“2 mana 13 shekels of silver, the price of the king's water, which is from Bêl-âbla-iddina, the overseer of[134] Kî-Bêl, the chief man of the king's water, has been brought by the hands of Šamaš-kain-âbli, son of Balatu.
“From the amount, 2 mana of silver have been given for 80 measures (?) of oil to Nabû-uṣur-šu, son of Dummuq, descendant of Gaḫal, in the presence of Kalbâ, the secretary. 13 shekels of silver are in the treasury.
“Silver, 2 mana, is with Nabû-dûr-pâniâ. Of the amount, 4 shekels of silver have been paid for 2 parrum[135]-stones, which were given to Aššur-rîmananni, son of Nabû-balaṭ-su-iqbî.
“Month later Adar, day 27th, year 6th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”
Another tablet, dated in Nabonidus's accession year, indicates that the temple supplied water, for a fixed sum, to a part of Sippar called “the city of the Sun.”
From other tablets we obtain also information [pg 447] about the family of Nabonidus. Most of them, as is to be expected, refer to Belshazzar, the heir to the throne, who is conjectured to have been the second ruler in the kingdom, thus explaining how it was that the position of “third ruler in the kingdom” could be offered to the Prophet Daniel. Like the other rulers of Babylonia, Nabonidus had granted to Belshazzar, or at least permitted him to occupy, a separate house, which was situated within Babylon, beside the house of Marduk-îriba, son of Rêmut, descendant of Miṣrâa. From the inscription referring to this which has come down to us, it may be conjectured that Marduk-îriba was a minor, and his sister, Bau-êṭirat, therefore acted for him. Bêl-rêṣūa, servant of Belshazzar, approached her and succeeded in acquiring her brother's land for 45 shekels of silver, which was duly paid to Marduk-îriba. Though it is not stated, this transaction probably took place on behalf of Belshazzar, who wished to add to his possessions, and as it is dated in the month Adar, in the 1st year of Nabonidus, it would seem that he decided to enlarge the domain he was entitled to as crown prince shortly after he found himself occupying that position.
Another tablet referring to Belshazzar is a contract drawn up for one of his secretaries (on the one hand), by which he obtained the occupation of a house in exchange for a loan of silver—a common arrangement in those days in Babylonia. The following translation will enable the reader to see the terms of this, the type of a numerous series of documents—
“The house of Nabû-âḫê-iddina, son of Šulá, descendant of Êgibi, which is beside the house of Bêl-iddina, son of Rêmut, descendant of the dikû, (is granted) for 3 years to Nabû-kain-âḫî, secretary of Bêl-šarra-uṣur, the son of the king, for 1-½ mana of silver. He has let (it) upon (the condition that) ‘there is no rent for the house, and no interest for [pg 448] the money.’ He shall repair the woodwork and renew the dilapidation of the house. After 3 years, the silver, 1-½ mana, Nabû-âḫê-iddina shall (re)pay to Nabû-kain-âḫi, and Nabû-kain-âḫi shall leave the house in the possession of Nabû-âḫê-iddina.”
Here follow the names of three witnesses and the scribe, after which comes the date: “Babylon, month Nisan, day 21st, year 5th, Nabû-na'id, king of Babylon.”
As the 1-½ mana of silver would have brought in 18 shekels at the usual rate of interest, that sum may be taken as representing the rent of the house in question.