Was Nabonidus, the last King of Babylon, also the world’s first archaeologist?
More than 2,500 years ago, Nabonidus excavated ancient temples, searched for foundation deposits and attempted to date buildings. Unfortunately, he was also supposed to be running a huge empire.
Instead, he disappeared off to another country for ten years, became deeply devoted to the moon god and repeatedly missed an important festival in which he was supposed to be publicly slapped.
In our new episode, Louise and Nat meet the man dubbed ‘the world’s first archaeologist’ and are probably about to annoy every West Asia expert on the planet with their comedy take on some very ancient texts.
Dirt Bags is a comedy archaeology podcast made by DigVentures
SOURCES AND FURTHER READING
BEAULIEU, P.-A. (1989). Reign of Nabonidus, King of Babylon (556-539 BC). Yale University Press.
The Nabonidus Chronicle, British Museum collection
The Nabonidus Chronicle, translated by R. J. van der Spek on livius.org
The Last King of Babylon. Archaeology Magazine, March/April 2022
Mirelman, Sam (2022) The Babylonian Akitu Festival and the Ritual Humiliation of the King. Ancient Near East Today, Vol 10.9
All inscription translations can be found at oracc.museum.upenn.edu
