Marduk-balassu-iqbi

Marduk-balāssu-iqbi
King of Babylon
Kudurru of Adad-eṭir, mentioning a Marduk-balāssu-iqbi, a 9thcentury BC monument.
Reign	ca. 819 – 813 BC
Predecessor	Marduk-zakir-šumi I
Successor	Baba-aha-iddina
House	Dynasty of E (mixed dynasties)

Marduk-balāssu-iqbi, inscribed ^mdAMAR.UTU-TI-su-iq-bi or ^mdSID-TI-zu-DUG₄, meaning “Marduk has promised his life,” ca. 819 – 813 BC, was the 8th king of the Dynasty of E of Babylon; he was the successor of his father Marduk-zākir-šumi I, and was the 4th and final generation of Nabû-šuma-ukin I's family to reign. He was contemporary with his father’s former ally, Šamši-Adad V of Assyria, who may have been his brother-in-law, married to who was possibly his sister Šammu-ramat, the legendary Semiramis, and who was to become his nemesis.

He was recorded as a witness on a kudurru dated to his father’s 2nd year, 25 years before he ascended the throne, suggesting he was fairly elderly when he assumed power, and he may be a witness on another kudurru, dated to his grandfather’s 31st year, although this individual is identified as the bēl pīḫati, or a “provincial administrator,” a “son” of Arad-Ea. The kudurru pictured is a ṣalmu or commemorative granite stele to Adad-eṭir, the dagger-bearer of Marduk, by his eldest son, where the name Marduk-balāssu-iqbi appears in the context of the donor and possibly may not be the king. The fourth line reads "the king his lord, Marduk-balāssu-iqbi," leading some to assign it to his reign although it is without a succeeding royal determinative and is followed by mārušu rabū, "his eldest son." It is, however, an inscription of this era. He receives a fleeting mention in the Eclectic Chronicle alongside his father.

He seems to have made his capital at Gannanāti, a town on the Diyāla River; he engaged in construction activity in Seleucia, and exerted control over territory encompassing both Dēr and Nippur. His officials, like him, seem to have received their positions through inheritance, such as Enlil-apla-uṣur, the šandabakku or governor of Nippur, and the sons of Tuballiṭ-Ešdar, the sukkallus (court personnel) and šākin ṭēmi (a regional governor), suggesting weak central authority and some local autonomy in the provinces.