[2] The 9th century BC was marked by a recovery of sorts after terrible instability of the preceding hundred and fifty years when Aramaean tribes had wantonly raided into Mesopotamia.

His reign marks the last time a governor of Isin was to appear as a prominent official in a legal document, and the roles of Kassites were to be central to the monarchy, occupying high positions at court.

[i 7] Towards the end of his reign he concluded a treaty with Šulmānu-ašarēdu III which was to prove instrumental in stabilizing his successor Marduk-zakir-šumi I’s rule, following the revolt of his brother, Marduk-bēl-ušati.

[5] The ravages of the Suteans during the 11th century reign of Adad-apla-iddina (c. 1064–1043 BC) had resulted in the cities of Uruk and Nippur being sacked and the temples of Sippar being so thoroughly destroyed that the cultic iconography of Šamaš was irretrievably lost.

The inscription celebrates Nabû-apla-iddina’s victory over the Sutû, the “evil foe,” being the first Babylonian king in over two centuries (since Nabû-kudurrī-uṣur I, c. 1121–1100 BC) to claim a military title, “heroic warrior ... who bears an awe-inspiring bow …,” for their overthrow.

[6] There is some evidence for a literary revival, with fresh editions of the Utukkū Lemnūtu series and the Sakikkū (SA.GIG) texts prepared, and for the sharing of a scribe between the Babylonian and Assyrian courts.