They represent one of the first steps in the development of ancienthistoriography. The Babylonian Chronicles are written in Babylonian cuneiform and date from the reign of Nabonassar until the Parthian Period. The tablets were composed by Babylonian astronomers ("Chaldaeans") who probably used the Astronomical Diaries as their source.
Almost all of the tablets were identified as chronicles once in the collection of the British Museum, having been acquired via antiquities dealers from unknown excavations undertaken during the 19th century. All but three of the chronicles are unprovenanced.[2]
The Chronicles provide the "master narrative" for large blocks of current Babylonian history.[2]
The chronicles are thought to have been transferred to the British Museum after 19th century excavations in Babylon, and subsequently left undeciphered in the archives for decades. The first chronicle to be published was BM 92502 (ABC1) in 1887 by Theophilus Pinches under the title "The Babylonian Chronicle." This was followed in 1923 by the publication of the Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3), in 1924 by Sidney Smith's publication of the Esarhaddon Chronicle (ABC 14), the Akitu Chronicle (ABC 16) and the Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7), and in 1956 by Donald Wiseman's publication of four further tablets including the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle (ABC 5).[3]
Chroniclesedit
Numbering systemsedit
ABC – A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975)
CM – Jean-Jacques Glassner, Chroniques Mésopotamiennes (1993) (translated as Mesopotamian Chronicles, 2004)
BCHP – I. Finkel & R.J. van der Spek, Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period (not yet published)
^L. W. King (1907). Chronicles Concerning Early Babylonian Kings, Vol. II: Texts and Translations. Luzac and Co. p. 145.
^ abcWaerzeggers, Caroline (2012). "The Babylonian Chronicles: Classification and Provenance". Journal of Near Eastern Studies. 71 (2). University of Chicago Press: 285–298. doi:10.1086/666831. ISSN 0022-2968. S2CID 162396743. The "Babylonian Chronicles" are a miscellaneous, ill-defined group of texts… The most influential classification is that of A. K.Grayson. His book Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (ABC) is the starting point of any study undertaken on the topic. It assembled a variety of chronographic texts, including Assyrian chronicles and other writings which may not belong to the ill-defined chronicle genre (see below)… About forty-five Babylonian chronicles are now known. This includes the twenty-four texts published by Grayson in Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles and several new additions. The exact number is unclear because the genre is ill-defined… Most chronicles are preserved on clay tablets retrieved from Iraqi soil during illicit diggings at the end of the nineteenth century. In the corpus presented by Grayson, only three chronicles (in most of their copies) are provenanced, but these texts are atypical and their attribution to the chronicle genre is disputed… Despite the lack of formal provenance, most chronicles are regarded as products of the city of Babylon.
The standard edition is A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (= ABC; 1975; ISBN978-1-57506-049-1).
A translation of Chronicle 25, discovered after the publication of ABC, was published by C.B.F. Walker "Babylonian Chronicle 25: A Chronicle of the Kassite and Isin Dynasties", in G. van Driel e.a. (eds.): Zikir Šumim: Assyriological Studies Presented to F.R. Kraus on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday (= Fs. Kraus; 1982).
John Brinkman revises Grayson's reading of ABC 1 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine in: "The Babylonian Chronicle revisited" in T. Abusch, J. Huehnergard, P. Steinkeller (eds.): Lingering over Words. Studies in Ancient Near Eastern literature in Honor of William L. Moran (1990 Atlanta; ISBN978-1-55540-502-1).
Fragments of the chronicles that are relevant to the study of the Bible, can be found in William W. Hallo (ed.), The Context of Scripture, volume 1 (2003 Leiden and Boston; ISBN978-90-04-10618-5). This book also contains the Weidner Chronicle.
An even more recent update of ABC is Amélie Kuhrt, The Persian Empire: A Corpus of Sources of the Achaemenid Period (Routledge, 2007; ISBN978-0-415-55279-0).
The publication of I. Finkel & R. J. van der Spek, Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period (= BCHP) has been announced.
An exposition that the Babylonian Chronicle should be regarded as a literary interpretation of the past in Waerzeggers, Caroline. "Writing History Under Empire: The Babylonian Chronicle Reconsidered", Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, vol. 8, no. 1-2, 2021, pp. 279-317.
External linksedit
, all Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles
, a list of relevant secondary literature
: translations and bibliographies
Cuneiform sources for the history of Hellenistic Babylonia. Edition and Analysis 2011-04-12 at the Wayback Machine: information about the BCHP Project
January 01, 1970
babylonian, chronicles, loosely, defined, series, about, tablets, recording, major, events, babylonian, history, early, years, nebuchadnezzar, chronicle, dated, king, line, fragment, 8532, dynastic, chronicle, they, represent, first, steps, development, ancien. The Babylonian Chronicles are a loosely defined series of about 45 tablets recording major events in Babylonian history 2 Babylonian ChroniclesEarly Years of Nebuchadnezzar chronicle dated 590 BCE ABC 05 L W King s line art for a fragment K 8532 of the Dynastic Chronicle 1 They represent one of the first steps in the development of ancient historiography The Babylonian Chronicles are written in Babylonian cuneiform and date from the reign of Nabonassar until the Parthian Period The tablets were composed by Babylonian astronomers Chaldaeans who probably used the Astronomical Diaries as their source Almost all of the tablets were identified as chronicles once in the collection of the British Museum having been acquired via antiquities dealers from unknown excavations undertaken during the 19th century All but three of the chronicles are unprovenanced 2 The Chronicles provide the master narrative for large blocks of current Babylonian history 2 Contents 1 Discovery and publication 2 Chronicles 2 1 Numbering systems 2 2 List 3 See also 4 References 5 Literature 6 External linksDiscovery and publication editThe chronicles are thought to have been transferred to the British Museum after 19th century excavations in Babylon and subsequently left undeciphered in the archives for decades The first chronicle to be published was BM 92502 ABC1 in 1887 by Theophilus Pinches under the title The Babylonian Chronicle This was followed in 1923 by the publication of the Fall of Nineveh Chronicle ABC 3 in 1924 by Sidney Smith s publication of the Esarhaddon Chronicle ABC 14 the Akitu Chronicle ABC 16 and the Nabonidus Chronicle ABC 7 and in 1956 by Donald Wiseman s publication of four further tablets including the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle ABC 5 3 Chronicles editNumbering systems edit ABC A K Grayson Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles 1975 CM Jean Jacques Glassner Chroniques Mesopotamiennes 1993 translated as Mesopotamian Chronicles 2004 BCHP I Finkel amp R J van der Spek Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period not yet published BM British Museum Number List edit Chronicle ABC CM BCHP BM Provenanced Dynastic chronicle translation another version of Column 5 nbsp 18 3 Yes Royal chronicle of Lagas 6 Weidner chronicle translation 19 38 Yes Early kings chronicle translation nbsp 20 39 40 Tummal chronicle 7 Uruk chronicle of the kings of Ur 48 Assyrian Eponym List 2nd millennium 8 Market prices chronicle translation 23 50 Synchronic history translation and another translation nbsp 21 10 Yes Chronicle P translation and another translation nbsp 22 45 Enlil nirari chronicle 11 Arik den ili chronicle 12 Walker chronicle 25 46 Tukulti Ninurta chronicle 13 Assur resa isi chronicle 14 Tiglath pileser I chronicle 15 Eclectic chronicle translation nbsp 24 47 Religious chronicle translation nbsp 17 51 Assyrian Eponym List 1st millennium 9 Nabu suma iskun 52 From Nabu Nasir to Samas suma ukin translation 1 16 92502 From Nabu Nasir to Esarhaddon 1B 17 75976 Esarhaddon chronicle translation 14 18 25091 Samas suma ukin chronicle translation another translation 15 19 96273 Akitu chronicle translation 16 20 86379 Early Years of Nabopolassar chronicle translation 2 21 25127 Fall of Nineveh chronicle translation 3 22 21901 Late years of Nabopolassar chronicle translation 4 23 22047 Early Years of Nebuchadnezzar chronicle translation nbsp 5 24 21946 Third year of Neriglissar chronicle translation 6 25 25124 Nabonidus chronicle text and translation 7 26 35382 Chronographic document on Nabonidus 53 Artaxerxes III chronicle translation 9 28 Cyrus cylinder 17 90920 Alexander chronicle text and translation nbsp 8 29 1 Alexander and Arabia chronicle text and translation 2 Diadochi chronicle text and translation 10 30 3 Alexander and Artaxerxes translation 4 Antiochus I and Sin temple chronicle text and translation 11 32 5 Ruin of Esagila chronicle text and translation 6 Antiochus Bactria and India chronicle text and translation 13A 36 7 Juniper garden chronicle text and translation 8 End of Seleucus I chronicle text and translation 12 33 9 Seleucid Accessions chronicle text and translation 13 34 10 Invasion of Ptolemy III chronicle text and translation 11 Seleucus III chronicle text and translation 13B 35 12 Politai chronicle text and translation 13 Greek Community chronicle text and translation 14 Gold theft chronicle text and translation 15 Document on land and tithes text and translation 16 Judicial chronicle text and translation 37 17 Bagayasha chronicle 18 Chronicle concerning an Arsacid king text and translation 19 Euphrates chronicle text and translation 20See also editList of artifacts significant to the Bible Chronology of the ancient Near EastReferences edit L W King 1907 Chronicles Concerning Early Babylonian Kings Vol II Texts and Translations Luzac and Co p 145 a b c Waerzeggers Caroline 2012 The Babylonian Chronicles Classification and Provenance Journal of Near Eastern Studies 71 2 University of Chicago Press 285 298 doi 10 1086 666831 ISSN 0022 2968 S2CID 162396743 The Babylonian Chronicles are a miscellaneous ill defined group of texts The most influential classification is that of A K Grayson His book Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles ABC is the starting point of any study undertaken on the topic It assembled a variety of chronographic texts including Assyrian chronicles and other writings which may not belong to the ill defined chronicle genre see below About forty five Babylonian chronicles are now known This includes the twenty four texts published by Grayson in Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles and several new additions The exact number is unclear because the genre is ill defined Most chronicles are preserved on clay tablets retrieved from Iraqi soil during illicit diggings at the end of the nineteenth century In the corpus presented by Grayson only three chronicles in most of their copies are provenanced but these texts are atypical and their attribution to the chronicle genre is disputed Despite the lack of formal provenance most chronicles are regarded as products of the city of Babylon Wiseman 1956 pages 1 2 permanent dead link Literature editLeo Oppenheim s translation of the Nabonidus Chronicle can be found in J B Pritchard ed Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament ANET 1950 1955 1969 The standard edition is A K Grayson Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles ABC 1975 ISBN 978 1 57506 049 1 A translation of Chronicle 25 discovered after the publication of ABC was published by C B F Walker Babylonian Chronicle 25 A Chronicle of the Kassite and Isin Dynasties in G van Driel e a eds Zikir Sumim Assyriological Studies Presented to F R Kraus on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday Fs Kraus 1982 John Brinkman revises Grayson s reading of ABC 1 Archived 2016 03 04 at the Wayback Machine in The Babylonian Chronicle revisited in T Abusch J Huehnergard P Steinkeller eds Lingering over Words Studies in Ancient Near Eastern literature in Honor of William L Moran 1990 Atlanta ISBN 978 1 55540 502 1 Fragments of the chronicles that are relevant to the study of the Bible can be found in William W Hallo ed The Context of Scripture volume 1 2003 Leiden and Boston ISBN 978 90 04 10618 5 This book also contains the Weidner Chronicle A recent update of ABC is Jean Jacques Glassner Mesopotamian Chronicles CM 2004 ISBN 978 1 58983 090 5 French version 1993 ISBN 978 2 251 33918 4 An even more recent update of ABC is Amelie Kuhrt The Persian Empire A Corpus of Sources of the Achaemenid Period Routledge 2007 ISBN 978 0 415 55279 0 The publication of I Finkel amp R J van der Spek Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period BCHP has been announced An exposition that the Babylonian Chronicle should be regarded as a literary interpretation of the past in Waerzeggers Caroline Writing History Under Empire The Babylonian Chronicle Reconsidered Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History vol 8 no 1 2 2021 pp 279 317 External links editMesopotamian Chronicles all Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles and King Lists Babylonian chronicles literature a list of relevant secondary literature Synchronistic King List Assyrian King List translations and bibliographies Cuneiform sources for the history of Hellenistic Babylonia Edition and Analysis Archived 2011 04 12 at the Wayback Machine information about the BCHP Project Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Babylonian Chronicles amp oldid 1222408305, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
