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Tattenai tablet
document · 502 BC · Persian period · also called Tattannu tablet, VS 4 152
See it on the map and timeline- Date
- 502 BC (the tablet, dated in the 20th year of Darius I)
- Found
- Unknown (written at Babylon; bought in Baghdad), 1902. Bought in 1902 for the Berlin museum by Friedrich Delitzsch from the Baghdad dealer Antoine Samhiry, according to the acquisition record in the Electronic Babylonian Library’s catalogue, and published by Arthur Ungnad in 1907. The text itself says it was written at Babylon.
- Now
- Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin (VAT 4560)
- Passages
- Ezra 5:3–6, Ezra 6:6, Ezra 6:13
What it is
A small clay tablet, about 7 by 4.5 cm, in Babylonian cuneiform recording a debt of silver secured on a house, written at Babylon in the 20th year of Darius I (502 BC). The last witness, Bel-etiranni, is described as a servant of ‘Tattannu, governor of Across-the-River’, the Persian province west of the Euphrates.
How it connects to the Bible
Ezra 5–6 names “Tatnai, governor on this side the river”, who questioned the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem, wrote to Darius about it, and then carried out the king’s order to support the work. The tablet gives a Tattannu the same office, in Babylonian, under the same king, Darius I, and most scholars identify him with the biblical Tatnai.
What scholars debate
The tablet mentions Tattannu only in passing, through his servant, and it was bought rather than excavated. Some references give its number as VAT 43560; the museum number of VS 4, 152 is VAT 4560.