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Primary sourceArtifactc. 604–562 BCE

Stamped bricks of Nebuchadnezzar II

Royal brickworks of Nebuchadnezzar II · c. 604–562 BCE

Mass-produced mud bricks stamped with Nebuchadnezzar's name and titles, used across Babylon's buildings.

Each brick was stamped with Nebuchadnezzar's own name and titles, showing how he marked his buildings as his.

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A hand with a ring on the finger holds or rests beside a weathered, pale brown mud-brick with cuneiform-style wedge marks impressed across its surface, set among dry sticks and dirt on arid ground.
Stamped brick of Nebuchadnezzar II, c. 604–562 BCE. Found in Iraq.

About this source

What it is

These are mud bricks stamped with a royal inscription naming Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and his father Nabopolassar. They date from around 604–562 BCE and were mass-produced for use in Babylon's buildings. Examples are held in the British Museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Pergamonmuseum and other collections.

Why it matters

Because they were made in huge numbers, these bricks are the most common surviving objects linked to Nebuchadnezzar. They show how the king put his name on the very fabric of his capital, making his building projects a constant public statement of royal power.

Look closer

  • Why would a king want his name stamped on ordinary building material rather than only on grand monuments?
  • What does the survival of so many of these bricks tell you about the scale of his building works?
  • What is missing from a brick inscription that you might find in a longer royal text?

This artifact is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Nebuchadnezzar II on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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