Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet

Overview

The Nebo-Sarsekim Tablet is a small Babylonian cuneiform clay tablet dated to the tenth year of Nebuchadnezzar II (c. 595 BC). The tablet records a mundane financial transaction: a payment of 1.5 minas of gold by an official named Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, who bears the title rab sha-reshi ("chief eunuch"), sent through the eunuch Arad-Banitu to Esagila (Esangila in the translation), a temple in Babylon.

Discovery and Identification

The tablet was originally recovered from the ancient Mesopotamian city of Sippar (modern Tell Abu Habbah, Iraq) in the late 19th century. It entered the British Museum collection around 1920 but remained unstudied and unpublished in storage for decades. On July 5, 2007, Michael Jursa, an Assyriologist from the University of Vienna, identified the tablet's significance while conducting research in the British Museum's vast cuneiform collection. Jursa recognized that the name and title on the tablet matched a figure mentioned in Jeremiah 39:3. The tablet is catalogued in the British Museum collection.

The Inscription

The text is a standard Neo-Babylonian administrative receipt written in Akkadian cuneiform. It records that the gold was "the property of Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the chief eunuch," and that it was delivered to the Esagila temple complex. The rab sha-reshi was one of the highest-ranking officials in the Neo-Babylonian court, responsible for overseeing the royal household and serving as a senior military and administrative officer.

Biblical Significance

The tablet's importance lies in its likely reference to a specific official named in Jeremiah 39:3. The biblical text describes the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC and lists the Babylonian officials who entered the city after breaching its walls: "all the officials of the king of Babylon entered and sat in the Middle Gate: Nergal-sharezer of Samgar, Nebo-sarsekim the Rabsaris, Nergal-sharezer the Rabmag, and all the rest of the officials of the king of Babylon." The Hebrew "Nebo-sarsekim the Rabsaris" corresponds closely to the Babylonian Nabu-sharrussu-ukin, the rab sha-reshi, on the tablet, though the Hebrew spelling of the name differs slightly from the cuneiform.

According to Jursa, the rare Babylonian name, the official's high rank and the closeness in time (the tablet dates to 595 BC, just nine years before the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BC) make it almost certain that the person on the tablet is the same individual mentioned in Jeremiah 39:3.