Murashu Archive of Nippur
Business records of a Babylonian firm whose clients include dozens of Jews living by the river Chebar
Found 1893 — John Henry Haynes, University of Pennsylvania expedition to Nippur (third campaign); published by Hermann Hilprecht and Albert Clay from 1898
Where Nippur (Nuffar) (Iraq)
Dates from c. 454–404 BCE (Artaxerxes I and Darius II) · Achaemenid Persian · Generation of Ezra and Nehemiah; the Jews who stayed in Babylonia
Now at Penn Museum, Philadelphia; Istanbul Archaeological Museums; some in the Hilprecht Collection, Jena
How Murashu Archive of Nippur was found
Found in a single room of a building on the western mound at Nippur, where the tablets had been stored in jars.
What it is
About 800 Akkadian cuneiform tablets from the firm of Murashu and Sons, who managed land leases, loans and tax payments for tenants on royal and military estates around Nippur. Some tablets carry Aramaic notes on the edge.
Why it matters for the Bible
More than 70 people in the archive bear Jewish names such as Hananiah, Zebadiah and Yahu-natan, farming and paying taxes decades after the return under Cyrus. This shows a large Jewish population chose to stay in Babylonia, the community from which Ezra came 'up from Babylon' in 458 BCE and which later produced the Babylonian Talmud. The 'Chebar canal' of Ezekiel 1:1 (nar Kabari) is named in the Nippur texts, placing Ezekiel's exiles in this very district.
The Hebrew word: ne-HAHR ke-VAHR
נְהַר־כְּבָר
נְהַר־כְּבָר is pronounced ne-HAHR ke-VAHR and means the river (canal) Chebar, where Ezekiel saw his visions (Strong's H3529).
People this discovery connects to
- Ezra — עֶזְרָא (ez-RAH) — help
- Ezekiel — יְחֶזְקֵאל (ye-chez-KALE) — El strengthens
Places
- Chebar — כְּבָר (ke-VAHR) — the Kabaru canal near Nippur
Events
Jewish life in Babylonia after the return · Ezra's journey from Babylon (Ezra 7)
Murashu Archive of Nippur in Scripture
Jeremiah 29:5-7 Jeremiah told the exiles to build houses, plant gardens and seek the city's welfare; the Jews of the archive did exactly that.
Ezekiel 1:1 Ezekiel is among the exiles 'by the river Chebar'; the Nippur tablets name this canal (nar Kabari). (First mention of Chebar.)
Ezra 7:6-7 Ezra comes up from Babylon in the seventh year of Artaxerxes, the same king whose reign opens the Murashu archive.
Questions people ask
What is Murashu Archive of Nippur?
About 800 Akkadian cuneiform tablets from the firm of Murashu and Sons, who managed land leases, loans and tax payments for tenants on royal and military estates around Nippur. Some tablets carry Aramaic notes on the edge.
When was Murashu Archive of Nippur discovered?
It was found in 1893 by John Henry Haynes, University of Pennsylvania expedition to Nippur (third campaign); published by Hermann Hilprecht and Albert Clay from 1898, at Nippur (Nuffar).
Where is Murashu Archive of Nippur today?
Penn Museum, Philadelphia; Istanbul Archaeological Museums; some in the Hilprecht Collection, Jena.
Which Bible verses does Murashu Archive of Nippur relate to?
Jeremiah 29:5-7, Ezekiel 1:1, Ezra 7:6-7.
Related discoveries
- צֹרTyre: The Island City and Alexander's CausewayBikai's deep sounding through Hiram's city, and the mole that fulfilled Ezekiel's image of scraped rock
- יְהוּדִיAl-Yahudu Tablets ('Judahtown')Two hundred cuneiform documents from a village of Judean exiles in Babylonia
- מָצוֹרSennacherib's Prism (Taylor, Chicago and Jerusalem Prisms)Assyrian annals: 'Hezekiah the Judean I shut up like a bird in a cage'
- יָבִיןHazor Cuneiform TabletsLetters and law fragments from the largest Canaanite archive south of Syria
- גָּלוּתTel Hadid: Assyrian Cuneiform Tablets of Resettled ExilesTwo 7th-century contracts from a village where Assyria planted deportees — the mirror image of Israel's exile
- רַב־סָרִיסNebo-Sarsekim TabletA Babylonian temple receipt naming an officer from Jeremiah 39:3
Sources
- Wikipedia: Murashu family
- Stolper, Entrepreneurs and Empire: The Murasu Archive (1985)