The Babylonian Chronicles are a loosely-defined series of about 45 tablets recording major events in Babylonian history.[1]
They represent one of the first steps in the development of ancient historiography. The Babylonian Chronicles are written in Babylonian cuneiform and date from the reign of Nabonassar until the Parthian Period. The tablets were composed by Babylonian astronomers ("Chaldaeans") who probably used the Astronomical Diaries as their source.
Almost all of the tablets were identified as chronicles once in the collection of the British Museum, having been acquired via antiquities dealers from unknown excavations undertaken during the 19th century. All but three of the chronicles are unprovenanced.[1]
The Chronicles provide the "master narrative" for large blocks of current Babylonian history.[1]
The chronicles are thought to have been transferred to the British Museum after 19th century excavations in Babylon, and subsequently left undeciphered in the archives for decades. The first chronicle to be published was BM 92502 (ABC1) in 1887 by Theophilus Pinches under the title "The Babylonian Chronicle." This was followed in 1923 by the publication of the Fall of Nineveh Chronicle (ABC 3), in 1924 by Sidney Smith's publication of the Esarhaddon Chronicle (ABC 14), the Akitu Chronicle (ABC 16) and the Nabonidus Chronicle (ABC 7), and in 1956 by Donald Wiseman's publication of four further tablets including the Nebuchadnezzar Chronicle (ABC 5).[2]
ABC – A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975)
CM – Jean-Jacques Glassner, Chroniques Mésopotamiennes (1993) (translated as Mesopotamian Chronicles, 2004)
BCHP – I. Finkel & R.J. van der Spek, Babylonian Chronicles of the Hellenistic Period (not yet published)
BM – British Museum Number
| Chronicle | ABC | CM | BCHP | BM | Provenanced | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dynastic chronicle (translation) (another version of Column 5) | 18 | 3 | Yes | ||||
| Royal chronicle of Lagaš | 6 | ||||||
| Weidner chronicle (translation) | 19 | 38 | Yes | ||||
| Early kings chronicle (translation) | 20 | 39,40 | |||||
| Tummal chronicle | 7 | ||||||
| Uruk chronicle of the kings of Ur | 48 | ||||||
| Assyrian Eponym List (2nd millennium) | 8 | ||||||
| Market prices chronicle (translation) | 23 | 50 | |||||
| Synchronic history (translation and another translation) | 21 | 10 | Yes | ||||
| Chronicle P (translation and another translation) | 22 | 45 | |||||
| Enlil-nirari chronicle | 11 | ||||||
| Arik-den-ili chronicle | 12 | ||||||
| Walker chronicle | 25 | 46 | |||||
| Tukulti-Ninurta chronicle | 13 | ||||||
| Aššur-reša-iši chronicle | 14 | ||||||
| Tiglath-pileser I chronicle | 15 | ||||||
| Eclectic chronicle (translation) | 24 | 47 | |||||
| Religious chronicle (translation) | 17 | 51 | |||||
| Assyrian Eponym List (1st millennium) | 9 | ||||||
| Nabu-šuma-iškun | 52 | ||||||
| From Nabu-Nasir to Šamaš-šuma-ukin (translation) | 1 | 16 | 92502 | ||||
| From Nabu-Nasir to Esarhaddon | 1B | 17 | 75976 | ||||
| Esarhaddon chronicle (translation) | 14 | 18 | 25091 | ||||
| Šamaš-šuma-ukin chronicle (translation) (another translation) | 15 | 19 | 96273 | ||||
| Akitu chronicle (translation) | 16 | 20 | 86379 | ||||
| Early Years of Nabopolassar chronicle (translation) | 2 | 21 | 25127 | ||||
| Fall of Nineveh chronicle (translation) | 3 | 22 | 21901 | ||||
| Late years of Nabopolassar chronicle (translation) | 4 | 23 | 22047 | ||||
| Early Years of Nebuchadnezzar chronicle (translation) | 5 | 24 | 21946 | ||||
| Third year of Neriglissar chronicle (translation) | 6 | 25 | 25124 | ||||
| Nabonidus chronicle (text and translation) | 7 | 26 | 35382 | ||||
| Chronographic document on Nabonidus | 53 | ||||||
| Artaxerxes III chronicle (translation) | 9 | 28 | |||||
| Cyrus cylinder | 17 | 90920 | |||||
| Alexander chronicle (text and translation) | 8 | 29 | 1 | ||||
| Alexander and Arabia chronicle (text and translation) | 2 | ||||||
| Diadochi chronicle (text and translation) | 10 | 30 | 3 | ||||
| Alexander and Artaxerxes (translation) | 4 | ||||||
| Antiochus I and Sin temple chronicle (text and translation) | 11 | 32 | 5 | ||||
| Ruin of Esagila chronicle (text and translation) | 6 | ||||||
| Antiochus, Bactria, and India chronicle (text and translation) | 13A | 36 | 7 | ||||
| Juniper garden chronicle (text and translation) | 8 | ||||||
| End of Seleucus I chronicle (text and translation) | 12 | 33 | 9 | ||||
| Seleucid Accessions chronicle (text and translation) | 13 | 34 | 10 | ||||
| Invasion of Ptolemy III chronicle (text and translation) | 11 | ||||||
| Seleucus III chronicle (text and translation) | 13B | 35 | 12 | ||||
| Politai chronicle (text and translation) | 13 | ||||||
| Greek Community chronicle (text and translation) | 14 | ||||||
| Gold theft chronicle (text and translation) | 15 | ||||||
| Document on land and tithes (text and translation) | 16 | ||||||
| Judicial chronicle (text and translation) | 37 | 17 | |||||
| Bagayasha chronicle | 18 | ||||||
| Chronicle concerning an Arsacid king (text and translation) | 19 | ||||||
| Euphrates chronicle (text and translation) | 20 |