The Grammar and Syntax of the Year-Names of the First Dynasty of Babylon

Abstract

VARIOUS methods of designating years were used in the Ancient Near East.1 They can be conveniently classified into two groups: 1) dating by numbers and 2) dating by names. Dating by numbers includes dating by the regnal years of a king, in which the years of each successive king were numbered consecutively from the first year to the last year of his reign, and dating by an era, in which the years of an epoch were numbered consecutively from a point at which some important event had occurred. Dating by names includes designating a year by the of a high official or by a sentence describing an event. Within ancient Mesopotamia each of these methods of dating was used in various geographic areas and at various times. In northern Mesopotamia, dating by the regnal years of a king was used in all periods of Assyrian history. From the time of Adad-Nirari II (ca. 911 B.C.) to the middle of the seventh century B.C. each year was also designated by an eponym, i.e., by the of a high official. This is called an eponym system, and lists called limmu-lists were compiled in antiquity that recorded the eponyms in chronological order. Such eponyms were also used in the Old Assyrian period and in the Kingdom of Mari. In southern Mesopotamia dating by regnal years occurred at the end (ca. 2400 B.C.) of the Early Dynastic period (ca. 2800-2400 B.C.) and during the span of time from the Kassite period (1595-1159 B.C.) to well into the time of the Seleucids (311-126 B.c.). A system similar to the Assyrian eponym system was also used towards the end (ca. 2400 B.C.) of the Early Dynastic period. In this system an event was chronologically anchored to the term of office (bala) of a high official. The system of designating a year by a sentence describing an event is called a year-name system, the sentence being the name (mu) of the year. A year-name was usually written in Sumerian. Date-lists, in which year-names were given in chronological sequence, were composed as an aid in identifying the chronological position of any particular year-name in relation to other year-names. A few year-names are known from the last part (ca. 2400 B.c.) of the Early Dynastic period. In the Akkad period (ca. 2400-2200 B.c.) it became the official dating system of the empire and continued as such to the end of the First Dynasty of Babylon (1894-1595 B.c.) at which point it was