2-580-367 - © CM Dixon/Heritage Images

Babylonian boundary-stone (kudurru) of the time of King Nebuchadnezzar I of Babylon, about 1125-1104 BC. From Sippar, southern Iraq. The cuneiform text sets out the details of how Nebuchadnezzar rewarded the military services of Ritti-Marduk by freeing the towns of Bit-Karziyabku, of which Ritti-Marduk was head-man, from the jurisdiction of the neighbouring city. His reward included giving the inhabitants freedom from all taxation, from forced labour, and from liability to arrest by imperial soldiers. It also prevented the billeting of imperial soldiers on the towns. The creators are the images of gods invoked to protect the dead. The texts list thirteen high officials who were present at the granting of the charter, and invokes nine gods to protect the monument. From the British Museum's collection.