Širikti-šuqamuna, inscribed phonetically in cuneiformmši-rik-ti-dšu-qa-mu-nu and meaning “gift of (the god) Šuqamuna”, c. 981 BC, succeeded his fellow “son of Bazi,” Ninurta-kudurrῑ-uṣur I, as 3rd king of the Bῑt-Bazi or 6th Dynasty of Babylon and exercised the kingship for just 3 months, an insufficient time to merit an official regnal year.[1]
He was the last monarch of the Bīt-Bazi dynasty, which had reigned for 20 years 3 months according to the King List A,[i 1] and a contemporary of the Assyrian king Aššur-rabi II,[i 2] c. 1012–971 BC. He was named for the Kassite god of war and of the chase, Šuqamuna, one of the two (with Šumalia) associated with the investiture of kings.[2] The Chronicle Concerning the Reign of Šamaš-šuma-ukin,[i 3] a text containing disconnected passages from writing boards, names him as a brother of Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur, which is probably an error for the Ninurta-kudurrī-uṣur whom he succeeded.[3] A person with this name (which appears no where else) appears as the šakin bāb ekalli, palace gate officer, and beneficiary of a land grant on a kudurru[i 4] but this was during the reign of Marduk-šāpik-zēri, some eighty years and ten reigns previously.[4]
^J. A. Brinkman (1968). A political history of post-Kassite Babylonia, 1158-722 B.C. Analecta Orientalia. p. 164.
^Friedrich Delitzsch (Jan 1885). "The Religion of the Kassites". Hebraica. 1 (3): 189–191. JSTOR527374.
^J. A. Brinkman (1982). "Babylonia, c. 1000 – 748 B.C.". In John Boardman; I. E. S. Edwards; N. G. L. Hammond; E. Sollberger (eds.). The Cambridge Ancient History (Volume 3, Part 1). Cambridge University Press. p. 297.
^F. Reschid; C. Wilcke (1975). "Ein 'Grenzstein' aus dem ersten (?) Regierungsjahr des Königs Marduk-šāpik-zēri". Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und vorderasiatische Archäologie. 65 (1): 34–62.
