The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

Furuli’s Second Book 523
The two earliest tablets from the reign of Nabonidus:
Month/day/year:
Tablet no.:
II/15/acc. (= May 25) Clay 1908, 39 (= BE VIII, 39)
III/18/acc. (= June 26) Strassm. 1889, 1 (= Nbn 1)
At first glance these tablets seem to show an overlap of 26 days between the two reigns. But
a closer examination of the texts shows that this is not the case if the provenance of the tablets is
taken into consideration.
The Uruk king list credits Labashi-Marduk with a reign of only three months, which is
confirmed by the contemporary contract tablets, which are dated only to (parts of) months
I, II, and III. According to Berossus he was plotted against and killed because of his wicked
behaviour. The rebellion broke out almost immediately after his accession, evidently before
he had gained control over the whole kingdom. This conclusion is supported by the fact
that the tablets dated to his reign come from only four places: Babylon, Uruk, Sippar, and
(one tablet) Borsippa.
The earliest tablet dated to Nabonidus is from Nippur. No tablets dated to Labashi-Marduk
are from that city. And the latest tablets dated to him from Babylon, Uruk, Sippar, and
Borsippa are all earlier than the earliest tablets from these cities dated to Nabonidus. Thus
there are no overlaps between the two kings at any of these places. Professor Wolfgang
Röllig concludes:
“Both, then, have ruled, or laid claim to the throne, at the same time, although
at different places.” – W. Röllig in Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen
Archäologie, Band 6 (Berlin and New York, 1980), p. 409. Emphasis added.
(Cf. also GTR4, pp. 327, 328)
This is shown in the following table:
Nippur Babylon Uruk Sippar Borsippa
Labashi-
Marduk,
latest
tablets
---
II/22/acc.
(= June 1)
III/11/acc.
(= June 19)
III/12/acc.
(= June 20)
II/26/acc.
(= June 5)
Nabonidus,
earliest
tablets
II/15/acc.
(= May 25)
IV/06/acc.
(July 14?)
III/23/acc.
(= July 1)
III/18/acc.*
(= June 26)
VII/27/acc.
(= Oct. 31)
* PD p. 13 mentions a text, VAS VI 65, dated to III/01/acc. (June 9, 556) of Nabonidus.
Although Sippar is not mentioned in the text, the inscription is reported to have been found
there. It is a building inscription. Although it bears no date, F. X. Kugler (Sternkunde und
Sterndienst in Babel, II:II:2, 1924, pp. 405-408) argued that it describes restoration work done
in Sippar from day 1, month III of Nabonidus’ accession year onward. This view is rejected
by P.-A- Beaulieu, whose careful study shows that restoration works took place in Sippar “in
the second, the tenth, and the sixteenth year of Nabonidus”, but not in his accession year.
(Beaulieu, The Reign of Nabonidus, King of Babylon 556-539 B.C., New Haven and London: Yale
University Press, 1989, p. 6. Cf. his Table 2 on p. 42.)
Furuli’s claim (p. 63), that “we can hardly avoid the conclusion that there was one or more
years between Neriglissar and Nabonaid,” has no factual foundation. The supposed overlap
between Neriglissar and Labashi-Marduk is based on misreading of tablets, and the Labashi-
Marduk/Nabonidus “overlap,” which disappears on local level, is easily explained by the
political circumstances that brought Nabonidus to the throne.