Some Notes about Babylonian King List of the Hellenistic Period
This article attempts to comment on some issues related to the reading and interpretation of Babylonian King List of the Hellenistic Period (also known as BKLHP or “King List 6”), one of the most important cuneiform sources from Seleucid Babylonia. The author examines all titles used for the representatives of the Seleucid dynasty in the Babylonian King List, as well as the wording of the accession to the throne and death of one or another king. E. M. Berzon believes that the difference in the formulas for accession to the throne on the obverse and reverse of the King List was determined not so much by its sense as by the length of the line on cuneiform tablet. As for the statement of death, the use of the verb GAZ in the text did not depend on the very fact of the killing of the ruler. It is used only in cases when the king was killed as a result of a certain incident during a military expedition outside his possessions. Also the author has shown that the word aplu , often translated in texts as “son”, in the Seleucid time acquires a more general meaning - “heir”, which in this case was not necessarily a son. And it is precisely in this way that this sign should be translated in the Babylonian King List of the Hellenistic Period which in turn explains its use in the 10th line of the reverse of the tablet. In general, the Babylonian royal list of the Hellenistic time is an extremely important source, which makes it possible to clarify many issues with the chronology and dating of the Seleucid rule, which the “classical” narrative tradition often cannot provide.