Babylonian Elites
A Social Network Analysis Approach
Contents: Source | Distribution of the Archives | Tech
Source
The source consists of the private archives of nine families from Babylon during the first millennium BC: Ea-eppeš-ili, Egibi, Esagilaya, Gahal, Nappahu, Raba-ša-Ninurta, Sin-ili, Šangu-Ninurta, Šumu-iddin/Aplaya). These archives usually covered multiple generations and spanned more than one king’s reign. This project restricts the time period to the reign of Darius I (522–486 BC), the period to which the majority of the texts is dated. This relatively narrow time-frame ensures that the inviduals mentioned in the texts were contemporary.
Distribution of the Archives
The distribution of the tablets is not even. Most tablets are from Egibi Nur-Sin annex, which accounts for 522 tablets. The second largest amount is from Nappahu archive, which has 153 tablets.