Marduk-apla-iddina I

Marduk-apla-iddina I
King of Babylon
Kudurru of Marduk-apla-iddina I
Reign	ca. 1171–1159 BC
Predecessor	Meli-Šipak II
Successor	Zababa-šuma-iddina
House	Kassite

Marduk-apla-iddina I, contemporarily written in cuneiform as ^dAMAR.UTU-IBILA-SUM-na and meaning in Akkadian: "Marduk has given an heir", was the 34th Kassite king of Babylon ca. 1171–1159 BC (short chronology). He was the son and successor of Melišipak, from whom he had previously received lands, as recorded on a kudurru, and he reigned for 13 years, during a time when the Dark Ages cast a heavy cloud over the contemporary events.

He claimed, like his father, descent from Kurigalzu and evidently kept court in Dūr-Kurigalzu itself because tablets found in the burnt ruins of the Tell-el-Abyad quarter which marked the later Elamite destruction of the city, are dated in the first two years of his reign. These include lists of garments received or distributed for the New Year, or akitu, festival and indicate a normal economic relationship with Babylonia's western and eastern neighbors, the Subarians and Elamites respectively, whose singers apparently entertained the royal household. Documents surviving from his reign date only as late as his sixth year and include his repair of the E-zida temple at Borsippa, where he credited the god Enlil with raising him to kingship despite recording this in an inscription wholly dedicated to Marduk.

There is evidence of thriving commerce in woolen garments with Assyrian traders, and numerous royal land grants in northern and especially northeastern Babylonia. The Chronicle of the Market Prices references his 21st year, but neither king with this name ruled longer than 13 years. Like his two predecessors, some of the economic texts show a curious double-dating formula which has yet to be satisfactorily explained. The Synchronistic King List gives his Assyrian contemporary as Ninurta-apal-Ekur, which is unlikely as he is also shown against the earlier two Kassite kings, despite his short reign.