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12 heavy silver shields whose bosses are decorated with the heads of Deluge monsters, lions, and wild bulls; |
67 items: silver basins, silver stands, silver braziers, and silver vegetable baskets, with mountings and inlays of gold; |
62 items: silver muṣarrirtu-dishes, silver pomegranates, and silver objects of varying sizes, with inlays and mountings of gold; |
33 items: silver chariots, silver bows, silver quivers, silver maces, silver scepters, silver manziaše-objects, silver shields, silver ṣipru-ornaments, silver purṭû-objects, and silver standards; |
393 items: silver kappu-bowls — both heavy ones and light ones — of Assyrian, Urarṭian, and Ḫabḫian workmanship; |
2 large wild bull horns whose mountings and platings are of silver and whose mountings are surrounded by gold rivets; |
1 gold harp that is covered with precious stones for performing the rites of the goddess Bagbartu, the wife of the god Ḫaldi; |
9 garments belonging to his (Ḫaldi’s) divine wardrobe, whose seams are edged with gold disks and gold rosettes in open work; |
7 pairs of leather shoes that are covered with gold stars, along with a silver whip handle with kiplu-decoration and a mounting of gold; |
139 items: ivory staves, ivory tables, ivory vegetable baskets, ivory knives, and daggers of ivory and ebony, whose mountings are of gold; |
2 portable altars with 14 assorted stones, adornments fit for gods, jewelry of the god Ḫaldi and the goddess Bagbartu, his wife; |
25,212 items: heavy and light copper shields, cone-shaped helmets of copper, hauberks with copper scales, and skull-shaped helmets of copper; |
1,514 items: heavy and light copper spears, heavy copper spear-heads, copper purṭû-objects, copper kutāḫu-lances, together with their copper bases; |
607 items: heavy and light copper basins, copper washbasins, copper asallu-bowls, copper diqāru-pots, and copper qulliu-bowls; |
1 large copper ḫarû-vessel that can hold eighty measures of water in it, together with its large copper stand, which the kings of the land Urarṭu used to fill with libation wine for making offerings before the god Ḫaldi; |
4 divine statues of copper, the chief doorkeepers, guardians of his (Haldi’s) gates, each of whose height is 4 cubits, together with their bases, cast in copper; |
1 statue depicting Ištar-dūrī Sarduri, son of Išpueni, king of the land Urarṭu, praying and in a royal pose, together with its base, cast in bronze; |
1 bull and 1 cow, together with her bull calf, dedicated by (of) Ištar-dūrī Sarduri, son of Išpueni, made of copper and belonging to the temple of the god Ḫaldi, (which Ištar-dūrī) had made as a votive offering and upon which he had inscribed a record of his action; |
1 statue of Ursâ Rusâ with two of his cavalry horses and his groom, together with their base, cast in copper, upon which was engraved his own self-praise, namely "With the help of my two horses and my one groom, I personally obtained the kingship of the land Urarṭu" — |
I carried off all these things as booty, together with numerous, countless other possessions of his, not to mention the objects of gold, silver, tin, bronze, iron, ivory, ebony, boxwood, and every other kind of wood that the troops of the gods Aššur and Marduk carried off in countless numbers as booty from the city, palace, and temple. I loaded the property of the palace of Urzana and of the god Ḫaldi, together with his (Urzana’s) numerous possessions that I had carried off as booty from the city Muṣaṣir, on the backs of the soldiers of the main body of my extensive army and I had them convey it to Assyria. I considered the people of the district of the city Muṣaṣir as people of Assyria and I imposed upon them the same state service and corvée duty as if they were Assyrians. |
Through the superior strength of the god Aššur, my lord, through the power and might of the gods Bēl and Nabû, my divine helpers, with the firm approval of the god Šamaš, the great judge of the gods, who opened up my path and established his protection over my army, and through the great power of the god Nergal, mightiest of the gods, who goes at my side and protects my military camp, I entered into the land Urarṭu, going from the district Sumbi, in between Mount Nikippa and Mount Upâ, rugged mountains. I marched about through the lands of Urarṭu, Zikirtu, Mannea, Naʾiri, and Muṣaṣir in a lordly manner, like a fierce lion that is endowed with fearsomeness, and I met no one who could overpower me. On the battlefield, I stuck down the large army of Ursâ Rusâ, the Urarṭian, and of Mitatti of the land Zikirtu. I conquered in all 430 settlements in seven districts belonging to Ursâ Rusâ, the Urarṭian, and I laid waste to his land. I carried off as booty from Urzana of the city Muṣaṣir, his god Ḫaldi and his goddess Bagbartu, together with abundant property from his temple, along with 6,110 people, 12 kūdanu-mules, 380 donkeys, 525 oxen, 1,285 sheep and goats, his wife, his sons, and his daughters. I departed through the pass at Mount Andarutta, a rugged mountain facing the city Ḫiptunu, and returned safely to my own land. |
Tablet of Nabû-šallimšunu, the chief royal scribe, chief tablet-writer and scholar of Sargon II king of Assyria, and son of Ḫarmakki, the royal scribe, an Assyrian. |
Palace of Sargon II, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, son of Tiglath-pileser III, who was also king of Assyria. |
Sargon II, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad renovated Eḫursaggalkurkurra ("House, the Great Mountain of the Lands"), the temple of the god Aššur, his lord, by plastering the walls of the towers all around the temple. He fashioned towers, friezes, parapets and glazed sikkatu-cones, and placed them all around it the temple. |
He built these in the temple of the god Aššur, his lord, for the sake of ensuring his good health, prolonging his days, firmly establishing his reign, and overthrowing his enemies. |
To the god Aššur, his lord: Sargon II, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, built this structure for the sake of his life. |
To the god Aššur, the father of the gods, his lord: Sargon II, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, had baked bricks made from a ritually pure kiln and made the processional way of the courtyard of Eḫursaggalkurkurra ("House, the Great Mountain of the Lands") shine like daylight. |
the strong man who is clad in awesome splendor and whose weaponss are raised to strike down his enemies; the valiant man who since the first day of his reign has had no ruler who could equal him and no one who could overpower or rival him; who ruled all the lands from the east to the west (from the rising of the sun to the setting of the sun) and governed the subjects of the god Enlil; experienced hero, to whom the god Nudimmud Ea granted superior strength and at whose side the god made his irresistible weapon beautiful; |
the pious prince who met Ḫumbanigaš (Ḫumban-nikaš I), king of the land Elam, in battle on the outskirts of the city Dēr and brought about his defeat; who subjugated the land Judah, whose location is far away; who deported the people of the land Hamath and who personally captured Iaū-biʾdī (Ilu-biʾdī) their ruler; who repulsed the land Kakmê, the evil enemy; who brought order to the disturbed Manneans; who made the heart of his land happy and expanded the territory of Assyria; |
the prudent ruler, snare of the uncompliant, who personally captured Pisīris, king of the land Ḫatti Syria, and set his own official over the city Carchemish, his (Pīsīris’) city; who deported the people of the city Šinuḫtu; who brought Kiakki, king of the land Tabal, to his city Aššur and imposed his yoke upon the land Musku; who conquered the lands Mannea, Karalla, and Paddiri; who avenged his land; who overthrew the distant Medes as far as the rising of the sun. |
At that time, with regard to the juniper palace in the city Kalḫu that Ashurnasirpal II, a prince who preceded me had previously built, the foundations of this house had not been made strong and its foundations had not been secured upon firm ground, on bedrock. It had become old and dilapidated (dilapidated and old) due to downpours of rain; its footing had dissolved and its bondings given way. I identified its former location and reached the bottom of its foundation pit. I piled up its foundation terrace upon heavy limestone blocks like the base of a high mountain. I completely reconstructed it from its foundations to its crenellations. I opened up an air passage to the left of its door for my pleasure. I depicted inside it the palace the conquest of cities, the triumph of my weapons, that I had achieved over the enemy, and I filled it with abundance for the inspection of the people. |
I invited the god Urigal Nergal, the god Adad, and the gods who dwell in the city Kalḫu to come inside it and I offered before them large prize bulls, fattened sheep, geese, ducks, and birds that fly in the sky (flying birds of the sky). I held a festival and thus made the hearts of the people of Assyria rejoice. |
At that time, I brought into this treasure house 11 talents and 30 minas of gold and 2,100 talents and 24 minas of silver, measured by the large weight, booty taken from Pisīris, king of the city Carchemish, of the land Ḫatti Syria, situated on the bank on the Euphrates River, that I personally had conquered. |
Sargon II, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, governor of Babylon, king of the land of Sumer and Akkad, king of the four quarters of the world, favorite of the great gods |
The gods Aššur, Nabû, and Marduk granted me a reign without equal and exalted my good reputation to the heights. |
I took away substantial booty and I destroyed, demolished, and burned that city down with fire. I caused there to be lamentation throughout the land Urarṭu, to its full extent |
His own fears fell upon their ruler Ursâ Rusâ, and he brought an end to his life with the iron dagger from his belt. |
Pisīris of the city Carchemish sinned against the treaty sworn by the great gods and as a result I brought him to Assyria, together with his wife, his sons, his daughters, his family, and the other offspring of his father’s house. I set a eunuch of mine as governor over the people who lived in the city Carchemish and considered them as people of Assyria. I conscripted from among them |
As for the people of the city Samaria who had altogether come to an agreement with a king hostile to me not to do obeisance to me or to bring tribute to me and who had offered battle — with the strength of the great gods, my lords, I fought them and counted as booty 47,280 people, together with their chariots and the gods who helped them. I conscripted two hundred chariots from among them into my royal military contingent and settled the remainder of them in Assyria. I restored the city Samaria and made it greater than before. I brought there people from the lands that I had conquered. I set a eunuch of mine as provincial governor over them and considered them as people of Assyria. |
I had the awesome radiance of the god Aššur, my lord, overwhelm the people of Egypt and the Arabs. At the mention of my name, their hearts pounded and their arms grew weak. I opened up a sealed-off harbor district of Egypt, mingled together the people of Assyria and Egypt, and allowed them to engage in trade. |
, along with the land Ḫilakku. I then brought order to his disturbed land. However, that man, a Hittite who did not protect justice, sent a messenger to Ursâ Rusâ, the Urarṭian, and Mitâ, king of the land Musku, about taking away territory of mine. I took in bondage to Assyria Amris Ambaris, king of the land Bīt-Purutaš, together with the offspring of his father’s house and the nobles of his land, along with one hundred of his chariots. I had the lands Bīt-Purutaš and Ḫilakku dwell as safely as in a meadow. I set a eunuch of mine as provincial governor over them and considered them as people of Assyria. |
For a second time, I brought about the defeat of Mitâ, king of the land Musku, in his own wide district and I then restored to their former status the cities Ḫarrua and Ušnanis, fortresses of the city Que, which he had taken away by force in the past. |
As for Tarḫun-azi of the city Melid and Tarḫu-lara of the city Marqasa, to whose disturbed kingdoms I had brought order and the whole of whose extensive lands I had entrusted to them, those men, evil Hittites, did not remember my good deeds but rather sent messages hostile to Assyria to Mitâ, king of the land Musku. They held (Assyria/me) in contempt. |
Marduk-apla-iddina II (Merodach-Baladan), the king of Chaldea, who against the will of the gods had come down to the territory of the land of Sumer and Akkad and had appropriated for himself the kingship of Babylon, turned to Ḫumbanigaš (Ḫumban-nikaš I), the Elamite, for aid. He put his trust in the sea and its surging waves and withheld his audience gift. |
I mustered the numerous troops of the god Aššur and crossed the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, as well as innumerable small streams. Like the Deluge, I overwhelmed the Chaldeans to their (lit.: its) full extent. In the face of my advance (before me), Marduk-apla-iddina gathered together the inhabitants of his cities (his inhabited cities) and the gods dwelling in them, and brought them into the city Dūr-Yakīn. He strengthened its enclosure walls and, moving back a distance of ten nindanu from in front of its main wall, he made a moat two hundred cubits wide; he made the moat one and a half nindanu deep and reached ground water. He cut a channel from the Euphrates River, thereby making its water flow into its meadowland. He flooded its fields, where battles are fought, and made crossing difficult. Together with his allies and his battle troops, he pitched his royal tent in a bend of the river (between rivers) like a crane and assembled his military camp. |
As for the citizens of the cities Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, and Borsippa who through no fault of their own had been held captive in them the fifteen cities, 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 restored their regular offerings that had been discontinued. |
, blue-purple wool, red-purple wool, garments with multi-colored trim and linen garments, boxwood, cedar, cypress, and every kind of aromatic, the products of Mount Amanus, whose scents are pleasant — from the beginning of my reign until my fourth year, I presented these things as gifts to the deities Marduk, Zarpanītu, Nabû, Tašmētu, and the other gods who dwell in the cult centers of the land of Sumer and Akkad. |
I had inscribed upon a stele the record of the victorious conquests that I had personally achieved over all my enemies by the strength of the great gods and I left it for all time in the land Yāʾ, a region of the land Yadnana. |
At that time, the ancient roads for going to Babylon, the cult center of the Enlil of the gods Marduk, were not open; their tracks were not fit for travel. It was a desert region through which passage had been blocked for a long time. Journey through it was very difficult and no pathways were laid out. Thorny-plants, thistles, and brushwood thickets encroached upon impassable paths. Lions and jackals took cover in them and gamboled about like lambs. Arameans and Sutians — tent-dwellers, fugitives, criminals, and thieves (sons of thieves) — had set up their abodes in that desert region and had made passage through it desolate. With regard to the settlements there that had long ago turned into wastelands, there were neither irrigation ditches nor furrows on their meadowland; the area was covered over with cobwebs. Their rich fields had turned into wasteland. Their meadowlands no longer heard (were deprived of) the sweet harvest song. Grain had ceased to grow (been cut off). I chopped down the brushwood thickets and set fire to the thorny plants and thistles. I struck down the thieving Arameans (Arameans, sons of thieves) with the sword. I slaughtered (brought about their defeat) the lions and wolves. I occupied the territory of what had previously been wasteland |
I built inside it palatial halls using (of) elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, daprānu-juniper, juniper, and terebinth to be my royal residence. Assyrians, who had grown up |
who plundered the land Hamath and the city Carchemish; whose great hand conquered Iaū-biʾdī (Ilu-biʾdī) and Pisīris, their subjects; who laid waste to the land Urarṭu, the city Muṣaṣir, the land Andia, and the land Zikirtu; at the awesome terror of whose weapons Rusâ, the Urarṭian, died by his own hand; who subjugated the distant Medes; who slaughtered the people of the land Ḫarḫar; who gathered back together the scattered people of the lands Mannea and Ellipi |
; who deported and settled elsewhere the people of the cities Pāpa, Lalluknu, Sukkia, Bāla, and Abitikna ( |
); who made Ittî of the land Allabria leave his city; who destroyed the land Karalla, dyed the skin of Aššur-lēʾi, their city-ruler, red like the illūru-plant, and imposed the yoke of the god Aššur upon Adâ of the land Šurda; who kept in check the land Kammanu; who expelled Gunzinānu from the city Melid, his (Gunzinānu’s) royal city, and appointed governors over all his 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 |
The exhausted troops of the god Aššur, who had already come a long journey, had crossed remote mountains, and were thus in poor condition (lit.: "their appearance had changed"). 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 any orders to my warriors. |
With only my personal chariot and the cavalry that go at my side and never leave my side in either hostile or friendly territory, |
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. I broke open the seals of their treasure caches. |
With regard to 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 their wooden caskets, whose mountings are made of bronze and silver; |
8 items: sturdy maḫraṣu-objects of elephant ivory, ebony, and boxwood, a stand, a potstand, a folding screen, a chair, and a cupbearer’s potstand made of elephant ivory, ebony, and boxwood, whose mountings are made of bronze and silver; |
11 items: silver kappu-bowls belonging to Ursâ Rusâ, together with their lids, kappu-bowls from the land Tabal with lug-handles of gold, hauberks with silver scales, and silver arrows with gold inlays; |
5 items: azannu-stands of silver, qabūtu-cups of silver, mukarrisu-dishes, and nablu-vessels, altogether forming censers from the land Tabal, and silver incense burners; |
His god Ḫaldi and his goddess Bagbartu, together with the numerous possessions of his temple, as much as there were of them: |
x+4 talents and 3 minas of gold, 6 gold shields, 162 talents and 20 minas of silver, less one sixth of a mina of silver; |
96 items: silver spears, a hauberk with silver scales, silver bows, and silver arrows, with inlays and mountings of gold; |
1 statue of Irgišti Argišti, king of the land Urarṭu, wearing a crown decorated with stars, an attribute of divine rank, and with his right hand in a gesture of adoration, together with its casing, which weighs 60 talents of copper; |
At that time the people of the land Ḫabḫu — which is located between the lands Karalla and Namri in |
inaccessible mountain wilderness — heard of the harsh deeds that I had carried out in the land Karalla and sent me a messenger to do obeisance to me. I assigned them to the authority of a eunuch of mine, the provincial governor of the land Lullumû. I imposed the yoke of the god Aššur upon them. |
without even exchanging hostages, at the command of the god Aššur, my lord, who makes my fame great, impetuously left his royal city Izirtu, a distance of six leagues away, and came before me in the land Lāruete, which is part of the land Allabria. I received horses, oxen, and sheep and goats as his substantial tribute, and he kissed my feet. I clothed him in a linen garment with multi-colored trim. I fastened inlaid bracelets on his two wrists, whereupon he joyfully returned to his own land. |
Before my time, the anger of the great gods was directed against Daltâ of the land Ellipi — a submissive subject who pulled the yoke of the god Aššur, my lord, and had brought tribute and audience gifts to the kings, my ancestors who had preceded me — an anger which would lead to the destruction of his land and the decimation of his people. The people became bewildered and spoke treachery. His entire land was united in defying him; they held him in contempt. Moreover, that man, Daltâ, the king, their ruler, took fright at their defiance; he became disturbed and distressed on account of their crimes. |
Thus, I made the heart of Daltâ, their ruler, happy and allowed the people of the land Ellipi, to its full extent, to live in peace. |
had commanded the dissolution of his land. He brought him Ḫullî, together with his family, to Assyria and had considered them there as if they were members of the lower class. ( |
eunuchs of mine, the provincial governors of the city Samʾal, the city Arpad, the city Hamath, the city Damascus, |
When Kurtî of the land Atunna, who had put his trust in Mitâ of the land Musku, saw the capture of Amris Ambaris and the carrying off of his people, his heart pounded. His (their) messenger, bearing the happy news, brought to me in the land Sikris — which is situated in the land Media — a message indicating his willingness to bring me an audience gift and pull the yoke of the god Aššur; he thus made my heart rejoice. |
In my ninth regnal year I marched to the city Ashdod which is situated on the shore of the great sea |
They came out and kissed my feet. I gave his royal city Melid, together with its surrounding district, to the king of the land Kummuḫu |
At that time, everything that was hidden in the mountains of the land Ḫatti was revealed to me. During my reign |
As for the one who removes the work of my hands from its current location, may the gods Aššur and Adad, the great gods, curse him angrily and make his name and his descendants disappear from the land. |
Fear of the brilliance of the gods Aššur, Nabû, and Marduk, my lords, overwhelmed him the king of Meluḫḫa and he put iron fetters on his (Iāmānī’s) hands and feet. He then had him brought in bondage to Assyria, into my presence. I reorganized the administration of those cities. I settled there people from the lands in the eastern mountains that I had conquered. I set a eunuch of mine as provincial governor over them and imposed the yoke of my lordship upon them. |
Marduk-apla-iddina II (Merodach-Baladan), king of Chaldea, who against the will of the gods had come down to the territory of the land of Sumer and Akkad and had appropriated for himself the kingship of Babylon |
I continually acted as provider for the cities Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, and Borsippa and I made restitution for the wrongful damage suffered by the people of privileged status, as many as there were of them; I restored the exemption from obligations of the city Baltil Aššur and the city Ḫarrān, which had fallen into oblivion in the distant past, and their privileged status that had lapsed. |
with pure zaḫalû-silver for the work on Eḫursaggalkurkurra ("House, the Great Mountain of the Lands"), the sanctuary of the god Aššur |
minas of pure silver and countless precious stones which from the beginning of my reign until my fifteenth year to/for the gods who dwell |
In accordance with my heart’s desire, I built a city at the foot of Mount Muṣri, a mountain upstream from the city Nineveh, and named it Dūr-Šarrukīn. I had the gods Ea, Sîn, Šamaš, Nabû, Adad, Ninurta, and their great spouses created inside Eḫursaggalkurkurra and I installed them inside it (Dūr-Šarrukīn) on their eternal daises. I built inside it palatial halls using (of) elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, daprānu-juniper, juniper, and terebinth to be my royal residence and |
I had enemy people whom I had captured dwell inside it as safely as in meadowland and I considered it as one of the cultic centers of Assyria. |
Like the Deluge, I overwhelmed the land Hamath to its full extent. I brought their king Iaū-biʾdī (Ilu-biʾdī) to Assyria in bondage, together with his family, his fighting men, and the booty of his land. I conscripted from among them a contingent of 300 chariots, 600 cavalry, and shield and spear bearers, and ( |
) in the land Hamath. I set a eunuch of mine as provincial governor over them and I imposed upon them the delivery of tribute and payments. |
Mutallu of the land Kummuḫu put his trust in Argišti, king of the land Urarṭu, stopped his annual delivery of tribute and payments, and withheld his audience gift. Angrily, I quickly advanced with only my personal chariot and my cavalry who never leave my side even in friendly territory in the land |
As for the citizens of the cities Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, and Borsippa who through no fault of their own had been held captive in them, 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 restored to their former status 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, Kullab, 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. |
Happily, with a joyful heart and a radiant face, I entered Babylon, the cult center of the Enlil of the gods Marduk; I grasped hold of the hands of the great lord, the god Marduk, and brought him safely along the road to the akītu-house |
With regard to 154 talents, 26 minas, and 10 shekels of red gold, 1,604 talents and 20 minas of pure silver, copper and iron in immeasurable quantities |
As for the citizens of the cities Sippar, Nippur, Babylon, and Borsippa who through no fault of their own had been held captive in them, 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 restored to their former status 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. |
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 audience 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. |
most capable of all rulers, who extended his protection over the city Ḫarrān and recorded its exemption from obligations as if its people were people of the gods Anu and Dagān; |
The temple of the gods Nabû and Marduk that had previously been built opposite the new gate facing north, became dilapidated and Adad-nārārī III, son of Šamšī-Adad V, king of Assyria ( |
), a prince who preceded me, rebuilt it. The foundations of this temple were not made strong and its foundation wall was not fixed like bedrock. Seventy-five years elapsed and it became old and dilapidated (dilapidated and old). In order not to change its location and to build it beside the temple of the goddess Ištar of Nineveh, I requested the command of the god Nabû ( |
), my lord, and by means of the diviner’s bowl he answered me with his firm approval not to change its location. Then, from its foundations to its crenellations, I completely reconstructed the temple of the gods Nabû and Marduk, my lords, that had been built beside the temple of the goddess Ištar of Nineveh, and I set my clay sikkatu-cones in place. |
For the sake of my life, the well-being of my offspring, the overthrow of my enemies, the success of the harvest of Assyria, and the well-being of Assyria ( |
Sargon II, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, completely built the temple of the deity |