Kandalanu was a vassal king of Babylon under the Neo-Assyrian kings Ashurbanipal and Ashur-etil-ilani, ruling from his appointment by Ashurbanipal in 647 BC to his own death in 627 BC.
10 Facts About Kandalanu
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Kandalanu's background is uncertain; it is possible that he was one of Ashurbanipal's younger brothers, a Babylonian noble who had sided with him in Shamash-shum-ukin's revolt, or a simple-minded or deformed man appointed as king to ensure he did not gain the support of the Babylonians for further actions against Assyrian rule.
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Some historians believe that Kandalanu was the same person as Ashurbanipal, Kandalanu simply being the name used by the king in Babylon, but this idea is considered unlikely by modern researchers.
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Babylonia had been conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire by Tiglath-Pileser III less than a century before Kandalanu became its king.
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Kandalanu's background is uncertain, he might have been a younger brother of the king or a Babylonian noble who had allied with him in the civil war.
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Kandalanu's name appears to mean some sort of physical deformity, possibly a clubfoot.
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Kandalanu might have been perfectly healthy as the appointment of a deformed or simple-minded king might have been seen as a grave offence by the Babylonians and could thus have instigated more unrest in the region.
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The only surviving authentic contemporary records of Kandalanu's reign are date formulae in documents referring to his rule and chronological texts.
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Kandalanu's authority is likely to have been very limited and nothing is known of his actions and activities.
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Kandalanu probably lacked any true political and military power, which was instead firmly in the hands of the Assyrians.