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On my second campaign, the god Aššur, my lord, encouraged me and I marched to the land of the Kassites and the land of the Yasubigallians, who since time immemorial had not submitted to the kings, my ancestors. In the high mountains, difficult terrain, I rode on horseback and had my personal chariot carried on (men’s) necks. In very rugged terrain I roamed about on foot like a wild bull. |
I made that city Bīt-Kilamzaḫ a fortress again and I strengthened its walls more than before, then I settled therein the people of the lands that I had conquered. I brought down from the mountains the people of the land of the Kassites and the land of the Yasubigallians who had fled from my weapons and I made them dwell in the cities Ḫardišpu and Bīt-Kubatti. I placed them under the authority of a eunuch of mine, the governor of the city Arrapḫa. I had a stele made, had all the victorious conquests that I achieved over them written on it, and I erected it in that city. |
I turned around (I turned the front of my yoke) and took the road to the land Ellipi. Before my arrival, Ispabāra, their king, abandoned his fortified cities and his treasury and fled far away. I overwhelmed all of his wide land like a fog. I surrounded, conquered, destroyed, devastated, and burned with fire the cities Marʾubištu and Akkuddu, cities of his royal house, together with thirty-four smaller settlements in their environs. |
I carried off people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, oxen, and sheep and goats without number, then I brought him Ispabāra to nought and made his land smaller. I detached from his land the cities Ṣiṣṣirtu and Kummaḫlum, fortified cities, together with the smaller settlements in their environs and the district of the land Bīt-Barrû in its entirety, and I added this area to the territory of Assyria. |
I took the city Elenzaš as a royal city and a fortress for that district, then I changed its former name and called it Kār-Sennacherib. I settled therein the people of the lands that I had conquered. I placed it under the authority of a eunuch of mine, the governor of the city Ḫarḫar, and thus enlarged my land. |
On my third campaign, I marched to the land Ḫatti. Fear of my lordly brilliance overwhelmed Lulî, the king of the city Sidon, and he fled afar into the midst of the sea and disappeared. The awesome terror of the weapon of the god Aššur, my lord, overwhelmed the cities Great Sidon, Lesser Sidon, Bīt-Zitti, Ṣarepta, Maḫalliba, Ušû, Akzibu, and Acco, his fortified cities and fortresses, an area of pastures and water-places, resources upon which he relied, and they bowed down at my feet. |
As for Minuḫimmu of the city Samsimuruna, Tu-Baʾlu of the city Sidon, Abdi-Liʾti of the city Arwad, Ūru-Milki of the city Byblos, Mitinti of the city Ashdod, Būdi-il of the city Bīt-Ammon, Kammūsu-nadbi of the land Moab, Aya-rāmu of the land Edom, all of the kings of the land Amurru, they brought extensive gifts, four times the normal amount, as their substantial audience gift before me and kissed my feet. |
Moreover, as for Ṣidqâ, the king of the city Ashkelon who had not bowed down to my yoke, I forcibly removed the gods of his father’s house, himself, his wife, his sons, his daughters, his brothers, and other offspring of his father’s house and took him to Assyria. |
In the course of my campaign, I surrounded, conquered, and plundered the cities Bīt-Daganna, Joppa, Banayabarqa, and Azuru, the cities of Ṣidqâ that had not submitted to me quickly. |
As for the governors, the nobles, and the people of the city Ekron who had thrown Padî, their king who was bound by treaty and oaths to Assyria, into iron fetters and who had handed him over to Hezekiah of the land Judah in a hostile manner, they became frightened on account of the villainous acts they had committed. They formed a confederation with the kings of Egypt and the archers, chariots, and horses of the king of the land Meluḫḫa, forces without number, and they came to their aid. |
I surrounded, conquered, and plundered the cities Eltekeh and Tamnâ. I approached the city Ekron and I killed the governors and nobles who had committed crimes and hung their corpses on towers around the city; I counted the citizens who had committed the criminal acts as booty; and I commanded that the rest of them, those who were not guilty of crimes or wrongdoing, to whom no penalty was due, be allowed to go free. |
Moreover, as for Hezekiah of the land Judah, who had not submitted to my yoke, I surrounded and conquered forty-six of his fortified walled cities and smaller settlements in their environs, which were without number, by having ramps trodden down and battering rams brought up, the assault of foot soldiers, sapping, breaching, and siege engines. I brought out of them 200,150 people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, oxen, and sheep and goats, which were without number, and I counted them as booty. |
As for him Hezekiah, I confined him inside the city Jerusalem, his royal city, like a bird in a cage. I set up blockades against him and made him dread exiting his city gate. I detached from his land the cities of his that I had plundered and I gave them to Mitinti, the king of the city Ashdod, Padî, the king of the city Ekron, and Ṣilli-Bēl, the king of the city Gaza, and thereby made his land smaller. To the former tribute, their annual giving, I added the payment of gifts in recognition of my overlordship and imposed it upon them. |
On my fifth campaign: The population of the cities Tumurrum, Šarum, Ezāma, Kibšu, Ḫalbuda, Qūa, and Qana, whose dwellings are situated like the nests of eagles, the foremost of birds, on the peak of Mount Nipur, a rugged mountain, and who had not bowed down to the yoke — I had my camp pitched at the foot of Mount Nipur. |
Like a fierce wild bull, with my select bodyguard and my merciless combat troops, I took the lead of them the soldiers in my camp. I proceeded through the gorges of the streams, the outflows of the mountains, and rugged slopes in my chair. Where it was too difficult for my chair, I leapt forward on my own two feet like a mountain goat. I ascended the highest peaks against them. Where my knees became tired, I sat down upon the mountain rock and drank cold water from a water skin to quench my thirst. |
I pursued them on the peaks of the mountains and defeated them. I conquered, plundered, destroyed, devastated, and burned with fire their cities. |
I turned around (I turned the front of my yoke) and took the road against Maniye, the king of the city Ukku and an insubmissive mountain-dweller. Before my time, none of the former kings of the past had marched through the untrodden paths and difficult trails on account of the rugged mountains. I had my camp pitched at the foot of Mount Anara and Mount Uppa, mighty mountains, and I myself, in an armchair, with my crack combat troops, entered their narrow passes with great difficulty and ascended with a struggle the steep mountain peaks. |
He, Maniye, saw the dust cloud stirred up by the feet of my troops, then he abandoned the city Ukku, his royal city, and fled afar. I surrounded, conquered, and plundered the city Ukku. I brought out of it every kind of possession and property, the treasures of his palace, and I counted it as booty. |
Moreover, I conquered thirty-five cities on the borders of its outskirts and carried off people, oxen, and sheep and goats, and donkeys. Then I destroyed them, devastated them, and burned them with fire. |
In the eponymy of Šulmu-Bēl, governor of the city Talmusu, Kirūa — the city ruler of Illubru, a servant who belonged to me, whom his gods had abandoned — incited the population of Ḫilakku to rebel and prepare for battle. The people living in the cities Ingirâ and Tarzu aligned themselves with him, then seized the road through the land Que and blocked its passage. |
I sent against them archers, shield and lance bearers, chariots, and horses of my royal contingent. In rugged mountain terrain, they defeated the population of Ḫilakku, who had aligned themselves with him. They conquered and plundered the cities Ingirâ and Tarzu. |
As for him Kirūa, they besieged him in the city Illubru, his fortified city, and cut off his escape route. They defeated him by means of bringing up battering rams, siege machines (nimgallus of the wall), and siege engines, and the assault of foot soldiers, and they took possession of the city. |
They brought Kirūa, the city ruler, together with booty from his cities and the inhabitants of Ḫilakku who had aligned themselves with him, as well as donkeys, oxen, and sheep and goats to Nineveh, before me. I flayed Kirūa. |
Once again, I reorganized the city Illubru and settled therein the people of the lands that I had conquered. I installed the weapon of the god Aššur, my lord, inside it. I had a stele of alabaster made and I erected it in front of it. |
They besieged that city and took possession of the city by means of piling up earth, bringing up battering rams, and the assault of foot soldiers. They counted the people, as well as the gods, living inside it as booty. They destroyed and devastated that city. They turned it into a mound of ruins (a mound and ruins). |
From the booty of those lands that I had plundered, I conscripted 30,000 archers and 20,000 shield bearers and added them to my royal contingent. I divided up the rest of the substantial enemy booty like sheep and goats among my entire camp and my governors, and the people of my great cult centers. |
At that time, Nineveh, the exalted cult center, the city loved by the goddess Ištar in which all of the rituals for gods and goddesses are present; the enduring foundation and eternal base whose plan had been designed by the stars (writing) of the firmament and whose arrangement was made manifest since time immemorial; a sophisticated place and site of secret lore in which every kind of skilled craftsmanship, all of the rituals, and the secrets of the lalgar cosmic subterranean water are apprehended; |
in which since time immemorial earlier kings, my ancestors, before me exercised dominion over Assyria and ruled the subjects of the god Enlil; but not one among them had conceived of and put his mind towards increasing the site of the city, building walls, straightening the streets, or dredging the river and planting orchards; nor had any of them paid heed to or shown interest in the palace inside it, the seat of lordly dwelling whose site had become too small and whose construction was inexpert: |
But as for me, Sennacherib, king of the world, king of Assyria, the performing of this work came to my attention by the will of the gods and I put my mind to it. I forcibly removed the people of Chaldea, Aramean tribes, the land of the Manneans, the lands Que and Ḫilakku, and Philistia, and the land of the city Tyre, who had not submitted to my yoke, then I made them carry baskets of earth and they made bricks. |
The former palace, whose extent was 360 cubits on its longer side and 95 cubits on its shorter side, and whose site was too small; which earlier kings, my ancestors, had had constructed for their lordly dwelling, but whose construction they had carried out inexpertly: |
They quarried bull colossi of white limestone in the city Tastiate, which is across the Tigris River, to be their (the palatial halls’) gatekeepers. Throughout their entire land they depleted forests of large trees to have boats built. In the month Ayyāru II, the time of spring floods, they brought the colossi across to this side of the river with difficulty in magnificent boats. They sank large boats at the quay dock and then made their crews struggle and strain. With might and main, they struggled to transport the colossi and install them in their gates. |
I tore down that small palace in its entirety. I diverted the course of the Tebilti River from the center of the city and directed its outflow into the meadow behind the city. |
In a one-half ikû stretch of the water’s natural course, I bonded together, with bitumen, four large limestone blocks and spread marsh reeds and rushes over them. As an addition, I took a plot of land that was 340 cubits long and 289 cubits wide from the Ḫusur River and from the plain of the city and added it to the dimensions of the former terrace. In its (the terrace’s) entirety, I raised its superstructure 190 courses of brick high. |
In order to prevent the foundation of the terrace from being weakened over the passage of time by cresting floods, I surrounded its base with large limestone slabs and thereby reinforced its base. I enlarged the structure of the palace to 700 large cubits along its longer side and 440 large cubits along its shorter side and thus I made its site bigger. |
I roofed them the palatial halls with beams of cedar and cypress, whose scent is sweet, products of Mount Amanus and Mount Sirāra, the holy mountains. I fastened bands of silver and copper on doors of cedar, cypress, juniper, and Indian wood and I installed them in their gates. |
The covering of the roof that hangs over the corridors — I made their somber atmosphere cheerful, making them as bright as day. I decorated them with silver and copper knobbed nails. I adorned the arches, friezes, and all of the copings with baked bricks glazed in the color of obsidian and lapis lazuli. |
Moreover, breccia, as much as is needed for making burzigallu-bowls, a stone that had never been seen before, revealed itself at Kapridargilâ ("Dargilâ Village"), which is on the border of the city Tīl-Barsip. |
Near Nineveh, in the territory of the city Balāṭāya, by divine will, white limestone was discovered in abundance, then I created bull colossi and other statues with limbs of alabaster that are sculpted from a single stone, whose proportions are perfect, and who stand high on their own pedestals; sphinxes of alabaster whose features are exquisite and whose bodies shine like a brilliant day; and magnificent slabs of breccia. I cut them free on both sides from their mountains, then, for the construction of my palace, I had them dragged into Nineveh. |
I had bull colossi and sphinxes of white limestone created and their forms perfected through the craft of the deity Ninkura, in the territory of the city Balāṭāya. |
Since time immemorial, the kings, my ancestors, created copper statues, replicas of their own forms, to be erected in temples, and through their manufacture they had exhausted all of the craftsmen. Through ignorance and failure to give thought on the matter, they depleted the oil, wax, and wool in their lands for the work they desired. |
But as for me, Sennacherib, the foremost of all rulers, expert in every type of work, regarding large columns of copper and striding lion colossi, which none of the kings of the past who came before me had cast: with the ingenious mind that the prince, the god Ninšiku, had granted to me and taking counsel with myself, I intensively pondered how to perform this work. Then, with my own ideas and knowledge, I created a cast work of copper and expertly carried out its artful execution. |
By divine will, I created clay molds of tree trunks and date palms, the tree of abundance, of twelve raging lions, as well as of twelve magnificent bull colossi with perfect features and twenty-two sphinxes that are coated in allure and charm and that have pride and exuberance heaped upon them, then I poured copper into it. Just like the cast work of an object weighing only a half shekel, I perfected their forms. |
I made bull colossi with copper features, two of which were overlaid with zaḫalû-silver, and bull colossi of alabaster, together with bull colossi and sphinxes of white limestone, hold the door bolts of my palatial halls. |
I surrounded their (the palace rooms’) lower courses with slabs of breccia and alabaster, and large limestone slabs and made them an object of wonder. |
In order to be able to draw water by bucket every day, I had bronze wire chains and bronze cables made and, instead of poles, I had tree trunks and date palms of copper placed over wells. |
I made those palatial halls beautiful. To be an object of wonder for all of the people, I raised the superstructure of the entire palace. I called it "The Palace Without a Rival." |
Nineveh, the site of whose circumference had been 9,300 cubits since former times and for which no earlier ruler had had an inner or outer wall built — I added 12,515 cubits in the plain around the city to its previous measurement and thus established its dimensions as 21,815 large cubits. |
I had fifteen gates opened up in it in four directions, in front and behind, and along both sides, for entering and leaving. |
"May the Vice-Regent of the God Aššur Stay in Good Health": this is the Aššur Gate, which leads to the Inner City Aššur. "The One Who Flattens All Enemies": this is the Sennacherib Gate, which leads to the land Ḫalzi. "The God Enlil Is the One Who Makes My Reign Firm": this is the Šamaš Gate, which leads to the land Gagal. "Make Sennacherib’s Dynasty as Firm as the Position of the Wagon Constellation!": this is the Mullissu Gate, which leads to the city Kār-Mullissi. "The One Who Exorcises the ‘Flesh’ of the Asakku-demon": this is the Step Gate. "The Choicest of Grain and Flocks Are Constantly Inside It": this is the gate that leads to the city Šibaniba. "The Bearer of the Produce of the Mountains": this is the gate that leads to the land Ḫalaḫḫu. In total, seven gates facing the rising sun, towards the south and east, and I gave them these names. |
"The God Adad Is the Provider of Prosperity to the Land": this is the Adad Gate, which leads to the game preserve. "The God Erra Is the One Who Slaughters Those Hostile to Me": this is the Nergal Gate, which leads to the city Tarbiṣu. "The Divine Nannāru Is the One Who Protects My Lordly Crown": this is the Sîn Gate. In total, three gates facing towards the north and I gave them these names. |
"The God Ea Is the One Who Properly Directs Water Flow into My Cisterns": this is the Mašqû Gate. "The One Who Brings in Income from the Settlements": this is the Quay Gate. "The Presents of the People of Sumuʾel and Tēma Enter Through It": this is the Desert Gate. "The One Who Regulates Everything": this is the Armory Gate. "The God Šarur Is the One Who Cuts Down the King’s Enemy": this is the Ḫandūru Gate. In total, five gates facing towards the west and I gave them these names. |
I opened up a foundation pit for the outer wall, Badnigerimḫuluḫa, which means "Terrorizer of Enemies," then I dug down forty-five nindanu and made it reach the water table. I bound together strong mountain stone in the water below and above I expertly carried out its construction with large limestone blocks up to its copings. |
I had gardens cultivated upstream and downstream of the city. I gathered in them fruit trees of the mountains and of all lands and every type of aromatic tree of the land Ḫatti. On newly tilled soil, which is beside the game preserve, I planted in great number all types of mountain vine, every type of fruit tree from all over the world, including spice and olive trees. |
The Ḫusur River, whose waters since time immemorial had been deep and which none of the kings, my ancestors, had confined (i.e., made its water flow through a canal) so that they the waters of the Ḫusur poured into the Tigris River: |
To make those planted areas luxuriant, I dug with picks a canal straight through high ground and low ground, from the border of the city Kisiru. Thus I provided a regular supply of those waters to the plain of Nineveh and I made them gush through small canals into those gardens. |
I mounted an expedition to search for water at the foot of Mount Muṣri, then I climbed high and marched with difficulty to the city Elmunaqinnû. I found sources of water in front of the cities Dūr-Ištar, Šibaniba, and Sulu, then I made their narrow openings bigger and turned them into springs. |
For a course for those waters, I cut through rugged mountains, confined areas, with picks and directed their outflow into the plain of Nineveh. I strengthened their channels like the base of a mountain. I provided a regular supply of those waters in them. Thus I forever added them as an addition to the waters of the Ḫusur River. |
In summer, I enabled all of the orchards to be irrigated. In winter, I annually had water provided to 1,000 seeded fields in the plains upstream and downstream of the city. |
I created a marsh to moderate the flow of those waters and planted a canebrake in it. I let loose in it herons, wild boars (pigs of the reeds), and roe deer. By divine will, vines, all kinds of fruit trees, olive trees, and aromatic trees flourished greatly in those gardens planted on newly tilled soil. Cypress trees, musukkannu-trees, and all kinds of trees grew tall and sent out shoots. The marshes thrived greatly. Birds of the heavens, herons whose homes are far away, made nests and wild boars and roe deer gave birth in abundance. |
I cut down musukkannu-trees and cypress trees grown in the orchards and marsh reeds from the swamps and I used them in the work required to build my lordly palatial halls. They picked cotton (trees bearing wool) and wove it into clothing. |
After I had finished the work on my palace, I invited inside it the god Aššur, the great lord, and the gods and goddesses living in Assyria, then I made splendid offerings and presented my gifts. I made fine oil from olives and aromatics from the orchards planted on newly tilled soil. At the inauguration of the palace, I had the heads of the subjects of my land drenched and I watered their insides with sweet wine. |
In the future, may one of the kings, my descendants, whom the god Aššur names for shepherding the land and people, renovate its dilapidated sections when that wall becomes old and dilapidated. May he find an inscribed object bearing my name, anoint it with oil, make an offering, and return it to its place. The god Aššur and the goddess Ištar will then hear his prayers. |
favorite of the great gods, guardian of truth who loves justice, renders assistance, goes to the aid of the weak, and strives after good deeds, perfect man, virile warrior, foremost of all rulers, the bridle that controls the insubmissive, and the one who strikes enemies with lightning: |
I received a substantial audience gift from Nabû-bēl-šumāti, the official in charge of the city Ḫararatu: gold, silver, large musukkannu-trees, donkeys, camels, oxen, and sheep and goats. |
I put to the sword the population of the city Ḫirimmu, a dangerous enemy, and I did not spare a single one. I hung their corpses on poles and placed them around the city. I reorganized that district and imposed for eternity one ox, ten sheep, ten homers of wine, and twenty homers of dates as his first-fruits offerings to the gods of Assyria, my lords. |
On my second campaign, the god Aššur, my lord, encouraged me and I marched to the land of the Kassites and the land of the Yasubigallians, who since time immemorial had not submitted to the kings, my ancestors. In the high mountains, difficult terrain, I rode on horseback and had my personal chariot carried on (men’s) necks. In very rugged terrain I roamed about on foot like a wild bull. |
I surrounded and conquered the cities Bīt-Kilamzaḫ, Ḫardišpu, and Bīt-Kubatti, their fortified walled cities. I brought out of them people, horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, and sheep and goats, and I counted them as booty. Moreover, I destroyed, devastated, and turned into ruins their smaller settlements, which were without number. I burned with fire pavilions and tents, their abodes, and reduced them to ashes. |
I made that city Bīt-Kilamzaḫ a fortress again and I strengthened its walls more than before, then I settled therein the people of the lands that I had conquered. I brought down from the mountains the people of the land of the Kassites |
He Ispabāra abandoned his fortified cities and his treasury and fled far away. I overwhelmed all of his wide land like a fog. I surrounded, conquered, destroyed, devastated, and burned with fire the cities Marʾubištu and Akkuddu, cities of his royal house, together with thirty-four smaller settlements in their environs. |
I carried off people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, oxen, and sheep and goats without number, then I brought him Ispabāra to nought and made his land smaller. I detached from his land the cities Ṣiṣṣirtu and Kummaḫlum, fortified cities, together with the smaller settlements in their environs and the district of the land Bīt-Barrû in its entirety, and I added this area to the territory of Assyria. |
I took the city Elenzaš as a royal city and a fortress for that district, then I changed its former name and called it Kār-Sennacherib. I settled therein the people of the lands that I had conquered. I placed it under the authority of a eunuch of mine, the governor of the city Ḫarḫar, and thus enlarged my land. |
In the thick of battle, I captured alive the Egyptian charioteers and princes (the sons of the king), together with the charioteers of the king of the land Meluḫḫa. |
I surrounded, conquered, and plundered the cities Eltekeh and Tamnâ. I approached the city Ekron and I killed the governors and nobles who had committed crimes and hung their corpses on towers around the city; I counted the citizens who had committed the criminal acts as booty; and I commanded that the rest of them, those who were not guilty of crimes or wrongdoing, to whom no penalty was due, be allowed to go free. |
I brought out Padî, their king, from the city Jerusalem and placed him on the lordly throne over them, then I imposed upon him payment in recognition of my lordship. |
Moreover, as for Hezekiah of the land Judah, who had not submitted to my yoke, I surrounded and conquered forty-six of his fortified cities, fortresses, and smaller settlements in their environs, which were without number, by having ramps trodden down and battering rams brought up, the assault of foot soldiers, sapping, breaching, and siege engines. I brought out of them 200,150 people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, oxen, and sheep and goats, which were without number, and I counted them as booty. |
As for him Hezekiah, I confined him inside the city Jerusalem, his royal city, like a bird in a cage. I set up blockades against him and made him dread exiting his city gate. I detached from his land the cities of his that I had plundered |
On my fourth campaign, the god Aššur, my lord, encouraged me so that I mustered my numerous troops and ordered the march to the land Bīt-Yakīn. In the course of my campaign, I defeated Šūzubu (Mušēzib-Marduk), a Chaldean who lives in the marshes, at the city Bittūtu. As for him, terror of doing battle with me fell upon him and his heart pounded. He fled alone like a lynx and his hiding place could not be found. |
I turned around (I turned the front of my yoke) and took the road to the land Bīt-Yakīn. He — Marduk-apla-iddina II (Merodach-baladan), whom I had defeated and whose forces I had scattered during my first campaign — became frightened by the clangor of my mighty weapons and my fierce battle array, then dislodged the gods of the full extent of his land from their abodes, and loaded them onto boats. He flew away like a bird to the city Nagīte-raqqi, which is in the midst of the sea. I brought his brothers, the seed of his father’s house, whom he had abandoned at the shore of the sea, together with the rest of the people of his land, out of the land Bīt-Yakīn, which is in the swamps and marshes, and I counted them as booty. |
Once again I destroyed and devastated his cities, and turned them into ruins. I poured out awe-inspiring brilliance upon his ally, the king of the land Elam. |
On my return march, I placed Aššur-nādin-šumi, my first-born son whom I raised on my own knee, on his lordly throne and |
On my fifth campaign: The population of the cities Tumurrum, Šarum, Ezāma, Kibšu, Ḫalbuda, Qūa, and Qana, whose dwellings are situated like the nests of eagles, the foremost of birds, on the peak of Mount Nipur, a rugged mountain, and who had not bowed down to the yoke — I had my camp pitched at the foot of Mount Nipur. |
Like a fierce wild bull, with my select bodyguard and my merciless combat troops, I took the lead of them the soldiers in my camp |
I turned around (I turned the front of my yoke) and took the road against Maniye, the king of the city Ukku and an insubmissive mountain-dweller. Before my time, none of the former kings of the past had marched through the untrodden paths and difficult trails on account of the rugged mountains. |
I bound him (Nergal-ušēzib) with tethering ropes and iron fetters, and brought him to Assyria. I defeated the king of the land Elam, who had aligned himself with him and come to his aid. I dispersed his forces and scattered his assembled host. |
On my seventh campaign, the god Aššur, my lord, encouraged me and I marched to the land Elam. In the course of my campaign, I conquered and plundered the cities Bīt-Ḫaʾiri and Raṣā, cities on the border of Assyria that the Elamites had taken away by force in the time of my ancestors. I had my garrisons stationed inside them. I brought those cities back inside the border of Assyria and placed them under the authority of the garrison commander of Dēr. |
The cities Bubê, Dunni-Šamaš, Bīt-Risiya, Bīt-Aḫlamê, Dūru, Dannat-Sulāya, Šilibtu, Bīt-Aṣusi, Kār-Zēra-iqīša, Bīt-Giṣṣi, Bīt-Katpalāni, Bīt-Imbiya, Ḫamānu, Bīt-Arrabi, Burutu, Dimtu-ša-Sulāya, Dimtu-ša-Mār-bīti-ēṭir, Ḫarri-ašlakê, Rabbāya, Rāsu, Akkabarina, Tīl-Uḫuri, Ḫamrānu, Nadītu, |
together with the cities of the passes, namely Bīt-Bunaki, Tīl-Ḫumbi, Dimtu-ša-Dume-ili, Bīt-Ubiya, Baltī-līšir, Taqab-līšir, Ša-nāqidāte, Masūtu-šaplīti, Sarḫudēri, Ālum-ša-Bēlet-bīti, Bīt-Aḫḫē-iddina, |
The dust of their feet covered the wide heavens like a heavy cloud in the deep of winter. While drawing up a battleline before me at the city Ḫalulê, which is on the bank of the Tigris River and keeping me from the water source, they sharpened their weapons. |
I myself prayed to the deities Aššur, Sîn, Šamaš, Bēl, Nabû, Nergal, Ištar of Nineveh, and Ištar of Arbela, the gods who support me, for victory over my strong enemy and they immediately heeded my prayers and came to my aid. |
I roared loudly like a storm and thundered like the god Adad against all of the troops of the wicked enemies. By the command of the god Aššur, the great lord, my lord, I blew like the onset of a severe storm against the enemy on their flanks and front lines. With the weapons of the god Aššur, my lord, and my fierce battle array, I turned them back and made them retreat. I shot the troops of the enemy with uṣṣu-arrows and mulmullu-arrows, and pierced all of their corpses like |
I cut off their lips and thus destroyed their pride. I cut off their hands like the stems of cucumbers in season. |
I received gold and shining silver sling straps as their wrist-trappings and slashed off their belts with sharp swords. I took away gold and silver decorated belt-daggers as their waist-trappings. |
As for the rest of his magnates, including Nabû-šuma-iškun, a son of Marduk-apla-iddina II (Merodach-baladan), who had raised their arms because they were terrified of doing battle with me, I captured them alive in the thick of battle. |
I brought back all together the chariots along with their horses, whose drivers had been killed in the thick of that mighty battle and which had themselves been released so that they galloped about on their own. |
wherein the kings, my ancestors, received the tribute of the rulers of the four quarters of the world; |
hundred and sixty large cubits along its shorter side and thus I made its site bigger. Upon it, I filled in a terrace 190 courses of brick high. |
In order to prevent its foundations from being weakened by rain and snow, I had its base built with large limestone blocks and thereby reinforced its base. |
I laid the foundation of its great wall, Badnigalbilukurašušu, which means "Wall Whose Brilliance Overwhelms Enemies," upon limestone and made it 40 bricks thick, measured by my large brick mold. Upwards to the north and downwards to the south, I enlarged its battlements to a width of 39 bricks, then I raised its superstructure up high, to its copings, to a height of 200 courses of brick, each of whose thickness was one-third of a cubit, and thus raised it as high as a mountain. |
I had eighteen gates opened up in it in four directions, in front and behind, and along both sides, for entering and leaving. |
"The God Šarur Is the One Who Cuts Down the King’s Enemy": this is the Ḫandūru Gate. "May the Vice-Regent of the God Aššur Endure": this is the Aššur Gate, which leads to the Inner City Aššur. "The One Who Flattens All Enemies": this is the Sennacherib Gate, which leads to the land Ḫalzi. "The God Enlil Is the One Who Makes My Reign Firm": this is the Šamaš Gate, which leads to the land Gagal. "May Sennacherib’s Dynasty Be as Firm as the Position of the Wagon Constellation!": this is the Mullissu Gate, which leads to the city Kār-Mullissi. "The One Who Exorcises the ‘Flesh’ of the Asakku-demon": this is the Step Gate. "The Choicest of Grain and Flocks Are Constantly Inside It": this is the gate that leads to the city Šibaniba. "The Bearer of the Produce of the Mountains": this is the gate that leads to the land Ḫalaḫḫu. In total, eight gates facing the rising sun, towards the south and east, and I gave them these names. |