17. What's in a name?

The obscurity of Nabu-nasir (Nabonassar) undermines his importance as the first ruler cited in the Chronicles. His name appears in no royal records. Nor does he figure in the annals of Tiglath-pileser III, the Assyrian ruler who conquered Babylonia during Nabu-nasir's reign. At best he was a minor king beholden to his Assyrian overlord.

Only a single set of documents registers the king's regnal years -- Nabu-nasir I to Nabu-nasir XIV. The name appears elsewhere in cuneiform texts as a common, non-regal appellation. It derives from the planet Mercury, Nabu, and nasir which means protects or protector.