MESOPOTAMIAMIDDLE BABYLONIAN PERIOD
Kathryn Slanski
Middle Babylonian is a linguistic term describing the language of
documents written in Akkadian in Babylonia (southern Mesopotamia)
in the sixteenth through eleventh centuries. Middle Babylonian is
also used to designate the historical period of that place and time.
The Kingdom of Babylonia, known in international correspondence
as màt Kardunia“, was ruled by two successive dynasties during this
period.^1 Following the collapse of the Old Babylonian Kingdom in
1595, a dynasty identified as Kassite took hold in northern Babylonia
and by 1475 had extended control over the south as well. A dynasty
claiming to hale from the ancient city of Isin claimed the Babylonian
throne in 1157. The Isin II kings ruled for over a century, until 1026.
Upstream from Babylon on the Middle Euphrates lay the ›ana
Kingdom. The ›ana Kingdom has recently been dated to the Middle
Babylonian period,^2 and it is likely that the Middle Euphrates region
was at times independent and at times a vassal state under foreign
control.- S L
Although there are abundant archaeological and textual sources for
this period, these have yet to be systematically studied, and so knowl-
edge of the history of the period, including the history of law, is
provisional.485
(^1) For the history of Babylonia under the Kassite and Isin II dynasties, see
Brinkman, “Kassiten,” and “Isin. B. II. Dynastie.” For a general overview of
the Kassites, see Sommerfeld, “Kassites.. .” Regnal dates follow Brinkman,
“Chronology...”
(^2) Podany, “Middle Babylonian...”
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