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between the 16th and 7th centuries BC. The original kudurru would typically be stored in a temple while the person granted the land would be given a clay copy to use to confirm legal ownership. Kudurrus are often linked to what are usually called "ancient kudurrus", land grant stones from the third
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for "frontier" or "boundary". because early epigraphers frequently found that word in the text and assumed they were placed in agricultural setting, not the temples they actually were. While there is consensus on the main group of kudurru there are other "debatable kudurru" for which opinion is
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where they were taken when the
Elamites conquered Mesopotamia. Half of those excavated in Babylonia were also found in temples. They range in height from 10 cm (3.9 in) to 1 m (3 ft 3 in) and the inscriptions on them ranged from 39 to 390 lines. Examples are in the
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A call upon the gods to recognize and endorse the kudurru and to curse anyone who violates the intent or damages the stone. There may be symbols of the relevant gods on the stele to strengthen this call. These symbols have been the cause of much speculation over the years, some of it
183:(1021–1004 BC) as a stand in. Other kudurru record legal cases, usually when loss of life is involved, making it the domain of the ruler. Finally, some kudurru record gifts of prebends (income from land for temples or priests) or royal relief from taxes or labor for individuals.
325:
Paulus, Susanne. "10. The
Babylonian Kudurru Inscriptions and their Legal and Sociohistorical Implications". Volume 1 Karduniaš. Babylonia under the Kassites 1, edited by Alexa Bartelmus and Katja Sternitzke, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2017, pp.
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Steinkeller, Piotr. "“Ancient
Kudurru” Inscriptions." Ed. AR George, Cuneiform Royal Inscriptions and Related Texts in the Schøyen Collection, The publication of Cornell University Studies in Assyriology and Sumerology 17 (2011):
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I. J. Gelb, P. Steinkeller, and R. M. Whiting Jr, "OIP 104. Earliest Land Tenure
Systems in the Near East: Ancient Kudurrus", Oriental Institute Publications 104 Chicago: The Oriental Institute, 1989, 1991 ISBN 978-0-91-898656-6
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Brinkman, J. A. “Babylonian Royal Land Grants, Memorials of
Financial Interest, and Invocation of the Divine.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient, vol. 49, no. 1, 2006, pp. 1–47
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and is held in the
Baghdad Museum. They are examples of how kudurru usage continued for several centuries after the end of the Kassite Dynasty. The last known kudurru was of the Babylonian ruler
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Charpin, D., "Chroniques bibliographiques, 2: La
Commemoration d'actes juridiques: Apropos des kudurrus babyloniens.", Revue d'assyriologie 96: 169-91. 2002 (published November 2004) (in french)
335:
Kathryn E. Slanski, "The
Babylonian entitlement narûs (kudurrus) : a study in their form and function", Boston : American Schools of Oriental Research, 2003 ISBN 089757060X
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Slanski, Kathryn E. “Classification, Historiography and
Monumental Authority: The Babylonian Entitlement ‘Narûs (Kudurrus).’” Journal of Cuneiform Studies, vol. 52, 2000, pp. 95–114
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Slanski, Kathryn E. “Representation of the Divine on the
Babylonian Entitlement Monuments (Kudurrus): Part I: Divine Symbols.” Archiv Für Orientforschung, vol. 50, 2003, pp. 308–23
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Zimmermann, Lynn-Salammbô. "Wooden Wax-Covered Writing Boards as Vorlage for kudurru Inscriptions in the Middle Babylonian Period" Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History, 2022
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W. J. Hinke, "Selected Babylonian Kudurru Inscriptions", (Semitic Study Series, edited by R. J. H. Gottheil and Morris Jastrow, jun., No. XIV.) Leiden: late E. J. Brill, 1911
498:
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Reade, J. E. 1987. "Babylonian Boundary-Stones and Comparable Monuments in the British Museum." Annual Review of the Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia Project 5: 47-51
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Pizzimenti, "The Kudurrus And The Sky. Analysis And Interpretation Of The Dog-Scorpion-Lamp Astral Pattern As Represented In Kassite Kudurrus Reliefs", February 2016
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millennium (typically Sargonic and Ur III) which serve a similar purpose though the word kudurru did not emerge until the 2nd millennium (Middle Babylonian in fact).
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A description of the kudurru's intent, granting land, etc. There may be a relief illustrating this, showing the king, the grantee, or the defendant as appropriate.
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Livingstone, Alasdair. “A NEGLECTED KUDURRU OR BOUNDARY STONE OF MARDUK-NĀDIN-AḪḪĒ.” Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 100, 2006, pp. 75–81
224:
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J A Brinkman, “Remarks on Two Kudurrus from the Second Dynasty of Isin.” Revue d’Assyriologie et d’archéologie Orientale, vol. 61, no. 1, 1967, pp. 70–74
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Sandowicz, Małgorzata. "Companions of Nabonidus" Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie, vol. 110, no. 2, 2020, pp. 161-175
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Ursula Seidl, "Die babylonischen Kudurru-Reliefs: Symbole mesopotamischer Gottheiten", Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht (December 31, 1988) (in german)
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562:
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L.W. King, "Babylonian Boundary Stones and Memorial Tablets in the British Museum (BBSt)" (London: Trustees of the British Museum, 1912)
219:
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Brinkman, J. A. and Dalley, Stephanie. "A Royal Kudurru from the Reign of Aššur-nādin-šumi", ZAVA, vol. 78, no. 1, 1988, pp. 76-98
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Hurowitz, Victor (Avigdor). "Some Literary Observations on the Šitti-Marduk Kudurru (BBSt. 6)" , vol. 82, no. 1, 1992, pp. 39-59
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Frame, Grant. "A Kudurru Fragment from the Reign of Adad-apla-iddina." Altorientalische Forschungen 13.1-2 (1986): 206-211
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482:
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J. A. Brinkman, "A Political History of Post-Kassite Babylonia", AnOr 43 (Rome: Pontifical Biblical Institute, 1968), 348
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is found in the Warwick Museum. Another kudduru of that ruler, long and essentially complete, was found near
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Brinkman, M.E. and Brinkman, J.A.. "A Tenth-Century Kudurru Fragment" , vol. 62, no. 1, 1972, pp. 91-98
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259:
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Tuman, V.S., "Astronomical Dating of the Kudurru IM 80908", Sumer, vol. 46, pp. 98-106, 1989-1990
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Brinkman, J. A./S. Dalley (1988): A royal kudurru from the reign of Aššur-nādin-šumi, ZA 78, 76–9
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163:(1121–1100 BC) records his victory over the Elamites and his recovery of the cult statue of
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overran several cult centers in Babylonia. This replaced a sun disk erected by the ruler
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While most kudurru record land grants some serve other purposes. Two kudurrus of
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Kudurru have a standard format with some features being optional. They contain:
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Lambert, W. G. “The Warwick Kudurru.” Syria, vol. 58, no. 1/2, 1981, pp. 173–85
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Al-Adhami, K. "A New Kudurru of Maroduk-nadin-ahhe." Sumer 38 (1982): 121-33
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Not to be confused with the academic publication Babylonian Boundary Stones.
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171:(886–853 BC) commemorates the recovery of the Sippar city-god
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which is Akkadian for stone or stele (occasionally as
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The objects are traditionally called kudurru which is
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Land grant to Marduk-apla-iddina I by Meli-Shipak II
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16:A boundary stone in the ancient Near East
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240:Land grant to Marduk-zākir-šumi kudurru
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56:was a type of stone document used as a
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220:Land grant to Ḫunnubat-Nanaya kudurru
518:Kudurru at British Museum BM 102485
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235:Land grant to Ḫasardu kudurru
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270:Marduk-zakir-šumi I kudurru
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260:Eanna-shum-iddina kudurru
255:Kudurru for Šitti-Marduk
553:Kudurru boundary stones
125:National Museum of Iraq
40:by the French botanist
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133:Second Dynasty of Isin
131:(1095–1078 BC) of the
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537:Categories
313:References
123:, and the
92:clay nails
81:Background
307:Runestone
137:Ctesiphon
74:Babylonia
543:Kassites
281:See also
155:BM 90834
104:asumittu
87:Akkadian
70:Kassites
48:, Paris)
504:211-220
326:229-244
177:Suteans
173:Shamash
147:Content
100:kudurru
68:by the
66:vassals
54:kudurru
38:Baghdad
34:Kassite
29:kudurru
368:Plates
165:Marduk
119:, the
117:Louvre
106:, or
365:Text
112:Susa
108:abnu
96:narû
64:to
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374:^
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52:A
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