Antiochos I, the Rēš Temple and Hellenistic Uruk: Commentary on YOS 20. 87

Abstract

The article concerns with the Late Babylonian text YOS 20. 87 which contains valuable information on the building of the Rēš Temple in Early Seleukid Uruk. The chronology of the text covers the period from 290 to 275 B. C. that corresponds to the time of Antiochos I’s coregency and the first years of his sovereign reign. There was a number of “instructions” (ṭēmu) regarding the building of Bīt Rēš, one of them seems to be the letter of Antiochos himself. The king apparently supported this initiative although he most likely did not personally participate in it. The mention of Queen Apama, mother of Antiochos and the first wife of Seleukos I, in YOS 20. 87 indicates that c. 290 B. C. she was probably alive and together with her son contributed to the building the Rēš Temple. Kidin-Anu, the āšipu priest of Anu, can be identified with the chief priest (šešgallu) of Bīt Rēš known from several Late Babylonian ritual texts. The evidence finds a parallel in so-called Uruk prophecy which may also contain allusions to the first Seleukids. All these sources provide an important evidence on the early stage of the history of the Rēš Temple. It also demonstrates that royal patronage of the first Seleukids (especially Antiochos I) was not limited only to Babylon and Borsippa.