RECORDS OF THE PAST

_______________

BEING
ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
OF THE
ASSYRIAN AND EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS

PUBLISHED UNDER THE SANCTION
OF
THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
 

VOLUME ONE:

ASSYRIAN TEXTS

___________________

NOTE

Every Text here given is either now translated for first time,
or has been specially revised by the Author to the date of this publication.

{p.i}

PREFACE

THE present volume of translations of Babylonian and Assyrian inscriptions, in the cuneiform or arrow-headed character, is the first of a series intended to place before the public the important results of the study and interpretation of these and Egyptian monuments, by English and foreign students. The value of these translations, to those interested in Biblical history and archaeology, cannot be estimated too highly by all who have turned their attention to the language, literature, and history of the nations of the East contemporaneous with the Hebrews, and conterminous to the land of Palestine. As many of the texts are of the most remote antiquity, they derive from that fact alone the greatest importance, detailing contemporaneous events which had hitherto escaped notice, been lost, or else imperfectly transmitted by secondary sources. In order to render the volume as popular as possible, and make the information afforded as simple as it can be given, the translations are only accompanied by such notes as are absolutely required to explain intelligibly a few of the more obscure passages. The doubtful portions of the translations are printed in italics, and additional words are indicated by brackets. The translations have been printed as received, and each translator is only responsible for {p.ii} his own portion of the work. In the short introduction placed at the head of each, will be found a notice of where the text exists, and has been published, and if it has been previously translated ; but no philological exegesis has been given. Owing to the discrepancies and difficulties which are attendant on the different systems of chronology, it has hot been deemed advisable to give the exact dates B.C. of the documents, but an indication of general period to which each belongs is denoted by the title or heading. The nature of each monument is also mentioned, whether it is inscribed on stone, or a tablet, or cylinder of terra cotta, or object of other material employed for the purpose.

The form of the cuneiform characters varied considerably, according to age, locality, and the hand of the script in which it was inscribed, the oldest mounting to the earliest age of the Babylonian and Assyrian monarchies; this style of writing not having been entirely discontinued at the commencement of the Roman empire.

It has not been possible to arrange the materials in chronological order, but the list appended of the known texts and monuments, will convey to the reader some idea of their relative age, and extent of the literature, of Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, and other Eastern nations of antiquity.

S. BIRCH.

London, December 25, 1873.

CONTENTS

{p.1}

INSCRIPTION RIMON-NIRARI
TRANSLATED BY
REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.

THE following Inscription is found upon a Pavement Slab from Nimrud, which was discovered at the edge of the mound between the North-West and South-West Palaces. A lithographed copy of it is contained in the first volume of the "Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia," p. 35, No. 3. The first 25 lines were originally published in the volume of Cuneiform Inscriptions edited by Mr. Layard, p. 70, With {p.2} the exception of the last 6 lines, the Inscription was printed in Bonomi's popular work on Nineveh, p. 339. Its genealogical value is great, and it contains a notice of the founder of the Assyrian Monarchy who is otherwise unknown.

_____________

{p.3}

TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTION

1 The Palace of Rimmon-Nirari, the great king, the powerful king,
2 The mighty king, king of the land of Assyria, the king whom, as his own son, Assur
3 King of the Gods of Heaven has favoured and with the kingdom
4 Of the World has filled
5 His hand. From the great sea
6 Of the Rising Sun¹ to the great sea
7 Of the Setting Sun²
8 His hand has conquered and ruled it
9 Wholly and throughout. The son of Samas-Rimmon,
10 The great king, the powerful king, the mighty king, king of the land of Assyria,
11 King of the World, son of Shalmaneser
12 King of the Four Races,³ who on the land of his foes
13 Laid (his) yoke, and swept (them) like a whirlwind.
14 Grandson of Assur-natsir-pal, the warrior priest,
15 The enlarger of glorious habitations.
16 Rimmon-nirari, the glorious prince, to whose help
17 The gods Assur, Samas (the Sun), Rimmon, and Merodach
18 Have gone, and have enlarged his country
19 (Is) the descendant of the grandson of Tiglath-Adar,⁴ king of Assyria,
_________
1 That is either the Persian Gulf or the Caspian Sea.
2 The Mediterranean.
3 The Four Races was an old title of Syria, which was peopled, according to Gen. x. 23, by Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash.
4 He was the father of Assur-natsir-pal.

{p.4}

20 King of the country of Sumeri and Accad,¹
21 Descendant² of Shalmaneser, the powerful king,
22 The erecter of the Temple of Kharsak-Kurra,³
23 The mountain of the world; descendant
24 Of Bel-sumili-capi, a former king
25 Who went before (me), the founder of the monarchy,
26 Of which for its exaltation from
27 Ancient times Assur has proclaimed the glory.
___________
1 This denoted Babylonia. Sumeri is perhaps the Shinar of Scripture.
2 Literally "offspring of the offspring".
3 This signifies " the mountains of the East," that 'is to say, the highlands of Elam from which the Accadai or "Highlanders" had originally descended.
 

{p.5}

THE INSCRIPTION OF KHAMMURABI
TRANSLATED BY
H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S., ETC.

THIS inscription is valuable from its extreme antiquity. Khammurabi lived before the time of Moses, but how many centuries earlier has not yet been ascertained. His inscriptions are, with one exception, written in the Accadian language which as yet is very imperfectly understood. Very fortunately the Museum at Paris possesses one inscription written in the Babylonian language, and this is the one of which I have here given the translation. It was first translated by Oppert and Menant, and afterwards M. Menant wrote a special work on the subject, entitled Inscriptions de Hammourabi roi de Babylone, traduites et publi'ees avec un commentaire a Pappui par M. Joachim Menant (Paris 1863). This work is accompanied by facsimiles of the inscriptions. I published a version of the inscription in 1863 in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. 20 p. 445 and a somewhat better one in 1865, {p.6} aided by the facsimile, in the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, vol. 8, p. 234.

The great importance of this inscription resides, not in the events treated of, but in the language itself: for, we have here the proof that the Babylonian language was the same in the days of Khammurabi as it was a thousand years later in the days of Nebuchadnezzar. There are a few archaisms but they are very trifling. The amount of difference is perhaps as much as exists between the English of Queen Elizabeth's time and that of the present day. How far then must we recede into antiquity, if we wish to find the beginnings of the Semitic tongue! In all the inscriptions which have come down to us we find substantially the same language.

Other languages, and totally different ones, existed at the same time, of which the most important was the Accadian, in which the greater number of Khammurabi's inscriptions are written. That monarch evidently ruled over two races, which lived side by side, or perhaps intermixed, in ancient Babylonia.

______________

{p.7}

TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTION

COLUMN I

Khammurabi the exalted king, the king of Babylon, the king renowned throughout the world: conqueror of the enemies of Marduk: the king beloved by his heart, am I.

The favour of God and Bel the people of Sumir and Accad gave unto my government. Their celestial weapons unto my hand they gave.

The canal Khammurabi, the joy of men, a stream of abundant waters, for the people of Sumir and Accad I excavated. Its banks, all of them, I restored to newness: new supporting walls I heaped up: perennial waters for the people of Sumir and Accad I provided.

COLUMN II

The people of Sumir and Accad, all of them, in general assemblies I assembled. A review and inspection of them I ordained every year. In joy and abundance I watched over them, and in peaceful dwellings I caused them to dwell.

By the divine favour I am Khammurabi the exalted king, the worshipper of the supreme deity.

With the prosperous power which Marduk gave me, I built a lofty Citadel, on a high mound of earth, whose summits rose up like mountains, on the bank of Khammurabi river, the joy of men.

To that Citadel I gave the name of the mother who bore me¹ and the father who begot me.

In the holy name of Ri the mother who bore me, and of the father who begot me, during long ages may it last!
____________
1 He named it the fortress of Ri-Marduk, the god and goddess whom he called his father and mother, according to a fantastic custom of which the inscriptions offer many examples.

{p.9}

MONOLITH INSCRIPTION OF SAMAS-RIMMON
TRANSLATED BY
REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.

THE Inscription translated below is engraved upon an Obelisk found in the South-East Palace of Nimrud, the ancient Calah, and now in the British Museum. It is written in archaic characters, which differ greatly from those ordinarily met with on the Assyrian monuments. They are more picturesque than the latter, and were therefore sometimes preferred for the same reason that makes us occasionally adopt the old black-letter type. The Inscription is given in the First Volume of the "Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia," edited by Sir H. Rawlinson and Mr. Norris in 1861, pp. 29-34. It has already been translated by Dr. Oppert in his "Histoire des Empires de Chaldee et d'Assyrie d'apres les monuments" (1865); but the present Translation is the first that has been made into English. Shalmaneser, the father of the king who had the Inscription engraved, was one of the greatest monarchs of the Middle Assyrian Empire. He reigned 35 years, and was a cotemporary of the Israelite {p.10} kings Ahab and Jehu, and of Hazael of Syria. Ahab is mentioned in an Inscription which Shalmaneser caused to be set up at Kurkh, and the names of Jehu and Hazae occur on an Obelisk of Black Marble, adorned with sculptures of tribute-bearers, which occupies a conspicuous place in the British Museum. The reign of Samas-Rimmon lasted 13 years; and the inscription itself gives an account of his successful suppression of a revolt raised by his brother Assur-dayan, which, like that of Adonijah, threatened to deprive Samas-Rimmon of the crown that had been destined for him.

_______________

{p.11}

TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTION

COLUMN I

1 To Adar,¹ the courageous lord
2 of mighty chiefs, the lord,
3 the hero of the gods, the roller of the globe of heaven
4 and earth, the urger on of all,
5 the supporter of the Deities of Heaven (and) of rainstorms,
6 the bright one, whose powers
7 are unequalled, chief of the Annunaci,²
8 the most powerful of the gods, the oracle,
9 the high ruler of the Southern Sun,
10 Lord over the force of the whirlwind,
11 who, like the destroying sun, the threshold of the gods
12 crosses, and the regions of the leaders
13 of the gods, who diffuse glory,
14 fills with the abundance of all powers,
15 (and) the strength (of them); First-born of Bel, the servant
16 of the gods, his superiors, offspring of Beth-Eser,³ the son
__________________
1 The name of this god is variously read as Nin-ip, Bar, and Ussur.
2 The Anunnaci, the offspring of Anu or the Sky, had their seat in the Lower world. They are called the Deities of the Earth.
3 Beth-Eser, "The Temple of Uprightness," was the name given to the Temples of Adar.

{p.12}

17 the ruler, who among the fragments of broken diadems
18 launches the arrow, offspring of Bit-Kurt receiver of the instructions of
19 Anu and the Great Goddess, who change not
20 the utterance of his mouth,¹ the mighty chief, the supreme (one), the magnified,
21 Lord of the divine-powers, who the sinews of the hands and feet
22 binds together [and] brings the design to completion,
23 high among the gods, the lord who dwells in Calah,
24 the crown of perfect places,
25 the seat of the Southern Sun;
26 Samas-Rimmon² the mighty king, king of multitudes
27 unequalled (in number), the shepherd of (sacred) places, bearer of the sceptre
28 of the shrines, the descender into all lands, the urger on
29 of all whom from former days
30 the gods have called by name, the protector, the restorer
31 of Beth-Eser he who transgresses not, the roller of the front of Bit-Kur.
32 (As to) whom, for the embellishment of Bit-Kharsak-Kurra (and) the Temples³ of his land
33 his heart is established and his ears exist;
34 the son of Shalmaneser, the king of the Four Races,
35 the opponent of kings of all (countries), the trampler on the world,
36 the grandson of Assur-natsir-pal
37 the receiver of the tribute
38 and the riches of all regions.
_____________
1 Or "the utterance of whose mouth shall never be changed."
2 Samas is the Sun-god. Rimmon is the god of the atmosphere, whose name has been variously read Iva, Ao, Vul, and Bin.
3 The word used here is the Plural of Bit-kur which literally signifies "Temple of the Country."

{p.13}

39 It came to pass that Assur-dayin, the son, in the time of Shalmaneser
40 his father, made war. The overthrow of fealty wickedly
41 he brought about and caused the country to rebel, and made ready
42 battle. The men of the country of Assyria above and below with him
43 he collected, and he fortified the habitable towns. The cities he caused to be counted over, and
44 to make conflict and battle he set his face.
45 The cities of Nisura, Adia, Sibaniba, Imgur-Bel,¹ Issabri,
46 Beth-Imdira, Simu, Sibkhinis, Parnusur, Kipsuna,
47 Kurban, Tidu, Napulu, Capa, Assur,² Huracca,
48 Sallad (?), Khuzirina, Dur-baladh,³ Dariga, Zab,
49 Lubdu, Arapkha,⁴ Arbela, as far as Amida, Tel-Abni,⁵ (and)
50 Khin-makhnu, in all 27 fortified towns with their citadels, which from
51 Shalmaneser, king of the Four Races, my father, had revolted (and)
52 on the side of Assur-dayan, the son, had ranged themselves, by the will of the great gods, my lords,
53 my feet I made them kiss in my first campaign, when to the country of Nahri⁶ (Continued on Column II)
__________
1 Imgur-Bel was the name of the walls of Babylon.
2 Assur, the original capital of Assyria, is the modern Kalah-Shergat.
3 This means "The Fortress of Life."
4 The name of the city has hitherto been read in this way, and the classical Arrapachitis compared with it. It ought, however, to be either Sanakha or Arbanun.
5 That is "The Mound of Stones."
6 Literally "The Country of Rivers." It corresponds with Northern Mesopotamia, the Aram Naharaim of Scripture.

COLUMN II

1 I went up. Tribute (in the shape of)
2 horses harnessed to the yoke
3 from all the kings of
4 Nahri I received at the same time.
5 The land of Nahri to its frontiers
6 like shavings I swept.
7 The border of Assyria, which (extended) from the city of Paddira
8 in Nahri as far as
9 Kar-Shalmaneser, near
10 Carchemish, from the country of Zaddi,
11 the border of Accad, as far as
12 Enzi, from the country of Aridi as far as
13 the country of the Sukhi, by the will of Assur, Samas,
14 Rimmon, (and) Istar, the gods, my protectors,
15 with shame of face, my feet
16 kissed. In my second campaign
17 Mulis- Assur, chief of the commanders,
18 a leader skilful in righting, a man of authority,¹
19 with my war-engines and my camp
20 to Nahri I urged on, and
21 sent it forth. Unto the sea of the setting sun he went.
22 Three hundred cities
23 of Khirtsina, the son
24 of Migdi-ara (and) eleven fortresses
25 as well as 200 cities
26 of Uspina he cut off; their fighting men
27 he slew; their spoil, their treasure, their goods,
28 their gods, their sons, (and) their daughters
29 he carried off; their cities he threw down,
_____________
1 Literally "man of command."

{p.15}

30 dug up (and) burned with fire. On his return
31 the fighting men of the country of the Sunbai he slaughtered.
32 A multitude of horses, trained
33 (to) the yoke, belonging to the kings of Nahri,
34 all of them I received. In my third campaign the river Zab
35 I crossed. The country of Tsilar I passed through.
36 To the land of Nahri I went up. The tribute
37 of Dadi of the country of the Khupuscai,¹
38 of Khirtsina, the son of Migdi-ara,
39 of the country of the Sunbai, (of) the country of the Manai,²
40 (of) the country of the Parsuai (and of) the country of the Taurlai,
41 (namely) horses trained (to) the yoke,
42 I received. (As to) the country of the Mi'sai, exceeding fear
43 of Assur my lord overwhelmed them.
44 Before the brightness of my mighty arrows
45 they had fear, and their cities they abandoned.
46 A mountain difficult (of access) they occupied.
47 Three mountain peaks, which like the mist
48 reached unto heaven, over which no bird
49 could find its passage,³ the place
50 as their stronghold they made.⁴ After them I rode.
51 At those mountain peaks I arrived.
52 In a single day like an eagle over them I rushed.
_____________
1 Khupusca lay to the North-East of Assyria, among the mountains of Armenia.
2 The Manai or Mannai, called Minni in the Old Testament, inhabited the neighbourhood of Lake Van in Armenia.
3 Literally "which a bird his crossing came not (to)."
4 Literally "the place of them (i.e. the mountain-peaks) for their stronghold they made."

{p.16}

53 Multitudes of their soldiers I slew: their spoil,
54 their treasure, their goods, their oxen, their asses,
55 their sheep, horses trained (to) the yoke,
56 bulls which (have) two humps¹
57 (and) horns to a countless number from the midst of the mountains I caused to be brought down.
58 Five hundred cities which (were) dependent upon them I threw down, dug up,
59 (and) burned with fire. To the country of Girubbunda² (Continued on Column III)
____________
1 I.e. Camels.
2 Girubbunda lay to the east of the Par'suai, who are probably the Parthians, and to the west of the Medes, at that time considerably eastward of the country afterwards called after their name.

COLUMN III

1 I went. The city of Cinaci I cut off,
2 threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire.
3 The country that belonged to Nirisbizida
4 I passed through. The tribute of Titamasca
5 of the city of the Samasai, (and of) Ci-ara of the city of the Kar-'sibutai,
6 (namely) horses trained (to) the yoke, I received.
7 (As to) the country of Girubbunda, all its inhabitants the fear of my lordship
8 and the onset of my mighty battle overwhelmed, and
9 their cities they abandoned. To
10 the city Huras, their fortified stronghold, I went down; and
11 this city I besieged, I captured. The corpses
12 of their warriors, like rubbish I scattered. Their city
13 I laid in heaps; 600 of their warriors I slew.
14 Pirisati their king, with 1,200 of his fighting men
15 into bondage I took. Their spoil, their treasure, their goods,
16 their oxen, their sheep, their horses, property
17 (in) silver, (and) gold mingled with bronze, to
18 a countless amount, I carried off. I pulled down, dug up
19 (and) burned with fire. The tribute of Engur
20 of the city of the Tsibarai I received. An image
21 of my magnified royalty I made.¹ The laws
22 of Assur my lord, the decrees of my ascendancy
23 and the full history of the deeds of my hand, which in
24 the country of Nahri I wrought, upon it
25 I wrote. Into the city of Tsibara,
26 their fortified stronghold in the country of the Girubbundai,
________
1 That is, he had a statue of himself erected.

{p.18}

27 I caused (it) to be brought. To the country of the Matai¹ I went
28 Before the mighty arrows of Assur, and the trial
29 of my terrible battle, which had not rest,
30 they had fear; and their cities they abandoned.
31 To the country of Epitse after them
32 I rode: 2,300 soldiers of Khanatsiruca
33 of the country of the Matai I slew; 140 of his war-carriages
34 I seized. His treasure his goods to a countless amount
35 I brought back to the city Sagbita, the capital. As many as
36 1,200 of his cities I threw down, dug up, (and) burned with fire.
37 On my return the passes of the mountains I made my way through.
38 Munir'suarta of the country of the Araziasai,² together with
39 1,070 of his fighting-men with arrows I slaughtered.
40 (With) their corpses the successive valleys of the high country
41 I filled: their sons, their daughters, their treasure,
42 their goods, their oxen, (and) their sheep the armies
43 of my country as tribute carried away. Their cities I threw down,
44 dug up (and) burned with fire. At that time the tribute
45 of Sirasmi of the country of the Babarurai, of Amakhar
46 of the city of the Kharmis-andai, of Zarisu of the country of the Par'saniyai,
47 of Zarisu of the city of the Khundurai, of Sanisu
48 of the country of the Cipabarutacai, of Ardara
49 of the country of the Ustassai, of Suma of the country of the Cinucai,
___________
1 These are the Medes.
2 The Araziasians are placed by Lenormant in Sagartia.

{p.19}

50 of Tatai of the country of the Ginginai,
51 of Bi'sirain of the country of the Arimai, of Parusta
52 of the country of the Cimarusai, of Aspastatauk
53 of the Huilai, of Amamas of the country of the Cingistilinzakharai¹
54 of Kha's'sikhu of the country of the Matsirausai, of Mamanis
55 of the country of the Luk'sai, of Zabel of the country of the Dimamai,
56 of Sirasu of the country of the 'Singuriai, of Gista
57 of the country of the Abdanai, of Adadanu of the country of the A'satai,
58 of Ur'si of the country of the Ginkhukhtai, of Bara
59 of the country of the Ginzinai, of Aruaof the country of the Cindutausai,
60 of Dirnacus of the country of the Marruai, of Zabanu
61 of the country of the Zuzarurai, of Irtizati of the country of the Ginkhidai
62 of Bazzuta of the country of the Taurlai, of Sua
63 of the country of the Nanikirians (?), of 'Satiriai, (and) of Arta'sirari
64 kings of the country of Nahri all of them, by the will of Assur, Samas,
65 (and) Rimmon, the gods my defenders, a fixed tribute
66 of horses trained (to) the yoke for the future
67 over them I appointed. At that time from the country of Tsilar
68 (and) the land of Edanni as far as the sea of the setting sun, like Rimmon,
69 my storm over them I poured. Exceeding fear
70 into them I infused. In my fourth campaign, (in the month) Si'van²

(Continued on Column IV)

_____________
1 The latter part of this word seems to be the Assyrian Zakharu "small."
2 Sivan, the 3rd month of the year, answered roughly to our May.

COLUMN IV

1 (on) the 15th day to Car-Duniyas¹ (my troops) go, and
2 the river Zab I crossed. Between the cities of Zaddi and Zaba
3 fragments of rock I passed. Three fierce lions I slew.
4 The country of Ebikh I passed through. The city of the waters of the Dhurnat² I approached.
5 Exceeding fear of Assur and Merodach, the great gods,
6 my lords, overwhelmed them. My feet they took.³ These men
7 I caused to go out, and with their goods (and) their gods to the midst
8 of my own country I brought them. As men of my own country I counted (them).
9 The Dhurnat I crossed in its upper part.⁴ The city Karne,
10 the capital of the country,⁵ as well as 200 towns dependent upon it I threw down, [dug up]
11 (and) burned with fire. The country of Yalman I passed through. The city Diahbina
12 I approached. The fear of Assur overwhelmed the inhabitants. My feet they took.
13 Three thousand cities with their men, their treasure (?) their goods, from the midst
14 of that city I took. The cities of Datebir (and) Iz ... ya
15 which (are) beside the city Ganasuticanu, together with 200 cities
__________
1 Car-duniyas was the name usually given to Lower Chaldea.
2 This river is the Tornadotus of classical geographers.
3 As a token of homage and submission.
4 Or "in its flood."
5 Literally, "its royal city."

{p.21}

16 that (are) dependent on them I conquered: 330 of their soldiers I slew:
17 Their spoil, their treasure, their goods, (and) their gods I carried off: their plantation,
18 I cut down: their towns I threw down, dug up (and) burned with fire. The men who from, the face
19 of my mighty arrows fled, into a city in the midst of (their other) cities, their fortified (stronghold,)
20 entered. That city I besieged,. I captured. Five hundred of their soldiers I slew. Their spoil,
21 their treasure, their goods, their gods, their oxen (and) their sheep I carried off. The city
22 I threw down, dug up, (and) burned witb fire. As to all the land of Accad, which before the fear
23 of my terrible arrows (and) the trial of my mighty battle, which cessation had not,
24 had fear, and into the city of Dur-Papsukul (?) the capital, which like a crag in the river
25 in a flood of waters was situated [so that] for the attack of my army
26 it [was] not good, (and into) 447 cities round about (it) had entered,
27 that city in my passage I captured. Thirteen thousand
28 of its fighting-men with arrows I slew. Their dead bodies
29 like water I scattered. Their city I demolished. The ranks
30 of their warriors into heaps I heaped.
31 Three thousand lives with a measuring-line I took: its royal divan, the treasures of its palace,
32 the guards of its high altar, the amazons of its high altars, its stores,
33 its goods, its gods, of its high altar, to a countless number,

{p.22}

34 from the midst of that town I carried off. The ranks of its warriors,
35 like flocks of birds,¹ to the armies of my country
36 yielded. That city I pulled down, dug up (and) burned with fire.
37 Merodach-baladhsu-ikbi to the strength of his troops
38 trusted, and the country of Chaldea, the country of Elam, the country of Zimri,
39 (and) the country of Arumu, with their numerous troops to a countless amount,
40 summoned together. To make conflict and battle against me he came.
41 Over against Ahdaban, in the neighbourhood of the city of Dur-Papsukul (?) a fortified town,
42 where he marshalled his troops, with him I fought. A destruction of him I made.
43 Five thousand of the ranks of (his) men I destroyed. Two thousand lives in the hands I took.
44 One hundred of his chariots, 200 of his war-carriages, his royal pavilion, (his) divan, (and)
45 his camp I seized
__________
1 I think a character has fallen out of the text here. Otherwise we must translate (with Norris) "as if by destiny."

{p.23}

THE INSCRIPTION ON BELLINO'S CYLINDER,
COMPRISING THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE
REIGN OF SENNACHERIB
TRANSLATED BY
H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S., ETC.

THIS inscription is preserved in the British Museum. It was published, by Layard, in the first volume of the British "Museum Inscriptions," plate 63. An admirable facsimile of it was made by Bellino, and engraved by the care of Grotefend, in "Abhandlung der k. Ges. d. Wissensch, zu Gottingen."

{p.24}

In 1866 I presented a translation of it to the Royal Society of Literature, which is printed in their Transactions (vol. viii. p. 369).¹
________
1 I had made a previous attempt in 1860 (Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. xviii. p. 76).

_____________

{p.25}

TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTION

1 Sixty-three inscribed lines¹ [written] in the seventh month of the year whose eponym was Nebo-liha, prefect of Arbela.
2 SENNACHERIB, the great king, the powerful king, the king of Assyria, the king unrivalled, the pious monarch, the worshipper of the great gods.
3 The protector of the just: the lover of the righteous:
4 The noble warrior, the valiant hero, the first of all kings, the great punisher of unbelievers, who are breakers of the holy festivals.
5 Ashur, the great Lord, has given to me an unrivalled monarchy. Over all princes he has raised triumphantly my arms.
6 In the beginning of my reign I defeated Marduk Baladan, king of Babylonia, and his allies the Elamites, in the plains near the city of Kish.
7 In the midst of that battle he quitted his camp, and fled alone: he escaped to the city of Gutzumman: he got into the marshes full of reeds and rushes, and so saved his life.
8 The chariots, wagons, horses, mules, camels, and dromedaries, which in the midst of the battle he had abandoned, were captured by my hands.
9 I entered rejoicing into his palace in the city of Babylon: I broke open his royal treasury: gold and silver: vessels of gold and silver: precious stones of every kind: goods and valuables, and much royal treasure,
___________
1 Some words here follow, in praise of the king, whose meaning is uncertain.

{p.26}

10 his wife: the men and women of his palace: the noblemen: and those who ranked first among all his men of trust, and were clothed with the chief authority in the palace, I carried off, and I counted them as a spoil.
11 I marched after him to the city Gutzumman, and I sent off my soldiers to search through the marshes and reeds. Five days they moved about rapidly, but his hiding place was not discovered!
12 In the power of Ashur, my lord, 89 large cities, and royal dwellings in the land of Chaldea, and 820 small towns in their neighbourhood I assaulted, captured, and carried off their spoils.
13 The Urbi [Arabians], Aramaeans, and Chaldseans who were in the cities of Erech, Nipur, Kish, Harris-kalama, and Tiggaba, and the people of the cities which had been in rebellion I carried away, and I distributed them as a spoil.
14 Belibus, the son of a Rabbam, who was prefect (?) of Suanna¹ city, who as a young man had been brought up in my palace, I placed over them as king of Leshan and Akkadi.
15 During my return, the tribes of the Tuhamuna, Rihi-khu, Yadakku, Hubudu, Kipri, Malikhu, Gurumu, Hubuli, Damunu,
16 Gambulu, Khindaru, Ruhuha, Bukudu, Khamranu, Hagaranu, Nabatu, and Lihutahu (Aramaeans all of them, and rebels), I completely conquered.
17 208,000 people, male and female: 7,200 horses and mules; 11,173 asses; 5,230 camels; 80,100 oxen; 800,600 sheep; a vast spoil, I carried off to Assyria,
18 In the course of my expedition I received the great tribute of Nebo-bil-zikri, chief of Ararat: gold, silver, meshukan wood of great size, mules, camels, oxen and sheep.
____________
1 Suanna was the name of a part of Babylon, accounted sacred.

{p.27}

19 The people of the city Khirimmi, obstinate enemies, who from old times had never bowed down to my yoke, I destroyed with the sword. Not one soul escaped.
20 That district I settled again. One ox, ten sheep, ten goats (?) (these twenty beasts being the best of every kind), I appointed [as a sacrifice\ to the gods of Assyria, my lords, in every township.¹
21 In my second expedition, Ashur, the lord, giving me confidence, I marched against the land of the Kassi and Yatsubi-galla,² obstinate enemies, who from old times had never submitted to the kings, my fathers.
22 Through the thick forests and in the hilly districts I rode on horseback, for I had left my two-horse chariot in the plains below. But in dangerous places I alighted on my feet, and clambered like a mountain goat.
23 The city of Beth-Kilamzakh, their great city, I attacked and took. The inhabitants, small and great, horses, mules, asses, oxen, and sheep, I carried off from it and distributed them as a spoil.
24 Their smaller towns without number I overthrew, and reduced them to heaps of rubbish. A vast building, which was their Hall of Assembly, I burnt with fire, and left it in ruins.
25 I rebuilt that city of Beth-Kilamzakh, and I made it into a strong fortress. Beyond former times I strengthened it and fortified it. People drawn from lands subdued by my arms I placed to dwell within it.
26 The people of Kassi and Yatsubi-galla, who had fled away from my arms, I brought down from the mountains, and in the cities of Kar-Thisbe and Beth-Kubitti I caused them to dwell.
_________
1 Into the conquered country he introduced the Assyrian worship, and of course made due provision for the support of the priests, and sacrifices to the gods.
2 I.e. 'Men of great stature.' Name of a tribe.

{p.28}

27 In the hands of my general, the prefect of Arrapkha, I placed them. A stone tablet I made: I wrote on it the victories which I had gained over them, and within the city I set it up.
28 Then I turned round the front of my chariot, and I took the road to the land of Illipi. Before me Ispabara their king abandoned his strong cities, and his treasuries, and fled to a distance.
29 All his broad country I swept like a mighty whirlwind. The city Marupishti, and the city Akkudu, his royal residences, and 34 great cities, with numberless smaller towns in their neighbourhood,
30 I ravaged, destroyed, and burnt them with fire. I cut down their woods. Over their corn fields I sowed thistles. In every direction I left the land of Illipi a desert.
31 The inhabitants, small and great, male and female, horses, mules, asses, oxen, and sheep beyond number, I carried off, and sent them away until none were left.
32 The strong cities of Sisirta and Kummakhli, and the smaller towns in their neighbourhood, together with the whole province of Beth-Barrua, I cut off from his land, and added them to the empire of Assyria.
33 I established the city of Ilinzash to be the royal city and metropolis of that province. I abolished its former name, and I gave it the name of the city of Sennacherib.
34 During my return I received a great tribute from the distant Medians, who, in the days of the kings, my fathers, no one had ever heard even the name of their country; and I made them bow down to the yoke of my majesty.
35 In those days, Niniveh, the exalted city, the city beloved by Ishtar: within which dwells the worship of all the gods and goddesses,

{p.29}

36 The ancient timin¹ of its palace, those of old time had stamped its clay with sacred (?) writing, and repeated it in the companion-tablets.
37 A splendid place, a storehouse of every kind, and a treasury for all their jewels and regalia, they erected within it.
38 Of all the kings of former days, my fathers who went before me, who reigned before me over Assyria, and governed the city of Bel (i.e. Nineveh),
39 And every year without fail augmented its interior rooms, and treasured up in them all their revenues which they received from the four countries,
40 Not one among them all, though the central palace was too small to be their royal residence, had the knowledge, nor the wish to improve it.
41 As to caring for the health of the city, by bringing streams of water into it, and the finding of new springs, none turned his thoughts to it, nor brought his heart to it.
42 Then I, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, by command of the gods, resolved in my mind to complete this work, and I brought my heart to it.
43 Men of Chaldea, Aram, Manna, Kue, and Cilicia, who had not bowed down to my yoke, I brought away as captives, and I compelled them to make bricks.
44 In baskets made of reeds which I cut in the land of Chaldea, I made the foreign workmen bring their appointed tale of bricks, in order to complete this work.
45 The former palace, of 360 measures long, adjoining the gardens of the Great Tower: 80 measures wide, adjoining the watchtower of the temple of Ishtar: 134 measures wide,
_____________
1 The timin was the clay tablet or cylinder deposited in (he foundation stone, or sometimes at the four corners of a building. It was regarded with peculiar reverence. So the Hebrews appear to have regarded the "corner stone." It was intended to remain for ever. If found by a subsequent king, it was to be read with reverence, and restored to its former place.

{p.30}

adjoining the watchtower of the house of worship: and 95 measures wide, .... ¹
46 Which the kings, my fathers, who went before me had built for their royal residence, but had not beautified its front.
47 The river Tibilti² had ruined the brickwork of it when it ravaged the quays of the central city.³ The trees of its gardens had been burnt for firewood years ago.
48 For a long time this river had undermined the front of the palace. In the high water of its floods it had made great rents in the foundations, and had washed away the timin.
49 That small palace I pulled down, the whole of it. I made a new channel for the river Tibilti, I regulated its water, I restrained its flow.
50 Within its old limits I walled up its stream. The low platform⁴ I raised higher, and paved it firmly with stones of great size, covered with bitumen, for a space of 354 measures in length, and 279 in breadth.⁵ That space I elevated above the waters, and restored it to be again dry ground.
51 1700 measures long: 162 measures wide, on the upper side towards the north: 217 measures wide in the centre,
_____________
1 The scribe has left this line unfinished, from its length, notwithstanding that he wrote the letters as close together as possible. He might have continued it in the following line, but would not do so. This is a clear proof that the sense was sometimes sacrificed to beauty of writing.
2 Perhaps another name for the Tigris, meaning "The Stream of Fertility." Most of the rivers appear to have had fanciful or poetical names, a list of which is given in 2R, plate 51. We there read that the Euphrates was called, "Life of the Land;" and the Tigris, "Babilat Nukhsi," or " Stream of Gladness," etc., etc.
3 The old palace is called in the Bull inscription, "The Palace of the Central City." See 3 R, 13, line 4 of the second column.
4 The old palace being pulled down, its platform remained, but so low as to be nearly on a level with the neighbouring river.
5 This measurement is added from another account (Layard's Inscriptions, plate 38, line 16, confirmed by the Bull inscription, Layard, plate 62, line 23).

{p.31}

52 386 measures wide, on the lower side towards the south, fronting the river Tigris, I completed the mound, and I measured the measure.
53 The timin of old times had not been forgotten, owing to the veneration of the people.¹ With a layer of large stones I enclosed its place, and I made its deposit secure.
54 The written records of my name, 160 fathoms of bas-reliefs, I sculptured in the palace, but the lower part of the wall, next to the ground, I left to be filled up in future times.
55 Afterwards I resolved to have more tablets carved. I sculptured twenty fathoms of them in addition to the former ones, so that I formed 180 fathoms of them altogether.
56 The enclosure itself I increased beyond what it was in former days: above the measure of the former palace I enlarged it, and I liberally augmented its dwellings,²
57 And its fine buildings of ivory, dan wood, ku wood, meshukan wood, cedar wood, cypress wood, and pistachio wood. And in the midst I placed my royal residence, the palace of ZAKDI' NU ISHA.³
58 Around it I planted the finest of trees, equal to those of the land of Khamana, which all the knowing prefer to those of the land of Chaldea.
59 By my care I caused the uprising of springs in more than forty places in the plain: I divided them into irrigating canals for the people of Nineveh, and gave them to be their own property.
__________
1 This does not seem to contradict what was said before (line 48) that the old timin was washed away: for its memory may have survived in the traditions of the people, and a new copy may have been deposited in the platform of Sennacherib's palace.
2 The palace enclosure contained many separate building's, appropriated to various uses, and some of them were, perhaps, the dwellings of the great officers of state.
3 ... HAS NOT AN EQUAL.

{p.32}

60 To obtain water to turn the flour mills, I brought it in pipes from Kishri to Nineveh, and I skilfully constructed water-wheels.
61 I brought down the perennial waters of the river Kutzuru,¹ from the distance of half a Kasbu² into those reservoirs, and I covered them well.³
62 Of Niniveh, my royal city, I greatly enlarged the dwellings. Its streets, I renovated the old ones, and I widened those which were too narrow. I made them as splendid as the sun.
63 In future days, if one of the kings, my sons, whom Ashur shall call to the sovereignty over this land and people; when this palace shall grow old and decay,
64 Shall repair its injuries, shall see the written record of my name, shall raise an altar, and sacrifice a male victim, and shall then replace it in its place: Ashur will hear and accept his prayers.
___________
1 Still called the Khausser.
2 Three miles and a half.
3 In the East it is essential to keep wells covered.

{p.33}

INSCRIPTION OF SENNACHERIB: CONTAINING
THE ANNALS OF THE FIRST EIGHT YEARS OF HIS REIGN
FROM
AN HEXAGONAL CLAY PRISM FOUND AT NINEVEH IN 1830,
AND NOW IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM

PUBLISHED in the first volume of Sir H. Rawlinson's British Museum inscriptions, plates 37 to 42. I presented a translation of it to the Royal Asiatic Society in October 1859, which was published in their Journal, vol. xix, p. 135. I have understood that a translation has since been published in France by M. Oppert, but I have not seen it.

I commence the present translation with the Third Campaign, the war with Hezekiah, because the history of the {p.34} first two campaigns is the same as on the Bellino Cylinder which I have already translated in this volume. It is for the most part a verbatim copy of it, which therefore I need not give again. But since these two inscriptions were written at an interval of several years, and by different scribes, we see that yearly Annals must have been published by Authority, to which the scribes were expected closely to adhere.

One remarkable deviation however occurs. In the Bellino cylinder we read that Belibus, a young nobleman, was made King of Babylonia, but in the later Annals this is struck out It is evident that Belibus had proved a failure.

This interesting inscription is usually called the Taylor cylinder, from the name of its former possessor.

_______________

TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTION, BEGINNING WITH THE THIRD CAMPAIGN

COLUMN II

34 IN my Third Campaign to the land of Syria I went.
35 Luliah¹ king of Sidon (for the fearful splendour
36 of my majesty had overwhelmed him) to a distant spot
37 in the midst of the sea fled. His land I entered.
38 Sidon the greater, Sidon the lesser,
39 Beth-Zitti,² Sarepta, Makalliba,
40 Usu, Akziba,³ Akku,⁴
41 his strong cities, and castles, walled
42 and fenced; and his finest towns (for the flash of the weapons
43 of Ashur my lord had overcome them) made submission
44 at my feet Tubaal upon the throne
45 over them I seated. A fixed tribute to my Majesty,
46 paid yearly without fail, I imposed upon him.
47 Then Menahem king of Ussimiruna
48 Tubaal king of Sidon
49 Abd-iliut king of Arvad
50 Uru-milki king of Gubal
51 Mitinti king of Ashdod
52 Buduel king of Beth-Ammon
53 Kammuz⁵-natbi king of Moab
54 Airammu⁶ king of Edom
___________
1 Elulaeus of classical authors.
2 I.e., the city of Olives.
3 Achzib of Joshua xix. 29. Ecdippa of classical authors.
4 Accho of the Book of Judges i. 31. Akka of the Arabs. The modern St. Jean d'Acre.
5 Kammuz (or Chemosh) was the chief god of the Moabites.
6 Perhaps the same name as Hiram.

{p.36}

55 the kings of the west country, all of them
56 .... their great presents and wealth
57 to my presence brought, and kissed my feet
58 And Zedek king of Ascalon
59 who had not bowed down to my yoke, the gods of his father's house, himself,
60 his wife, his sons, his daughters, his brothers, the race of his father's house
61 I carried off and brought them to Assyria.
62 Sarludari son of their former king Rukipti
63 over the men of Ascalon I placed  a fixed gift
64 of offerings to my majesty I imposed on him
65 In the course of my expedition, the cities of Beth-Dagon¹
66 Joppa, Banai-barka² and Hazor,³
67 cities of Zedek, which to my feet
68 homage had not rendered, I attacked, captured, and carried off their spoils.
69 The chief priests, noblemen, and people of Ekron
70 who Padiah their king (holding the faith and worship
71 of Assyria had placed in chains of iron, and unto Hezekiah
72 King of Judah had delivered him, and had acted towards the deity with hostility:
73 these men now were terrified in their hearts. The kings of Egypt
74 and the soldiers, archers, chariots, and horses of Ethiopia,
75 forces innumerable, gathered together and came
_________
1 Beth-Dagon in Judah is probably meant. Josh. xv. 41.
3 Named in Joshua xix. 45.
3 Hazor in Naphthali, Josh. xix. 36, seems too far north: perhaps Hazar Shual is meant.

{p.37}

76 to their assistance. In the plains of Altaku¹
77 in front of me they placed their battle array: they discharged
78 their arrows: with the weapons of Ashur ray lord, with them
79 I fought, and I defeated them.
80 The chief of the chariots and the sons of the king of Egypt,
81 and the chief of the chariots of the king of Ethiopia, alive
82 in the midst of the battle my hands captured. The city of Altaku
83 and the city of Tamna² I attacked captured and carried off their spoil.

(Continued on Column III)

___________
1 Eltekon of Josh. xv. 59.
2 Timnah was in Judah near Ekron. Joshua xv. 10. Its name signifies "The South": it was near the south border of Palestine.

COLUMN III

1 THEN I drew nigh to the city of Ekron. The chief priests
2 and noblemen, who had committed these crimes, I put to death:
3 on stakes all round the city I hung their bodies:
4 the people of the city who had done likewise, together with their wives
5 to slavery I gave. The rest of them
6 who had not been guilty of faults and crimes, and who sinful things against the deity
7 had not done, to reward them I gave command. Padiah

{p.38}

8 their king from the midst of Jerusalem
9 I brought out, and on a throne of royalty over them
10 I seated. Tribute payable to my majesty
11 fixed upon him. And Hezekiah
12 King of Judah, who had not bowed down at my feet
13 Forty six of his strong cities, his castles, and the smaller towns
14 in their neighbourhood beyond number
15 with warlike engines¹......
16 .........
17 I attacked and captured. 200,150 people small and great, male and female,
18 horses, mares, asses, camels, oxen
19 and sheep beyond number, from the midst of them I carried off
20 and distributed them as a spoil. He himself, like a bird in a cage, inside Jerusalem
21 his royal city I shut him up: siege-towers against him
_______________
1 Several of these are named, but they cannot at present be identified.

{p.39}

22 I constructed. The exit of the great gate of his city, to divide it¹
23 He had given command. His cities which I plundered, from his kingdom
24 I cut off, and to Mitinti king of Ashdod
25 Padiah king of Ekron, and Izmi-Bel
26 King of Gaza I gave them. I diminished his kingdom.
27 Beyond the former scale of their yearly gifts
28 their tribute and gifts to my majesty I augmented
29 and imposed them upon them. He himself Hezekiah
30 the fearful splendour of my majesty had overwhelmed him:
31 The workmen, soldiers, and builders
32 whom for the fortification of Jerusalem his royal city
33 he had collected within it, now carried tribute
34 and with thirty talents of gold, 800 talents of silver; woven cloth,
35 scarlet, embroidered; precious stones of large size;
36 couches of ivory, moveable thrones of ivory, skins of buffaloes,
37 teeth of buffaloes, dan wood, ku wood, a great treasure of every kind,
38 and his daughters, and the male and female inmates of his palace, male slaves
39 and female slaves, unto Nineveh my royal city
40 after me he sent; and to pay tribute
41 and do homage he sent his envoy.
42 IN my Fourth Campaign, Ashur my lord gave me confidence.
_____________
1 "To divide, or unloose, what is chained together," is the sense of the term according to Fürst. It means, I think, that Hezekiah had commanded the drawbridge to be raised.

{p.40}

43 I assembled my numerous army: to the city of Beth-Yakina
44 to advance I gave command. At the commencement of my expedition
45 of Suzubi the Chaldean, dwelling within the marshes
46 in the city Bittutu I accomplished the defeat.
47 He himself, for the fury of my attack overwhelmed him,
48 lost heart, and like a bird fled away alone
49 and his place of refuge could not be found. I turned round the front of my chariot
50 and took the road to Beth-Yakina
51 He himself, Merodach-Baladan whom in the course
52 of my first campaign I had defeated
53 and had cut to pieces his army, the noise of my powerful aims
54 and the shock of my fiery battle he now fled from
55 The gods, rulers of his land, in their Arks he collected, and in ships
56 he transported them, and to the city of Nagiti-Rakkin
57 which is on the sea coast, like a bird he flew. His brothers, the seed of his father's house
58 whom he had left on the seashore, and the rest of the people of his land
59 from Beth-Yakina within the marshes and morasses
60 I brought away and distributed them as slaves, Once more his cities I destroyed
61 overthrew them and left them in heaps of ruins. To his protector
62 the king of Elam I caused terror
63 On my return, Ashur-nadin-mu my eldest son,
64 brought up at my knees, I seated upon the throne of his kingdom:

{p.41}

65 all the land of Leshan and Akkad I entrusted to him.
66 IN my Fifth Campaign the people of Tocharri
67 Sharum, Ezama, Kipsu, Kalbuda,
68 Kua and Kana, who like the nests of eagles
69 on the highest summits and wild crags of the Nipur mountains
70 had fixed their dwellings, refused to bow down to my yoke.
71 At the foot of Mount Nipur I pitched my camp:
72 with native guides who had kissed my feet [submitted]
73 and a band of my soldiers who were irregulars,
74 I, like the leader Bull, took the front of them.
75 In the, in the mountain valleys, and through flooded lands
76 I travelled in my chariot : but in places which for my chariot were dangerous
77 I alighted on my feet; and like a mountain goat among the lofty cliffs
78 I clambered up them. Where my knees
79 took rest, upon a mountain rock I sat down,
80 and water, cold even to freezing, to assuage my thirst I drank.
81 To the tops of the mountains I pursued them
82 and completely defeated them. Their cities I captured;

(Continued on Column IV)

COLUMN IV

1 I CARRIED off their spoils ; I ravaged, destroyed, and burnt them with fire.
2 Then I turned round the front of my chariot, and against Maniah
3 King of Ukku, chief of the rebellious Dahae, I marched
4 by ways which had never been opened, lofty summits, where by reason of
5 the rocky mountains, no former king

{p.42}

6 had ever penetrated, of all those who reigned before me.
7 At the foot of Anara 1 and Uppa, fortified hills,
8 I pitched my camp; but I myself in my travelling Chair
9 together with my light soldiery
10 into their narrow gorges with precaution I entered
11 and laboriously I climbed up to the tops of the high mountains.
12 He himself, Maniah, the multitude of my army
13 saw, and abandoned Ukku his royal city
14 and fled to a distance. I besieged Ukku and captured it:
15 I carried off its spoils: every kind of goods and wealth,
16 the treasures of his palace, from the midst of it
17 I brought out and distributed them as a spoil. And cities
18 belonging to that province I captured. Men, cattle,
19 oxen and sheep, from the midst of them
20 I carried off: and I ravaged, destroyed and burnt them with fire.
21 IN my Sixth Campaign, the rest of the men of Beth-Yakina
______________
1 Probably the Aornos of the Greeks, besieged long afterwards by Alexander the great.

{p.43}

22 who from before my powerful arms like birds
23 had fled away, the gods who rule over their land into their Arks
24 had collected, the great sea of the Rising Sun¹
25 had crossed over, and in a city just opposite, in the land of Elam had placed
26 their dwellings. In Syrian ships I crossed the sea:
27 the cities of Nagitu, Nagitu-Dihubina, Khilmu,
28 Billatu, and Reshpan, cities of
29 Elam, I captured. The men of Beth-Yakina and their gods
30 and the men of Elam I carried away. Not even a remnant of them was left.
31 In ships I embarked them: to the other side
32 I caused them to cross: and I made them take the road to Assyria.
33 The cities in those provinces I ravaged, destroyed
34 and burnt with fire. I reduced them to ruins and rubbish.
35 In my return, Suzub the Babylonian
36 who to the sovereignty of the lands of Leshan and Accad
37 had restored himself, in a great battle
38 I defeated him, I captured him alive
39 strong chains of iron I placed on him: and to Assyria
40 I carried him off. The king of Elam who had encouraged him
41 and come to his assistance, I defeated
42 I dispersed his expedition and cut to pieces his army.
43 IN my Seventh Campaign, Ashur the lord gave me courage.
44 I advanced against Elam. The cities of Beth-Khairi
______________
1 The Persian Gulf.

{p.44}

45 and Raza, cities of the Assyrian empire
46 which, in the days of my father, the Elamite had seized by violence
47 in the course of my advance I captured and carried off their spoils:
48 soldiers devoted to me I placed within them
49 and restored them to the Assyrian empire.
50 In the hands of the governor of the fortress of Dur-el-ki I placed them
51 Then I destroyed the cities of Bubi, Dunni-Shemesh, Beth-Ritsiah,
52 Beth-Aklami, Duru, Kaltitsulaya,
53 Silibta, Beth-Assutsi, Kar-Mibasha,
54 Beth-Gitsi, Beth-Katpalani, Beth-Imbiah
55 Kamanu, Beth-Arrabi, Buruta,
56 Dinta-sha-Zuliah, Dinta-
57 sha-Antarbit-Karsa, Karrislaki, Rabaya,
58 Rassu, Akkabarina, Til-Ukhuri,
59 Kamran, Naditu, with the other cities of the gate (or Entrance)
60 of Beth-Bunaki. Til-Khumbi, Dinta-
61 sha-Dumian, Beth-Ubiah, Baiti-lishir,
62 Tagab-lishir which is the city of the Nakindati,
63 Massut the lower, Sarkudiri, Zalisha-tarbit,
64 Beth-Akhi-adanna, and Iltimarba. All these large cities, thirty-four in number
65 and smaller towns in their neighbourhood
66 beyond number, I attacked and captured, and carried off their spoils,
67 I ravaged, destroyed them, and burnt them with fire.
68 The smoke of their burning like a mighty cloud
69 obscured the face of high heaven. When he heard of the capture
70 of his cities, Shadu-Nakhunda king of Elam was struck
71 with terror; into the rest of his cities he threw garrisons:
72 he himself abandoned Madakta his royal city
73 and towards Khaidala which is among high mountains
74 he took the road. To the city Madakta, his royal city,
75 "Advance!" I commanded. In the month of December a terrible storm
76 arrived, a vast cataract poured down,
77 rains upon rains, and snow, caused the torrents to burst forth.
78 Then I quitted the mountains. I turned round the front of my chariot
79 and I took the road to Nineveh. In those same days
80 by the will of Ashur my lord, Shadu-Nakhunda

(Continued on Column V)

COLUMN V

1 king of Elam, did not complete three months [more of life]
2 on a day which was not fated for him¹ he was violently put to death.
3 After him Umman-Minan who was no friend to religion and law,
4 his brother illegitimate, sat upon his throne.
5 IN my Eighth Campaign, after Suzub had escaped,
6 the children of Babylon, wicked devils,² the great gates of their city
7 hoisted up,³ and hardened their hearts to make war
8 Suzub the Chaldaean, Lidunnamu

{p.46}

9 a man who had no education, Kilpan prefect
10 of Lakhiri a refugee from Arrapkha,
11 and a band of dissolute men around him he assembled
12 He entered among the marshes, and made there a hiding place:
13 then, to collect more men, he went back by himself
14 and passed into Elam, over the bounds and frontiers,
15 then, with the men and women who were with him
16 from Elam he returned rapidly, and entered the city of Suanna.⁴
17 The men of Babylon, in their folly, upon the throne
18 seated him, and the crown of Leshan and Accad bestowed upon him.
19 The treasury of the Great Temple they opened. The gold and silver
_________
1 Viz,, in the course of nature.
2 This is a literal translation.
3 Lifted the drawbridges.
4 Suanna was the most sacred part of Babylon.

{p.47}

20 of Bel and Zarpanita and the wealth of their temples they brought out
21 and to Umman-Minan king of Elam who had
22 no right to it, they sent it as a bribe:
23 (saying) "Collect thy army! strike thy camp!
24 "make haste to Babylon! stand by our side!
25 swear to help us!" Then he, the Elamite,
26 whom in the course of my former campaign into Elam
27 I had captured his cities and reduced them to ruins,
28 showed that he had no sense: he accepted the bribe.
29 He assembled his army in his camp. His chariots and wagons
30 he collected. Horses and mares he harnessed to their yokes:
31 the nations Parzush, Anzan, Pasiru, Illipi,
32 and the men of Yashan, Lakabri, Karzun,
33 Dummuku, Zulai, and the city of Samuna
34 (who was the son of Merodach Baladan); and the cities Beth-Adini, Beth-Amukkan,
35 Beth-Kutlan, Beth-Salatakki, Lakhiru,
36 Bukudu, Gambuli, Kalatu, Ruhua,
37 Ubuli, Malaku, Rapiku,
38 Khindaru and Damunu, a vast host of allies
39 he led along with him. They assembled themselves, and the road
40 to Babylonia they took. They rushed upon Babylon.
41 Unto Suzub the Chaldaean, king of Babylon
42 they approached and met him. They united their armies
43 Then, as a mighty swarm of locusts 1 covers the face of the earth
44 in destroying multitudes they rushed
____________
1 See chapter 2 of the prophet Joel, where this fine simile of a destroying-army is also found.

{p.48}

45 against me. The dust of their feet like a mighty cloud
46 as they drew nigh to me, the face of heaven
47 darkened before me. In the city of Khaluli¹
48 which is on the bank of the Tigris they drew out their battle array
49 The front of my fenced camp they seized, jind discharged their arrows.
50 Then I to Ashur, the Moon, the Sun, Bel, Nebo, Nergal,
51 Ishtar of Niniveh, and Ishtar of Arbela, the gods my protectors
52 that I might conquer my powerful enemies I prayed unto them.
53 My earnest prayers they heard, and came
54 to my assistance. From my heart I vowed a thank-offering for it. ........
55 ...................
56 In my great War Chariot
57 (named) "Sweeper away of enemies," in the fury of my heart
58 I drove rapidly: my great Bow
59 which Ashur gave me, in my hand I took:
60 with greaves of showy workmanship I enclosed my legs;
61 and rushing on the whole army of those wicked enemies
62 in crowded confusion I crushed them together, and like the god Im² I thundered.
63 By command of Ashur the great lord, my lord, both to my side and front
______________
1 This account of the battle of Khaluli is the most elaborate that has yet been found in the Assyrian annals.
2 Im was the god of the sky. He wielded the thunderbolt, like the Jupiter Tonans of the Latins.

{p.49}

64 as it were fiery darts¹ against my enemies I hurled.
65 In the arms of Ashur my lord, and the shock of my battle
66 furious, I .....
67 The hostile troops with the revolving blades²
68 I overthrew: their dead bodies I rolled over
69 in the mire. Khumban-undash an engineer
70 whom the king of Elam had made general of his army,
71 (had) his liberation for a great ransom. His chief officers,
72 who wore gold handled daggers, and with rings
73 heavy of bright gold encircled their legs,
74 like a herd of sleek oxen of abundant fatness
75 eagerly I attacked and defeated them.
76 Their heads I cut off, like victims,
77 their highly worked decorations I tore off with derision.
78 Like the fall of a great shower, their rings and bracelets
79 I cast down upon the earth in a lofty heap.
80 My faultless horses yoked to my chariot
81 through the deep pools of blood stepped slowly.
82 Of my chariot, as it swept away the slain and the fallen,
83 with blood and flesh its wheels were clogged.
84 The heads of their soldiers, like urkiti
85 I salted, and into great wicker baskets I stuffed them.³
______________
1 Frequently spoken of. Some composition like Greek fire was employed in war.
2 His chariot wheels were armed with iron scythes so I understand the passage. See 2 Maccabees xiii. 2, and Xenophon's Anabasis.
3 To be sent to Nineveh, doubtless, and there exposed on the walls as trophies of his victory.

{p.50}

COLUMN VI

1 ..................
2 The bracelets I cut off from their hands
3 The rings heavy of gold, of beautiful workmanship, I took off from their feet
4 ...............
5 the gold and silver handled daggers from their girdles I took.
6 The rest of the Chiefs, and Nebo-zikir-iskun
7 son of Merodach-Baladan who from my battle
8 had fled, but had rallied their forces, alive
9 in the battle my hands seized them. The chariots
10 and horses, whose drivers in the great battle
11 had been killed,
12 ran away by themselves, in multitudes.
13 I returned when the fourth hour of the night was past,
14 and stopped the slaughter. He himself, Umman-Minan
15 king of Elam, and the kings of Babylon, and the princes
16 of Chaldsea who had come with him, by the tumult of my battle
17 were overwhelmed: they abandoned their tents
18 and to save their lives, the dead bodies of their own soldiers they trampled underfoot
19 and fled like frightened birds who had lost all heart.
20 In double numbers they crowded into their chariots,
21 set off, and fled away to their own dominions.
22 My chariots and horses I despatched after them,
23 and those fugitives who fled for their lives
24 wherever they came up with them, they put them to the sword.
25 In the course of those days, after that the Central palace of Nineveh

{p.51}

26 for my royal residence I had finished,
27 and had filled it with beauties to the admiration of mankind,
28 (I turned to) the Kurili palace, which for the lodging of a garrison,
29 the care of horses, and for other needs of every kind
30 the kings my fathers, who went before me, had made
31 Its mound had never been finished; of its small building
32 the fabric had never been repaired: for a long time
33 its timin had been lost: its foundations were laid bare: its summits had fallen down.
34 That palace I pulled down the whole of it.
35 A great quantity of earth from the low lying fields
36 and outskirts of the city, in baskets I took, and upon it
37 I added what was left of the ruins of the former palace:
38 then with the earth of the low grounds which I took from the river side,
39 I completed the mound. Two hundred fathoms
40 altogether, I extended its wall. In a prosperous month
41 and on a lucky day, upon that mound, with the skilfulness of my mind
42 a Palace of stone and cedar wood in the building style
43 of the land of Syria, and a Palace of the lofty architecture of Assyria
44 which beyond the former one was much finer, larger,
45 and more beautiful, in the year of the Eponymy of my great bow bearer
46 the master of my arms, for my royal dwelling I began to build.

{p.52}

47 Long beams of cedar wood, the growth of the land of Khamanu
48 and its lofty mountains, I laid as a roof over them.
49 doors of liari wood, inlaid with shining brass
50 I framed, and I fitted them to the gates
51 Of the white stone which in the district
52 of Balada is found, great bulls and lions
53 I made, and I placed them right and left
54 of the gates. For the reception of royal guests¹ (destined it), and also for the care
55 of horses, mules, cattle, flocks,
56 chariots, wine presses to make wine,
57 bows and arrows, and every kind of implement of war,
58 harnesses of horses and mules
59 which had great strength, and were trained to the yoke.
60 The courts of the building I enlarged greatly
61 That palace from its foundations to its summit
62 I built and finished. The written records of my name
63 I placed within it. In future days,
64 under the kings my sons, whom Ashur and Ishtar
65 unto the sovereignty of this land and people shall call
66 their names; when this Palace shall grow old
67 and decay, the future King who shall repair its injuries,
68 who shall see the written records of my name,
69 who shall build an altar, sacrifice a male victim, and replace it in its place,
70 Ashur and Ishtar will receive his prayers
__________
1 In fact, another inscription (R. 44, 68), says "that all the kings of Phoenicia came there at the same time."

{p.53}

71 The destroyer of my writings and my name
72 may Ashur, the great lord, the father of the gods, deliver him to his enemies,
73 his sceptre and his throne take away from him, and destroy his life!
74 In the month of Adar, day the twentieth, in the eponymy of Bel-silal-ani
75 prefect of Karkamish.

{p.55}

THE ANNALS OF ASSURBANIPAL,
THE SARDANAPALUS OF THE GREEKS
BY GEORGE SMITH

CYLINDER A

THE text of Cylinder A of Assurbanipal is compiled from a terra cotta cylinder found by Mr. Loftus in the North Palace, Kouyunjik, and the fragments of several duplicate cylinders from the same place. All these inscriptions are now in the British Museum.

A copy of this text was published in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, Vol. til p, 17-26.

Translations of parts of the Egyptian campaigns were published by Sir H. C. Rawlinson, in the "Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature" Vol. vii. 137; and by M. Oppert, in his "Memoire sur les rapports de l'Egypte {p.56} et l'Assyrie, dans Fantiquite eclaires par Fetude des texts Cuneiformes;"¹ and the complete text of the Cylinder, accompanied by an interlinear transcription and translation, was published by Mr. G. Smith in his "History of Assurbanipal."
_____________
1 Accompanied by parts of the texts.

_____________

{p.57}

TRANSLATION OF THE INSCRIPTION

COLUMN I

1 I AM Assurbanipal, the progeny of Assur and Beltis,
2 son of the great king of Riduti,¹
3 whom Assur and Sin the lord of crowns, from days remote,
4 prophesying his name, have raised to the kingdom,
5 and in the womb of his mother, have created him to rule Assyria.
6 Shamas, Vul, and Ishtar, in their supreme power,
7 commanded the making of his kingdom.
8 Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, the father my begetter,
9 the will of Assur and Beltis the gods his protectors praised,
10 who commanded him to make my kingdom.
11 In the month lyyar the month of Hea, lord of mankind,
12 on the 12th day, a fortunate day, the festival of Bel;
13 in performance of the important message which Assur,
14 Beltis, Sin, Shamas, Vul, Bel, Nebo,
15 Ishtar of Nineveh, Sarrat-Kitmuri,²
16 Ishtar of Arbela, Ninip, Nergal, and Nusku had spoken,
17 he gathered the people of Assyria, small and great,
__________
1 Riduti is the name of the north palace Kouyunjik.
2 Kitmuri was a temple at Nineveh.

{p.58}

18 and of the upper and lower sea;
19 to the consecration of my royal sonship,
20 and afterwards the kingdom of Assyria I ruled.
21 The worship of the great gods I caused to be offered to them,
22 I confirmed the covenants.
23 With joy and shouting
24 I entered into Riduti the palace,
25 the royal property of Sennacherib, the grandfather my begetter,
26 the son of the great king, who ruled the kingdom within it,
27 the place where Esarhaddon, the father my begetter,
28 within it grew up, and ruled the dominion of Assyria.
29 and the family increased .......
30 ..............
31 I Assurbanipal within it, preserved
32 the wisdom of Nebo, all the royal tablets,
33 the whole of the clay tablets, all there were, their subjects I studied.
34 I collected arrows, bows, carriages, horses,
35 chariots, their furniture and fittings. By the will of the great gods
36 who I proclaimed their laws,
37 they commanded the making of my kingdom,
38 the embellishing of their temples they entrusted to me,
39 for me they exalted my dominion, and destroyed my enemies.
40 The man of war, the delight of Assur and Ishtar,
41 the royal offspring am I.
42 When Assur, Sin, Shamas, Vul, Bel, Nebo, Ishtar of Nineveh,
43 Sarrat-Kitmuri, Ishtar of Arbela, Ninip, Nergal, and Nusku

{p.59}

44 firmly seated me on the throne of the father my begetter,
45 Vul poured down his rain, Hea feasted his people,
46 fivefold¹ the seed bore in its ear,
47 the surplus grain was two-thirds, the crops were excellent,
48 the corn abundant, my face was pleased with the raising of the harvest,
49 the cattle were good in multiplying,
50 in my seasons there was plenty, in my years famine was ended.
51 In my first expedition to Makan²
52 and Milukha³ I went. Tirhakah king of Egypt and Ethiopia,
53 of whom, Esarhaddon king of Assyria, the father my begetter, his overthrow had accomplished;
54 and had taken possession of his country; he Tirhakah,
55 the power of Assur, Ishtar, and the great gods my lords
56 despised, and trusted to his own might.
57 Of the kings and governors, whom in the midst of Egypt,
58 the father my begetter had appointed; to slay, plunder,
59 and to capture Egypt, he came against them;
60 he entered, and sat in Memphis, the
61 city which the father my begetter had taken, and to the boundaries
62 of Assyria had added. I was going in state in the midst of Nineveh,
______________
1 Variant reading: fourfold.
2 Makan supposed to be Egypt.
3 Milukha supposed to be Merre.

{p.60}

63 and one came and repeated this to me;
64 over these things
65 my heart was bitter and much afflicted;
66 by the command of Assur and the goddess Assuritu,
67 I gathered my powerful forces,
68 which Assur and Ishtar had placed in my hands,
69 to Egypt and Ethiopia I directed the march.
70 In the course of my expedition, 22 kings
71 of the side of the sea and the middle of the sea, all
72 tributaries dependent on me,
73 to my presence came and kissed my feet.
74 Those kings ....
75 on sea and land their roads I took,
76 the level path .....
77 for the restoration of the kings and governors
78 who in the midst of Egypt were tributaries dependent on me;
79 quickly I descended and went to Karbanit.
80 Tirhakah king of Egypt and Ethiopia, in the midst of Memphis,
81 of the progress of my expedition heard; and to make war,
82 fighting and battle, to my presence he gathered the men of his army.
83 In the service of Assur, Ishtar, and the great gods, my lords,
84 on the wide battle field I accomplished the overthrow of his army.
85 Tirhakah in the midst of Memphis, heard of the defeat of his army;
86 the terror of Assur and Ishtar overcame him, and
87 he went forward; fear of my kingdom
88 overwhelmed him, and his gods glorified me before my camp.

{p.61}

89 Memphis he abandoned, and to save his life
90 he fled into Thebes. That city I took,
91 my army I caused to enter, and rest in the midst of it.
92 Necho¹ king of Memphis and Sais.
93 Sarludari king of Pelusium.
94 Pisan-hor king of Natho.
95 Paqruru king of Pi-supt.²
96 Pukkimanni-hapi king of Athribis.
97 Nech-ke king of Henins.
98 Petubastes king of Tanis.
99 Unamunu king of Natho.
100 Horsiesis king of Sebennytus.
101 Buaiuva king of Mendes.
102 Sheshonk king of Busiris.
103 Tnephachthus king of Bunubu.³
104 Pukkunanni-hapi king of Akhni.
105 Iptikhardesu king of Pizatti-hurunpiku.
106 Necht-hor-ansini king of Pi-sabdinut.
107 Bukur-ninip king of Pachnut.
108 Zikha king of Siyout.
109 Lamintu king of Chemmis.
110 Ispimathu king of Abydos.
111 Munti-mi-anche king of Thebes.
112 These kings, prefects, and governors,
113 whom in the midst of Egypt, the father my begetter had appointed;
114 who before the advance of Tirhakah
115 their appointments had left, and fled to the desert,
116 I restored; and the places of their appointments
___________
1 Necho was father of Psammitichus I.
2 Mentioned in the stele of Mt. Barkal.
3 See Penub the modern Badnub in the "Inscription of Pianchi" by Canon Cook, p. 17.

{p.62}

117 in their possessions, I appointed them.
118 Egypt and Ethiopia, .which the father my begetter had captured,
119 again I took, the bonds more than in former days
120 I strengthened, and I made covenants.
121 With abundant plunder and much spoil
122 in peace I returned to Nineveh.
123 Afterwards all those kings whom I had appointed,
124 sinned against me; they did not keep the oath of the great gods,

(Continued on Column II)

COLUMN II

1 the good I did to them they despised,
2 and their hearts devised evil;
3 seditious words they spoke, and
4 evil council they counselled among themselves;
5 thus: "Tirhakah from the midst of Egypt
6 is cut off, and to us our seats are numbered."
7 Unto Tirhakah king of Ethiopia
8 to make agreement and alliance
9 they directed their messengers,
10 thus: "May an alliance by this treaty be established, and
11 we will help each other;
12 the country on the other side we will strengthen, and
13 may there not be in this treaty any other lord."
14 Against the army of Assyria the force of my dominion,
15 which to their aid had been raised, they devised
16 a wicked plot. My generals of this plot
17 heard; their messengers
18 and their dispatches they captured, and saw
19 their seditious work. These kings
20 they took; and in bonds of iron and fetters of iron,
21 bound their hands and feet. The oath of Assur king of the gods
22 took them who sinned
23 against the great (gods); who had sought the good of their hands, and
24 who had given them favours;
25 and the people of Sais, Mendes, Zoan,
26 and the rest of the cities, all with them revolted
27 devised an evil design. Small and great with the sword they caused to be destroyed
28 one they did not leave in the midst.

{p.64}

29 Their corpses they threw down in the dust,
30 they destroyed the towers of the cities.
31 These kings, who had devised evil
32 against the army of Assyria, alive to Nineveh
33 into my presence they brought.
34 To Necho of them,
35 favour I granted him, and a covenant ....
36 Observances stronger than before I caused to be restored, and with him I sent.
37 Costly garments I placed upon him, ornaments of gold,
38 his royal image I made for him, rings of gold I fastened on his feet,
39 a steel sword its sheath of gold,
40 in the glory of my name more than I write I gave him.
41 Chariots, horses, and mules
42 for his kingdom I appointed;
43 my generals as governors,
44 to Egypt with him I sent.
45 The place where the father my begetter, in Sais to the kingdom had appointed him,
46 to his district I restored him;
47 (and) Neboshazban his son in Athribes.
48 Benefits and favours, beyond those of the father my begetter,
49 I caused to restore, and gave to him,
50 Tirhakah to Ethiopia fled;
51 the might of the soldiers of Assur my lord over-whelmed him, and
52 he went to his place of night.¹
53 Afterwards Rudammon, son of his sister,
54 sat on his royal throne.
55 Thebes his fortified city he made, and
56 he gathered his forces
____________
1 I.e. he died.

{p.65}

57 to fight my army, the sons of Assyria;
58 who within Memphis gathered in the midst of ....
59 .... and besieged and took the whole of them.
60 .... came and told me.
61 In my second expedition, to Egypt and Ethiopia
62 I directed the march. Rudammon of
63 the progress of my expedition heard, and that I had crossed over
64 the borders of Egypt. Memphis he abandoned, and
65 to save his life he fled into Thebes.
66 The kings, prefects, and governors, whom in Egypt I had set up,
67 to my presence came, and kissed my feet.
68 After Rudammon the road I took;
69 I went to Thebes, the strong city;
70 the approach of my powerful army he saw, and Thebes he abandoned,
71 and fled to Kipkip. That city¹
72 the whole of it, in the service of Assur and Ishtar my hands took;
73 silver, gold, precious stones, the furniture of his palace, all there was;
74 garments costly and beautiful, great horses,
75 people male and female,
76 two lofty obelisks covered with beautiful carving,
77 ... hundred talents their weight, set up before the gate of a temple,
78 with them I removed, and brought to Assyria.
79 Its spoils unnumbered I carried off. From the midst of Thebes,
80 over Egypt and Ethiopia;
____________
1 Thebes.

{p.66}

81 my servants I caused to march, and
82 I acquired glory. With the tributes
83 peacefully I returned to Nineveh, the city of my dominion.
84 In my third expedition against Bahal king of Tyre
85 ... I went; who my royal will
86 disregarded, and did not hear the words of my lips;
87 towers round him I raised;
88 on sea and land ; his roads I took;
89 their spirits I humbled and caused to melt away;
90 to my yoke I made them submissive. The
91 daughter proceeding from his body, and the daughters of his brothers
92 for concubines he brought to my presence.
93 Yahimelek his son, the glory of the country, of unsurpassed renown
94 at once he sent forward, to make obeisance to me.
95 His daughter and the daughters of his brothers,
96 with their great dowries I received.
97 Favour I granted him, and the son proceeding from his body
98 I restored and gave him. Yakinlu
99 king of Arvad, dwelling in the midst of the sea,
100 who to the kings my fathers was not submissive,
101 submitted to my yoke, his daughter
102 with many gifts, for a concubine
103 to Nineveh he brought, and kissed my feet
104 Mugallu king of Tubal, who against the kings my fathers
105 made attacks, the daughter proceeding from his body,
106 and her great dowry, for a concubine

{p.67}

107 to Nineveh he brought, and kissed my feet
108 Over Mugallu great horses
109 an annual tribute I fixed upon him.
110 Sandasarmi of Cilicia,
111 who to the kings my fathers did not submit,
112 and did not perform their pleasure,
113 the daughter proceeding from his body, with many
114 gifts, for a concubine
115 to Nineveh he brought, and kissed my feet.
116 When Yakinlu king of Arvad,
117 had met his death. Azibahal, Abibahal,
118 Adonibahal, Sapadibahal, Pudibahal,
119 Bahalyasup, Bahalhanun,
120 Bahalmaluk, Abimelek, and Ahimelek,
121 sons of Yakinlu, dwelling in the midst
122 of the sea, from the midst of the sea arose, and
123 with their numerous presents
124 came and kissed my feet.
125 Azibahal gladly I received, and
126 to the kingdom of Arvad appointed.
127 Abibahal, Adonibahal, Sapadibahal,

(Continued on Column III)

COLUMN III

1 Pudibahal, Bahalyasup, Bahalhanon,
2 Bahalmelek, Abimelek, and Ahimelek;
3 costly clothing .... rings
4 in my presence
5 Gyges king of Lydia,
6 a district which is across the sea, a remote place,
7 of which the kings my fathers had not heard speak of name;
8 the account of my grand kingdom in a dream was related to him by Assur, the god my creator,
9 thus: "The yoke
10 (when) in remembrance
11 the day he saw that dream,
12 his messenger he sent, to pray for my friendship.
13 that dream which he saw,
14 by the hand of his envoy he sent, and repeated to me.
15 From the midst of the day when he took the yoke of my kingdom,
16 the Cimmerians, wasters of his people,
17 who did not fear my fathers
18 and me, and did not take the yoke of my kingdom, he captured,
19 in the service of Assur and Ishtar the gods my lords.
20 From the midst of the chiefs of the Cimmerians, whom he had taken,
21 two chiefs in strong fetters of iron, and bonds of iron,
22 he bound, and with numerous presents,
23 he caused to bring to my presence.
24 His messengers whom, to pray for my friendship
25 he was constantly sending, he wilfully discontinued

{p.69}

26 as the will of Assur, the god my creator, he had disregarded;
27 to his own power he trusted and hardened his heart
28 His forces to the aid of Psammitichus (king) of Egypt,
29 who had thrown off the yoke of my dominion, he sent; and
30 I heard of it, and prayed to Assur and Ishtar
31 Thus; "Before his enemies his corpse may they cast, and
32 may they carry captive his attendants." When thus to Assur
33 I had prayed, he requited me. Before his enemies his corpse
34 was thrown down, and they carried captive his attendants.
35 The Cimmerians whom by the glory of my name he had trodden under him;
36 conquered and swept the whole of his country after him his son
37 sat on his throne, that evil work at the lifting up of my hands,
38 the gods my protectors in the time of the father his begetter had destroyed.
39 By the hand of his envoy he sent and took the
40 yoke of my kingdom thus: "The king whom God has blessed art thou;
41 my father from thee departed, and evil was done in his time;
42 I am thy devoted servant, and my people all perform thy pleasure."
43 In my fourth expedition, I gathered my army;
44 against Akhseri king of Minni¹
_________
1 Minni bordered on Armenia.

{p.70}

45 I directed the march.
46 By command of Assur, Sin, Shamas, Vul, Bel, Nebo,
47 Ishtar of Nineveh, Sarrat-Kitmuri,
48 Ishtar of Arbela, Ninip, Nergal, Nusku;
49 into Minni I entered, and marched victoriously;
50 his strong cities and smaller ones, which were without number,
51 to the midst of Izirtu, I took;
52 I threw down, destroyed, and in the fire I burned. People, horses,
53 asses, oxen, and sheep, from the midst of those
54 cities I brought out, and as a spoil I counted.
55 Ahseri of the progress of my expedition heard; and
56 abandoned Izirtu his royal city;
57 to Istatti his castle he fled, and
58 took refuge. That district I took;
59 for fifteen days' journey¹ I laid waste, and
60 the highlands I conquered.
61 Ahseri, not fearing my power,
62 by the will of Ishtar dwelling in Arbela, who from the first had spoken
63 thus: "I am the destroyer of Ahseri, king of Minni."
64 When I had commanded it, it was accomplished. Into the hands of his
65 servants she delivered him, and the people of his country a revolt against him made, and
66 in front of his city his attendants threw down and
67 tore in pieces his corpse. His brothers, his re