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1 1 On purely linguistic grounds, Bēl-rē’ûšu (“Bel is his shepherd”) seems the likelier candidate (Stevens 2019: 117–119), but Bēl-rē’ûšunu (“Bel is their shepherd”), which is actually attested, cannot be ruled out. For a suggestion that Berossos was a prominent Babylonian temple official called Bēl-rē’ûšunu, see Van der Spek 2000: 439.

2 2 Eusebius puts him at the time of “Alexander, son of Philip,” by which he must mean Alexander the Great; for an alternative interpretation (“Alexander” = Alexander IV), see below, n.3.

3 3 Some scholars prefer Antiochus II (261–246 BCE), on the grounds that Tatian calls “Antiochus” the third king after “Alexander” (BNJ 680 T 2), and that the Alexander in question must have been the child king Alexander IV. However, it seems inherently implausible that a work dedicated to a Seleucid monarch would have claimed a connection with the insignificant and potentially problematic Alexander IV. Nor is Antiochus II an obvious dedicatee: it was Antiochus I who took a special interest in Babylon since his time as crown prince and regent of the eastern provinces (294–281 BCE).

4 4 E.g. Tiamat = Thalassa at BNJ 680 F 1b (6) and BNJ 685 F 1b; Bel = Zeus at BNJ 680 F 1b (8); Ea = Kronos: BNJ 680 F 4 (14) and BNJ 685 F 3b (2); Aššur-bān-apli = Sardanapallos: BNJ 685 F 5 (8). See also γόγγαι ~ κριθαί at BNJ 680 F 1b (2); and Sarachero ~ ἡ κοσμητρία τῆς Ἥρας at BNJ 680 F 13.

5 5 See especially AD 2 -187A obv. 11ʹ, where Antiochus III is offered the cloak of Nebuchadnezzar upon his return from the west. The Seleucids generally avoided invoking Achaemenid precedent for their actions. Reviving Neo-Babylonian traditions of kingship seems to have been part of this wider strategy; see Haubold 2013a: 130–132.

6 6 To these we might add κοσμήσας ἱεροπρεπῶς, προσχαρίσασθαι and (προσ-)κατασκευάζειν. For parallels see, e.g., Ma 1999: 309, First Teian Decree for Antiochos III and Laodike III, lines 16 (χαρίζεσθαι) and 45–46 (ἱεροπρεπέστατα).

7 7 For similar formulations see, e.g., Ma 1999: 369–370, Decree of the Citizens of Apollonia under Salbake for Pamphilos, lines 1–2 and 9, 19, and 23 (διοικεῖν); Polybius 4.48.9–10 (τὴν βασιλείαν τηρεῖν).