipak (c. 1186–1172 BC). It is a contemporary text which confirms the sequence of these Kassite monarchs given on the Babylonian king list and provides the best evidence that the first of these was unlikely to have been merely an Assyrian appointee during their recent hegemony over Babylonia by Tukulti-Ninurta I, as his judgments were honored by the later kings.
The stela.
The kudurru was excavated from the ruins of the Marduk temple in Babylon by Hormuzd Rassam and his chief foreman Daud Thoma in 1880 and is now in the British Museum assigned museum reference BM 90827. The text is inscribed on six columns on a two foot high stone block topped by a triangular apex carved with fifteen divine symbols.
The case begins "When the house of Takil-ana-ilīšu lapsed for want of an heir in the time of King Adad-šuma-iddina, King Adad-šuma-iddina gave the house (i.e. the estate) of Takil-ana-ilīšu to Ur-Nintinuga, brother of Takil-ana-ilīšu."
Deities invoked in curses.
As was customary on such monuments, various deities were invoked to curse any party who might dispute the legal decision recorded on the kudurru. These included Anu, Enlil, and Ea (evil eye), Sîn, Šamaš, Adad and Marduk (tearing out the foundation); Ningursu and Bau (joyless fate), Šamaš and Adad (lawlessness); Pap-nigin-gara (destruction of the landmark), Uraš and Ninegal (evil); Kassite deities Šuqamuna and Šumalia (humiliation before the king and princes), Ištar (defeat); all the named gods (destruction of the name).
Cast of characters.
The roles and readings of the names of the participants have changed since the first publication of the text and the identifications given here follow Paulus (2007), who argues that the outcome of the case hinges on the performance of the "River ordeal".
The protagonists:
Litigants and witnesses during the reign of Adad-šuma-iddina:
Litigants and witnesses under the reign of Adad-šuma-uṣur:
Litigants and witnesses under the reign of Meli-Šipak:
References.
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