Autobiography of Kurigalzu

Marriage of Nergal and Ereshkigal

1400 BC

A neo-Babylonian copy of a text recording the endowment by Kurigalzu, son of Kadašman-Ḫarbe, of a temple of Ištar with an estate situated on the Euphrates near Nippur, is known as the autobiography of Kurigalzu and comes in the form of a small hexagonal prism of light-yellow baked clay and a fragmentary cylinder. In it, he takes credit for being the

…finisher of the wall, kišuru, and the one who completed the Ekur, provider for Ur and Uruk, the one that assures the integrity of the rites of Eridu, the constructor of the temple of An and Inanna, the one who ensures the integrity of the Sattukku (food allowance) offerings of the great gods. — Autobiography of Kurigalzu, Prism BM 108982 and Cylinder NBC 2503

He “caused Anu the father of the great gods to dwell in his exalted sanctuary”, which is suggested to be referring to the restoration of the Anu cult. The text lacks the linguistic features and script characteristics which would bring one to suppose it is a genuine copy of an ancient inscription and was probably created in late Babylonian times to enhance the prestige of the Ištar cult. The extent to which it preserves tradition from the actual events of the reign of Kurigalzu cannot as yet be determined.