Kadashman-Enlil I
Encyclopedia
Kadašman-Enlil ITypically rendered mka-dáš-man-dEN.LÍL in contemporary inscriptions. was a Kassite
King of Babylon
from ca. 1374 BC to 1360 BC (short chronology
), perhaps the 18th of the dynasty. He is known to have been a contemporary of Amenhotep III
of Egypt
, with whom he corresponded. This places Kadašman-Enlil securely to the first half of the 14th century BC by most standard chronologies. He was also contemporary with Tepti Ahar, King of Elam
, as preserved in a tabletTablet H.T. 38 (472) with seal of Tepti Ahar at the end of the text. found at Haft Tepe in Iran. This is dated to the “year when the king expelled Kadašman-Enlil”The year name reads: “MU EŠŠANA KA-da-aš-ma-an dKUR.GAL ú-sà-aḫ-ḫi-ru” where KUR.GAL is taken as a metonym for Enlil. implying previous occupation of or suzerainty over Elam.
corpus. The letters designated EA (for El Amarna) 1 through 5 include three letters authored by Kadašman-Enlil and two by Amenhotep III, who is addressed as and calls himself Nibmuareya, or variants thereof.
In the first letter from Amenhotep III, EA 1,Tablet EA 1, “The Pharoah complains to the Babylonian King,” BM 029784 in the British Museum. Transliteration he writes to assure Kadašman-Enlil that his sister, the daughter of Kurigalzu I
has not in fact died, or been banished to a distant harem as a minor concubine, and to acknowledge the offer of one of Kadašman-Enlil’s daughters as yet another wife. He suggests Kadašman-Enlil dispatch a kamiru, tentatively translated as eunuch, to identify his sister rather than the pair of envoys actually sent, on whom Amenhotep casts aspersions, describing one as a donkey-herder. The text is not entirely legible at this point and the unfortunate envoy may actually be referred to as a caravan leader and his companion a merchant, thus these “nobodies” are merely common tradesmen unfamiliar with the members of the royal household and thus unable to recognize Kadašman-Enlil’s sister.
In EA 2Tablet EA 2, “Proposals of Marriage,” VAT 00148 + VAT 02706 in the Vorderasiatisches Museum. Transliteration he declares “my daughters are available (for marriage).” In EA 3,Tablet EA 3, “Marriage, grumblings, a palace-opening,” C. 4743, Cairo Museum. Transliteration Kadašman-Enlil feigns offence about being overlooked for an invite to the isinnu festival. Disarmingly, however, he invites his “brother” to his own inauguration. ‘Now I am going to have a grand opening for the palace. Come yourself to eat and drink with me. I shall not do as you did!”
In another of his letters, EA 4,Tablet EA 4, “Royal deceit and threats,” VAT 01657 in the Vorderasiatisches Museum. Transliteration Kadašman-Enlil complains to Amenhotep III about not being given one of his daughters as a wife, quoting Amenhotep’s earlier response that “since earliest times no daughter of the king of Egypt has ever been given in marriage [to anyone]”,. He urges that if he could not receive a princess, then a beautiful woman should be sent, but immediately follows up by proposing to exchange of one of his own daughters for gold, needed to fund a building project he had in mind. In EA 5,Tablet EA 5, “Gifts of Egyptian furniture for the Babylonian palace,” BM 029787 in the British Museum, + Cairo 4744. Transliteration Amenhotep writes to detail the long list of gifts that will be provided in exchange for Kadašman-Enlil’s daughter, and the deal is sealed.
, for the Egalmaḫ of Gula, or in Larsa
, on bricks bearing a sixteen-line inscription of the restoration of the Ebabbar temple for Šamaš,For example, brick L. 7078, in the İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri. should be assigned to the earlier King. The inscriptions from Nippur
which include stamped bricks from the east stairway of the ziggurat and elsewhere describing work on the Ekur, the “House of the Mountain” of Enlil
, four inscribed slab fragments of red-veined alabaster,Slabs CBS 19911-19914 in the University Museum, Philadelphia. a five-line agate cameo votive fragment,Votive fragment CBS 8674 in the University Museum, Philadelphia. an engraved stone door socket, Door socket BM 121192 in the British Museum. and so on, could be assigned in part to either King.
His successor was his son, ascertained from an inscription on an irregular block of lapis lazuliBlock BE I 68 i 5-15 in the İstanbul Arkeoloji Műzeleri. found in Nippur and now housed in the İstanbul Arkeoloji Műzeleri, the considerably more well-known Burna-Buriaš II, who also wrote several letters preserved in Egyptian archives to the Egyptian pharaoh.
Kassites
The Kassites were an ancient Near Eastern people who gained control of Babylonia after the fall of the Old Babylonian Empire after ca. 1531 BC to ca. 1155 BC...
King of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
from ca. 1374 BC to 1360 BC (short chronology
Short chronology timeline
The short chronology is one chronology of the Near Eastern Bronze and Early Iron Age, which fixes the reign of Hammurabi to 1728 BC – 1686 BC and the sack of Babylon to 1531 BC....
), perhaps the 18th of the dynasty. He is known to have been a contemporary of Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died...
of Egypt
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...
, with whom he corresponded. This places Kadašman-Enlil securely to the first half of the 14th century BC by most standard chronologies. He was also contemporary with Tepti Ahar, King of Elam
Elam
Elam was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. Elam was centered in the far west and the southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq...
, as preserved in a tabletTablet H.T. 38 (472) with seal of Tepti Ahar at the end of the text. found at Haft Tepe in Iran. This is dated to the “year when the king expelled Kadašman-Enlil”The year name reads: “MU EŠŠANA KA-da-aš-ma-an dKUR.GAL ú-sà-aḫ-ḫi-ru” where KUR.GAL is taken as a metonym for Enlil. implying previous occupation of or suzerainty over Elam.
Correspondence with Egypt
Five cuneiform tablets are preserved in the Amarna lettersAmarna letters
The Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom...
corpus. The letters designated EA (for El Amarna) 1 through 5 include three letters authored by Kadašman-Enlil and two by Amenhotep III, who is addressed as and calls himself Nibmuareya, or variants thereof.
In the first letter from Amenhotep III, EA 1,Tablet EA 1, “The Pharoah complains to the Babylonian King,” BM 029784 in the British Museum. Transliteration he writes to assure Kadašman-Enlil that his sister, the daughter of Kurigalzu I
Kurigalzu I
Kurigalzu I , the seventeenth king of the Kassite dynasty that ruled over Babylon, was responsible for one of the most extensive and widespread building programs for which evidence has survived in Babylonia. The autobiography of Kurigalzu is one of the inscriptions which record that he was the son...
has not in fact died, or been banished to a distant harem as a minor concubine, and to acknowledge the offer of one of Kadašman-Enlil’s daughters as yet another wife. He suggests Kadašman-Enlil dispatch a kamiru, tentatively translated as eunuch, to identify his sister rather than the pair of envoys actually sent, on whom Amenhotep casts aspersions, describing one as a donkey-herder. The text is not entirely legible at this point and the unfortunate envoy may actually be referred to as a caravan leader and his companion a merchant, thus these “nobodies” are merely common tradesmen unfamiliar with the members of the royal household and thus unable to recognize Kadašman-Enlil’s sister.
In EA 2Tablet EA 2, “Proposals of Marriage,” VAT 00148 + VAT 02706 in the Vorderasiatisches Museum. Transliteration he declares “my daughters are available (for marriage).” In EA 3,Tablet EA 3, “Marriage, grumblings, a palace-opening,” C. 4743, Cairo Museum. Transliteration Kadašman-Enlil feigns offence about being overlooked for an invite to the isinnu festival. Disarmingly, however, he invites his “brother” to his own inauguration. ‘Now I am going to have a grand opening for the palace. Come yourself to eat and drink with me. I shall not do as you did!”
In another of his letters, EA 4,Tablet EA 4, “Royal deceit and threats,” VAT 01657 in the Vorderasiatisches Museum. Transliteration Kadašman-Enlil complains to Amenhotep III about not being given one of his daughters as a wife, quoting Amenhotep’s earlier response that “since earliest times no daughter of the king of Egypt has ever been given in marriage [to anyone]”,. He urges that if he could not receive a princess, then a beautiful woman should be sent, but immediately follows up by proposing to exchange of one of his own daughters for gold, needed to fund a building project he had in mind. In EA 5,Tablet EA 5, “Gifts of Egyptian furniture for the Babylonian palace,” BM 029787 in the British Museum, + Cairo 4744. Transliteration Amenhotep writes to detail the long list of gifts that will be provided in exchange for Kadašman-Enlil’s daughter, and the deal is sealed.
Building works
Difficulties are encountered distinguishing between inscriptions belonging to Kadašman-Enlil I and his descendent Kadašman-Enlil II, who ruled around one hundred years later. Historians disagree on whether building inscriptions at IsinIsin
Isin was an ancient city-state of lower Mesopotamia about 20 miles south of Nippur at the site of modern Ishan al-Bahriyat in Iraq's Al-Qādisiyyah Governorate.-History:...
, for the Egalmaḫ of Gula, or in Larsa
Larsa
Larsa was an important city of ancient Sumer, the center of the cult of the sun god Utu. It lies some 25 km southeast of Uruk in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate, near the east bank of the Shatt-en-Nil canal at the site of the modern settlement Tell as-Senkereh or Sankarah.-History:According to...
, on bricks bearing a sixteen-line inscription of the restoration of the Ebabbar temple for Šamaš,For example, brick L. 7078, in the İstanbul Arkeoloji Müzeleri. should be assigned to the earlier King. The inscriptions from Nippur
Nippur
Nippur was one of the most ancient of all the Sumerian cities. It was the special seat of the worship of the Sumerian god Enlil, the "Lord Wind," ruler of the cosmos subject to An alone...
which include stamped bricks from the east stairway of the ziggurat and elsewhere describing work on the Ekur, the “House of the Mountain” of Enlil
Enlil
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was one of the most prominent poets of the Victorian era. Her poetry was widely popular in both England and the United States during her lifetime. A collection of her last poems was published by her husband, Robert Browning, shortly after her death.-Early life:Members...
, four inscribed slab fragments of red-veined alabaster,Slabs CBS 19911-19914 in the University Museum, Philadelphia. a five-line agate cameo votive fragment,Votive fragment CBS 8674 in the University Museum, Philadelphia. an engraved stone door socket, Door socket BM 121192 in the British Museum. and so on, could be assigned in part to either King.
Length of reign
An economic tabletTablet Ni. 437 in the Nippur collection at the İstanbul Arkeoloji Műzeleri. from Nippur is dated “15th year (of) Kadašman-Enlil, month of Tašrītu, 18th day”, and is ascribed to him, rather than his descendent name-sake, because of the more archaic use of the masculine personal determinative before the royal name and the likelihood that the later king reigned for no more than nine years. Another one refers to the 1st year of Burra-Buriaš and the 15th of the preceding king, presumed to be Kadašman-Enlil.His successor was his son, ascertained from an inscription on an irregular block of lapis lazuliBlock BE I 68 i 5-15 in the İstanbul Arkeoloji Műzeleri. found in Nippur and now housed in the İstanbul Arkeoloji Műzeleri, the considerably more well-known Burna-Buriaš II, who also wrote several letters preserved in Egyptian archives to the Egyptian pharaoh.