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I built inside it for the deities Ea, Sîn and Ningal, Adad, Šamaš, and Ninurta firmly-founded daises which were made as firm as the mountains. |
At their august command, I built a palace using (of) elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, daprānu-juniper, and terebinth to be my royal residence; I fashioned a bīt-ḫilāni, a replica of a Hittite palace, in front of their gates and roofed them with beams of cedar and cypress. |
I made the length of its wall 16,280 cubits, corresponding to the rendering of my name, and I made its foundation secure upon blocks of massive mountain stone. In front and in back, on both sides, facing the eight winds, I opened eight gates in the city wall. I named the gate of the god Šamaš and the gate of the god Adad that face the east "The God Šamaš Is the One Who Makes Me Triumph" and "The God Adad Is the One Who Maintains Its Prosperity" respectively. I called the gates of the god Enlil and the goddess Mullissu that face the north "The God Enlil Is the One Who Establishes the Foundation of My City" and "The Goddess Mullissu Is the One Who Restores Abundance" respectively. I made the names of the gates of the god Anu and the goddess Ištar that face the west "The God Anu Is the One Who Makes My Undertakings Successful" and "The Goddess Ištar Is the One Who Makes Its People Flourish" respectively. I pronounced the names of the gate of the god Ea and the gate of the goddess Bēlet-ilī that face the south to be "The God Ea Is the One Who Keeps Its Springs in Good Order" and "The Goddess Bēlet-Ilī Is the One Who Increases Its (Animals’) Offspring" respectively. Its city wall was called "The God Aššur Is the One Who Prolongs the Reign of Its Royal Builder and Protects His Offspring." Its outer wall was called "The God Ninurta Is the One Who Establishes the Foundation of the Wall for All Days to Come." |
The gods who dwell in heaven and netherworld, and in this city, were amenable to my prayer and granted me the eternal privilege of building this city and growing old in it. |
As for the one who alters the work of my hands, mutilates my features on a relief, obliterates the reliefs that I have engraved (engrave), or effaces my own representations, may the gods Aššur, Šamaš, Adad, and the gods who dwell there remove his name and his descendants from the land and make him live in bondage under his enemy. |
Palace of Sargon II, appointee of the god Enlil, nešakku-priest of the god Aššur, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters of the world, favorite of the great gods; |
just shepherd, one to whom the gods Aššur and Marduk granted a reign without equal and whose reputation these gods exalted to the heights; |
Palace of Sargon II, appointee of the god Enlil, nešakku-priest of the god Aššur, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria; king who ruled the four quarters of the world, from east to west, and set governors over them. |
As for the one alters the work of my hands or effaces my own representations, may the god Aššur, the great lord, make his name and his descendants disappear from the land. |
I erected dwellings for the gods Ea, Sîn, Šamaš, Adad, and Ninurta inside it. The god Ninšiku Ea, the creator of everything, fashioned images of their great divine majesties and they occupied their daises. |
I built inside it the city palatial halls using (of) elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, daprānu-juniper, juniper, and terebinth. I then fashioned a bīt ḫilāni, a replica of a Hittite palace, in front of their gates and roofed them with beams of cedar and cypress. I wrote my name upon tablets of gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, lapis lazuli, and alabaster and placed them in their foundations. |
As for the one who alters the work of my hands or effaces my own representations, may the god Aššur, the great lord, make his name and his descendants disappear from the land. |
I built inside it palatial halls using (of) elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, and daprānu-juniper. I then wrote my name upon tablets of gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, lapis lazuli, and alabaster and placed them in its foundations. |
May a future prince renovate its dilapidated sections, write his own commemorative inscription, and set it with my commemorative inscription. The god Aššur will then listen to his prayers. |
To the Sebetti, warriors without equal, Sargon II, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, set up and presented this object. |
Palace of Sargon II, appointee of the god Enlil, nešakku-priest of the god Aššur, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria. |
Palace of Sargon II, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, builder of the city Dūr-Šarrukīn. |
I, Sargon II, king of the world, king of Assyria, built a city in accordance with my heart’s desire and named it Dūr-Šarrukīn. I built inside it a palace that was according to my wishes and that had no equal in the four quarters of the world. |
Sargon II, king of the world, built a city and named it Dūr-Šarrukīn. He constructed inside it its palace that has no equal. |
Sargon II, king of the world, king of Assyria, built the temple of the gods Sîn and Šamaš, his lords, that is inside the city Dūr-Šarrukīn from its foundations to its crenellations for the sake of his life, the firm establishment of his reign, the success of the harvest of Assyria, and the well-being of Assyria. |
To the goddess Ningal, his lady: Sargon II, king of Assyria, presented this object for the sake of his life. |
on the border of the city of the Brook of Egypt, a district which is on the shore of the Western Sea. I assigned them to the authority of a qīpu-official of mine, the sheikh of the city Laban. |
As for Šilkanni, king of Egypt, whose location is far away and whom fear of the brilliance of the god Aššur, my lord, had overwhelmed, he brought me as his audience gift twelve large horses from Egypt whose like did not exist in my land. |
In my sixth regnal year, Ursâ Rusâ, the Urarṭian — who did not respect the oath sworn by the great gods; who overturned the decision of the god Šamaš; whom, during the course of my previous campaign against Ullusunu, the Mannean, I had subjugated to the yoke of the god Aššur, and upon whom I had imposed my yoke — took away from him Ullusunu twelve of his strong fortresses that were situated as guard posts on the border with the lands Urarṭu, Andia, and Naʾiri, and thus reduced the size of his land. He stationed fighting men inside them as his garrison troops and reinforced their defenses (structures). In order to avenge Ullusunu, the Mannean, I mustered the numerous troops of the god Aššur and set out to conquer these forts. I conquered these forts and carried off booty from them. I stationed inside them my troops, together with those of Ullusunu, the Mannean. |
4 divine statues of copper, the chief doorkeepers, guardians of his (Ḫaldi’s) gates, each of whose height is four cubits, together with their bases, cast in copper; |
In my eighth regnal year, that which in the course of my previous campaign against Aššur-lēʾi, king of the land Karalla |
As for the citizens of the cities Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, and Borsippa who through no fault of their own had been held captive in it (Dūr-Yakīn), I put an end to their imprisonment and let them see the light of day. With regard to their fields, which long ago, while the land was in disorder, the Sutians had taken away and appropriated for their own, I struck down those Sutians, the people of the steppe, with the sword. I reassigned to them the citizens their territories, whose boundaries had been forgotten and fallen into disuse during the troubled period in the land. I re-established the freedom from obligations of the cities Ur, Uruk, Eridu, Larsa, Kullaba, Kissik, and Nēmed-Laguda. Moreover, I returned their gods that had been carried off as booty to their cult centers and I restored their regular offerings that had been discontinued. |
I restored the land Bīt-Yakīn and reorganized its administration. I settled there people from the land Kummuḫu that I had conquered and I had them occupy its (Bīt-Yakīn’s) abandoned regions. I divided up that land into equal parts and assigned them to the authority of a eunuch of mine, the governor of Babylon, and another eunuch of mine, the governor of the Gambulu tribe. |
Upēri, king of Dilmun, whose lair is situated at a distance of thirty leagues in the middle of the Eastern Sea, like that of a fish, heard of the might of the gods Aššur, Nabû, and Marduk and brought me his gift. |
Moreover, seven kings of the land Yāʾ, a region of the land Yadnana Cyprus — whose abodes are situated far away, at a distance of seven days journey in the middle of the Western Sea and the name of whose land, from the distant past until now, none of the kings, my ancestors, neither in Assyria nor in the land Karduniaš Babylonia, had ever heard — heard from afar, in the middle of the sea, of the deeds I had been doing in Chaldea and the land Ḫatti Syria. Their hearts then pounded and fear fell upon them. They brought before me in Babylon gold, silver, and utensils of ebony and boxwood, products of their land, and they kissed my feet. |
May all be extremely well with the god Aššur, father of the gods, the great lord who dwells in Eḫursaggalkurkurra ("House, the Great Mountain of the Lands"), his great temple. |
May all be extremely well with the gods that issue divine decrees and with the goddesses, the deities who dwell in Eḫursaggalkurkurra, their great temple. |
May all be extremely well with the gods that issue divine decrees and with the goddesses, the deities who dwell in the city Aššur, their great temple. |
May all be well with the city and its people! May all be well with the palace and the one who dwells inside it. |
All is extremely well with Sargon II — the holy priest and servant who reveres your great divinity — and with his military camp. |
In the month of Duʾūzu IV — the month that determines matters for humankind; the month of the mighty one, the eldest son of the god Enlil, the most powerful of the gods, the god Ninurta; and the month for which the lord of wisdom, the god Ninšiku Ea, had inscribed on an ancient tablet the assembly of armies and the preparation of a military camp — I set out from my royal city Kalḫu and impetuously crossed the Upper Zab River while it was in full flood. On the third day, in order to muzzle the mouth of the boastful and shackle the legs of the wicked, I reverently prostrated myself before the god Enlil and the goddess Mullissu. I then had the troops of the gods Šamaš and Marduk leap across the Lower Zab River, whose fording is difficult, as if it were a ditch. I entered the passes of Mount Kullar, a high mountain of the land Lullumû, which is also called the land Zamua. I held a review of my army in the district of the land Sumbi and checked the number of horses and chariotry. |
Mount Simirria is a great mountain peak that points upward like the blade of a spear and whose top is higher than the mountains where the goddess Bēlet-ilī dwells. Its summit touches the sky above, and its roots are made to reach down below into the netherworld. Moreover, like the back of a fish, there is no path from one side to the other side; thus ascending it is very difficult both from the front and from the back. Gorges of the outflows of the mountains are deeply cut into its flanks and to the sight of the eye it is shrouded in terror. It is not fit for the ascent of chariotry or for allowing horses to show their mettle and its access is very difficult for even the passage of foot soldiers. With the intelligence and broad understanding that the god Ea and the goddess Bēlet-ilī decreed for me and because they got me moving (opened the legs) to overwhelm the land of my enemy, I had my vanguard carry strong copper axes; thus, they cut through high mountain crags as if they were limestone and thereby improved the path. I took the lead in front of my army and made the chariotry, cavalry, and battle troops who go at my side, fly over it the mountain as if they were brave eagles. I had the common soldiers and light infantry follow behind them; the camels and donkeys bearing the baggage leapt up its peaks like ibexes native to the mountains. I had the numerous troops of the god Aššur ascend its difficult slopes in a good order and I then set up camp on top of that mountain. With regard to Mount Sinaḫulzi and Mount Biruatti — remote mountains whose vegetation is the sweet-smelling leek and ṣumlalû-plant — Mount Turtani, Mount Sinabir, Mount Aḫšūru, and Mount Sūya, I crossed these seven mountains with great difficulty. As if they were ditches, I crossed the Rappâ and the Arattâ Rivers, the rivers flowing off their slopes, when they were in flood. |
I went down to the land Surikaš, a district of the land Mannea, which is on the border of the lands Karalla and Allabria. Because I do not cease avenging him every year, when Ullusunu, the Mannean, heard of the advance of my expeditionary force, without even exchanging hostages, he Ullusunu, together with his magnates, elders, counselors, offsprimg of his father’s house, governors, and officials, who govern his land, speedily came out from his land with a joyful heart and a happy countenance, and, traveling from his royal city Izirtu to the city Siniḫini, a border fortress of his land, he came into my presence. He brought me horses trained to the yoke, together with their trappings, oxen, and sheep and goats, as his tribute and he kissed my feet. |
From Taltâ Daltâ of the land Ellipi, Uaksatar, Dūrēsi, and Satarēšu, the city rulers of the riverland, Anzî of the city Ḫalḫubarra, Payukku of the city Kilambāti, Uzî of the city Māli, Uakirtu of the city Nappi, Makirtu of the city Bīt-Sagbat, Kitakki of the city Uriangi, Mašdayukku of the city Kingaraku, Uzitar of the city Qantāu, Payukku of the city Bīt-Kapsi, Ḫumbê of the city Bīt-Zualzaš, Uzumanda of the city Kisilaḫa, Burburazu of the city Bīt-Ištar, Baga-parna of the city Zakruti, Dārî of the land Šaparda, Ušrâ of the city Kanzabakanu, Sarruti of the city Karzinû, Mašdakku of the city Andirpattianu, Akkussu of the city Usigur, Birtātu of the city Ṣibur, Zardukka of the city Ḫarzianu, Mašdakku of the city Aratista, Satarpānu of the city Barikānu, and Karakku of the land Uriakku, I received swift horses, fiery mules, Bactrian camels native to their lands, oxen, and sheep and goats. |
Moving on from the land Parsuaš, I came to the land Missi, a district of the land Mannea. With the whole-hearted intention of doing obeisance to me, Ullusunu, together with the people of his land, waited for my expeditionary force in the city Sirdakka, his fortress. As if he were one of my own eunuchs, provincial governors of Assyria, he had piled up in heaps flour and wine to feed my army; he then presented to me his eldest son, with presents and gifts, and in order to firmly establish his position as king, he entrusted his stele to me. I received from him large horses trained to the yoke, oxen, and sheep and goats as his tribute, and he prostrated himself before me in order to return the favors he had received from me. He, together with the magnates and governors of his land, implored me to bar the people of the land Kakmê, an evil enemy, from setting foot in his land, to bring about the rout of Ursâ Rusâ on the battlefield, to restore the scattered land Mannea, to stand in triumph over his enemy, and to achieve whatever he wanted; they Ullusunu and his officials kept groveling before me on all fours like dogs. I had pity on them and accepted their supplications. I listened to their beseeching words and said to them "So be it" (Enough). Because of the supreme might that the gods Aššur and Marduk had granted me and so had made my weapons prevail over those of all other rulers in the world, I promised them to overthrow the land Urarṭu, to restore their true boundaries, and to bring relief to the troubled people of the land Mannea; and, as a result they had confidence again. I set out a table of honor before Ullusunu, the king, their lord, and thereby elevated his rule (throne) above that of Iranzi, the father who had begotten him. I had them sit at a festive table with the people of Assyria and they then blessed my kingship in the presence of the god Aššur and the gods of their own land. |
Zīzî of the city Appatar and Zalāya of the city of Kitpat — city rulers of the district Gizilbunda, who dwell in remote mountains, far-off places, and like a barricade bar the way into the region of the lands Mannea and Media — and the people who dwelt in those cities put their trust in their own strength and were not used to being ruled (did not know lordship). None of the kings, my predecessors, had ever seen their abodes, heard their names, or received tribute from them. At the great command of the god Aššur, my lord — who had granted me as a gift the subjugation of the rulers of the mountain regions and the receipt of presents from them — they heard of the progress of my expeditionary force and fear of my brilliance overwhelmed them. Fear fell upon them in the midst of their own land. From the cities Appatar and Kitpat they brought me as their tribute countless horses trained to the yoke, oxen, and sheep and goats; they brought these before me in the city Zirdiakka of the land Mannea. They besought me to spare their lives and they kissed my feet so that I would not demolish their city walls. Moreover, for the well-being of their land, I appointed a qīpu-official over them and assigned them to the authority of a eunuch (eunuchs) of mine, the governor of the land Parsuaš. |
Moving on from the city Zirdiakka, a fortress of the land Mannea, I marched furiously a distance of thirty leagues between the territory of the land Mannea, the land Bīt-Kabsi, and the land of the powerful Medes. I then came to the city Panziš, its strong fortress, which is situated as a guard post on the border with the lands Zikirtu and Andia and which is fortified against these two districts in order to prevent any fugitive getting away and to block any incursion by (the feet of) the enemy. I reinforced the defenses (stucture) of that fortress and sent up into it barley, oil, wine, and battle gear. |
Moving on from the city Panziš, I crossed the Ištaraurâ River. I came to the land Aukanê, a district of the land Zikirtu. Mitatti of the land Zikirtu — who had thrown off the yoke of the god Aššur, held Ullusunu, the king, his lord, in contempt, and disregarded his position as vassal — put his trust in Ursâ Rusâ, the Urarṭian, who like himself had no wisdom, an ally who could not save his life, and, full of fear, he went up onto Mount Uašdirikka, a rugged mountain. Then, when he saw from afar the advance of my expeditionary force, his body trembled in fear. He gathered together all the people of his land and made them climb with great difficulty up distant mountains; their whereabouts have never been discovered. Moreover, as for him, his royal city Parda had no value in his eyes and so he abandoned the property of his palace and left town (went outside). He mobilized his horses and his battle troops and brought them as auxiliary troops to the aid of Ursâ Rusâ, his ally. I defeated his fierce combat troops who were stationed as a guard post in a pass at Mount Uašdirikka and I conquered all the cities Išta’ippa, Saktatuš, Nanzu, Aukanê, Kābani, Gurrusupa, Raksi, Gimdakrikka, Barunakka, Ubabara, Sitera, Taštami, and Tesammia — their twelve strong, walled cities — together with eighty-four settlements in their environs. I destroyed their city walls. I set fire to the houses inside them and, as if the Deluge had destroyed them, I heaped up their remains into ruin mounds. |
Moving on from the land Aukanê, I came to the land Uišdiš, a district of the land Mannea that Ursâ Rusâ had annexed. Before my time, Ursâ Rusâ, the Urarṭian — who did not obey the commands of the gods Aššur and Marduk, who did not revere any oath sworn by the lord of lords, a mountain dweller and a murderer (seed of murder), one who had no wisdom, whose lips were nimble in speaking slanderous and malicious things, and who did not obey the venerable commands of the god Šamaš, the great judge of the gods, but instead kept on transgressing against his (Šamaš’) designs every year without fail — after all his previous sins, committed a great crime that led to the destruction of his own land and the striking down of his own people. |
I, Sargon II, king of the four quarters of the world, shepherd of Assyria, who keeps oaths sworn by the gods Enlil and Marduk and pays attention to the decision of the god Šamaš; the offspring of the city Baltil Aššur, the city of wisdom and understanding (open with regard to ears); who reverently pays heed to the words of the great gods and does not question their plans; the just king, who only speaks benevolently, for whom slander is anathema, and from whose mouth orders to commit treachery and do wrong never come forth; wisest ruler in the world, who was created with intelligence and understanding, and who upholds with his hand reverence for the gods and goddesses — |
To the god Aššur, the king of all the gods, lord of all the lands, begetter of everything, king of all the great gods, one who controls all regions of the world; almighty lord of the city Baltil Aššur, the god who in his great raging anger crushes the rulers of the world and has put the proud to confusion; the honored one, the hero from whose net the evildoer cannot escape and with whose net the one who does not respect an oath sworn by him the god Aššur is eradicated (his root is torn out); with respect to the one who does not revere his (the god Aššur’s) name and instead trusts in his own strength, disregards the greatness of his (the god Aššur’s) divine nature, and talks boastfully, he the god Aššur rushes angrily against him in the heat of battle, shatters his weapons, and scatters his well-organized forces to the wind. Moreover, with respect to the one who observes the judgments of the gods, trusts in the fair decision of the god Šamaš, and reveres the divine nature of the god Aššur, the divine Enlil of the gods, he the god Aššur has fierce axes go at his side and causes him to stand in triumph over his enemies and foes — |
Because I had never crossed the border of Ursâ Rusâ, the Urarṭian. nor the boundary of his wide land, and because I had never spilled the blood of his warriors on the battlefield, I raised my hand in prayer to the god Aššur to bring about his (Rusâ’s) overthrow in battle, to turn his insolent utterances against him, and to make him bear his punishment. The god Aššur, my lord, listened to my just words and they were pleasing to him. He was inclined (turned) to my righteous entreaty and was amenable to my petition. He dispatched at my side his fierce weapons which, whenever they go forth, crush the uncompliant from the east to the west. |
The exhausted troops of the god Aššur, who had already come a long journey and were tired and weary, had had to cross innumerable remote mountains that were difficult to ascend and descend, and they were thus in poor condition (their appearance had changed). However, I neither allowed them time to recover from their fatigue nor gave them water to drink for their thirst. I neither set up camp nor organized a walled military encampment. I did not give orders to my warriors. I did not assemble my military contingents. I did not summon (return) to my side the right and left wings of my army; I did not wait for the rear guard. I did not take fright at the main force of his army. I distained his cavalry (horses) and did not even glance at his numerous armored warriors. |
With only my personal chariot and the horsemen that go at my side and never leave me in either hostile or friendly territory, the contingent of Sîn-aḫu-uṣur, I fell upon him Rusâ like a fierce arrow, inflicted a defeat on him, and turned back his attack. I inflicted a major defeat upon him; I spread out the corpses of his warriors like malt spread out for drying and filled the mountain uplands with them. I made their blood flow down the gorges and gullies like a river and I dyed the steppe, countryside, and plains red like the illūru-plant. As for the fighting men who were the mainstay of his army, his bowmen and spearmen, I slaughtered them at his feet like sheep and cut off their heads. In the midst of the plain I shattered the weapons of his nobles, counselors, and courtiers, and I seized them, together with their horses. I captured two hundred and sixty members of his royal family, eunuchs, his provincial governors, and his cavalrymen, and I broke up their battle order. Moreover, as for that man, I shut him up in the midst of his military camp and I shot his yoke-trained horses out from under him with uṣṣu-arrows and mulmullu-arrows. In order to save his life, he abandoned his chariot, mounted a mare, and fled in front of his army. |
As for Mitatti of the land Zikirtu, together with the kings in his environs, I struck all of them down and broke up their military contingents. I brought about the rout of the troops of the land Urarṭu, an evil enemy, together with its auxiliary troops, and on Mount Uauš, he the enemy turned tail. Their horses filled the gorges of the outflows of the mountains, while they, like an ant, in desperation opened up narrow paths. I went up after them with my mighty raging weapons, filling both slopes (ascent and descent) with the corpses of their warriors. I pursued him at arrow point for a distance of six leagues, from Mount Uauš to Mount Zimur, the mountain of jasper. As for the remainder of the people who had fled in order to save their lives and whom I had let go in order that they might extol the might of the god Aššur, my lord — the powerful god Adad, the valiant son of the god Anu, let loose his terrifying roar against them and finished off those remaining by means of cloudbursts and hailstones. |
Their ruler Ursâ Rusâ — who had transgressed the limits set by the gods Šamaš and Marduk and had not honored the oath sworn by the god Aššur, the king of the gods — became afraid at the clangor of my mighty weapons and his heart pounded like that of a rock partridge fleeing before an eagle. He abandoned his royal city Ṭurušpâ as if he was one who had committed bloodshed and sought refuge in mountain clefts like an animal fleeing from a hunter. He was laid up in bed like a woman in labor; he deprived himself of food and drink and brought upon himself a sickness from which no one ever recovered. I established the might of the god Aššur, my lord, over the land Urarṭu for all time and left behind in him Rusâ a terror never to be forgotten in the future. By means of the might of my supreme power and the onslaught of my exalted weapons — weapons that cannot be faced anywhere in the four quarters of the world, that do not turn back, and that I made prevail over the land Urarṭu in heroic battle — I drenched the people of the lands Zikirtu and Andia with deadly venom. I bared the evil enemy from setting foot in the land Mannea, pleased the heart of their (the Manneans’) lord Ullusunu, and provided light for his troubled people. |
I, Sargon II, who protects justice and does not transgress against the limits set by the gods Aššur and Šamaš, who is always humble, and who reveres the gods Nabû and Marduk, attained my heart’s desire with their (the gods’) firm approval and stood in triumph over the proud one who was hostile to me. I poured out deathly silence over all the mountains and so inflicted consternation and moaning upon the enemy people. I entered into my camp amidst happiness and rejoicing, accompanied by musicians playing lyres and cymbals. I offered splendid pure sacrifices to the deities Nergal, Adad, and Ištar, the lords of battle, the gods who dwell in both heaven and netherworld, and the gods who dwell in Assyria; I stood before them humbly and prayerfully, and I extolled their divine nature. |
I discontinued my campaign to the lands Andia and Zikirtu, my original destination, and I set out for the land Urarṭu. With regard to the land Uišdiš, a district of the land Mannea that Ursâ Rusâ had annexed and appropriated for his own, I conquered all its numerous cities, which are as innumerable as the stars in the sky. I smashed their very strong city walls down to their very foundations as if they were pots and I leveled them to the ground. I opened up their many, countless granaries and then fed my army grain in unlimited quantities. |
Moving on from the land Uišdiš, I came to the city Ušqaya, a large fortress right on the border of the land Urarṭu, which like a gate acts as a barrier in the pass to the district of Zaranda, holding back messengers, and which rises up like a rocky pinnacle on Mount Mallāu, a mountain with juniper trees, clothed in sun-like splendor over the meadowlands of the land Sūbi. The people who dwell in that district have no equal in the whole land Urarṭu with respect to their skill with riding horses. Every year they catch the young foals of thoroughbred horses native to his (the king’s) wide land, which they rear for his royal military contingent. Until they the young horses are taken to the district Sūbi — which the people of the land Urarṭu call the land Mannea — and until it is observed how they perform, no one attempts to ride them (opened the thighs on back of them), nor are they the young horses taught how to advance, turn about, and turn back again — skills necessary in battle — thus the harnesses for them remain as yet unfastened. |
These people — those of both the fortress and the district — saw the defeat of their lord Ursâ Rusâ and their legs grew weak, like roots on a riverbank. When their leaders — men experienced in warfare who had nevertheless fled before my weapons — came up to them drenched in deadly venom and reported to them the glory of the god Aššur, my lord and that not even a single one of all their fighting men had escaped, they became like the dead. They turned the city Ušqaya on which their (its/his) land relied, together with its surrounding settlements, into a wasteland. They abandoned their property and took to the road, never to return (road of no return). |
With the onslaught of my mighty weapons, I went up to that fortress, carried off extensive property as booty and brought it into my camp. With regard to its strong city wall, whose foundation had been made firm on bedrock and whose width was eight cubits, beginning with its crenellations and finishing with its massive foundations, I destroyed it all together, making it level with the ground. I set fire to the houses inside it and turned their lengthy roof-beams into ashes. I set fire to one hundred and fifteen settlements in its environs as if they were brushwood pyres and so made the smoke from them cover the sky like a dust storm. I had its interior made to look as if the Deluge had destroyed it and I heaped up its inhabited cities as if they were mounds of ruins. |
I destroyed the city Aniaštania — the home of his herds, which had been built on the border of the land Sangibutu, between the cities Ušqaya and Tarmakisa — together with seventeen settlements in its environs, leveling them down to the ground. I set fire to their lengthy roof-beams. I burned up their crops and their fodder (straw). I opened up their granaries and storehouses and then fed my army grain in unlimited quantities. I let the animals of my military camp loose in his meadows like swarming locusts; they pulled up the plants on which he relied and laid waste to his fields. |
Moving on from the city Ušqaya, I came to the steppeland on which his herds rely for pasture and which is also called the land Sangibutu. With regard to the cities Tarui and Tarmakisa — strong fortresses that had been built in the meadowlands of the land Dalāya as storehouses for his abundant grain, whose inner walls had been reinforced, whose outer walls had been well joined, whose moats had been made deep and surrounded their entire circumference, and inside which horses were stationed in teams as reserves for his royal military contingent and were provided with fodder for the entire year — the people who dwell in that district saw the lordly deeds that I had been doing in the settlements in their environs and became terrified. They abandoned their cities and fled into the desert, an arid land, a waterless region (place of thirst), seeking to save their lives. I overwhelmed that district as with a bird trap and waged war in the area between their fortified cities. Beginning with their crenellations and finishing with their foundations, I destroyed their strong city walls, making them level with the ground. I set fire to the houses inside them and turned their lengthy roof-beams into ashes. I burned up their abundant crops, opened up their granaries and storehouses, and then fed my army grain in unlimited quantities. I set fire to thirty settlements in their environs as if they were brushwood pyres and so made the smoke from them cover the sky like a dust storm. |
, but cannot get enough to quench their thirst. In accordance with his heart’s desire, Ursâ Rusâ, the king, their lord, |
discovered (revealed) a source of water. He dug a canal which could carry off the overflowing water and |
and caused fruit and wine to pour forth like rain. He had plane trees and šuratḫu-trees, the pride of his palace, |
, form a canopy over its meadowlands like a forest. Moreover, he brought back the araḫḫu-song to his abandoned pasture lands ( |
) caused his people to sing again the sweet alālu-work song. He caused three hundred homers of seed-field to produce the choicest grain in its furrows so abundantly that he increased the yield of grain for disposal. He turned the uncultivated fields of his agricultural land into meadows |
so that there is always new vegetation in the spring and so that grass and pasturage do not cease in either winter or summer. He turned it the meadows into paddocks for horses and herds of cattle, and he taught this entire remote land the use of camels so that they could be employed to construct weirs. He built a palace, a royal abode for his leisure, on the bank of the canal; he roofed it with beams of juniper and thus made it smell sweet. He had the fortress city Sarduriḫurda built on Mount Kišter to be his guard post and he stationed there ( |
When the people of this district heard a report about the trouble that I had caused to befall their king Ursâ Rusâ, they then cried "Woe!" and smote their thighs in distress. They abandoned their fortified city Ulḫu, as well as the city Sarduriḫurda — a fortress on which which they relied — and they fled by night to narrow mountain clefts. |
All the people of the district of Sangibutu, both those dwelling in the countryside and those dwelling in those cities, saw the cloud of dust kicked up by my expeditionary force which |
for a distance of one league. Confusion was established over the land Urarṭu, to its full extent. Towers had been constructed on the mountain peaks so that they could observe the district and look out for the enemy; and |
had been stationed. They saw the flames of the brushwood pyres which signaled the approach of the enemy |
They became afraid of the fierce onslaught of my battle array that cannot be withstood (equaled); a state of stunned numbness spread over them and |
They did not care about their abundant property. They abandoned their strong city walls and sought refuge. I covered that district like the dense clouds of evening and overwhelmed all his fortified cities like a turbulent flood. |
Moving on from the fortified cities of the land Sangibutu, I came to the district of Armariyalî. With regard to the cities Bubuzi — a fortress —, Ḫundur — which is surrounded by two city walls which were constructed at the entrance to the tower by means of a plumb-line (cord of the market) — Ayalê, Ṣinišpalâ, Ṣiniunak, Arna, and Šarnî, a total of seven fortified cities, together with thirty settlements in their environs, which are situated at the foot of Mount Ubianda, I destroyed all of them, leveling them down to the ground. I set fire to their roof-beams and turned them into ashes. I opened up their granaries and storehouses and then fed my army their abundant grain in unlimited quantities. As if they were brushwood pyres, I set fire to the crops upon which his people relied for sustenance and to the fodder (straw) that maintains the lives of his herds, and I turned his meadowlands into a desolate land. I cut down their orchards and choppped down their forests; I piled all their logs up in heaps and set them on fire. |
In the course of my march, I went to the city Arbu, Ursâ’s (Rusâ’s) ancestral city, and to the city Riyar, Ištar-dūrī’s (Sarduri’s) city. With regard to seven settlements in their environs in which his brothers, members of his royal family, had been made to dwell and whose garrisons had been strengthened, I destroyed these settlements, leveling them down to the ground. I set fire to the temple of his god Ḫaldi as if it was a brushwood pyre and I desecrated its shrines. |
Moving on from the land Ayādi, I crossed the Alluria, Qallania, and Innāya Rivers. I came to the city Uayis, a district upon which he relied and located on the lower border of the land Urarṭu, on the frontier with the land Naʾiri. With regard to the city Uayis — his fortified city and his great fortress — which had been made stronger and whose construction was more ingenious than all his other fortresses, his fierce combat troops and the scouts who bring in news about the surrounding lands were garrisoned there. He stationed his provincial governors, together with their military contingents, there and he had his fighting men man its strong city wall. I conquered this fortress from the rear (the rear part of this fortress). I slaughtered his warriors in front of its city gate like sheep. I chopped down his orchards and cut down his forests. I gathered up all his felled logs and set them on fire. I burned down the cities of Barzuriani, Ualṭuquya, Qutta, Qippa, and Asapâ — five strong fortresses — together with forty settlements in their environs. |
Moving on from the city Uayis, I came to the district of Ianzû, king of the land Naʾiri. Ianzû, king of the land Naʾiri, came from his royal city Ḫubuškia to meet me, a distance of four leagues, and he kissed my feet. Inside his city Ḫubuškia, I received from him as his tribute horses trained to the yoke, oxen, and sheep and goats. |
During my return journey, Urzana of the city Muṣaṣir — one who had committed crimes and misdeeds, transgressed against the treaty sworn by the gods, and not submitted to my authority — a dangerous man, a mountain dweller, who had sinned against a treaty sworn by the gods Aššur, Nabû, and Marduk and revolted against me, had failed to come before me during the return journey of my expeditionary force and had not kissed my feet while bringing with him a substantial audience gift. He withheld his tribute, payments, and audience gift and did not send even a single mounted messenger of his to inquire about my well-being. Furiously, I had all my chariots, numerous horses, and my entire military camp take the road to Assyria. |
With the great support of the god Aššur — father of the gods, lord of all the lands, king of the totality of heaven and netherworld, begetter of everything, and lord of lords, to whom, in the distant past, the Enlil of the gods, the god Marduk, granted the gods of all the lowland and mountain regions of the four quarters of the world in order that they, without any exception, might constantly render honor to him Aššur and that he might bring them, with their accumulated riches, into Eḫursaggalkurkurra ("House, the Great Mountain of the Lands") — at the exalted command of the gods Nabû and Marduk, who had moved on a path in a station of the stars indicating the mobilization of my weapons, and with a propitious sign for seizing power — Magur, lord of the corona, remained eclipsed for more than one watch, portending the defeat of the land of the Gutians — and moreover with the valuable approval of the god Šamaš, the warrior, who had trustworthy omens written on a (sacrificed sheep’s) liver indicating that he would go at my side, I mobilized only my single personal chariot and one thousand of my ferocious cavalry, bowmen, and shield and spear bearers, fierce warriors who were experienced in battle. Then, I took the road to the city Muṣaṣir, a rugged path, and I made my troops climb up Mount Arsiu, a mighty mountain that did not have any ascent, not even one like that of a ladder (whose ascent has no ascent like the rungs of a ladder). |
I entered triumphantly into the city Muṣaṣir, the abode of the god Ḫaldi, and in a lordly manner I occupied the palace, the residence of Urzana. With regard to the heaped up storerooms which were overflowing with accumulated riches, I broke open the seals of their treasure caches. |
34 talents and 18 minas of gold, 167 talents and 2 1/2 minas of silver, shining copper, tin, carnelian, lapis lazuli, banded agate, and other precious stones in large numbers; |
x items: staves of elephant ivory, ebony, and boxwood, together with wooden caskets, whose mountings are made of gold and silver; |
x items: large tables of elephant ivory, ebony, and boxwood, tables fit for a king, whose mountings are made of gold and silver; |
8 items: sturdy maḫraṣu-objects and vegetable baskets of elephant ivory, ebony, and boxwood, whose mountings are of gold and silver; |
6 items: a stand, a potstand, a folding screen, chairs, and a cupbearer’s potstand made of elephant ivory, ebony, and boxwood, whose mountings are of gold and silver; |
6 items: gold knives with gold handles in the shape of cones, a gold dagger, a gold fly whisk, and an alabaster offering-bowl inlaid with stones and gold; |
34 items: silver kappu-bowls with deep, shallow, and narrow fluting (fingers), luṭṭu-bowls, and susānu-vessels of silver; |
5 items: azannu-stands of silver, qabūtu-cups, mukarrisu-dishes, and nablu-vessels, altogether forming censers from the land Tabal, and silver incense burners; |
13 items: copper basins, copper cauldrons, copper washbasins, copper asallu-bowls, copper diqāru-pots, and copper qulliu-bowls; |
24 items: copper stands for copper basins, copper ḫuruppu-bowls, copper kurkurru-vessels, copper qullu-clasps, copper nasru-hooks, and copper lamps; |
120 items: copper objects, both heavy ones and light ones, the work of their own land, objects, the pronunciation of whose names are not easy to write down; |
x items: an iron brazier, iron shovels, iron nasru-hooks, iron arutḫu-objects, and iron lamps; |
130 items: garments with multi-colored trim, linen garments, garments of blue-purple wool and plain wool, and garments of red wool from the lands Urarṭu and Ḫabḫu — |
I carried off all these things as booty, together with the remaining property of his palace, and I heaped up his possessions. I sent my eunuchs and my officials to the temple of the god Ḫaldi. |
His god Ḫaldi and his goddess Bagbartu, together with the numerous possessions of his temple, as many there were of them; |
x+4 talents and 3 minas of gold; 162 talents and 20 minas of silver, less one sixth of a mina of silver; 3,600 talents of bronze in pieces; |
6 gold shields which were hung in his sanctuary on the right and left, which shone like the sunlight, and from whose centers project the heads of fierce lions, and whose weight was established to be 5 talents and 12 minas of shining red gold; |
1 gold door bolt in the shape of a human hand, a fastening for a double door, upon which a winged Deluge monster is represented in a recumbent position; |
1 gold peg, which held back the door bolt, securing the fastening of the temple, and protecting the stored property and possessions; |
2 gold keys in the shape of divine protectresses who wear crowns and hold the rod and ring, and the soles of whose feet tread upon fierce lions |
— these last four things comprised the door fastening, one befitting the shrine, whose weight was established to be 2 talents and 12 minas of gold, and which held the door in place; |
1 large gold sword, the sword the god Ḫaldi wore at his side, which weighs 26 and 1/3 minas of gold; |
96 items: silver spears, hauberks with silver scales, silver bows, and silver arrows, with inlays and mountings of gold; |