| Karaindaš | |
|---|---|
| King of Babylon | |
 Molded baked-brick bas-relief of the temple of Karaindaš fromUruk | |
| Reign | c. 1410 BC |
| Predecessor | Agum III ? |
| Successor | Kadašman-Ḫarbe I |
| House | Kassite |
Karaindaš was one of the more prominent rulers of theKassite dynasty and reigned towards the end of the 15th century BC. An inscription on a tablet detailing building work calls him “Mighty King, King ofBabylonia, King ofSumer and Akkad, King of the Kassites, King ofKarduniaš,”[1][i 1] inscribedka-ru-du-ni-ia-aš, probably theKassite language designation for their kingdom and the earliest extant attestation of this name.[2]
Karaindaš’ own eleven-lineSumerian inscriptions[3][i 2] adorn bricks from the Temple dedicated to the goddessInanna, inUruk, where he commissioned the spectacular façade pictured. It is 205 cm high and would originally have been constructed from around five hundred pre-formed baked bricks, which were set in recessedsocles, depicting both male and female deities holding water jugs. The bearded males wear horned flat caps and double streams of water flow symmetrically to frame the niches.[4] Apart from the simple dedication, there are no significant texts adorning the façades.[5]
The temple to Inanna was originally located in a courtyard of the Eanna, or “House of Heaven”, precinct of Uruk[6] and stood until theSeleucid era. It was a rectangular building with a longcella and ante-cella surrounded by corridors and the elaborately decorated external wall with cornerbulwarks.[7] The inner sanctuary had the cult image at the end, instead of the usual siting in the middle of a long wall.[8]
It was excavated during the 1928/29 season by a team led by Director Julius Jordan under the auspices of theDeutsche Orient Gesellschaft andDeutsche Not-Gemeinschaft.[9] A section of the outer wall has been reassembled and moved to theVorderasiatisches wing of thePergamon Museum in Berlin. Parts of the façade were in theIraq Museum in Baghdad, but were stolen during the looting of the museum after the American occupation of Baghdad during the second Gulf War and have since disappeared.[10]
He concluded a boundary treaty (riksu) withAššur-bêl-nišešu of Assyria (1407-1399;short chronology), “together with an oath (māmītu)” according to theSynchronistic Chronicle.[i 3][11]
According to Sassmannshausen,[12] it isvery likely that Karaindaš was the Babylonian king who sent precious gifts, including lapis lazuli, to pharaohThutmosis III during his 8th campaign, the attack on theMitanni, according to theannals of Thutmosis III. This was conducted in the 33rd of his reign[13] or around 1447 BC according to theLow Chronology ofAncient Egypt, suggesting Karaindaš had a very long reign if this chronology coincides with that of the short chronology used for the Near East, but there are chronological difficulties trying to correlate Tuthmosis and Karaindaš.[14]
Burna-Buriash II, in hisAmarna correspondence with PharaohAkhenaten, in the tablet designated EA 10,[i 4] describes him as the first to enter into friendly relations with Egypt, “Since the time of Karaindaš, since messengers of your ancestors have come regularly to my ancestors, up to the present they (the ancestors of the two lands) have been good friends.”[15] TheAnnals of Tuthmosis, inscribed on the inside walls of the corridor which surrounds the granite holy of holies of theGreat Temple of Amun atKarnak, record thetribute of Babylon, and include a lapis lazuli ram's head amongst the inventory.[16]
A brown agate cylinder seal (pictured), which is in theUniversity Museum in Philadelphia, is inscribed “Oh [Shuqamuna], lord who advances in brilliance by your fullness … your light is indeed favourable: Izkur-Marduk,son of Karaindaš, who prays to you and reveres you.”[17][i 5]Shuqamuna was aKassite male god symbolized by a bird on a perch often accompanied by his consort,Shumaliya, associated with the investiture of kings. Izkur-Marduk's name is wholly Babylonian and translates as “he has invoked Marduk”.[18]
His renown was apparently so great, thatShutruk-Nahhunte who would go on to ransack Babylon around 250 years later, boasted “I destroyed Karaindaš”, i.e. Babylonia.[19]
