| Kadašman-Enlil I | |
|---|---|
| King of Babylon | |
 Cylinder seal-(modern rolled clay impression) bearing seven-line Sumerian inscription mentioning a [Ka]dašman-[( )]Enlil in theWalters Art Museum.[i 1] | |
| Reign | 15 regnal years 1374 BC-1360 BC |
| Predecessor | Kurigalzu I |
| Successor | Burna-Buriaš II |
| House | Kassite |
Kadašman-Enlil I (mka-dáš-man-dEN.LÍL in contemporary inscriptions) was aKassite King ofBabylon from ca. 1374 BC to 1360 BC,[1] perhaps the 18th of the dynasty.[2]
He is known to have been a contemporary ofAmenhotep III ofEgypt, with whom he corresponded (Amarna letters). This places Kadašman-Enlil securely to the first half of the 14th century BC by most standard chronologies.
Fivecuneiformtablets are preserved in theAmarna letters corpus. The letters designated EA (for El Amarna) 1 through 5 include three letters authored by Kadašman-Enlil and two by Amenhotep III, who is addressed as and calls himselfNibmuareya, or variants thereof (from Neb-Maat-Ra).
InEA 1,[i 2] to Kadašman-Enlil fromNibmuarea (Great King, the King of Egypt), he writes to assure Kadašman-Enlil that his sister, the daughter ofKurigalzu I, has not in fact died, nor had she been banished to a distant harem as a minor concubine, and to acknowledge the offer of one of Kadašman-Enlil’s daughters, to become, as yet another wife. He suggests Kadašman-Enlil dispatch akamiru, tentatively translated aseunuch, to identify his sister, rather than the pair of envoys actually sent, on whom Amenhotep casts aspersions, describing one as a donkey-herder. The text is not entirely legible at this point, and the unfortunate envoy may actually be referred to as a caravan leader, and his companion a merchant, thus – these “nobodies” are merely common 'tradesmen' unfamiliar with the members of the royal household and thus unable to recognize Kadašman-Enlil’s sister.[3]
InEA 2[i 3] from Kadashman-Enlil I toMimmuwareya (King of Egypt), he declares “my daughters are available (for marriage).”
InEA 3,[i 4] to[Nim]u'wareya (King of Egypt) from Kadašman-Enlil he feigns offence about being overlooked for an invite to theisinnu festival. Disarmingly, however, he invites his “brother” (Pharaoh Amenhotep III) to his own inauguration. ‘Now I am going to have a grand opening for the palace. Come yourself to eat and drink with me. I shall not do as you did!”[4]
InEA 4,[i 5] Kadašman-Enlil complains to the king of Egypt (no named preserved) about not being given one ofhis daughters as a wife, quoting an earlier response that “since earliest times no daughter of the king of Egypt has ever been given in marriage [to anyone]”.[5] He urges that if he could not receive a princess, then a beautiful woman should be sent, but immediately follows up by proposing to exchange one of his own daughters for gold, needed to fund a building project he had in mind.
InEA 5,[i 6][Nibmuar]ey[a] (Amenhotep III) writes to detail the long list ofgifts that will be provided in exchange for Kadašman-Enlil’s daughter, and the deal is sealed.
Difficulties are encountered distinguishing between inscriptions belonging to Kadašman-Enlil I and his descendant Kadašman-Enlil II, who ruled around one hundred years later. Historians disagree on whether building inscriptions atIsin, for the Egalmaḫ ofGula, or inLarsa, on bricks bearing a sixteen-line inscription of the restoration of the Ebabbar temple forŠamaš,[i 7] should be assigned to the earlier King. The inscriptions fromNippur which includestamped bricks from the east stairway of the ziggurat and elsewhere describing work on the Ekur, the “House of the Mountain” ofEnlil, four inscribed slab fragments of red-veined alabaster,[i 8] a five-line agate cameo votive fragment,[i 9] an engraved stone door socket,[i 10] and so on, could be assigned in part to either King.[2][6]
An economic tablet[i 11] from Nippur is dated “15th year (of) Kadašman-Enlil, month of Tašrītu, 18th day”, and is ascribed to him, rather than his descendant name-sake, because of the more archaic use of the masculine personal determinative before the royal name (the single verticalcuneiform stroke), and the likelihood that the later king reigned for no more than nine years.[2] Another one refers to the 1st year ofBurra-Buriaš and the 15th of the preceding king, presumed to be Kadašman-Enlil.[2]
His successor was his son, ascertained from an inscription on an irregular block of lapis lazuli[i 12] found in Nippur and now housed in theİstanbul Arkeoloji Műzeleri,[2] the considerably more well-known Burna-Buriaš II, who also wrote several letters preserved in Egyptian archives to the Egyptian pharaoh (Amarna letters).
