The Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet

In my previous post on the Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet, I mentioned that Nebo-Sarsekim was the same individual mentioned in Jeremiah 39:3.

Peter Kirk alerted me to an article in The Telegraph that provides a photo and a full translation of the tablet.

According to the article in The Telegraph, the full translation of the
tablet reads as follows:

(Regarding) 1.5 minas (0.75 kg) of gold, the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin,the chief eunuch, which he sent via Arad-Banitu the eunuch to [the temple]Esangila: Arad-Banitu has delivered [it] to Esangila. In the presence of Bel-usat, son of Alpaya, the royal bodyguard, [and of] Nadin,son of Marduk-zer-ibni. Month XI, day 18, year 10 [of] Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

The tablet is dated to the 10th year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, 595 B.C.E., two years after the deportation of Jehoiachin, King of Judah. This date is very important. As Peter wrote:

Also the date on the tablet, the tenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, is two years after Nebuchadnezzar first sacked the temple in Jerusalem and took all the gold from it, 2 Kings 24:13. So the gold mentioned in this tablet could well have been Nebo-Sarsekim's share of the spoil from Jerusalem.

Credits:

I want to thank Peter Kirk for leading me to the article in The Telegraph.

The translation of the Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet appeared in The Telegraph.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Archaeology, Babylon, Jeremiah, Nebo-Sarsekim, Nebuchadnezzar