In
October 539, the Persian king Cyrus
took Babylon,
the ancient capital of an oriental monarchy covering modern Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon, and Israel. In a broader sense, Babylon was the ancient world's
capital of scholarship and science. The subject provinces soon recognized
Cyrus as their legitimate ruler. Since he already was lord of peripheral
regions in modern Turkey and Iran (and Afghanistan?), we are allowed to
say that the capture of Babylon meant the birth of a true world empire.
The Persian Empire was to last for more than two centuries, until it was
divided by the successors of the Macedonian king Alexander the Great. A
remarkable aspect of the capture of Babylon is the fact that Cyrus allowed
the Jews (who were exiled in Babylonia) to return home.
Several texts describe this event:
[First line destroyed]
Accession year (556 BCE): ... he lifted.
The king brought their [lacuna] to Babylon.
First year (555): They did [unintelligible]
and he did not lift his [lacuna]. All their families [lacuna].
The king called up his army and [marched?] against the country Hume. [lacuna]
Second year (554): In the month Tebitu
in the country of Hamath [lacuna]
Third year (553): In the month of Abu,
to the Amananus, the mountains of [many?] fruit trees. All kinds of fruits
he sent to Babylon.
The king fell sick, but he recovered. In the
month Kislimu, the king called up his army and [joined forces with king?]
Nabu[lacuna] of Amurru and marched to [lacuna]. Against the
town Adummu they pitched camp [lacuna] the town Shindini [lacuna]
he killed him.
Fourth year (552): [lacuna]
Fifth year (551): [lacuna]
Sixth year (550): King
Astyages
[litt: Ishtumegu]
called up his troops and marched against Cyrus
[Kurash], king
of Anshan [i.e., Persia],
in order to meet him in battle. The army of Astyages revolted against him
and in fetters they delivered him to Cyrus. Cyrus marched against the country
Agamtanu [the Median capital Ecbatana,
modern Hamadan]; the royal residence he seized; silver, gold, other
valuables of the country Agamtanu he took as booty and brought to Anshan.
The valuables of [lacuna]
Seventh year (549): The king stayed in
Temâ; the crown prince, his officials and his army were in Akkad.
The king did not come to Babylon for the [New Year's] ceremonies
of the month of Nisanu; the image of the god Nabu did not come to Babylon,
the image of the god Bêl [= Marduk] did not go out of Esagila
in procession, the festival of the New Year was omitted. But the offerings
within the temples Esagila and Ezida were given according to the complete
ritual; the urigallu-priest
made the libation and asperged the temple.
Eighth year (548): [lacuna]
Ninth year (547): Nabonidus,
the king stayed in Temâ; the crown prince, his officials and his
army were in Akkad. The king did not come to Babylon for the ceremony of
the month of Nisanu; the god Nabu did not come to Babylon, the god Bêl
did not go out of Esagila in procession, the festival of the New Year was
omitted. But the offerings within the temples Esagila and Ezida for the
gods of Babylon and Borsippa were given according to the complete ritual.
In the month of Nisanu the fifth day, the mother
of the king died in the Walled Camp, which is on the banks of the Euphrates,
above Sippar. The crown prince and his army were in deep mourning for three
days, an official weeping was performed. In Akkad, an official weeping
on behalf of the mother of the king was performed in the month of Simanu.
In the month of Nisanu, Cyrus, king of Persia,
called up his army and crossed the Tigris
below the town of Arbela.
In the month of Aiaru he marched against the country Ly[lacuna; possibly
Lydia],
killed its king, took his possessions, put there a garrison of his own.
Afterwards, his garrison as well as the king remained there.
Tenth year (546): The king stayed in Temâ;
the crown prince, his officials and his army were in Akkad. The king did
not come to Babylon for the ceremonies of the month of Nisanu; Nabu did
not come to Babylon, Bêl did not go out of Esagila in procession,
the festival of the New Year was omitted. But the offerings within the
temples Esagila and Ezida for the gods of Babylon and Borsippa were given
according to the complete ritual.
In the month Simanu, the twenty-first day [lacuna]
of the country of the Elamites
in Akkad [lacuna] The governor of Uruk [lacuna]
Eleventh year (545): The king stayed in
Temâ; the crown prince, his officials and his army were in Akkad.
The king did not come to Babylon for the ceremonies of the month of Nisanu;
Nabu did not come to Babylon, Bêl did not go out of Esagila in procession,
the festival of the New Year was omitted. But the offerings within the
temples Esagila and Ezida for the gods of Babylon and Borsippa were given
according to the complete ritual.
[large lacuna, containing years #12, #13, #14, #15]
... Tigris. In the month of Addaru the image of
Ishtar of Uruk [lacuna] The army of the Persians made an attack.
Seventeenth year (539):
Nabu went from Borsippa for the procession of Bêl [lacuna]
The king entered the temple of Eturkalamma; in the temple he [lacuna].
The Sea Country made a short invasion. Bêl went out in procession.
They performed the festival of the New Year according to the complete ritual
[April,
4].
In the month of [Abu?] Lugal-Marada and the other
gods of the town Marad, Zabada and the other gods of Kish, the goddess
Ninlil and the other gods of Hursagkalama visited Babylon.
Till the end of the month Ululu all the gods of Akkad -those from above
and those from below- entered Babylon. The gods of Borsippa, Kutha, and
Sippar did not enter.
In the month of Tashritu, when
Cyrus
attacked the army of Akkad in Opis [i.e., Baghdad] on the Tigris,
the inhabitants of Akkad revolted, but Nabonidus
massacred the confused inhabitants. The fifteenth day [October 12],
Sippar was seized without battle. Nabonidus fled. The sixteenth day, Gobryas[litt:
Ugbaru],
the governor of Gutium, and the army of Cyrus entered Babylon without battle.
Afterwards, Nabonidus was arrested in Babylon when he returned there. Till
the end of the month, the shield carrying Gutians were staying within Esagila
but nobody carried arms in Esagila and its buildings. The correct time
for a ceremony was not missed.
In the month of Arashamnu, the third day [October
30], Cyrus entered Babylon, green twigs were spread in front of him
- the state of peace was imposed upon the city. Cyrus sent greetings to
all Babylon. Gobryas, his governor, installed subgovernors in Babylon.
From the month of Kislimu to the month of Addaru,
the gods of Akkad which Nabonidus had made come down to Babylon, were returned
to their sacred cities.
In the month of Arashamnu, on the night of the
eleventh, Gobryas died [March 4].
In the month of Arashamnu, the [lacuna]
day, the wife of the king died. From the twenty-seventh day of Arashamnu
till the third day of Nisanu [March 20-26], an official weeping
was performed in Akkad. All the people went around with their hair disheveled.
When, the fourth day [March 27] Cambyses,
son of Cyrus, went to the temple of [unintelligible], the epa-priest
of Nabu who [lacuna] the bull [lacuna] They came and made
the weaving by means of the handles and when he led the image of Nabu [lacuna]
spears and leather quivers, from [lacuna] Nabu returned to Esagila,
sheep offerings in front of Bêl and the god Mârbîti.
(This translation was made by A. Leo Oppenheim
and is copied from James B. Pritchard's Ancient Near Eastern texts
relating to the Old Testament, 1950 Princeton. Some minor changes have
been made.)
[As to Nabonidus?]
law and order are not promulgated by him, he made perish the common people
through want, the nobles he killed in war, for the trader he blocked the
road.
For the farmer he made rare the [unintelligible],
there is no
[lacuna], the harvester does not sing the alalu-song
any more, he does not fence in any more the arable territory. [lacuna]
He took away their property, scattered their possessions,
the [lacuna] he ruined completely,
their corpses remaining on a dark place, decaying.
Their faces became hostile, they do not parade along
the wide street, you do not see happiness anymore, [lacuna]
is unpleasant, they decided.
As to Nabonidus, his protective deity became hostile
to him. And he, the former favorite of the gods is now seized by misfortunes.
Against the will of the gods he performed an unholy action, he thought
out something worthless;
He had made the image of a deity which nobody had
ever seen in this country, he introduced it into the temple, he placed
it on a pedestal; he called it by the name of Moon. It is adorned with
a necklace of lapis lazuli, crowned with a tiara,
its appearance is that of the eclipses moon, the
gesture of its hand is like that of the god Lugal-[unintelligible],
its head of hair reaches to the pedestal, and in front of it are placed
the Storm Dragon and the Wild Bull.
When he worshipped it, its appearance became like
that of a demon crowned with a tiara, his face turned hostile [lacuna].
[lacuna] His form not even Eamummu could
have formed, not even the learned Adapa knows his name.
Nabonidus said: "I shall build a temple for him,
I shall construct his holy seat, I shall form its first brick for him,
I shall establish firmly its foundation, I shall make a replica even to
the temple Ekur. I shall call its name Ehulhul for all days to come.
When I will have fully executed what I have planned,
I shall lead him by the hand and establish him on his seat. Yet till I
have achieved this, till I have obtained what is my desire, I shall omit
all festivals, I shall order even the New Year's festival to cease!"
And he formed its first brick, did lay out the outlines,
he spread out the foundation, made high its summit, by means of wall decoration
made of gypsum and bitumen he made its facing brilliant, as in the temple
Esagila he made a ferocious wild bull stand on guard in front of it.
After he had obtained what he desired, a work of
utter deceit, had built this abomination, a work of unholiness -when the
third year was about to begin- he entrusted the army [?] to his oldest
son, his first born, the troops in the country he ordered under his command.
He let everything go, entrusted the kingship to
him, and, himself, he started out for a long journey. The military forces
of Akkad marching with him, he turned to Temâ deep in the west.
He started out the expedition on a path leading
to a distant region. When he arrived there, he killed in battle the prince
of Temâ, slaughtered the flocks of those who dwell in the city as
well as in the countryside. And he, himself, took residence in Temâ,
the forces of Akkad were also stationed there.
He made the town beautiful, built there a palace
like the palace in Babylon.
He also built walls for the fortification of the town and he surrounded
the town with sentinels.
The inhabitants became troubled. The brick form
and the brick basket he imposed upon them. Through the hard work they [lacuna]
[lacuna] he killed the inhabitants, women
and youngsters included. Their prosperity he brought to an end. All the
barley that he found therein
[lacuna]
His tired army [lacuna] the hazanu-official
of Cyrus...
[About one third of the text is missing. In the lacuna, words like "stylus" and "the king is mad" can be discerned; the sequel suggests that a Persian official made an insulting remark on Nabonidus' incapacity to write with a stylus, that war broke out, that Nabonidus had some kind of hallucinatory vision, boasted a victory over Cyrus that he actually had not won, and was ultimately defeated. The texts continues with a comparison of the pious Cyrus and the blasphemous liar Nabonidus.]
... the praise of the Lord of Lords and the names of the countries which
Cyrus has not conquered he wrote upon this stela, while Cyrus is the king
of the world whose triumphs are true and whose yoke the kings of all the
countries are pulling. Nabonidus has written upon his stone tablets: "I
have made him bow to my feet, I personally have conquered his countries,
his possessions I took to my residence."
It was he who once stood up in the assembly to praise
himself, saying: "I am wise, I know, I have seen what is hidden. Even if
I do not know how to write with the stylus, yet I have seen secret things.
The god Ilte'ri has made me see a vision, he has shown me everything. I
am aware of a wisdom which greatly surpasses even that of the series of
insights which Adapa has composed!"
Yet he continues to mix up the rites, he confuses
the hepatoscopic oracles. To the most important ritual observances, he
orders an end; as to the sacred representations in Esagila -representations
which Eamumma himself had fashioned- he looks at the representations and
utters blasphemies.
When he saw the usar-symbol
of Esagila, he makes an [insulting?] gesture. He assembled the priestly
scholars, he expounded to them as follows: "Is not this the sign of ownership
indicating for whom the temple was built? If it belongs really to Bêl,
it would have been marked with the spade. Therefore the Moon himself has
marked already his own temple with the usar-symbol!"
And Zeria, the šatammu-official
who used to crouch as his secretary in front of him, and Rimut, the bookkeeper
who used to have his court position near to him, do confirm the royal dictum,
stand by his words, they even bare their heads to pronounce under oath:
"Now only we understand this situation, after the king has explained about
it!"
In the month of Nisanu, the eleventh day, till the
god was present on his seat [lacuna]
[lacuna] for the inhabitants of Babylon,
Cyrus
declared the state of peace. His troops he kept away from Ekur. Big cattle
he slaughtered with the axe, he slaughtered many aslu-sheep, incense he
put on the censer, the regular offerings for the Lord of Lords he ordered
increased, he constantly prayed to the gods, prostrated on his face. To
act righteously is dear to his heart.
To repair the city of Babylon he conceived the idea
and he himself took up hoe, spade and water basket and began to complete
the wall of Babylon. The original plan of Nebuchadnezzar
the inhabitants executed with a willing heart. He built the fortifications
on the Imgur-Enlil-wall.
The images of the gods of Babylon, male and female,
he returned to their cellas, the gods who had abandoned their chapels he
returned to their mansions. Their wrath he appeased, their mind he put
at rest, those whose power was at a low he brought back to life because
their food is served to them regularly.
Nabonidus' deeds Cyrus effaced and everything Nabonidus
constructed, all the sanctuaries of his royal rule Cyrus has eradicated,
the ashes of the burned buildings the wind carried away.
Nabonidus' picture he effaced, in all the sanctuaries
the inscriptions of that name are erased. Whatever Nabonidus had created,
Cyrus fed to the flames!
To the inhabitants of Babylon a joyful heart is
now given. They are like prisoners when the prisons are opened. Liberty
is restored to those who were surrounded by oppression. All rejoice to
look upon him as king!
(This translation was made by A. Leo Oppenheim
and is copied from James B. Pritchard's Ancient Near Eastern texts
relating to the Old Testament, 1950 Princeton. Some minor changes have
been made.)
(4.29) At the end of the twelve months Nebuchadnezzar
was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. (4.30) The king spoke,
saying, "Is not this great Babylon,
that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor
of my majesty?"
(4.31) While the word was still in the
king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven: "King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it
is spoken: 'The kingdom has departed from you!' (4.32) And they shall
drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field.
They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven years shall pass over
you, until you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and
gives it to whomever He chooses."
(4.33) That very hour the word was fulfilled
concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen;
his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles'
feathers and his nails like birds' claws. (4.34) And at the end of
the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding
returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him
Who lives forever: for His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His
kingdom is from generation to generation. (4.35 ) All the inhabitants of
the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the
army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain
His hand or say to Him, "What have You done?"
(4.36) At the same time my reason returned
to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and splendor returned
to me. My counselors and nobles resorted to me, I was restored to my kingdom,
and excellent majesty was added to me. (4.37) Now I, Nebuchadnezzar,
praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth,
and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to put down.
Words of the prayer, said by Nabonidus, king of Babylonia, the great king, when afflicted with an ulcer on command of the most high God in Temâ: "I, Nabonidus, was afflicted with an evil ulcer for seven years, and far from men is was driven, until I prayed to the most high God. And an exorcist pardoned my sins. He was a Jew from among the children of the exile of Judah, and said: 'Recount this in writing to glorify and exalt the name of the most high God.' Then I wrote this: 'When I was afflicted for seven years by the most high God with an evil ulcer during my stay at Temâ, I prayed to the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood, stone and lime, because I thought and considered them gods...' [the end is missing]
(It is interesting to notice that the line "have praised the gods
of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone" returns in Daniel,
just twenty-two lines below the story of the madness of Nebuchadnezzar.)
In
this text -a damaged clay cylinder now in the British Museum- Cyrus
describes how he conquers the old city. Nabonidus
is considered a tyrant with strange religious ideas, which causes the god
Marduk to intervene. That Cyrus thought of himself as chosen by a supreme
god, is confirmed by Second Isaiah; his claim that
he entered the city without struggle corroborates the same statement in
the Chronicle of Nabonidus (above).
(This translation was made by A. Leo Oppenheim
and is copied from James B. Pritchard's Ancient Near Eastern texts
relating to the Old Testament, 1950 Princeton. Some minor changes have
been made; the headings are not authentic.)
(44.23) Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, o forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, and glorified Himself in Israel. (44.24) Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, and He who formed you from the womb:
"I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself; (44.25) Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, and drives diviners mad, who turns wise men backward, and makes their knowledge foolishness, (44.26) Who confirms the word of His servant, and performs the counsel of His messengers, Who says to Jerusalem, 'You shall be inhabited,' to the cities of Judah, 'You shall be built,' and will raise up her waste places, (44.27) Who says to the deep, 'Be dry!' and will dry up your rivers, (44.28) Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," and to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."'"(45.1) Thus says the Lord to His anointed [i.e., Messiah], to Cyrus -whose right hand I have held- to subdue nations before him and loose the armor of kings, to open before him the double doors, so that the gates will not be shut:
(45.2) "I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. (45.3) I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, so that you may know that I, the Lord, Who call you by your name, am the God of Israel. (45.4) For Jacob My servant's sake, and Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me. (45.5) I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, (45.6) that they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other; (45.7) I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the Lord, do all these things. (45.8) Rain down, you heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I, the Lord, have created it."
(1.1) In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah, the Lord moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and put it in writing:
(1.2) "This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: The Lord, the God of Heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build a temple for him at Jerusalem in Judah. (1.3) Anyone of his people among you - may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem in Judah and build the temple of the Lord, the God of Israel, the God who is in Jerusalem. (1.4) And the people of any place where they may still be living are to provide them with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with freewill offerings for the temple of God in Jerusalem."(1.5) Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites -everyone whose heart God had moved- prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. (1.6) All their neighbors assisted them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with valuable gifts, in addition to all the freewill offerings. (1.7) Moreover, king Cyrus brought out the articles belonging to the temple of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem and had placed in the temple of his god [i.e., Marduk]. (1.8) Cyrus king of Persia had them brought by Mithredath the treasurer, who counted them out Sheshbazzar the prince of Judah.
(1.189) Cyrus on his way to Babylon came to the banks of the Gyndes, a stream which, rising in the Matienian mountains, runs through the country of the Dardanians, and empties itself into the river Tigris. The Tigris, after receiving the Gyndes, flows on by the city of Opis [i.e, Baghdad], and discharges its waters into the Erythraean sea [i.e, the Persian Gulf]. When Cyrus reached this stream, which could only be passed in boats, one of the sacred white horses accompanying his march, full of spirit and high mettle, walked into the water, and tried to cross by himself; but the current seized him, swept him along with it, and drowned him in its depths. Cyrus, enraged at the insolence of the river, threatened so to break its strength that in future even women should cross it easily without wetting their knees. Accordingly he put off for a time his attack on Babylon, and, dividing his army into two parts, he marked out by ropes one hundred and eighty trenches on each side of the Gyndes, leading off from it in all directions, and setting his army to dig, some on one side of the river, some on the other, he accomplished his threat by the aid of so great a number of hands, but not without losing thereby the whole summer season.
(1.190) Having, however, thus wreaked his vengeance on the Gyndes, by dispersing it through three hundred and sixty channels, Cyrus, with the first approach of the ensuing spring, marched forward against Babylon. The Babylonians, encamped without their walls, awaited his coming. A battle was fought at a short distance from the city, in which the Babylonians were defeated by the Persian king, whereupon they withdrew within their defenses. Here they shut themselves up, and made light of his siege, having laid in a store of provisions for many years in preparation against this attack; for when they saw Cyrus conquering nation after nation, they were convinced that he would never stop, and that their turn would come at last.
(1.191) Cyrus was now reduced to great perplexity, as time went on and he made no progress against the place. In this distress either some one made the suggestion to him, or he bethought himself of a plan, which he proceeded to put in execution. He placed a portion of his army at the point where the river enters the city, and another body at the back of the place where it issues forth, with orders to march into the town by the bed of the stream, as soon as the water became shallow enough: he then himself drew off with the unwarlike portion of his host, and made for the place where [former queen] Nitocris dug the basin for the river, where he did exactly what she had done formerly: he turned the Euphrates by a canal into the basin, which was then a marsh, on which the river sank to such an extent that the natural bed of the stream became fordable. Hereupon the Persians who had been left for the purpose at Babylon by the, river-side, entered the stream, which had now sunk so as to reach about midway up a man's thigh, and thus got into the town. Had the Babylonians been apprised of what Cyrus was about, or had they noticed their danger, they would never have allowed the Persians to enter the city, but would have destroyed them utterly; for they would have made fast all the street gates which gave upon the river, and mounting upon the walls along both sides of the stream, would so have caught the enemy, as it were, in a trap. But, as it was, the Persians came upon them by surprise and so took the city. Owing to the vast size of the place, the inhabitants of the central parts (as the residents at Babylon declare) long after the outer portions of the town were taken, knew nothing of what had chanced, but as they were engaged in a festival, continued dancing and reveling until they learnt the capture but too certainly. Such, then, were the circumstances of the first taking of Babylon.