privileges which it was
the object of the document to commemorate and preserve. A photographic
reproduction of one side of the kudurru of Nazi-maruttash is shown in
the accompanying illustration. There will be seen a representation of
Gula or Bau, the mother of the gods, who is portrayed as seated on
her throne and wearing the four-horned head-dress and a long robe
that reaches to her feet. In the field are emblems of the Sun-god, the
Moon-god, Ishtar, and other deities, and the representation of divine
emblems and dwelling-places is continued on another face of the stone
round the corner towards which Grula is looking. The other two faces of
the document are taken up with the inscription.

An interesting note is appended to the text inscribed upon the stone,
beginning under the throne and feet of Marduk and continuing under the
emblems of the gods upon the other side. This note relates the history
of the document in the following words: "In those days Kashakti-Shugab,
the son of Nusku-na'id, inscribed (this document) upon a memorial
of clay, and he set it before his god. But in the reign of
Marduk-aplu-iddina, king of hosts, the son of Melishikhu, King
of Babylon, the wall fell upon this memorial and crushed it.
Shu-khuli-Shugab, the son of Nibishiku, wrote a copy of the ancient
text upon a new stone stele, and he set it (before the god)." It will be
seen, therefore, that this actual stone that has been recovered was not
the document drawn up in the reign of Nazimaruttash, but a copy made
under Marduk-aplu-iddina, a later king of the Third Dynasty. The
original deed was drawn up to preserve the rights of Kashakti-Shugab,
who shared the grant of land with the temple of Marduk. His share was
less than half that of the temple, but, as both were situated in the
same district, he was careful to enumerate and describe the temple's
share, to prevent any encroachment on his rights by the Babylonian
priests.

It is probable that such grants of land were made to private individuals
in return for special services which they had rendered to the king. Thus
a broken kudurru among M. de Morgan's finds records the confirmation of
a man's claims to certain property by Biti-liash II, the claims being
based on a grant made to the man's ancestor by Kurigalzu for services
rendered to the king during his war with Assyria. One of the finest
specimens of this class of charters or title-deeds has been found at
Susa, dating from the reign of