Bel-ibni

Bēl-ibni was a Babylonian nobleman who served as King of Babylon for several years as the nominee of the Assyrian king Sennacherib.^[1]

Sennacherib, believing that direct Assyrian rule was too costly, appointed Bēl-ibni, a young Babylonian nobleman, belonging to the Rab-bani family, raised at the Assyrian court, King of Babylon in 703 BC.^[2]

The experiment with a native puppet king was hardly more successful than direct Assyrian control. Soon Bēl-ibni was conspiring with the Chaldeans and Elamites against the Assyrians.^[3] After defeating the opposing coalition in 700 BC, Sennacherib deposed Bēl-ibni and carried him off to Assyrian exile, replacing him with Sennacherib's own son, Ashur-nadin-shumi.^[4]

References

1. Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, By Albert Kirk Grayson
2. Grayson, Albert Kirk (2000). Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles. Eisenbrauns. ISBN 978-1-57506-049-1.
3. Leick, Gwendolyn (2003). The Babylonians: An Introduction. Psychology Press. ISBN 978-0-415-25314-7.
4. Jean-Jacques Glassner, Mesopotamian Chronicles, Atlanta, 2004, p. 197.

Preceded by Marduk-apal-iddina II	King of Babylon 703-700 BC	Succeeded by Ashur-nadin-shumi