La
Piedra Michaux pertenece al período de la dominación Casita de
Babilonia, escrita en lengua acadia mediante símbolos cuneiformes,
data del siglo XII a.C.
Descubierta
en 1.782 por el bótanico francés André Michaux, fue el primer
testimonio de la civilización mesopotámica que llegó a la Europa
moderna.
La
Dinastía Casita se extendió por Mesopotamia en la zona de los ríos
Tigris y Eufrates, conquistó Babilonia en 1.531 a.C. hasta que en
1.155 a.C. fueron derrocados por los elamitas.
En
la piedra se muestran los seis niveles de la Montaña del Mundo que
en orden descendente son el planeta Venus representado por Ishtar, la
diosa de la vida, la luna creciente del dios lunar Sin y el disco
solar de Shamash, bajando hasta los elementos del abismo oceánico.
Una enorme serpiente se yergue por todo el lateral izquierdo
inclinándose en la parte superior para mostrar su cabeza por encima
de la luna creciente.
Descripción
del texto:
Kassite
dynasty, about 1125-1100 BC. (southern Iraq).
The
cuneiform inscription on this kudurru records the granting by
Eanna-shum-iddina, the governor of the Sealand, of five gur of corn
land in the district of Edina in south Babylonia to a man called
Gula-eresh.
The
boundaries of the land are laid out; the surveyor is named as
Amurru-bel-zeri and the transfer completed by two high officials who
are also named. Nine gods are invoked to protect the monument, along
with seventeen divine symbols.
The
symbols of the important Mesopotamian gods are most prominent: the
solar disc of the sun-god Shamash, the crescent of the moon-god Sin
and the eight-pointed star of Ishtar, goddess of fertility and war.
The square boxes beneath these signs represent altars supporting the
symbols of gods, including horned headdresses, the triangular spade
of Marduk, and the wedge-shaped stylus of Nabu, the god of writing.
A
prominent snake is shown on many kudurru and may, like many of the
symbols, be related to the constellations.
The
text ends with curses on anyone who removes, ignores or destroys the
kudurru.
The
Sealand was one of the wealthiest regions of Babylonia. A dynasty
called Sealand first appears in records dating to the middle of the
second millennium BC. It controlled the coastline of the south of
Iraq and thus the trade routes down the Gulf. The Sealand rulers were
defeated by the Kassite kings of Babylon in the fifteenth century BC.
and governors like Eanna-shum-iddina were appointed to administer the
region.
La
serpiente siempre está presente en los kudurrus, quizás como
influencia protectora y en cualquier caso sugiere un elemento
benefactor.
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