Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Babylon

385 Pages·2004·0.86 MB·English

by  T. Boiy

LATE ACHAEMENID AND HELLENISTIC BABYLON
ORIENTA LIA LOV ANIENSIA
ANALECTA
---136---
LATE ACHAEMENID AND
HELLENISTIC BABYLON
BY
T. BOIY
UITGEVERIJ PEETERS and DEPARTEMENT OOSTERSE STUDIES
LEUVEN - PARIS - DUDLEY, MA
2004
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Boiy, T.
Late Achaemenid and Hellenistic Babylon I by T. Boiy.
p. cm. -- (Orientalia Lovaniensia analecta ; 136)
Includes bibliographical references.
I. Babylon (Extinct city)--History. I. Title. II. Series.
DS70.5.B3B65 2004
935--dc22
2004043518
© 2004, Peeters Publishers & Department of Oriental Studies
Bondgenotenlaan 153, B-3000 Leuven/Louvain (Belgium)
All rights reserved, including the rights to translate or to
reproduce this book or parts thereof in any form.
D. 2004/0602/56
ISBN 90-429-1449-l (Peeters, Leuven)
Aan mijn ouders Alex en Rita,
voor hun steun en aanmoediging van zolang ik het mij kan herinneren
Aan de vrouwen in mijn /even, Eis, Elin, Lene en Anke,
voor hun (meer dan welkome) afleidingsmaneuvers
Zij verlangden naar Babylon. De sta<l lokte hen, lokte hen ... V66r zij,
overwinnaars, naar huistoe keerden, wilden zij Babylon zien, de stad
der ongelooflijke immensiteit en legende ...
L. Couperus, lskander. De roman van Alexander de Grote (Verzamelde
werken XI), pp. 451-452
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This book is a revised version of my doctoral dissertation "Laatachae
menidisch en hellenistisch Babylon. Portret van een Mesopotamische
stad in een cultureel spanningsveld" written under the supervision
of Prof. Dr. K. Van Lerberghe and Prof. Dr. H. Hauben. The research
was sponsored by the Fund for Scientific Research-Flanders and it was
carried out at the section Ancient Near East of the Katholieke Universiteit
Leuven within the framework of the Interuniversity Attraction Poles
Programme (IAP PS/14).
I am indebted to several people who made this book possible in
one way or another, especially the authorities and staff of several
museums (C.B.F. Walker, British Museum; W.W. Hallo, Yale Univer
sity; E. Leichty, University Museum Philadelphia; M. van de Mieroop,
Columbia University; P. Steinkeller and J.A. Armstrong, Harvard
Semitic Museum}, the members of the jury (Prof. Dr. M. Geller,
Prof. Dr. A. Kuhrt and Prof. Dr. A. Berlejung) and teachers, fellow
students, colleagues and friends. A special word of thanks goes to my
parents and to Eis, Elin, Lene and Anke.
Leuven, March 2004
CHRONOLOGICAL CORRIGENDA
In our discussion of Babylon during the wars of the Successors
(pp. 117-13 7) we used the so-called "low chronology" - which dates
the Triparadisus division in 320 BC and the arrival of Antigonus
Monophthalmus in Babylon in 315 BC - on the basis of the informa
tion of the so-called Chronicle of the Successors (ABC 10) dating the
arrival of Perdiccas in Egypt in spring 320 BC.
In the meantime we have prepared a contribution on the chronology
of the years 350-300 BC for the colloquium "La transition entre
l'empire achemenide et les royaume hellenistiques" (College de France,
Paris, November 2004). In the course of this research it has become
clear on the basis of Aramaic ostraca form Idumea that for the arrival of
Antigonus Monophthalmus in Palestine - and, as result, for the arrival
of Antigonus in Babylonia and for the second and third War of the
Successors - the high chronology is the only possible reconstruction.
Since it was too late to incorporate this information in the present work,
it is necessary to change the dates on pp. 120-123 from the low into the
high chronology, which means that the events mentioned there happened
one year earlier. In addition, our reconstruction of Demetrius' attempt to
reconquer Babylonia after the battle of Gaza differs slightly with some
more respect for the information presented by Diodorus' account and in
line with the reconstruction by P.V. Wheatley.
How the informtion from ABC 10 on the first War of the Successors
- and, as a result, on the date of the Triparadisus Division - can be
fitted into this high chronological scenario for the second War of the
Successors is at present not clear. We hope the Paris colloquium results
in some new insights and we therefore refer to the publication of its
results that will appear in 2005 in the collection "Persika".
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ... VII
CHRONOLOGICAL CORRIGENDA. VIII
CONTENTS . IX
ABBREVIATIONS xv
INTRODUCTION 1
SOURCES ... 8
SOURCES FROM BABYLON 8
ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES 8
EPIGRAPIIlCAL SOURCES 13
Cuneiform tablets 13
Legal and administrative tablets 13
Legal tablets . . . . 13
Administrative tablets 17
Letters 20
Other documents 20
Literary texts 21
Historiographical and historical literature 21
Topographical literature. 22
Literature . . . . 23
Religious literature 23
Rituals 23
Cult songs 24
Incantations 25
Feast calendars 26
Omina 26
Sciences 27
Astrology 27
Astronomy 29
Mathematics 36
Medicine 38
Lexical lists and school texts 38
X CONTENTS
Unidentified literary texts 39
Greek inscriptions and ostraca 39
Graeco-Babyloniaca . 41
Lexical lists 42
Other literary texts 42
Colophons . . 43
Aramaic incantation bowls 44
NUMISMATIC SOURCES . 44
Coins made in Babylon 44
Coins found in Babylon 45
SOURCES ON BABYLON 47
LITERARY SOURCES 47
Classical authors 47
Descriptions of the city 47
Historical information 48
Other information on Babylon from classical literature 50
Talmud . 51
Arab geographers 51
EPIGRAPHICAL SOURCES 52
Cuneiform sources 52
Greek inscriptions and papyri 53
Inscriptions from Palmyra 54
TOPOGRAPHY . . . 55
BABYLON DURING THE NEO-BABYLONIAN PERIOD . 56
BABYLON'S WALL . . . . . 56
ROADS AND CANALS IN BABYLON 57
QUARTERS IN BABYLON 58
TEMPLES IN BABYLON . 59
PALACES IN BABYLON . . . . . 62
NEO-BABYLONIAN BABYLON ACCORDING TO BEROSSUS 62
THE CITY OF BABYLON DURING THE ACHAEMENID PERIOD . 66
CHANGES DURING THE ACHAEMENID PERIOD . . 66
DESCRIPTIONS OF BABYLON BY CLASSICAL AUTHORS 67
Herodotus I 178-186 . . 67
Ctesias FGrHist 688 Fl 70
ACHAEMENID BABYLON 72
BABYLON DURING THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD 73
HELLENISTIC BABYLON ON THE BASIS OF CLASSICAL LITERATURE 73
City descriptions 73
CONTENTS XI
Other information based on classical literature . 74
The image of Babylon in classical literature . . 77
HELLENISTIC BABYLON ON THE BASIS OF TOPOGRAPHICAL INFOR-
MATION FROM CUNEIFORM TABLETS . . . . . 78
The Euphrates channel in Hellenistic Babylon 78
Babylon's wall . . . . . . . 79
City quarters in Hellenistic Babylon . 80
Temples in Hellenistic Babylon . . . 81
Other buildings in Hellenistic Babylon 93
Suburbs in Hellenistic Babylon 95
HELLENISTIC BABYLON 97
POLITICAL HISTORY 99
A "CITY" IN MESOPOTAMIAN HISTORY 99
BABYLON DURING THE ACHAEMENID PERIOD 101
FROM CYRUS THE GREAT UNTIL XERXES (539-465 BC) 101
BABYLON DURING THE LATE ACHAEMENID PERIOD . . 102
BABYLON DURING THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD . . . . 104
BABYLON AND ALEXANDER THE GREAT (331-323 BC) 104
Alexander's first visit to Babylon (331 BC) . . 105
Babylon during Alexander's campaign to the East 108
Alexander's second visit to Babylon (323 BC) . . 112
BABYLON DURING THE WARS OF THE SUCCESSORS (323-305 BC). 117
The division of Alexander's empire at Babylon (323 BC) . 117
The division of Triparadisus (320 BC) . . . . . 118
Babylon during the reign of Antigonus (315-311 BC) 123
Seleucus' return to Babylon (311 BC) . . . . 125
BABYLON DURING THE SELEUCID DYNASTY (305-141 BC) 137
Babylon in the third century BC: from world centre to
provincial town 137
Seleucus I 137
Antiochus I . 140
Antiochus II . 145
Se/eucus II . 149
Seleucus Ill . 153
Antiochus Ill 154
Babylon in the second century BC 158
Seleucus IV . 158
Antiochus IV 159
Antiochus V and Demetrius I 162
XII CONTENTS
The last years of Seleucid rule in Babylonia . . . . 165
BABYLON DURING ARSACID RULE (141-61 BC) • • • . . . 166
First part of Parthian rule: ten years of political instability . 166
Short revival of the Seleucid dynasty in Babylonia 171
Hyspaosines of Characene in Babylon . 175
Second Parthian rule . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Political instability at the beginning of the new Parthian rule 176
Babylon during the reign of Mithradates II ( 124-88 BC) 180
Babylon during the Parthian "Dark Age" (88-61 BC) 184
Babylon's end . . . . . . . . 186
INSTITUTIONS IN HELLENISTIC BABYLON 193
BABYLON'S CIVIL ORGANISATION . . . . . . • 193
CENTRAL ORGANISATION AFfER THE ACHAEMENID PERIOD 193
THE SATAMMU AND KINISTU OF ESAGIL 194
The satammu of Esagil . . . . . . . . . 196
The kinistu of Esagil . . . . . . . . . . 202
THE PAIJAT BAB/LI AND 7t0Altat (WHO ARE IN BABYLON) 204
The piifJiit Biibili . . . . . . 204
The 1t0Aita1 (who are in Babylon) 206
The institution "pii!Jiit Biibili and 1t0Aita1 (who are in
Babylon)" . . . . . 207
OTHER OFFICIALS FROM HELLENISTIC BABYLON . 209
BABYLON AS A PART OF THE SELEUCID AND PARTHIAN EMPIRE 214
MILITARY PRESENCE IN HELLENISTIC BABYLON . . . 217
THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM IN HELLENISTIC BABYLON . . . . . 218
APPENDIX: THE TEMPLE STATE JERUSALEM DURING THE HELLENISTIC
PERIOD. . . 220
SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION 226
DEMOGRAPHIC STUDY OF BABYLON 226
SOURCES . . . 226
POPULATION SIZE . 229
FAMILY STRUCTURE 234
Women . 234
Children. 236
Slaves. . 236
ECONOMIC LIFE 237
THE MARKET IN BABYLON 237