Kurigalzu II was placed on the Kassite throne by the Assyrian king Aššur-Uballiṭ I, reigned during a period of weakness and instability for twenty five years, eventually turning on his former allies and quite possibly defeating them at the battle of Sugagu.
[2] A few royal inscriptions are clearly assignable to Kurigalzu II since they give the name of his father, Burna-Buriaš, but these record either the dedication of objects, such as eye stones, beads, axe-heads, etc., or appear on the cylinder seals of his servants, such as the accountant, Uballissu-Marduk.
Burna-Buriaš’ brief successor, Kara-ḫardaš, had been murdered during a coup d'état by the Kassite army, who had elevated an otherwise unremarkable Nazi-Bugaš to the throne.
It records, “a certain somebody mobilized a wicked foe in the mountains, who had no name and held no gods precious, and took troops from Dēr to be his allies, and sent (them), and had (them) draw blades … and spilled like water the blood of Nippur’s citizens.”[9] In some respects, these events are reminiscent of the Chronicle P passage concerning Kurigalzu’s exploits against Ḫurba-tila, now assigned to his earlier name-sake.
[12] The epic texts seem to be biased to their respective authors’ homelands in a rather typical genre for this period and taken together may perhaps suggest an indecisive outcome.
[i 4] A later kudurru of Kaštiliašu IV recalls Kurigalzu’s gift of a large area of land to Uzub-Šiḫu or -Šipak in grateful recognition of his service in the war against Assyria.