Nabonidus_Chronicle

Nabonidus Chronicle

The Nabonidus Chronicle records the events during the rule of the last king of Babylonia (King Nabonidus) before the Persian king Cyrus conquered the kingdom in October 539 BCE. However the Chronicles are currently damaged, leaving many blanks and spaces (or lacunas) throughout the script. The script describes how Cyrus’ power began to rise through victory in various military campaigns in Syria and southeast of Modern Turkey as he conquered the Median leader Astyages (about 550 BC) and country is most likely Lydia (547 BCE). By the seventeenth year of Nabonidus, most of Babylonia’s nearby cities appeared to be under siege, as evidenced by the fact that the divine guests from those cities did not appear at the Babylonian New Year festival (Akitu). There is also a mention of an invasion of soldiers from the Sea Land. In addition, the Chronicle documents Nabonidus’ war campaign as he seems to have tried to conquer Arabia. During this war campaign, he has been recorded capturing the kingdom of Edom, and later on staying in the oasis of Temâ which led to a direct route to the oasis Iatribu (modern Medina).

539-538

In the month of Arahsamna, the third day [29 October], 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 sub-governors in Babylon.

British Museum

See also-

Mordechai Cogan, The Raging Torrent, Carta, Jerusalem, 2008. p.210-219.