Nidin-Bel

Nidin-Bel (Akkadian: Nidin-Bêl) was a Babylonian rebel leader, leading a revolt against the Achaemenid Empire c. 336 BC. The only evidence for his existence is the Uruk King List, an Akkadian-language list of Babylonian kings from Ashurbanipal to Seleucus II, which places Nidin-Bel as the immediate predecessor of the final Achaemenid king, Darius III.[1][2][3][4] He may have chosen his regnal name in honour of a previous Babylonian revolt leader, Nebuchadnezzar III, whose original name had been Nidintu-Bel.[5] It is possible that Nidin-Bel's omission from other sources means that his revolt was very short-lived.[6]

By the chronology presented in the list, Nidin-Bel would have been in control of Babylon in the autumn of 336 BC or the winter of 336–335 BC. Nidin-Bel's ascension to the Babylonian throne may have been possible through the dynastic crisis and political turmoil which occurred upon the murder of Artaxerxes IV in 336 BC, when revolts also occurred in Armenia (Artašata, who later became king Darius III) and Egypt (Khabash).[1]

Nidin-Bel's sole mention in the Uruk King List makes his existence somewhat uncertain (though he might be mentioned in the later Alexander Chronicle as well).[1] The similarity of his name to the original name of Nebuchadnezzar III means that some historians have considered it possible that he is identical to the first Nidintu-Bel, erroneously misplaced in the chronology by later scribes. Others have suggested that "Nidin-Bel" might have been the Babylonian name of Artaxerxes IV, but this is considered unlikely due to his name not being recorded as Nidin-Bel in other Akkadian-language sources.[6]

A new Babylonian revolt leader choosing the same name as a previous one would not have been strange. Choosing a historical name to obtain legitimization was common in Mesopotamia (and even exemplified with Darius III, whose original name had been Artašata).[6]