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To make those planted areas luxuriant, I cut with iron picks a canal straight through mountain and valley, from the border of the city Kisiru to the plain of Nineveh. I caused an inexhaustible supply of water to flow there for a distance of one and a half leagues from the Ḫusur River and made it gush through feeder canals into those gardens. |
After I had finished the work on my lordly palace, broadened the squares, and brought light into the alleys and streets, making them as bright as day, I invited inside it the palace the god Aššur, the great lord, and the gods and goddesses living in Assyria, then I made splendid offerings and presented my gifts. |
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 palace 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 will then hear his prayers. |
At the beginning of my kingship, I brought about the defeat of Marduk-apla-iddina II (Merodach-baladan), king of Karduniaš Babylonia, together with the troops of the land Elam, his allies, in the plain of Kish. In the midst of that battle he abandoned his camp. He fled alone and escaped to the land Guzummānu, where he entered the swamps and marshes and thereby saved his life. I seized the chariots, wagons, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, and Bactrian camels that he had abandoned in the thick of battle. |
I joyfully entered his palace, which is in Babylon, then I opened his treasury and brought out gold, silver, gold and silver utensils, precious stones, all kinds of possessions and property, a substantial treasure, together with his wife, his palace women, courtiers, attendants, all of the craftsmen, as many as there were, and his palace attendants, and I counted them as booty. |
I pursued him to the land Guzummānu and ordered my warriors into the midst of swamps and marshes. For five days they searched for him, but his hiding place could not be found. |
With the strength of the god Aššur, my lord, I surrounded, conquered, and plundered 89 fortified cities, fortresses of Chaldea, and 820 smaller settlements in their environs. I brought out the auxiliary forces of the Arameans and Chaldeans who were in Uruk, Nippur, Kish, Ḫursagkalama, and Cutha, together with the guilty citizens, and I counted them as booty. |
On my return march, I defeated all together the Tuʾumuna, Riḫiḫu, Yadaqqu, Ubudu, Gibrê, Maliḫu Malaḫu, Gurumu, Ubulu, Damunu, Gambulu, Ḫindaru, Ruʾuʾa, Puqudu, Ḫamrānu, Ḫagarānu, Nabatu, and Liʾtaʾu, insubmissive Arameans. I carried off into Assyria a substanial booty consisting of 208,000 people, male and female, 7,200 horses and mules, 11,073 donkeys, 5,230 camels, 80,100 oxen, and 800,600 sheep and goats. |
In the course of my campaign, 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 who since time immemorial had not submitted to my yoke, and I did not leave one alive. 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, a dangerous enemy 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 city Bīt-Kilamzaḫ, their fortified city. I brought out of it people, young and old, horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, and sheep and goats, and I counted them as booty. I destroyed, devastated, and turned into ruins their smaller settlements, which were without number. I burned with fire the pavilions and tents that they relied upon, and reduced them to ashes. |
I made that city Bīt-Kilamzaḫ a fortress again and strengthened its enceinte more than before. 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 destroyed, devastated, and burned with fire the cities Marʾubištu and Akkuddu, cities of his royal house, together with thirty-four fortified cities and smaller settlements in their environs, which were without number, then I cut down their orchards and poured deathly quiet over their fertile fields. In this manner I reduced to desolation the land Ellipi to its full extent. |
I carried off people, young and old, male and female, horses, mules, donkeys, oxen, and sheep and goats without number and brought them to nought. 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. |
On my return march, I received a substantial payment from the distant Medes, of whose land none of the kings, my ancestors, had heard mention. Thus I made them bow down to the yoke of my lordship. |
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; |
but not one among them had paid heed to or shown interest in the palace inside it, the seat of lordly dwelling whose site had become too small; nor had anyone of them conceived of and put his mind towards the straightening of the city’s streets and the widening of its squares, the dredging of the river, and the planting of orchards: |
But as for me, Sennacherib, 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, and the lands Que and Ḫilakku, who had not submitted to my yoke, then I made them carry baskets of earth and they made bricks. I cut down canebrakes in Chaldea and I had their splendid reeds hauled to Nineveh for its (the palace’s) construction by enemy soldiers whom I had defeated. |
The former palace, which was 360 cubits long opposite the zamû-wall of the ziggurrat, 80 cubits wide opposite the tower of the temple of the goddess Ištar, 134 cubits wide opposite the tower of the Bīt-Kidmuri, and 95 cubits wide on the other side; which earlier kings, my ancestors, had had constructed for their lordly dwelling, but whose construction they had carried out inexpertly — the Tebilti River, a tempestuous flood of water which when it rose had destroyed sacred buildings inside the city and exposed the mounds of their tombs (their mounded tombs) to the sun, and which had flowed from distant days by the side of the palace and which thereby had caused erosion in its foundation when its flood was in full spate and had shaken its base: |
I tore down that small palace in its entirety, then I changed the course of the Tebilti River, repaired the effects of the erosion, and directed its outflow. |
In the hidden depths of its subterranean waters I bonded together, with bitumen, reeds below and strong mountain stone above, then I raised that area out of the water and converted it to dry land. I filled in and measured a terrace of 700 large aslu-cubits along its longer side, 162 large aslu-cubits along its upper, northern shorter side, 217 large aslu-cubits along the inner, shorter side, and 386 large aslu-cubits along the lower, southern shorter side, which is beside the Tigris River. In order to prevent its foundation from being weakened over the passage of time by cresting floods, I surrounded its damp course with large limestone slabs and thereby reinforced its base. |
I inscribed objects bearing my name 160 courses of brick within the terrace, and I deposited them deep down in its foundation for ever after. |
Afterwards, I decided to increase the height of the terrace, then I added 20 courses of brick to the former terrace and thus I raised it to a total height of 180 courses of brick. I made the area larger than before, added it to the former dimensions of the palace, and thus enlarged its structure. |
I had a palace of elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, juniper, and terebinth, a palace that I named Egalzagdinutukua ("The Palace Without a Rival"), constructed thereon as my royal residence. |
I expertly fashioned four mountain sheep colossi of silver and bronze, together with mountain sheep colossi of massive mountain stone, and in four directions I made them hold their (the gates’) suitable door bolts. |
To make those planted areas luxuriant, I cut with iron picks a canal straight through mountain and valley, from the border of the city Kisiru to the plain of Nineveh. I caused an inexhaustible supply of water to flow there for a distance of one and a half leagues from the Ḫusur River and made it gush through feeder canals into those gardens. |
The line count of the inscription is 71 lines. Sibūti, eponymy of Nabû-lēʾi, governor of the city Arbela. |
At the beginning of my kingship, I brought about the defeat of Marduk-apla-iddina II (Merodach-baladan), king of Karduniaš Babylonia, together with the troops of the land Elam in the plain of Kish. In the midst of that battle he abandoned his camp. He fled alone and escaped to the land Guzummānu, where he entered the swamps and marshes and thereby saved his life. I seized the chariots, wagons, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, and Bactrian camels that he had abandoned in the thick of battle. |
On my return march, I defeated all together the Tuʾumuna, Riḫiḫu, Yadaqqu, Ubudu, Gibrê, Maliḫu Malaḫu, Gurumu, Ubulu, Damunu, Gambulu, Ḫindaru, Ruʾuʾa, Puqudu, Ḫamrānu, Ḫagarānu, Nabatu, and Liʾtaʾu, insubmissive Arameans. I carried off into Assyria a substantial booty consisting of 208,000 people, male and female, 7,200 horses and mules, 11,073 donkeys, 5,230 camels, 80,100 oxen, and 800,600 sheep and goats. |
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, a dangerous enemy 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 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 inscribed objects bearing my name 160 courses of brick within the terrace and I deposited them deep down in its foundation for ever after. |
I had a palace of elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, juniper, and terebinth, a palace that I named Egalzagdinutukua ("The Palace Without a Rival"), constructed thereon as my royal residence. |
I planted alongside it the palace a botanical garden, a replica of Mount Amanus, which has all kinds of aromatic plants and fruit trees, trees that are the mainstay of the mountains and Chaldea, collected inside it. |
To make those planted areas luxuriant, I cut with iron picks a canal straight through mountain and valley, from the border of the city Kisiru to the plain of Nineveh. I caused an inexhaustible supply of water to flow there for a distance of one and a half leagues from the Ḫusur River and made it gush through feeder canals into those gardens. |
I enlarged the site of Nineveh, my capital city. I broadened its squares and brought light into the alleys and streets, making them as bright as day. |
The line count of the inscription is 63 lines. Sibūti, eponymy of Nabû-lēʾi, governor of the city Arbela. |
Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, unrivalled king, pious shepherd who reveres 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: |
On my first campaign, I brought about the defeat of Marduk-apla-iddina II (Merodach-baladan), king of Karduniaš Babylonia, together with the troops of the land Elam, his allies, in the plain of Kish. In the midst of that battle he abandoned his camp, fled alone, and thereby saved his life. I seized the chariots, horses, wagons, and mules that he had abandoned in the thick of battle. |
In the course of my campaign, 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 from 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 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 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. 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. |
I placed Tu-Baʾlu on his royal throne over them and imposed upon him tribute and payment in recognition of my overlordship to be delivered yearly and without interruption |
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. |
I set Šarru-lū-dāri, son of Rūkibtu, their former king, over the people of the city Ashkelon and imposed upon him the payment of tribute and gifts in recognition of my overlordship so that he now pulls my yoke. |
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. |
In the plain of the city Eltekeh, they sharpened their weapons while drawing up in battleline before me. With the support of the god Aššur, my lord, I fought with them and defeated them. In the thick of battle, I captured alive the Egyptian charioteers and princes (the sons of the kings), 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 overlordship. |
As for Hezekiah of the land Judah, 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, and Padî, the king of the city Ekron, and Ṣilli-Bēl, the king of the land 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. |
From the booty of those lands that I had plundered, I conscripted 10,000 archers and 10,000 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, and wherein annually, without interruption, they received an enormous income, the tribute of the rulers of the four quarters of the world; |
But as for me, Sennacherib, 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, 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. I cut down canebrakes in Chaldea and I had their splendid reeds hauled to Nineveh for its (the palace’s) construction by enemy soldiers whom I had defeated. |
The former palace, which was 360 cubits long opposite the zamû-wall of the ziggurrat, 80 cubits wide opposite the tower of the temple of the goddess Ištar, 134 cubits wide opposite the tower of the Bīt-Kidmuri, and 95 cubits wide on the other side; which earlier kings, my ancestors, had had constructed for their lordly dwelling, but whose construction they had carried out inexpertly — the Tebilti River, a tempestuous flood of water which when it rose had destroyed sacred buildings inside the city and exposed their hidden tombs to the sun, and which had flowed from distant days by the side of the palace and which thereby had caused erosion in its foundation when its flood was in full spate and had shaken its base: |
I had a palace of alabaster, elephant ivory, ebony, boxwood, musukkannu-wood, cedar, cypress, daprānu-juniper, juniper, and terebinth, a palace that I named Egalzagdinutukua ("The Palace Without a Rival"), constructed thereon as my royal residence. |
To make those planted areas luxuriant, I cut with picks a canal straight through mountain and valley, from the border of the city Kisiru to the plain of Nineveh. I caused an inexhaustible supply of water to flow there for a distance of one and a half leagues from the Ḫusur River and made it gush through feeder canals into those gardens. |
I had a bridge constructed opposite the Citadel Gate by packing down paving stones of white limestone for my lordly processions. |
The line count of the inscription is 94 lines. Ayyāru II, eponymy of Mitūnu, governor of the city Isāna. |
Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters of the world, capable shepherd, 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: |
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 |
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. |
I enlarged the site of the citadel and Nineveh, my capital city. I broadened their squares and brought light into the alleys and streets, making them as bright as day. |
I had a bridge constructed opposite the Citadel Gate with paving stones of white limestone for the passage of my lordly chariot. |
I had an inscribed object made and had all the mighty victories that I achieved over all of my enemies with the support of the god Aššur, the great lord, my lord, and all of my other achievements inscribed thereon. With inscribed objects of earlier rulers, my ancestors, I deposited it for ever after in the citadel wall of Nineveh, my capital city, for the kings, my descendants. |
At any time in the future, may one of my descendants (future children), 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. |
Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, unrivalled king, pious shepherd who reveres 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 placed Bēl-ibni, a son of a rab banî, on his royal throne and entrusted him with the people of Akkad. I appointed my eunuchs to be governors over all of the districts of Chaldea and I imposed the yoke of my lordship upon them. |
On my return march, I defeated all together the Tuʾumuna, Riḫiḫu, Yadaqqu, Ubudu, Gibrê, Maliḫu Malaḫu, Gurumu, Ubulu, Damunu, Gambulu, Ḫindaru, Ruʾuʾa, Puqudu, Ḫamrānu, Ḫagarānu, Nabatu, and Liʾtaʾu, insubmissive Arameans. I carried off into Assyria a substantial booty consisting of 208,000 people, young and old, male and female, 7,200 horses and mules, 11,073 donkeys, 5,230 camels, 80,100 oxen, and 600,600 sheep and goats. |
To make these planted areas luxuriant, I cut with picks a canal straight through mountain and valley, from the border of the city Kisiru to the plain of Nineveh. I caused an inexhaustible supply of water to flow there for a distance of one and a half leagues from the Ḫusur River and made it gush through feeder canals into those gardens. |
By divine will, vines, all kinds of fruit trees, olive trees, and aromatic trees flourished greatly in those gardens. Cypress trees, musukkannu-trees, and all kinds of trees grew tall and sent out shoots. I created a marsh to moderate the flow of water for those gardens and had a canebrake planted in it. I let loose in it herons, wild boars (pigs of the reeds), and roe deer. 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. |
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. |
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 laid the foundation of its great wall, Badnigalbilukurašušu, which means "Wall Whose Brilliance Overwhelms Enemies," upon limestone and made it 40 bricks thick. I raised its superstructure 180 courses of brick high. |
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 enlarged the site of Nineveh, my capital city. I broadened its squares, making them as bright as day. I had an inner and outer wall built and I raised them as high as mountains. |
So that there would be outflow from the Ḫusur River in the city and the passage of water upstream and downstream, I built aqueducts beneath it the city wall with baked bricks, |
I had an inscribed object made and had all the mighty victories that I achieved over all of my enemies with the support of the god Aššur, the great lord, my lord, and all of my other achievements inscribed thereon. With inscribed objects of earlier rulers, my ancestors, I deposited it for ever after in the wall of Nineveh, my capital city, for the kings, my descendants. |
In the future, may one of the kings, my descendants, whom the god Aššur names for shepherding the land and people, renovate their dilapidated sections when these inner and outer walls become 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 will then hear his prayers. |
At the beginning of my kingship, I brought about the defeat of Marduk-apla-iddina II (Merodach-baladan), king of Karduniaš Babylonia, together with the troops of the land Elam, his ally, in the plain of Kish. I seized the chariots, wagons, horses, mules, donkeys, camels, and Bactrian camels that he had abandoned in the thick of battle. |
On my return march, I defeated all together the Tuʾumuna, Riḫiḫu, Yadaqqu, Ubudu, Gibrê, Maliḫu Malaḫu, Gurumu, Ubulu, Damunu, Gambulu, Ḫindaru, Ruʾuʾa, Puqudu, Ḫamrānu, Ḫagarānu, Nabatu, and Liʾtaʾu, insubmissive Arameans. |
I built and completed it from its foundations to its crenellations and I settled the god Ḫaya, the god of scribes, inside it. |
O foundation inscription, speak favorable things to the god Aššur about Sennacherib, king of Assyria, the one who loves correct behavior, the one who fashioned images of the god Aššur and the great gods, and the one who built this temple, so that his sons and his grandsons may endure forever with the black-headed people. |
May any future ruler, whom the god Aššur names for shepherding the land and people and during whose reign that temple becomes dilapidated, renovate its dilapidated sections. May he find this inscribed object, anoint it with oil, make an offering, and put it back in its place. The god Aššur and the goddess Ištar will then hear his prayers. |
As for the one who alters my inscribed object and disrespects my words, may the god Aššur, king of the gods, and the great gods of heaven and netherworld curse him with a harsh, irreversible curse, and may they overthrow his kingship, deprive him of his life, and eradicate his name, his seed, his offspring, and his progeny from the mouth of the people. |
Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters of the world, leader of a widespread population, the one who fashioned images of the deities Aššur, Anu, Sîn, Šamaš, Adad, Nergal, Ištar of Bīt-Kidmuri, Bēlet-ilī, and the great gods, the one who carries out to perfection the rites of Ešarra and Emašmaš, who knows well how to revere the gods of heaven and the gods of Assyria, the builder of Assyria, the one who brings his cult centers to completion, the one who uproots enemies and destroys their settlements, circumspect ruler whose dominion is more praised than that of all kings who sit on royal daises, the support of his land, the one who is trustworthy in battle and combat, and the protection of his troops, I: |
Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters of the world, leader of a widespread population, the one who fashioned images of the deities Aššur, Anu, Sîn, Šamaš, Adad, Nergal, Ištar of Bīt-Kidmuri, Bēlet-ilī, and the great gods, the one who carries out to perfection the rites of Ešarra and Emašmaš, who knows well how to revere the gods of heaven and the gods of Assyria, the builder of Assyria, the one who brings his cult centers to completion, the one who uproots enemies and destroys their settlements, circumspect ruler, |
Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters of the world, leader of a widespread population, the one who fashioned images of the deities Aššur, Anu, Sîn, Šamaš, Adad, Nergal, Ištar of Bīt-Kidmuri, Bēlet-ilī, and the great gods, the one who carries out to perfection the rites of Ešarra and Emašmaš, who knows well how to revere the gods of heaven and the gods of Assyria, the builder of Assyria, |
Sennacherib, great king, strong king, king of the world, king of Assyria, king of the four quarters of the world, capable shepherd, 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: |
The god Aššur, the great mountain, granted to me unrivalled sovereignty and made my weapons greater than those of all who sit on royal daises. He made all of the black-headed people from the Upper Sea of the Setting Sun to the Lower Sea of the Rising Sun bow down at my feet. |
I joyfully entered his palace, which is in Babylon, then I opened his treasury and brought out gold, silver, gold and silver utensils, precious stones, all kinds of possessions and property without number, a substantial tribute, together with his palace women, courtiers, attendants, male singers, female singers, all of the craftsmen, as many as there were, and his palace attendants, and I counted them as booty. |