Marduk-nÃÂdin-aḫḫÃÂ, inscribed <sup>md</sup><small>AMAR.UTU</small>-na-din-<small>MU</small>, reigned 1095âÂÂ1078 BC, was the sixth king of the Second Dynasty of Isin and the 4th Dynasty of Babylon. He is best known for his restoration of the Eganunmaḫ in Ur and the famines and droughts that accompanied his reign.
He was related to all three of his immediate predecessors: his father was Ninurta-nÃÂdin-à ¡umi, the third king, his brother was Nabu-kudurri-uá¹£ur, the fourth king, and his nephew was Enlil-nÃÂdin-apli the fifth king, whom he revolted against and deposed. A reconstructed passage in the Walker Chronicle describes how while Enlil-nÃÂdin-apli was away campaigning in Assyria, supposedly marching to conquer the city of Assur itself, Marduk-nÃÂdin-aḫḫàand the nobles rebelled. On his return âÂÂto his land and his city. They [kill]ed him with the s[word].âÂÂ
His relationship with his Assyrian counterpart, Tukultë-apil-Eà ¡arra, was antagonistic and he launched a raid early in his reign into Assyria, capturing the cultic idols of Adad and à  ala from EkallÃÂte, a town only around thirty miles from Assur. For his part, Tukultë-apil-Eà ¡arra led several retaliatory raids into the heartland of Babylonia, recalled with typical bombastic rhetoric:
The Synchronistic History recalls the battles were in the first instance âÂÂby the Lower Zab, opposite Ahizûhina, and in the second year he defeated Marduk-nadin-ahhe at Gurmarritu, which is upstream from Akkad.â Although âÂÂUgarsallu (immediately south of the Lesser Zab) he plundered as far as Lubda (located in the area of Arrapha). He ruled every part of Suhu (in the middle Euphrates Valley) as far as Rapiqu (southern border of Assyria),â these places are on the periphery of Babylonia and the idols were not recovered until centuries later:
There are seven kudurrus, two building inscriptions, four Luristan bronze daggers, one "belonging to à  amaà ¡-killani, officer of the king," a Sumerian inscription on a copper cylinder and one unpublished garment inventory attesting to this king. The kudurrus show normal real estate activity in northern Babylonia. One, issued by Aradsu, son of Rià ¡nunak, grants independence from forced labor for the residents living near the mouth of the á¹¢almani Canal, dated to his first year. Another gives land to a certain Adad-zer-iqià ¡a in grateful thanks for his efforts fighting the Assyrians and is dated to his 10th year. One of the witnesses is given as Abullu-tetaparâu, the son of the king of Babylon. Another, dated to his 13th year, confirms the ownership of seven <small>GUR</small> of arable land to a certain IqÃ«à ¡a-Ninurta and is witnessed in the city of Opis.
Another kudurru dated eight months earlier in the same year granted Iddin-Ninurta, a leather worker, two <small>GUR</small> of land and was witnessed by the same seven officers of royal service: Irëba-Ià ¡tarÃÂn, the governor of Isin, BÃÂbilÃÂiu, the chamberlain, Eulmaà ¡-à ¡ÃÂkin-à ¡umi, the marshall, Marduk-andulli, the vizier, Enlil-mukîn-apli, the commandant, Ea-kudirri-ibni, the provincial governor and Nabû-nÃÂdin-aḫḫÃÂ, the overseer of the storehouse. As this was from KÃÂr-BÃÂl-mÃÂtÃÂti, a town probably in the vicinity of Babylon, it is thought the men were courtiers who accompanied the king in his travels. Only two of these officials, BÃÂbilÃÂiu and Nabû-nÃÂdin-aḫḫÃÂ, had been in office during Marduk-nÃÂdin-aḫḫÃÂ's first year, as they appeared in the sequence of seven witnesses on the earliest, "Aradsu, son of Rià ¡nunak," kudurru. Another is a deed recording Marduk-naá¹£ir's purchase of land from Amêl-Enlil, son of Khanbi, for a chariot, saddles, two asses, an ox, grain, oil, and certain garments. This gives à  apiku, the son of Itti-Marduk-balÃÂá¹Âu, the âÂÂsonâ of Arad-Ea, as the land-surveyor and this is probably the same individual as the last witness, âÂÂscribeâ and âÂÂson of Arad-Ea,â on a kudurru dated to Marduk-nÃÂdin-aḫḫÃÂ's eighth year.
Also assigned to this era is the undated Caillou Michaux (kudurru), in the Musée du Louvre.
He restored the Eganunmaḫ at Ur, without any apparent alteration to the plan of Kassite king Kurigalzu's (Kurigalzu I or II undetermined) original plan, and constructed a âÂÂkitchen complexâ on the northwest side of the ziggurat. Three inscribed door-sockets were found at the sanctuary. He may be portrayed by the 3rd king in the Prophecy A, whose reign is a successful and fertile 18 years, but whose rule comes to end in a revolt. According to a later commentator, a certain Ea-muà ¡allim provided him with an astrological report (ittu ina à ¡amÃÂ) concerning a solar eclipse in 1090.
An Assyrian Chronicle reports that Marduk-nadin-ahhe lost his throne and âÂÂdisappearedâ (à ¡adâ ÃÂmid) following disruptions caused by Arameans migrating into Mesopotamia under the pressure from famine, the Babylonians themselves apparently resorting to cannibalism, "[....they] ate one another's flesh..."