Mesopotamia Chronicles

Mesopotamian chronicles

Babylonian cuneiform tablet, mentioning the fall of Jerusalem in 597 BCE. British Museum, London (Britain). Photo Marco Prins.

Chronicle 5, mentioning the capture of Jerusalem in 597 (British Museum, London; ©**) The Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles are historiographical texts from ancient Mesopotamia. Although they contain references to the earliest times, they deal especially with the second half of the second and the entire first millennium down to the first century BCE (cf. this table). On this page, you will find

links to translations of all known chronicles; they are meant as a first introduction and for ready reference, but it is advisable not to quote them without consulting a printed edition, because many readings are still uncertain;
new editions of the chronicles of the Seleucid and Parthian period; several of them have not been published before.

The main editions are:

A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975 =ABC);
I. Finkel & R.J. van der Spek, Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period (= BCHP);
Jean-Jacques Glassner, Chroniques Mésopotamiennes (1993) (translated as Mesopotamian Chronicles, 2004) ( = CM);
C. B.F. Walker, "Babylonian Chronicle 25: A Chronicle of the Kassite and Isin Dynasties", in G. van Driel e.a. (eds.): Zikir Šumim: Assyriological Studies Presented to F.R. Kraus on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday (1982).

Related
Mesopotamian Kings
Chronology
Literature

Irving Finkel (L) and Bert van der Spek (R) in the "Arched Room" of the British Museum, discussing one of the chronicles The second of these books has not been published yet, but is being prepared by Irving Finkel of the British Museum (London) and Bert van der Spek of the Free University of Amsterdam (Holland).* Their results are presented here for the first time, so you will also find scholarly editions of the texts, which presuppose some knowledge of the Akkadian language. This online-publication is intended to invite suggestions for better readings, comments and interpretations (go here to contact Van der Spek).

Below, you will find an overview of chronicles, more or less in their chronological order. For those who are unfamiliar with the subject but are interested, the "reader's editions" ought to be accessible. These are simplified translations. After reading a bit about the conventions of publication, the "scholarly editions" ought to be accessible too.

Sumerian

Assyrian

Babylonian or mixed

	CM 1+2		Sumerian King List		Translation
ABC 18	CM 3		Dynastic chronicle		Translation
	CM 5		Assyrian King List		Translation
	CM 6		Royal chronicle of Lagaš		Translation
ABC 19	CM 38		Weidner chronicle		Translation
ABC 20	CM 39-41		Early kings chronicle		Translation
	CM 7		Tummal chronicle		Translation
	CM 48		Uruk chronicle concerning the kings of Ur		Translation
	CM 8		Assyrian Eponym List (second millennium)		Translation
ABC 23	CM 50		Market prices chronicle		Translation
ABC 21	CM 10		Synchronistic history		Translation
ABC 22	CM 45		Chronicle P		Translation
	CM 11		Enlil-nirari chronicle		Translation
	CM 12		Arik-den-ili chronicle		Translation
	CM 46		Walker chronicle		Translation
	CM 13		Tukulti-Ninurta chronicle		Translation
	CM 14		Aššur-reša-iši chronicle		Translation
	CM 15		Tiglath-pileser I chronicle		Translation
ABC 24	CM 47		Eclectic chronicle		Translation
ABC 17	CM 51		Religious chronicle		Translation
	CM 9		Assyrian Eponym List (first millennium)		Translation
	CM 52		Chronographic document concerning Nabu-šuma-iškun		Translation
ABC 1	CM 16		Period from Nabu-Nasir to Šamaš-šuma-ukin		Translation
ABC 1B	CM 17		Period from Nabu-Nasir to Esarhaddon		Translation
ABC 14	CM 18		Esarhaddon chronicle		Translation
ABC 15	CM 19		Šamaš-šuma-ukin chronicle		Translation
ABC 16	CM 20		Akitu chronicle		Translation
ABC 2	CM 21		Early Years of Nabopolassar chronicle		Translation
ABC 3	CM 22		Fall of Nineveh chronicle		Translation
ABC 4	CM 23		Late years of Nabopolassar chronicle		Translation
ABC 5	CM 24		Early Years of Nebuchadnezzar chronicle		Translation
ABC 6	CM 25		Third year of Neriglissar chronicle		Translation
ABC 7	CM 26		Nabonidus chronicle		Translation
	CM 53		Chronographic document concerning Nabonidus		Translation
			Cyrus Cylinder	Scholarly edition	Translation
ABC 9	CM 28		Artaxerxes III chronicle		Translation
ABC 8	CM 29	BCHP 1	Alexander chronicle	Scholarly edition	Translation
		BCHP 2	Alexander and Arabia chronicle	Scholarly edition
ABC 10	CM 30	BCHP 3	Diadochi chronicle	Scholarly edition	Translation
	CM 31	BCHP 4	Alexander and Artaxerxes Fragment	Scholarly edition	Translation
ABC 11	CM 32	BCHP 5	Antiochus I and Sin temple chronicle	Scholarly edition
		BCHP 6	Ruin of Esagila chronicle	Scholarly edition
ABC 13A	CM 36	BCHP 7	Antiochus, Bactria, and India chronicle	Scholarly edition
		BCHP 8	Juniper garden chronicle	Scholarly edition
ABC 12	CM 33	BCHP 9	End of Seleucus I chronicle	Scholarly edition
ABC 13	CM 34	BCHP 10	Seleucid Accessions chronicle	Scholarly edition
		BCHP 11	Invasion of Ptolemy III chronicle	Scholarly edition
ABC 13B	CM 35	BCHP 12	Seleucus III chronicle	Scholarly edition
		BCHP 13	Politai chronicle	Scholarly edition
		BCHP 14	Greek Community chronicle	Scholarly edition
		BCHP 15	Gold theft chronicle	Scholarly edition
		BCHP 16	Document on land and tithes	Scholarly edition
	CM 37	BCHP 17	Judicial chronicle	Scholarly edition
		BCHP 18	Bagayasha chronicle
		BCHP 19	Chronicle concerning an Arsacid king	Scholarly edition
		BCHP 20	Euphrates chronicle	Scholarly edition

			Additional documents
	CM 42		Kings of the Sealand		Translation
	CM 43		Samsuiluna fragment		Translation
	CM 44		Another Samsuiluna fragment		Translation
	CM 27		Fragment of a Neo-Babylonian chronicle		Translation
			Nabonidus Cylinder from Sippar		Translation
			Dynastic Prophecy		Translation
			Antiochus Cylinder	Scholarly edition
			Copy of the Lehmann text
	CM 4		Babylonian King List of the Hellenistic Period	Scholarly edition	Translation
			Uruk King List	Scholarly edition	Translation

			Astronomical diaries
			Diary concerning Artaxerxes II Mnemon	Scholarly edition
			Diary concering Gaugamela	Scholarly edition	Translation
			Diary concerning the second year of Philip Arridaeus	Scholarly edition
			Diary concerning the seventh year of Alexander IV	Scholarly edition
			Diary concerning SE 66	Scholarly edition
			Diary fragment on Demetrius and Arabia	Scholarly edition
			Diary fragment on "messengers of the politai"	Scholarly edition
			Arsacid diary fragment on politai	Scholarly edition

There are no scholarly editions of the non-BCHP-chronicles on this page, nor will there ever be, because that would be a copyright infringement. For the original (usually Akkadian) text and commentaries, you must therefore consult Grayson's or Glassner's book. The translations offered here are free adaptations from ABC and CM; the spelling of personal names has been harmonized, variants have been ignored, explanatory notes have been added, uncertain readings have not been indicated. In short, these pages are no subsitute for ABC or CM.

*
This edition of the Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period has been facilitated by a grant of a sabbatical year to Bert van der Spek funded by the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO).

^**
We want to express our gratitude to the trustees of the British Museum who allow us to publish these chronicles and to put photographs on line. Most pictures are made by Bert van der Spek. The museum is not responsible for the quality of the photographs.

Additional documents

Astronomical diaries