The Eponyms of the Babylonian War of Tukultī-Ninurta I

Abstract Following the recent reconstruction of the order of eponyms in the Dūr-Katlimmu archive by Nahm, this study considers the eponyms of the period in which Tukultī-Ninurta I waged war for domination of Babylonia, from his 13th regnal year onward. It is argued that recently published evidence supports the identification of the eponymy of Etel-pī-Aššur as the year in which Kaštiliaš IV of Babylonia was captured, and that the eponymy of Ellil-nādin-apli is to be placed three years later. The campaign to the lands between the Tigris and the Zagros, undertaken by Tukultī-Ninurta I in the eponymy of Ellil-nādin-apli, was probably directed against the power base of Kadašman-Ḫarbe II, including the city of Lubdu which then passed under Assyrian control. Following the dethronement of Kadašman-Ḫarbe II, Tukultī-Ninurta I maintained closer control over Babylonia, which did not prevent the king of Elam from putting an end to the reign of the Assyrian vassal Adad-šuma-iddina in the 22nd regnal year of Tukultī-Ninurta I.