| Enlil-bāni | |
|---|---|
| King ofIsin | |
 Foundation Cone of Enlil-Bani. | |
| Reign | 24 regnal years 1860-1837 BC (MC) |
| Predecessor | Erra-imittī |
| Successor | Zambiya |
| House | 1st Dynasty ofIsin |
Enlil-bāni,[nb 1] c. 1860–1837 BC (MC), was the 10th king of the 1st Dynasty ofIsin and reigned 24 years according to theUr-Isin kinglist.[i 1] He is best known for the legendary and perhaps apocryphal manner of his ascendancy.
A certainIkūn-pî-Ištar[nb 2] is recorded as having ruled for 6 months or a year, between the reigns of Erra-imittī and Enlil-bāni according to two variant copies of a chronicle.[1] Another chronicle[i 2] which might have shed further light on his origins is too broken to translate. A lengthy inscription proclaims:
In Nippur I established justice, and promoted righteousness. I sought out nourishment for them like sheep, and fed them with fresh grass. I removed the heavy yoke from their necks and settled them down in a firm place. Having established justice inNippur and made their hearts content, I established justice and righteousness in Isin and made the heart of the land content. I reduced the barley-tax, which had been at one-fifth, to one-tenth. The muškēnum[nb 3] served only four days in the month. The livestock of the palace had grazed on the fields of … who had cried out with the appeal, “OŠamaš” - I turned the palace livestock out of their ploughed fields and banished those people’s cries of “O Šamaš.”[2]
— Enlil-bāni Inscription, CBS 13909[i 3]
Hegemony over Nippur was fleeting, with control of the city passing back and forth between Isin andLarsa several times.Uruk, too, seceded during his reign and, as his power crumbled, he may have had theChronicle of Early Kings[i 4] redacted to provide a more legendary tale of his accession than the rather mundane act of usurpation that it may well have been.[1] It relates that Erra-Imittī selected his gardener, Enlil-bâni, enthroned him, and placed the royal tiara on his head. Erra-Imittī then died while eating hot porridge, and Enlil-bâni by virtue of his refusal to quit the throne, became king.[3]
The colophon of a medical text,[i 5] “when a man's brain contains fire,”[nb 4] from theLibrary of Ashurbanipal reads: “Proven and tested salves and poultices, fit for use, according to the old sages from before the flood[nb 5] from Šuruppak, which Enlil-muballiṭ, sage (apkallu) of Nippur, left (to posterity) in the second year of Enlil-bāni.”[4][5][6]
Enlil-bāni found it necessary to "build anew the wall of Isin which had become dilapidated,"[i 6] which he recorded oncommemorative cones. He named the wallEnlil-bāni-išdam-kīn,[i 7] “Enlil-bāni is firm as to foundation.” In practice, the walls of major cities were probably under continuous repair. He was a prodigious builder, responsible for the construction of theé-ur-gi7-ra, “the dog house,”[i 8] temple ofNinisina, a palace,[i 9] also theé-ní-dúb-bu, “house of relaxation,” for the goddessNintinugga, “lady who revives the dead,”[i 10] theé-dim-gal-an-na, “house - great mast of heaven,”[i 11] for the tutelary deity of Šuruppak, the goddessSud, and finally, theé-ki-ág-gá-ni for Ninibgal, the “lady with patient mercy who loves ex-votos, who heeds prayers and entreaties, his shining mother.”[i 12][7] Two large copper statues were taken to Nippur for dedication to Ningal, whichIddin-Dagān had fashioned 117 years earlier but had been unable to deliver, “on account of this, the goddess Ninlil had the godEnlil lengthen the life span of Enlil-Bāni.”[i 13][8] He is recorded, in two foundation nails, as having built (or possibly rebuilt) a temple to the goddessAnnunitum.[9]
There are perhaps two hymns addressed to this monarch.