Kadaà ¡man-Enlil II, typically rendered <sup>d</sup>ka-dÃ¡à ¡-man-<sup>d</sup><small>EN.LÃÂL</small> in contemporary inscriptions, meaning âÂÂhe believes in Enlilâ (c. 1263-1255 BC) was the 25th king of the Kassite or 3rd dynasty of Babylon.
Kadashman-Enlil II ascended the throne as a child. Consequently, the political power was held by the influential vizier Itti-Marduk-balatu.
During this regency, Hattusili III of Hatti had to deal with the vizier who proved negative of the Hittites, noting: âÂÂwhom the gods have caused to live far too long and [from] whose mouth unfavourable words never ceaseâÂÂ, according to Ḫattuà ¡ili III. The vizier seems to have adopted a sharply antagonistic position towards the Hittites, favoring the appeasement of their belligerent Assyrian northerly neighbor.
In the first place the Hittite king, Ḫattuà ¡ili III, wrote to Itti-Marduk-balatu (âÂÂWith-Marduk-[there is]-LifeâÂÂ) to reestablish relations with Kadaà ¡man-Turgu's successor, because âÂÂmy brother (Kadaà ¡man-Enlil) was a child in those days, and they did not read out the tablets in your presence.â Itti-Marduk-balatu seems to have adopted the part of viceroy and, on one hand, Ḫattuà ¡ili tried to renew the alliance entered into by the late king and, on the other, warn him – âÂÂIf you do not protect my brotherâÂÂs progeny in the kingship, I shall become your enemy.â This drew an angry response from the vizier, who accused Ḫattuà ¡ili of treating them like vassals.
Kadaà ¡man-Enlil had allowed his diplomatic missions with the Hittite court to lapse, prompting an anxious Ḫattuà ¡ili to ask why. âÂÂSince the Ahlamu are hostile I have stopped sending my messengers. The King of Assyria prevents my messenger from crossing his territoryâ – were his feeble responses, and this drew the curt reply: âÂÂOnly when two kings are at enmity do their messengers cease regular travel between themâÂÂ. However, when Kadaà ¡man-Enlil complained to Ḫattuà ¡ili that his traders were being killed in Amurru and Ugarit, he refuted that any such thing could happen in Hittite territory. Kadaà ¡man Enlil's envoy, Adad-à ¡ar-ilani, had witnessed Benteà ¡ina of Amurru's sworn rebuttal that he had cursed Babylonia, helping to diffuse an international crisis.
Complimenting him on his hunting prowess, Ḫattuà ¡ili observed, âÂÂI have heard that my brother has become a grown man and regularly goes out to hunt,â before goading him to make war on a weaker neighbor, presumably Assyria. âÂÂDo not keep sitting around, my brother, but go against an enemy land and defeat the enemy! [Against which land] should [my brother] go out? Go against a land over which you enjoy three â or fourfold numerical superiority.â The exact same advice was given to BÃÂbu-aḫa-iddina, an important Assyrian official, for a young Tukulti-Ninurta I on his accession to the throne of Assyria, very possibly by Ḫattuà ¡ili or his son Tudhaliya IV. A diplomatic marriage may have been in the offing with Ḫattuà ¡ili's wife Puduhepa matchmaking Kadaà ¡man Enlil's betrothal to one of her daughters, if the assignment of the recipients and sequence of related letters is correct, but alas it was not to come to pass as he died young.
Relations with Egypt were restored and possibly cemented with a diplomatic marriage of a âÂÂdaughter of Babylon who had been given to EgyptâÂÂ, who must surely have been Kadaà ¡man-Enlil's sister.
In his correspondence with Kadaà ¡man-Enlil, Ḫattuà ¡ili had observed that âÂÂin my brotherâÂÂs country, the horses are more plentiful than straw,â echoing the earlier sentiment of a letter from the Amarna corpus that stated, âÂÂâÂÂgold is like dust in the land of my brother,â rejoined by âÂÂâÂÂthere are more horses than straw in the land of my Kassite brother.âÂÂ
However, Babylon was the source of more than equine commodities. It also provided high-in-demand physicians and other skilled artisans, such as sculptors, conjurers, and incantation priests. Kadaà ¡man-Enlil had complained about the failure to return loaned doctors. Ḫattuà ¡ili had concurred: "Detaining a doctor is not right!" But one named Rabâ-à ¡a-Marduk had been enticed to stay, with provision of a âÂÂfine houseâ and a royal marriage. Another had the misfortune to have died, which failed to shame the unabashed Ḫattuà ¡ili from requesting the services of a sculptor.
Kadashman-Enlil II's reign was fairly short, up to nine years attested on the date formulae of more than forty economic texts. Inscribed bricks of Kadashman-Enlil II were found in a Kassite temple at Larsa.