Journal of the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center No.16, Spring  2008

 

Prof. Meir Malul and Prof. Yitzhak Avishur: TWO INSCRIPTIONS OF NEBUCHADNEZZAR IN BJHC
Two inscriptions of  Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon written on flagstones in the possession of "The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center". In his travel from India to Iraq, his homeland, the scholar and collector, David Solomon Sassoon, reached Basra and from there he headed toward Baghdad. On his way from Basra to Baghdad he visited a few settlements, mainly Jewish, in particular the town of Hilla, located not far from ancient Babylon. Sassoon's travels in Iraq in general, and in his ancestral city Baghdad in particular, were geared to collecting, documenting, and researching the history of the Jews in Baghdad. He wrote a travel diary in Hebrew, which he utilized later in his composition of his book A History of the Jews in Baghdad (Letchworth 1949) and this diary was later edited and published in Hebrew by M. Benayahu in 1955, after its author's death (Travels in Babel, Jerusalem 1955). As regard the town of Hilla, David Sassoon wrote the following remarks, which are relevant to the two inscriptions published here: Hillah is a very small town, surrounded by a wall and built very badly from bricks which had been taken from he nearby ruins of ancient Babylon. Passing through the local streets, one encounters many such bricks inscribed with cuneiform signs (p.158). One day, when he was visiting the synagogue which had been built by his grandfather, David Sassoon the First, he visited also the house of Lord Daniel, and this is what he wrote in his diary about this visit: The court of the house where we sat is paved with big slabs of stone, and each one of these slabs is inscribed in cuneiform script with the name and titles of Nebuchadnezzar (p.126).  Among the artifacts he brought back with him included are also the present two flagstones, which have been contributed* by the Sassoon family to "The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center" where they are now housed. These flagstones are reproduced  in photoes, transliterated and translated**. [The authors wish to thank the authorities of "The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center" for their permission to publish these stones].  TEXT A3: 46/2006A 1. Nebuchadnezzar,                        2. king of Babylon, 3. who provides for the Esagila 4. and the Ezida, 5. the foremost son 6. of Nebopolassar, 7. king of Babylon     TEXT B6: 46/2006B     1. Nebuchadnezzar, 2. king of Babylon, 3. who provides for the Esagila 4. and the Ezida, 5. the son of Nebopolassar, 6. king of Babylon, I am   Excerpt from: N.A.B.U 2007, no. 4 (décembre)]] * The Babylonian Jewry Museum's Correction: These two flagstones have been loaned by the Sassoon family to The Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center. **For the transcription see N.A.B.U 2007, no. 4.
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