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Primary sourceDocumentSeleucid period

Uruk King List

Babylonian scribes · Seleucid period

A cuneiform tablet listing Babylonian kings in succession, recording Nebuchadnezzar's 43-year reign.

This official king list records the length of Nebuchadnezzar's reign within the sequence of Babylonian rulers.

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A sepia-toned photo of a clay tablet covered in rows of cuneiform wedge-shaped signs. The tablet has a rough, uneven outline with chipped edges, and the surface shows a dark shadow along the top.
Reverse side of the Uruk King List (IM 65066). Iraq Museum.

About this source

What it is

The Uruk King List is a clay tablet inscribed in cuneiform by Babylonian scribes, dating to the Seleucid period. It is held in the Iraq Museum and records a succession of Babylonian rulers, including Nebuchadnezzar II's 43-year reign.

Why it matters

King lists like this one were official records used by scribes to track royal succession and reign lengths. This tablet gives historians a chronological anchor for Nebuchadnezzar's rule, helping confirm details found in other ancient sources about his long reign over Babylon.

Look closer

  • Why would ancient scribes have kept careful records of how long each king ruled?
  • What can a damaged or incomplete tablet still tell historians, even with missing pieces?
  • How do written records like this differ from stories told later, such as in the Bible or by Greek historians?

This document 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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