Burnaburiash II (c. 1379 – 1347 ) tried to interfere with a letter by himself claiming
that the Assyrians were his vassals. In reality the relation between Assyria and Babylonia
was that of two sovereign states regulated by various treaties made between their
rulers, which had to be renewed with each change in rulership. The Synchronistic
History records the historical development of this interaction from Puzur-Ashur III
(first half of the fifteenth century) to Adad-nirari III ( 810 – 783 ) (Galter 1999 ). The
text lists examples of Assyrian monarchs keeping these treaties and Babylonian kings
breaking them. It describes times of warfare between the two states and periods where
they were closely working together (Brinkman 1990 : 86 – 89 ).
The text starts with Karaindash of Babylon and Ashur-bel-nisheshu of Ashur
making a treaty. It is later confirmed by other Assyrian and Babylonian kings. During
the reign of Ashur-uballit I, Kassite troops rebelled in Babylon and killed the Baby-
lonian king, a son of Burnaburiash and the Assyrian princess Muballitat-Sherua.
Ashur-uballit aided the ruling dynasty, crushed the revolt and put Kurigalzu II,
another minor son of Burnaburiash, on the throne. After this brief Assyrian interference
in Babylonian affairs, we hear of several battles between Assyrians and Babylonians
and of the redrawing of the border line (Grayson 1965 : 337 – 339 ). During the following
decades, relations got worse and the conflict culminated under Tukulti-Ninurta I
( 1233 – 1197 ).
— Looking down the Tigris —Figure 37. 1 Tablet containing the so-called ‘Synchronistic History’
(courtesy of the Trustees of the British Museum).