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The Nabonidus Chronicle tells the story of the rule of Nabonidus, the last king of independent Babylonia. The text is badly damaged and contains many lacunas. However, it makes clear that the rise of Cyrus was not unexpected.
The Nabonidus Chronicle is an ancient Babylonian text, part of a larger series of Babylonian Chronicles inscribed in cuneiform script on clay tablets. It deals primarily with the reign of Nabonidus, the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, covers the conquest of Babylon by the Persian king Cyrus the Great, and ends with the start of the ...
An eighty-four line Babylonian Chronicle (BM 35382), three steles from Harran and a libelous VS account of his reign by Cyrus are direct historical sources.
Nabonidus was the last native ruler of ancient Mesopotamia, the end of his reign marking the end of thousands of years of Sumero-Akkadian states, kingdoms and empires. He was also the last independent king of Babylon.
- 25 May 556 BC – 13 October 539 BC
- Adad-guppi
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One principal source of information about the rise of Cyrus the Great (559–530 B.C.) is the so-called Nabonidus Chronicle. The chronicle consists of a series of cuneiform tablets (such as the 5.5-inch-high fragment shown) listing important events that took place during the reign of the Babylonian king Nabonidus (555–539 B.C.).
The enigmatic Neo-Babylonian king Nabonidus seemed destined for just such a fate after the Persian armies of Cyrus the Great marched through Babylon’s gates in October 539 B.C.
Curator's comments S. Smith, BHT, 98-123, pl XI-XIV; Grayson, TCS 5, Chronicle 7; George, BiOr 53 (1996) 379 (new copy of col. iii 24-28)
