40 OLD BABYLONIAN INSCRIPTIONS 



remaining characters of the last three names of the dynasty. It follows, therefore, that 

 all the five must have reigned before these. As the kings which have been numbered 4 

 and 5 are known to have been successors of Marduknadinahe, it likewise follows that 

 Nebuchadrezzar I cannot have stood lower than the fourth place in the list. It may 

 be safely asserted, however, that he stood in the first place, and was, therefore, the 

 founder of the Pashe dynasty. To this two objections may be offered: (1) That the 

 traces of the cuneiform characters which follow the number of the years in the List b 

 do not favor the reading of JSfabd ; (2) that Sayce, 1 on the evidence furnished 

 by the "Early Tablet of the Babylonian Chronicle," 2 col. IV, 17, claims that place 

 in the list for a king Rammdnu-sharra [or slium\ 3 -iddiaa. In reply to this the fol- 

 lowing is to be said : 



1. Scholars have adhered too closely to the view that the mutilated begin- 

 ning of the first line of the List b contains after ilu traces of the sign SHU, 1 the 

 ideogram for the god Marduk. Winckler, in his edition of the list, cuts loose from 

 this assumption, and gives as certain only ilu. This variation from the carefully 

 guarded tradition is supported by Bezold's remark 5 that "at this point the tablet 

 is in a most lamentable condition." The latter, however, seems to recognize traces 

 of two other wedges immediately following. But the chief problem is whether 

 beneath the two horizontal wedges of ilu, there can be seen a small horizontal wedge 

 so that the sign can be completed to the combination of ilu and AG, 6 the ideogram 

 for JVabtt. From the fact that all those who have examined the list personally are 

 silent on this point I infer that the tablet at this place is too indistinct to permit any 

 definite conclusion. Then, however, there is nothing in the remaining traces that 

 forbids the reading of JSfabti instead of Marduk. 



2. From what we know from the scanty cuneiform accounts, 7 it is clear that 

 the last years of the Cassite dynasty were a time of war and political disturbance, 

 and that it was the weakness of its last representative which furnished the opportunity 

 for its own overthrow and for the rise of the house of Pashe. ]STo matter what verb 

 may have stood in the effaced passage R. P. 2 , Vol. V, p. 112, 1. 16, 8 the supposition 



1 R. P.\ Vol. V, p. 112, note 1. 



2 R. P.\ Vol. V, pp. 106-114. 



3 The reading of the middle character seems to be doubtful. Mr. Pinches would render a great service to Assyriol- 

 ogists by publishing the exact cuneiform text at an early date. 



i Brunnow, I. c, 10834. 



6 Z. A. IV, p. 317, note 1. 



6 Brunnow, I. c, 2786. Cf. Hommel, Oeseh., p. 448. 



7 Cf. especially R. P.\ Vol. V, pp. Ill, 112, 1. 14-22. 



8 1 favor umashshir, "he left," instead of "he renounced " or "abdicated " (Pinches). Cf. however, Tiele, I. c, 

 p. 165. 



