Meli-Shipak II

Meli-Šipak II, or alternatively Melišiḫu[nb 1] in contemporary inscriptions, was the 33rd king of the Kassite or 3rd Dynasty of Babylon c. 1186–1172 BC (short chronology) and ruled for 15 years.

[9] The city of Emar, situated in northern Syria, was sacked and a legal document[i 6] was found on the floor in a private house there, dated to his second year.

[10] The tablet (Emar 26, found in House 5 of Chantier A)) was made of local clay and is a short term contract involving a teacher, Kidin-Gula.

[9] Despite the carnage wrought by the times on mighty empires such as that of the Hittites, whose capital Hattusa was sacked around the middle of his reign, there continued to be scribal and construction activity in Babylonia.

It was the latest in a series of diplomatic marriages between the Kassite rulers of Babylon and the Elamite Kings but was to have unforeseen consequences as it would lead Shutruk-Nahhunte to believe that he had a claim on the Babylonian throne.

The proliferation of the kudurru tradition around this time suggests increased patronage from a monarch trying to bolster loyalty to his reign, perhaps to counter the problems of legitimacy or instability.

Melišipak kudurru: Land grant to Marduk-apal-iddina I [ i 2 ]
Stele of the time of Meli-Shipak