The Cylinders of Nabonidus refers to cuneiform inscriptions of king Nabonidus of Babylonia. These inscriptions were made on clay cylinders. They include the Nabonidus Cylinder from Sippar, and the Nabonidus Cylinders from Ur, four in number.
Cylinder of Nabonidus from the temple of Shamash at Larsa, Mesopotamia.
Rawlinson's March 1854 letter to The Athenaeum announcing his reading of the Nabonidus cylinders which connected Muqeyer or "Um Qeer" with Ur of the Chaldees
Cylinder of Nabonidus from the temple of God Sin at UR, Mesopotamia. .
The Nabonidus Cylinder of Sippar on display in the British Museum
Nabonidus was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling from 556 BC to the fall of Babylon to the Achaemenian Empire under Cyrus the Great in 539 BC. Nabonidus was the last native ruler of ancient Mesopotamia, the end of his reign marking the end of thousands of years of Sumero-Akkadian states, kingdoms and empires. He was also the last independent king of Babylon. Regarded as one of the most vibrant and individualistic rulers of his time, Nabonidus is characterised by some scholars as an unorthodox religious reformer and as the first archaeologist.
Nabonidus, detail of a stele in the British Museum, probably from Babylon, Iraq
Relief of Ashurbanipal, who ruled as king of Assyria 669–631 BC. Nabonidus emulated elements of Ashurbanipal and his dynasty, the Sargonids. Some historians believe that Nabonidus was a descendant of Ashurbanipal, or Ashurbanipal's father Esarhaddon.
Nabonidus as depicted in a stele from Harran
A granite stele of Nabonidus
