Ezida Temple and the Cult of Nabû in Babylonia of the First Millennium BC

Dandamayev Magomed A.

The author presents documentary evidence about Ezida at Borsippa (I mill. BC), which was the temple of Nabû, the patron of writing and scribes' god. His shrines which bore the same name Ezida were also built in Babylon, Uruk, and some other cities of Babylonia and Assyria. As it is known, Ezida at Borsippa was destroyed in 484 BC after the suppression of a revolt against Xerxes, king of the Achaemenid empire. Therefore our information about the activities of this sanctuary comes mainly from private archives of Borsippa inhabitants who belonged to the city élite.

Keywords: Mesopotamia, Ezida, Borsippa, temple of Nabû