The Assyrian and Babylonian chronicles are historiographical texts from ancient Mesopotamia. Although they contain references to the earliest times, they deal especially with the second half of the second and the entire first millennium down to the first century BCE (cf. this table).
On this page, you will find
- links to translations of all known chronicles; they are meant as a first introduction and for ready reference, but it is advisable not to quote them without consulting a printed edition, because many readings are still uncertain;
- new editions of the chronicles of the Seleucid and Parthian period; several of them have not been published before.
The main editions are:
- A.K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles (1975 = ABC);
- Jean-Jacques Glassner, Chroniques Mésopotamiennes (1993) (translated as Mesopotamian Chronicles, 2004) (= CM);
- I.L. Finkel, R.J. van der Spek, R. Pirngruber, Babylonian Chronographic Texts from the Hellenistic Period (2020; = BCHP; Writings of the Ancient World)
The third of these books has not been published yet, but is being prepared by Irving Finkel of the British Museum (London) and Bert van der Spek of the Free University of Amsterdam (Holland).note
Below, you will find an overview of chronicles, more or less in their chronological order. For those who are unfamiliar with the subject but are interested, the "reader's editions" ought to be accessible. These are simplified translations. After reading a bit about the conventions of publication, the "scholarly editions" ought to be accessible too.
In the table below, yellow indicates a text written in Sumerian, pink stands for Assyrian, blue for Babylonian.
Chronicles
CM 1+2 Sumerian King List Translation ABC 18 CM 3 Dynastic chronicle Translation CM 5 Assyrian King List Translation CM 6 Royal chronicle of Lagaš Translation ABC 19 CM 38 Weidner chronicle Translation ABC 20 CM 39-41 Early kings chronicle Translation CM 7 Tummal chronicle Translation CM 48 Uruk chronicle concerning the kings of Ur Translation CM 8 Assyrian Eponym List (second millennium) Translation ABC 23 CM 50 Market prices chronicle Translation ABC 21 CM 10 Synchronic history Translation ABC 22 CM 45 Chronicle P Translation CM 11 Enlil-nirari chronicle Translation CM 12 Arik-den-ili chronicle Translation ABC 25 CM 46 Walker chronicle Translation CM 13 Tukulti-Ninurta chronicle Translation CM 14 Aššur-reša-iši chronicle Translation CM 15 Tiglath-pileser I chronicle Translation ABC 24 CM 47 Eclectic chronicle Translation ABC 17 CM 51 Religious chronicle Translation CM 9 Assyrian Eponym List (first millennium) Translation CM 52 Chronographic document concerning Nabu-šuma-iškun Translation ABC 1 CM 16 Period from Nabu-Nasir to Šamaš-šuma-ukin Translation ABC 1B CM 17 Period from Nabu-Nasir to Esarhaddon Translation ABC 14 CM 18 Esarhaddon chronicle Translation ABC 15 CM 19 Šamaš-šuma-ukin chronicle Translation ABC 16 CM 20 Akitu chronicle Translation ABC 2 CM 21 Early Years of Nabopolassar chronicle Translation ABC 3 CM 22 Fall of Nineveh chronicle Translation ABC 4 CM 23 Late years of Nabopolassar chronicle Translation ABC 5 CM 24 Early Years of Nebuchadnezzar chronicle Translation ABC 6 CM 25 Third year of Neriglissar chronicle Translation ABC 7 CM 26 Nabonidus chronicle Translation CM 53 Chronographic document concerning Nabonidus Translation Cyrus Cylinder Translation ABC 9 CM 28 Artaxerxes III chronicle Translation ABC 8 CM 29 BCHP 1 Alexander chronicle Translation BCHP 2 Alexander and Arabia chronicle Translation ABC 10 CM 30 BCHP 3 Diadochi chronicle Translation CM 31 BCHP 4 Alexander and Artaxerxes Fragment Translation ABC 11 CM 32 BCHP 5 Antiochus I and Sin temple chronicle Translation BCHP 6 Ruin of Esagila chronicle Translation ABC 13A CM 36 BCHP 7 Antiochus, Bactria, and India chronicle Translation BCHP 8 Juniper garden chronicle Translation ABC 12 CM 33 BCHP 9 End of Seleucus I chronicle Translation ABC 13 CM 34 BCHP 10 Seleucid Accessions chronicle Translation BCHP 11 Invasion of Ptolemy III chronicle Translation ABC 13B CM 35 BCHP 12 Seleucus III chronicle Translation BCHP 13 Politai chronicle Translation BCHP 14 Greek Community chronicle Translation BCHP 15 Gold theft chronicle Translation BCHP 16 Document on land and tithes Translation CM 37 BCHP 17 Judicial chronicle Translation BCHP 18B/A Chronogr. doc. conc. Bagayasha Translation BCHP 18C Diary concerning Bagayasha Translation BCHP 19 Chronicle concerning an Arsacid king Translation BCHP 20 Euphrates chronicle Translation Additional documents
CM 42 Kings of the Sealand Translation CM 43 Samsuiluna fragment Translation CM 44 Another Samsuiluna fragment Translation CM 27 Fragment of a Neo-Babylonian chronicle Translation Nabonidus Cylinder from Sippar Translation Dynastic Prophecy Translation Antiochus Cylinder Translation CM 4 Babylonian King List of the Hellenistic Period Translation Uruk King List Translation Astronomical diaries
Diary concerning Artaxerxes II Mnemon Text Diary conc. Gaugamela Translation There are no scholarly editions of the non-BCHP-chronicles on this page. For the original (usually Akkadian) text and commentaries, you must consult Grayson's or Glassner's book. The translations offered here are free adaptations from ABC and CM; the spelling of personal names has been harmonized, variants have been ignored, explanatory notes have been added, uncertain readings have not been indicated. In short, these pages are no subsitute for ABC or CM.
