RECORDS OF THE PAST

BEING
ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
OF THE
ASSYRIAN AND EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS

PUBLISHED UNDER THE SANCTION
OF
THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY

THE third volume of the "Records of the Past" contains a continuation of Translations of Assyrian Texts, and some of the principal historical and other documents found in the Cuneiform inscriptions. Their importance to historical, biblical, and philological studies, has been already pointed out, and the monuments which appear in the present, are not of less interest than those in the first volume. The great mass of literature already exhumed, the attention directed to it by more scholars, the interest awakened in the study, and the learning displayed in the elucidation of Assyrian and Babylonian Cuneiform, promise the most valuable contributions to the knowledge of these oldest of races of mankind. There still remains, should even the present materials be exhausted, a mine of literary treasure in the mounds of Mesopotamia, which sooner or later must be brought to light, and help to solve some of the problems which the monuments hitherto found have presented to different inquirers. The data are by degrees arranging themselves in their respective places, and their value is more justly appreciated. Indispensable to a due {p.ii} knowledge of the history of Western Asia, they are hardly less so for the unexpected information they afford to the proper comprehension of the events in Palestine which preceded the fall of the Jewish kingdoms, the conquest of Egypt and Cyprus, and the unexpected and important part which the Assyrians played in the history of the world. The materials of this volume, like the preceding, have been prepared by different Assyriologists with great care, and those which have appeared elsewhere have been carefully revised and corrected or retranslated for the present volume. They will be found to be of interest to the students of chronology, history, and comparative mythology.

S. BIRCH.
December, 1874.

AN Account of the Early History of Babylonia is taken from the lecture delivered before the Society of Biblical Archaeology on the 6th of June 1871. Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology , vol. 1., p. 1. Since that date there have been several new discoveries but these have not yet been published in the Society's volumes and therefore are not included here. As the bulk of this paper consists of translations from early Babylonian documents it is as well to notice that there is considerable difficulty in reading some of the proper names, and since my paper was written I have {p.2} proposed to read the name of the moon-god in some cases "Agu" instead of "Sin," which will alter those proper names in which this name occurs.

NOTE. For the convenience of readers, I have generally placed (g) before the names of deities, (c) before the names of cities, and [ ] to include restorations.

WHEN the light of monumental history first dawns upon Babylonia we find that country inhabited by two races, the Sumir and Akkad; they spoke two different languages, one Turanian the other Semitic, but we have no information as to which race spoke either language, and we do not know their geographical distribution in the country, but probably they were mixed in most parts, as many of the cities have both Turanian and Semitic names. The name of the Sumir was written Kame or Ke-en-gi in Turanian, and Su-mi-ri in Semitic, and the Akkad were called Urdu in Turanian, and Ak-ka-di in Semitic. The Turanian people, who appear to have been the original inhabitants of the country, invented the cuneiform mode of writing; all the earliest inscriptions are in that language, but the proper names of most of the kings and principal persons are written in Semitic, in direct contrast to the body of the inscriptions. The Semites appear to have conquered the Turanians, although they had not yet imposed their language on the country. Babylonia at this time contained many great cities, some of the principal being Nipur, written Mul-kit-ki in Turanian, and Nipur in Semitic; this city was probably the earliest seat of empire, and long continued the centre of the Babylonian religion. Eridu or Ridu, written Nun-ki in Turanian, and Eridu and Ridu in Semitic; Ur, written Urlab-ki in Turanian, and Ur in Semitic; Karrak, written Nisinna in Turanian, and Karrak in Semitic; Uruk (Erech) written Lab-ki in Turanian, and Uruk arid Arka in Semitic; Larsa, written Ud-lab-ki in Turanian, and Larsa in Semitic; Sippara, written Ud-kip-nun-ki in Turanian, and Sippar and {p.4} Sipar in Semitic; Zergulla, and Agadi which I have recently discovered to be the city of Akkad, the third capital of Nimrod.

Berosus, a Chaldean priest in the third century BC., wrote a history of Chaldea, from which the following fragments of chronology have been preserved ; they may be compared with the monumental notices:

10	kings before the Flood, commencing with Al-orus	432,000 years
86	kings after the Flood, to the Median Conquest	3,4080 or 3,3091 years
8	Median kings	224 or 190 years
11	other kings	duration unknown
49	Chaldean kings	458 years
9	Arabian kings	245 years
45	kings	526 years

After whom came Pul and Sennacherib.

A similar system of chronology was probably believed in during the later historic period. Sargon, king of Babylon, BC 710-705, says¹ "350 ancient kings before me the dominion of Assyria ruled and governed the dominion of BEL (Babylonia)"; and in another place, "From the days remote the time of (g) Ur to the Kings my fathers of Assyria and Karduniyas (Babylonia)." The god Ur here spoken of is evidently the first mythical king of Berosus, Al-orus. Assurbanipal king of Assyria, BC 668-626, states,² that Babylonia was conquered by an Elamite named Kudur-nanhundi, 1635 before his own capture of Shushan, or about BC 2280. This conquest by Kudur-nanhundi I have conjectured to be the same as the Median conquest of Berosus, but Kudurnanhundi has left no monuments, unless he be the same as the Kudur-mabug who built at Ur.
_______
1 C.I., vol. i, p. 36.
2 "History of Assurbanipal," p. 250.

No approximate date can be fixed for any Babylonian monarch before Kara-indas, who reigned about BC 1475, and the period of the rulers whom we know to have preceded him must be acknowledged to be at present quite uncertain.

The annals of the early monarchs of Babylonia are for the most part lost, but there are sufficient remains of their works to show that their dominion was a most important one. All the great temples of Babylonia were founded by the kings who preceded the conquest by Hammurabi the king of the Kassi, and the date of 'this conquest cannot be placed later than the 16th century B.C. Bricks and stone tablets, with inscriptions of these early Babylonian monarchs, have been found at most of the sites, and the vast size of their works shows their great power. The civilization of this early period is proved by the works on Geography, Astrology, Mythology, Grammar, Mathematics, etc., parts of which inscribed on clay tablets are now in the British Museum.

The civil administration and laws of the country are partly shown by a number of sale, loan and law tablets belonging to the close of the period in question (about the time of Hammurabi); and the state of the fine arts can be estimated by the thousands of beautifully engraved seals belonging to this age, now in various European Museums.

The titles of the early rulers of Babylonia were pa-te-si, and sar; patesi means deputy or viceroy, and is equivalent to the Semitic "is-sak-ku" when combined with the name of a deity, as Patesi (g) Assur "viceroy of the god Assur," it may denote an independent ruler, but the patesi of towns in Babylonia were most probably governors or viceroys of the kings; I will here give their inscriptions first, for convenience.

The monumental kings of Babylonia divide themselves naturally into three groups, 1st, the Chaldean or native kings before the conquest of the Kassi; 2nd, the kings of the Kassi dynasty; and 3rd, the Chaldean or native kings, successors of the Kassi.

The Babylonian monarchs usually took their titles from their capital cities, and probably formed in some cases contemporary lines of kings, the country being not always united under one sceptre; this fact, combined with our want of information respecting the earlier periods of Babylonian history, makes it impossible to present the list of kings in chronological order. The following arrangement of the names must, therefore, be considered as only provisional.

The name of this ruler is Turanian; only one of his inscriptions is preserved. Nothing is known respecting the extent of his dominions, or the position of his capital.

"MI-SA-NANA-KALAMMI, viceroy of (c.) Ridu, High Priest of mati ... num ... son of BE ... HUK."

This governor ruled at the same city as the former one. Eridu his capital was one of the greatest Babylonian cities. The name Idadu is Semitic.

"To (g.) NINRIDU, his King, for the preservation of IDADU, Viceroy of (c.) Ridu, the servant the delight of (g.) NINRIDU."

Bel-samu, whose name is written in Turanian Va-anna, was ruler of Zirgulla, probably represented by the mounds of Zerghul, east of the river Hye, in Babylonia.

"BEL-SAMU, Viceroy of (c.) Zirgulla. NAN A (g.) his delight in .... he built, Bitanna of the east country he completed."

The name of Gudea is evidently Turanian, its Semitic equivalents being nagagu, hababu, and nabu. Gudea was ruler at Zirgulla. There are numerous inscriptions of this governor, but most of them are of the two types translated here. The records of Gudea are found over a considerable extent of country, and on the sites of important cities.

2 "To (g.) NINIP the King, his King, GUDEA Viceroy of (c.) Zirgulla, his house built."
3 "To (g.) NANA the Lady, Lady splendid (?) His Lady, GUDEA Viceroy of (c.) Zirgulla raised."

There are two other texts of this ruler in the British Museum, one on a black stone statue, the other on a brick; these are too mutilated to translate.

This monarch is mentioned by Assurbanipal in the following passage,⁴
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1 The reading "Gudea" for the name of this governor is based on the passage C.I., vol. 2, p. 20, line 24.
2 C.I., vol. 1, p. 5, No. XXIII, i, on cones from Warka. (Erech) and Babylon.
3 C.I., vol. 1, p. 5, No. XXIII, 2, on a cone from Zerghul (Zirgulla).
4 "History of Assurbanipal," p. 250.

"KUDUR-NANHUNDI the Elamite who the worship of the great gods did not (fear), who in an evil resolve to his own force (trusted) on the temples of Akkad his hands he had laid and he oppressed Akkad the days were full .... for 2 ner 7 sos and 15 years under the Elamites."

This period, 2 ner 7 sos 15 years, which elapsed from the time of Kudur-nanhundi, equals 1635 years; according to other inscriptions, at the close of this period, Assurbanipal conquered Elam and recovered an image of the goddess Nana, which had been carried away from Babylonia in this early conquest.

This ancient king of Babylonia is only known to us from the broken cylinder of Nabonidus, according to which he founded the temples of Anunit (Venus) and Samas (the Sun) at Sippara; these temples having fallen into decay, were restored by Saga-saltias; an early Babylonian monarch, and again falling into decay one was repaired by Nabonidus. The notice of Zabu is as follows:

¹ "Then Bit-parra the house of (g.) SAMAS of (c.) Sippara my Lord, and Bit-ulmas the house of (g.) ANUNIT of (c.) Sippara, (g.) ANUNIT my Lady, which were from the time of ZABU in ancient days; their chamber walls had fallen in."

According to the statements of the excavators, the bricks
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1 C.I., vol. 1, p. 69, lines 27-31.

of Urukh were found in the foundations of buildings, the upper parts of which were constructed of bricks bearing inscriptions of other early Chaldean kings; the remains of his buildings even now exceed those of every other Chaldean monarch except Nebuchadnezzar, so that his reign must have been a long and important one.¹

Many of the earliest temples of Babylonia were founded by Urukh, among these we may notice the Temple of the Moon at Ur, and two other buildings at the same city, one called Bit-timgal, the other Bit-sareser; this latter was a tower, built in stages like a pyramid. Urukh having died before this building was completed, it was finished by his son Dungi; its ruins now form the most conspicuous object on the site of Ur. The wall of the city of Ur was also built by Urukh. At Larsa he founded the Temple of the Sun, and at Erech the Temple of Venus, called Bit-anna or the "House of Heaven." At Nipur, the ancient capital of Babylonia, he founded or restored the great Temple of Bel, and another to Beltis; and at Zirgulla he built a temple to Sar-ili the "king of the gods."

² "URUKH King of (c.) Ur, who the house of (g.) UR built."
³ "To (g.) UR his King, URUKH King of (c.) Ur his house built, and the wall of (c.) Ur built."
⁴ "To (g.) UR, the lesser light of heaven, eldest son of (g.) BEL his king,
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1 The name of this king has been compared to the Arioch of Genesis xiv. I, and the Orchamus of Ovid, but the reading Urukh is very doubtful.
2 C.I., vol. 1, p. 1, No. I, 1 and 2, on bricks from Mugheir (Ur).
3 C.I., vol. 1, p. 1, No. I, 3, on bricks from Mugheir.
4 C.I., vol. 1, p. 1, No. I, 4, on cone from Mugheir.

URUKH the powerful man, King of (c.) Ur, Bit-timgal the house of his delight built."
¹ "To (g.) UR, eldest son of BEL his King, URUKH the powerful man, the fierce warrior, King of (c.) Ur, King of Sumir and Akkad, Bit-timgal the house of his delight built."
² "To (g.) NANA his Lady, URUKH the powerful man, King of (c.) Ur, King of Sumir and Akkad, her house built."
³ "To (g.) SAMAS his King, URUKH the powerful man, King of (c.) Ur, King of Sumir and Akkad, his house built."
⁴ "To (g.) BELAT his Lady, URUKH King of (c.) Ur, King of Sumir and Akkad, her house the .... of her delight built."
⁵ "URUKH King of (c.) Ur, King of Sumir and Akkad, who the house of (g.) BEL built."
⁶ "To URUKH, the powerful man, King of (c.) Ur, HASSIMIR, Viceroy of (c.) ISBAGGI(?)-BEL thy servant"
⁷ "To (g.) SAR-ILI his King, URUKH King of (c.) Ur, . . . du (in Zir)-gulla built."

Dungi was the son and successor of Urukh; he is known to have completed and repaired some of his father's buildings,
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1 C.I., vol. 1, p. 1, No. I, 5, on brick from Mug-heir.
2 C.I., vol. 1, p. 1, No. I, 6, on brick from Warka (Erech).
3 C.I., vol. 1, p. 5, No. I, 7, on brick from Senkerch (Larsa).
4 C.I., vol. 1, p. 1, No. I, 8, on black stone at Niffer (Nipur).
5 C.I., vol. 2, p. 1, No. I, 9, on brick from Niffer.
6 C.I., vol. 1, p. 1, No. I, 10, on signet cylinder.
7 On unpublished brick from Zerghul(?).
8 Dungi king of Ur. The name of one of the Babylonian cities, perhaps founded by him and called after him, supplies the phonetic name of this monarch; it is Dunnu-saidu, C.I., vol. 2, p. 48, line 19.

but his monuments are not nearly so numerous. His buildings were principally at Ur and Erech.

¹ "DUNGI, the powerful man, King of (c.) Ur, King of Sumir and Akkad."
² "DUNGI, the powerful man, King of (c.) Ur, King of Sumir and Akkad, Bit-harris the house of his delight built"
³ "To (g.) NANA, Lady of Bit-anna, his Lady, DUNGI, King of (c.) Ur, King of Sumir and Akkad, Bit-anna its site restored, its great wall built."
⁴ "To (g.) NIN-MAR-KI his Lady, DUNGI King of (c.) Ur, King of Sumir and Akkad, Bit-gilsa the fort of her delight built."

"To (g.) SlT-TI-TA-UD-DU-A, King of Bit-sidda of (c.) Zirgulla, for the preservation of DUNGI the powerful man, King of (c.) Ur, lib nir la gu-za-lal, son of UR-BA-BI, made a libation(P), My King .... his will, may his name be preserved."

"10 manehs of DUNGI."
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1 C.I., vol. 1, p. 2, No. II, 1, on bricks from Mugheir (Ur).
2 C.I., vol. 1, p. 2, No. II, 2, on bricks from Mugheir.
3 C.I., vol. 1, p. 2, No. II, 3, on black stone.
4 C.I., vol. 1, p. 2, No. II, 4, on black stone from Tel Eed.
5 Much worn and doubtful.

¹ "Bit-saresir, the tower of Bitnergal which is in (c.) Ur, which URUKH the very ancient King had built and had not finished it, DUNGI his son its top finished. In the writings of URUKH, and DUNGI his son, I saw also of that tower, URUKH had built and had not finished it, DUNGI his son its top finished. By this time that tower became old."²

This king, the first part of whose name is lost, has not been noticed, although a fragment of one of his inscriptions from Niffer is printed in the Cuneiform Inscriptions,³ and is there erroneously referred to Ismidagan.

This king, and several of those that follow, ruled at a city called Nisinna or Karrak.⁴ These kings were contemporary with the rulers of Ur and Larsa; their kingdom was destroyed a short time before the reign of Hammurabi.

"GAMIL(?)-NINIP exalted ruler of (c.) Nipur na .... of (c.) Ur, .... Lord of (c.) Eridu, beneficent Lord of (c.) Uruk King of (c.) Karrak, King of Sumir and Akkad, the relative (?) the delight of the eyes of (g.) Nana.
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1 C.I., p. 68, lines 5 to 20.
2 The name of Dungi is mentioned in the name of the town mentioned in C.I., vol. 2, p. 60, line 5, Bil-dungi-ur.
3 C.I., vol. 1, p. 5, No. XXIV.
4 Perhaps the same as Apirak, the site of which is unknown.

This king is mentioned on an unpublished fragment in the British Museum: the line reads " ISBI-BARRA, King of (c.) Karrak."

The name of this king, imperfect in the Museum publication, is completed from one of the cones. Its first element libit is a well-known form of the Semitic root לכן, the second element is the name of the Babylonian Venus, the name meaning "the work of Venus," or "fashioned by Venus."

¹ "LIBIT-ANUNIT, first Ruler of (c.) Nipur, the supreme over (c.) Ur, ..... of (c.) Eridu, beneficent Lord of (c.) Uruk, King of (c.) Karrak, King of Sumir and Akkad, the restorer of (g.) NANA, who Bit-mekit restored."

This name is Semitic, and means "Dagon heard." Sir H. Rawlinson has suggested that this Ismi-dagan was the same as the Ismi-dagan patasi of Assur, who according to the Tiglath-Pileser cylinders, reigned in the 19th century BC. This, however, is doubtful, but it is possible they may be of about the same age.
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1 C.I., vol. 1, p. 5, No. XVIII.
2 Ismi-dagan or Gung-unu. The relationship or supposed relationship between these two kings has puzzled me very much, and I am now more uncertain than ever about these inscriptions. It is difficult to suppose that the text on the bricks, which is generally considered to be Gungunu's, can really be his; and I have some doubts whether the character which precedes the name of Ismi-dagan really means son. These bricks are, however, fast decaying, so that they can no longer be relied upon to prove a contested point.

¹ "ISMI-DAGAN, nourisher of (c.) Nipur, the supreme over (c.) Ur, the light (?) of (c.) Eridu, Lord of (c.) Uruk (the powerful King), King of (c.) Karrak, King of Sumir and Akkad, the relative (?) the delight of NANA."

Gungunu was son of Ismi-dagan, but some students hold the view that he was only contemporary with a son of Ismidagan, who was ruler of Ur. The matter is not proved on either side, but on examination of the originals of these inscriptions, I find the published copies incorrect in one point, the supposed second title "ruler of Ur," is really "within Ur." The second inscription is very peculiar, the characters stand in relief, contrary to the Babylonian custom, and in one copy are reversed, reading from right to left instead of left to right.

² "To (g.) SAMAS, the ruler tuda (g.) UR, leader of Bit-nirkinugal (g.) NINGAL ra tuda his Kings for the preservation of GUNGUNU the powerful man, King of (c.) Ur, for the establishing of (g.) ANU, for the restoring of (g.) UR for (g.) UR within (c.) Ur, the son of ISMI-DAGAN King of Sumir and Akkad, Bit-hiliani built, Bit-ginablungani built, for his preservation he built."
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1 C.I., vol. 1, p. 2, No. V. 1 and 2, from Mug-heir (Ur).
2 C.I., vol. 1, p. 2, No. VI, 1, on a cone from Mugheir.

¹ "For the establishing of (g.) ANU, for the delight of (g.) UR for (g.) UR within (c.) Ur, the son of ISMI-DAGAN King of Sumir and Akkad."

The name of this monarch is found on the cast of a signet cylinder in the British Museum. The name of his capital is lost by a fracture of the cylinder, but he is placed here provisionally on account of the similarity of his legend to those of the kings of Karrak.

This king, and many of the following ones, have their names compounded with Sin, the moon god, but while in the inscriptions this deity is always worshipped under the name Ur, whenever he enters into the composition of a Semitic name, it is under the form Bil-zu or Sin. The name of the moon god is once phonetically written in a proper name on a sale tablet in the British Museum, it reads, Si-in. The name of Gamil-sin in its phonetic form occurs as the name of a private person in the time of the monarch Samsu-iluna, the phonetic form is, Ga-mil-sin. One of
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1 C.I., vol. 1, p. 2, No. VI, 2, on bricks from Mugheir.
2 See Naram-sin, No. 30.

the earliest contract tablets in the British Museum is dated in the reign of Gamil-sin.

¹ "To GAMIL-SIN the powerful man, King of (c.) Ur, King of the four regions, AMIL-ANU the tablet writer, son of GANDU, thy servant."

"To (g.) NU-GAN his noble one, GAMIL-SIN the delight of (g.) BEL King of (c.) Nipur, in the delight of his heart he blessed; the powerful King, King of (c.) Ur, King of the four regions, his house built"

This king, the phonetic value of whose name is uncertain, from the great similarity of his legends, is probably closely connected with Gamil-sin; Zur-sin was probably deified after his death, as his name occurs in a list of gods.² Many of the inscriptions of Zur-sin have been found at a ruin called Abu-shahrein, which appears to have been entirely built by him.

³ "ZUR-SIN, BEL the Nipurite blessed, the leader of the house of (g.) BEL, the powerful King, King of (c.) Ur,
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1 C.I., vol. 1, p. 3, No. XI, from a signet cylinder.
2 C.I., vol. 3, p. 69, line 17.
3 C.I., vol. 1, p. 3, No. XII, 1, from Abu-shahrein and Mug-heir.

King of the four regions, (g.) HEA the King his delight the .... of his delight he built."
¹ "ZuR-siN the Nipurite (g.) BEL blessed, the leader of the house of (g.) BEL, the powerful man, King of (g.) Ur, King of the four regions."
² " ZUR-SIN the Nipurite (g.) BEL blessed, the leader of the house of (g.) BEL, the powerful King, King of (c.) Ur, King of the four regions, ma-tu-ba ZUR-SIN the delight of (c.) Ur, mu-bi-ki-ri ma-tu-ba who ki-du-su-bi tu-da-ab-kur-ri-a 3 Bit-sigabi nikaria of(g.) UR King of (c.) Ur, NINGAL mother of (c.) Ur, delight of the heart of the great god of Dur he built tu-be-li-ni"

The first of these forms is found on an unpublished fragment of the Chaldean work on Astrology, the passage reads "IBIL-SIN King of Ur." The second form occurs in the Cuneiform Inscriptions⁴ and several private persons bearing the same name are mentioned in early inscriptions. I have conjectured that these two names belong to the same monarch, but there is little except the similarity of sound to lead to this opinion.

This name, the reading of which is doubtful, represents the earliest known queen in the Euphrates valley; she is only mentioned in the inscriptions of her son Sin-gasit.
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1 C.I., vol. 1, p. 3, No. XII. 2, from Abu-shahrein.
2 C.I., vol. 1, p. 5, No. XIX, from Mug-heir.
3 The exact rendering of the passage here transliterated is uncertain.
4 C.I., vol. 3, p. 38, line 64.

Sin-gasit ruled at Urukh (Warka), he is the king called Sinsada by Sir H. Rawlinson. All his memorials have been found at his capital city, where he rebuilt the temple of Venus, which had been founded by Urukh, and constructed a palace for himself.

¹ "SIN-GASIT, son of BELAT-SUNAT King of (c.) Uruk, builder of Bit-anna."
² "SINGASIT the powerful man, King of (c.) Uruk, King of Amnanu, the palace of his royalty built."

"To (g.) SAR-TUR-DA his god, and BELAT-SUNAT his mother, SIN-GASIT King of (c.) Uruk, King of Amnanu, nourisher of Bit-anna, who Bit-anna built, Bit-kirib Bit-kiba, lib tid-la ka-ne-ne, he built for the prolonging of his kingdom, he built 18 segur 12 manehs of dukta (?) 10 manehs of bronze as-ni the house, silver like a mountain 1 shekel of silver its name he called, giving delight and pleasure (?).

This ruler is only known from the inscriptions of his son Kudur-mabuk; his name is probably Elamite.
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1 C.I., vol. 1, p. 3, No. VIII, 1, from Warka.
2 C.I., vol. 1, p. 3, No. VIII, 2, from Warka.

Kudur-mabuk has been conjectured to have some connection with the Chedorlaomer of Genesis, and the term abda Martu has been supposed to refer to that monarch's Syrian conquests, but a careful inspection of the inscription shows that abda is an error of the lithograph copy, the original having ad-da, instead. The word adda, from its use in some of these inscriptions, appears to bear the meaning king or lord, in addition to its usual meaning father, hence the kindred forms adgar and adgi are rendered malaku in Assyrian, meaning prince or ruler. Kudurmabuk was adda or lord of Syria and lord of Yamutbal. The word Yamutbal, which has long been a puzzle to me, I find, from a bilingual passage on K 112, to mean Elam, so that this ruler claimed dominion over the whole country from Syria to Elam. Kudur-mabuk, from the number of his inscriptions and the extent of his dominion, appears to have been an important monarch, but although the monuments of this period are inscribed with his name as lord paramount, he did not reign personally in Babylonia. The crown of that country he bestowed on his son Ardu-sin, whom he names with himself in his inscriptions, and on whom he invokes the blessings of the Babylonian deities. Besides the texts translated here, there are two other inscriptions of Kudur-mabuk, one on a bronze statue of a goddess in the Louvre, and the other on a clay cylinder in the British Museum.
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1 Kudur-mabuk lord of Elam. The inscriptions of the period of Kudurmabuk recall to the mind the account in Genesis of Chedorlaomer, who ruled from Elam to the Mediterranean. The name of Chedorlaomer in Babylonian would be Kudur-lag-amar. The early Babylonian inscriptions confirm the statements of Genesis as to the power and importance of Elam at this period.

¹ "To (g.) UR his King: KUDUR-MABUK Lord of Syria, son of SIMTI-SILHAK, worshipper of (g.) UR, his protector marching before him, Bit-rubmah, for his preservation and the preservation of ARDU-SIN his son, King of Larsa, they built."
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1 C.I., vol. 1, p. 2, No. Ill, from Mug-heir.

THE Accadians were the inventors of the cuneiform system of writing and the earliest population of Babylonia of whom we know. They spoke an agglutinative language allied to Finnic or Tatar, and had originally come from the mountainous country to the south-west of the Caspian. The name Accada signifies "highlander," and the name of Accad is met with in the 10th chapter of Genesis. The laws, of which a translation is given below, go back to a very remote period; and the patriarchal character of society implied by them will be noticed, as well as the superior importance possessed by the mother, denial of whom by the son involved banishment in contrast with the milder penalty enjoined for renunciation of the father. This importance of the mother in family-life is still a distinguishing feature of the Finnic-Tatar race. The slave, it will be seen, was already placed to some extent under the protection of the state, and the first step on the road towards the amelioration of his condition had been made.

A considerable portion of the tablet which contains these laws is given in the vol. II. p. 10, Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia. Other fragments, since discovered, have been lithographed by M. François Lenormant in his Choix de Textes Cuneiformes part I. no. 15. The original Accadian text runs down the left-hand column, an Assyrian translation being annexed on the right. The several laws are divided by lines, and come at the end of a bilingual collection of ancient documents of different kinds but chiefly relating to law. They are introduced by a list of Accadian legal terms with their Assyrian equivalents. The whole was compiled for Assur-bani-pal's Library. Mr. Fox Talbot was the first to point out the nature of the inscription; and I gave a translation of the published portions of it in the Athaenum for May 1869, which was supplemented by Mr. G. Smith in a later number of the same periodical. Translations of the most important part of it have been recently given by M. Oppert in the Journal Asiatique, 7ieme serie, I. and M. F. Lenormant in La Magie chez le Chaldeans pp. 310, 311.

The first and second columns, on the obverse of the tablet, are unfortunately too mutilated for translation. It is therefore only the two last columns, on the reverse, of which a rendering is appended.

1 A certain man's¹ brother-in-law hired (workmen) and on his foundation built an enclosure. From the house (the judge) expelled him.
2 In every case let a married man put his child in possession of property, provided that he does make him inhabit it.
3 For the future (the Judge may) cause a sanctuary to be erected in a private demesne.
4 (A man) has full possession of his sanctuary in his own high place.
5 The sanctuary (a man) has raised is confirmed to the son who inherits.
6 Effaced.
7 His father and his mother (a man) shall not (deny).
8 A town (a man) has named; its foundation-stone he has not laid; (yet) he (can) change it.
9 This imperial rescript must be learnt.
10 Everything which a married woman encloses, she (shall) possess.
11 In all cases for the future (these rules shall hold good).
12 .A decision. A son says to his father: Thou art not
__________
1 Literally "his brother-in-law." These legal precedents ought to have a special interest for the Englishman.

my father, (and) confirms it by (his) nail-mark (on the deed); he gives him a pledge,¹ and silver he gives him.
13 A decision. A son says to his mother: Thou art not my mother; his hair is cut off, (in) the city they exclude him from earth (and) water² and in the house imprison him.³
14 A decision. A father says to his son: Thou art not my son; in house and brick building they imprison him.
15 A decision. A mother says to her son: Thou art not my son; in house and property they imprison her.
16 A decision. A woman is unfaithful to her husband and says to him: Thou art not my husband; into the river they throw her.
17 A decision. A husband says to his wife : Thou art not my wife; half a maneh of silver he weighs out (in payment).
18 A decision. A master kills⁴ (his) slaves,⁵ cuts them to pieces, injures their offspring,⁶ drives them from the land and makes them small;⁷ his hand every day a half-measure of corn measures out (in requital).

The writing (of this tablet is) as above, (beginning;) "every dawn, an oath." Seventh tablet (of the series which begins:) "to be with him."

(Copy) belonging to Assyria, like its old (text is) it written and engraved. The country of ASSUR-BANI-PAL (SARDANAPALUS), the mighty King, King of Assyria.
__________
1 In the Assyrian version "he recognises his pledge to him."
2 In the Assyrian version "they humble him."
3 In the Assyrian version "they expel him."
4 In the Assyrian version "saws asunder and kills."
5 In the Assyrian version "a slave."
6 In the Assyrian version "beats."
7 In the Assyrian version "makes ill."

SYNCHRONOUS HISTORY OF ASSYRIA AND BABYLONIA
TRANSLATED BY
REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.

THE Tablet translated below is rather a collection of brief notices relating to the occasions on which Assyria and Babylonia came into contact with one another than a synchronous history in the proper sense of the word. No dates are given, and long periods of time are passed over in silence; but the chronological order in which the events are arranged, and the synchronisms established between various kings of the two countries furnish a valuable basis for reconstructing the framework of their history, when helped out by other inscriptions. Unlike the larger part of the library to which it belonged, this tablet {p.26} was originally composed by Assyrian scribes, as the purely Assyrian point of view from which each occurrence is regarded would show, and is posterior to the eighth century BC. The document is unfortunately very incomplete, and the translations which follow are made from a number of fragments now in the British Museum. The principal portion of them is to be found in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. II., pt. 65; a piece which formed the upper portion of the tablet is given in the third volume, No. 3; while the remaining fragments are still unpublished. The document was translated by myself in the Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, vol. ii., pt. I, and extensive quotations from it have been given by Mr. G. Smith in the Transactions of the same Society, vol. 1., pt. 1.

A short review of our materials for determining the early chronology of Assyria may not be out of place here. The years were counted by eponymes called limmi, like the arkhons at Athens; and the fact that the inscription of Rimmon-nirari, Records of the Past, vol. I., p. 1, the great-grandson of Assur-yupalladh, is dated in the eponymy of Shalmanurris, proves the {p.27} antiquity of this method of marking time. We thus have a guarantee of the trustworthiness of the statement made by Sennacherib that a seal which belonged to Tiglath-Adar, the grandson of Rimmon-nirari, was carried off in war to Babylon 600 years before his own capture of that city and therefore about 1 300 BC. Still greater authority is given to the precise dates of 701 years, which according to Tiglath-Pileser I elapsed between the foundation of the temple of Anu and Rimmon at Assur by Samas-Rimmon and his own restoration of it, and of 418 years which the Bavian inscription states was the interval between the defeat of the same Tiglath-Pileser by the Babylonians and Sennacherib's invasion of Chaldea in BC 692. Samas-Rimmon, however, was not king of Assyria, nor even, perhaps, a member of the Semitic race; he was merely the petty sovereign of the city of Assur, the Ellasar of Genesis, and the wide tract of country afterwards known as Assyria was still designated by the vague title of Gutiun (or Goim as it appears in Gen. xiv. 1). The kingdom of Assyria, therefore, did not come into existence until after B.C. 1800, and the accurate calculation of time which enabled Tiglath- {p.28} Pileser to fix the date of his predecessor must have been of Babylonian origin. This agrees well with our finding that in the inscriptions of Assur-bani-pal Cudur-Nankhundi, sometimes translitered Kudur-nan-hundi, the Elamite is said to have "oppressed Accad" just 1635 years before his own conquest of Elam. A precise chronological record, accordingly, seems to have been kept first in Babylonia and afterwards in Assyria from a period which dates back beyond the second millennium BC. It may be added that the early Babylonians made use also of important events like the capture of a city or the inundation of a river as chronological starting-points; while legal documents, as might be expected, reckoned by the regnal years of the king in whose lifetime they were drawn up.

Only the ends of the lines which begin the tablet have been discovered, and the first legible fragment of the inscription is as follows:

1 CARA-INDAS,¹ King (of Gan-duniyas²),
2 and ASSUR-BIL-NISI-SU, King of Assyria, a covenant
3 between them with one another established;
4 and a pledge with regard to the boundaries as fixed above³ to one another gave.
5 BUZUR-ASSUR, King of Assyria, and BURNA-BURYAS,
6 King of Gan-duniyas, made an ordinance, and common
7 boundaries as aforesaid fixed.
8 In the time of ASSUR-YUPALLADH, King of Assyria, CARA-MURDAS,
9 King of Gan-duniyas, son of MUPALLIDHAT-SERUA
10 the daughter of ASSUR-YUPALLADH, men of the Cassi
11 revolted against, and slew him. NAZI-BUGAS
12 a man of low parentage to the kingdom to (be) over them they raised.
_________
1 Cara-indas, Burna-buryas, and Cara-murdas belonged to the Cassi or Kossaeans, an Elamite tribe which had conquered Babylonia under Kham-muragas. They seem to represent the Arabian dynasty of Berosus, and made Babylon their capital. The dynasty was finally overthrown by the Assyrian king Tiglath-Adar, son of Shalmaneser, who captured Babylon and established a line of Semitic kings there in the I4th century BC. The transactions recorded in the present passage probably took place about 100 years previously.
2 Gan-duniyas (also called Gun-duni), "the enclosure" or "fortress of Duni" was Western Chaldea, the city of Babylon having received that name from some Cassite prince or deity.
3 Literally, "as aforesaid." This refers to a preceding passage now lost.

13 (BEL-NIRARI,¹ King of Assyria, to) exact satisfaction
14 (for CARA-MURDAS) to Gan-duniyas went;
15 (NAZI-BUGAS, King of Gan-duniyas) he slew;
16 (CURI-GALZU,² SON OF) BURNA-BURYAS,
17 (on the throne he seated.)
...... Lacuna .......
1 NAZI-URUDA'IS,³ King of Gan-duniyas,
2 (at) Car-Istar-agarsal (Tiglath-Adar) smote:
3 (a destruction) of NAZI-URUDA'IS he made
4 (when in) the neighbourhood of the city of Akhi-rabi-su he had come.
5 These common boundaries
6 (from) above the country of Pilaz
7 (to) the river Tigris, (and) the city of Arman-agarsal
8 (in the mountains they appointed and fixed.
9 ........ King of Gan-duniyas,
10 in the might of battle
........ Lacuna .........
_________
1 He was the son of Assur-yupalladh, and according to an inscription brought back from Kalah-Sherghat by Mr. G. Smith "destroyed the army of the Cassi, and the spoil of his enemies his hand captured."
2 Inscriptions of Curi-galzu have been found in Babylonia, in which he calls himself son of Burna-buryas; his, consequently, must be the name to be supplied here.
3 Mr. G. Smith (Athenaeum June 20, 1874) believes that this was the last king of the Cassite dynasty who was overthrown by Tiglath-Adar. In that case, this fragment must be placed here, and Tiglath-Adar would be the Assyrian king whose name has to be supplied, it must be confessed, however, that such a view is not altogether free from difficulties.

1 his servants he made (them)
2 as far as the city of Kullar.¹
3 BEL-CHADREZZAR, King of Assyria, (ADAR-PILESER)
4 had slain. BEL-CHADREZZAR did RIMMON-(PAL-IDDINA² avenge).
5 in the midst of that conflict ADAR-PILESER³ (was defeated, and)
6 to his country returned. His forces (RIMMON-PAL-IDDINA collected, and)
7 to Nineveh to capture (it) went.
8 in the midst of it he fought, he turned about and (to his country returned).
9 In the time of ZAMAMA-SUMA-IDDIN, King (of Gan-duniyas,)
10 ASSUR-DAYAN,⁴ King of Assyria, to Gan-duniyas (went).
11 (The cities) of Zaba, Irriya, (and) Agarsal he (captured;)
12 (their spoil) in abundance to Assyria (he carried.)
.............. Lacuna .......
_____________
1 These lines may possibly still refer to the conquest of Tiglath-Adar.
2 The name of Rimmon-pal-iddina, King of Babylonia, has been supplied here by an ingenious conjecture of Mr. G. Smith.
3 Adar-Pileser was king of Assyria, and it is plain that he was forced to retreat to Nineveh, which was captured by Rimmon-pal-iddina; a fact which the Assyrian historian describes euphemistically. It was probably upon this occasion that the seal of Tiglath-Adar was carried off to Babylon, from which it was brought back 600 years afterwards by Sennacherib. Adar-pileser was the father of Assur-dayan. Tiglath-Pileser I. says of him that "he cleared away his enemies like pea-fowl over the country, and organised the armies of Assyria."
4 Assur-dayan is called by Tiglath-Pileser I "the lifter up of the precious sceptre, the pursuer of the people of Bel (the Babylonians), who had conferred the work of his hand and the gift of his fingers upon the great gods, and had attained to old age and length of years."

1 Thereupon to his land (ASSUR-RIS-ILIM)¹ returned. After him (NEBOCHADREZZAR)
2 carried his armaments. To the passes of the border of (Assyria)
3 to conquer he went. ASSUR-RIS-ILIM, King of Assyria,
4 his chariots mustered against him to go.
5 NEBOCHADREZZAR, when the armaments do not advance, his baggage with fire burned;
6 he turned about and to his country returned.
7 The same NEBOCHADREZZAR (with) chariots and teams to the defences of the border
8 of Assyria to conquer went. ASSUR-RIS-ILIM
9 chariots (and) teams for assistance sent forth.
10 With him he fought; a destruction of him he made; his soldiers he smote;
11 his camp he plundered; forty of his harnessed chariots they had brought back;
12 one standard that went before his host they had taken.
13 TiGLATH-PiLESER,² King of Assyria, MERODACH-IDDIN-AKHI, King of Gan-duniyas,
14 a second time (with) a squadron of chariots, as many as in the city of the
15 lower Zab in sight of the city of Arzukhina he made,
16 in the second year on the shore of the sea which (is) above Accad,³ smote.
__________
1 Assur-ris-ilim, the grandson of Assur-dayan and father of Tiglath-Pileser I, has been ingeniously identified by Sir H. Ravvlinson with the Biblical Cushan-rish-athaim, whose name, as it stands, is certainly corrupt. Tiglath-Pileser calls him "the powerful king, conqueror of foreign lands, subduing all wickedness."
2 Tiglath-Pileser I has left a detailed account of his exploits in the cylinder inscription which was translated in 1857 by Sir H. Rawlinson, Mr. Fox Talbot, Dr. Hincks, and M. Oppert. Sennacherib states that he was carried captive to Babylon by Merodach-iddin-akhi 418 years before his own invasion of Babylonia (that is about 1110 BC).
3 Accad was south-eastern Chaldea, and the sea referred to the Persian Gulf.

17 The cities of Dur-curigalzu, Sippara of the Sun,
18 Sippara of Anunit,¹
19 Babylon, (and) Opis, great strongholds,
20 together with their citadels, he captured.
21 In those days the city of Agar'sal
22 as far as Lubdi he devastated;
23 the land of the 'Sukhi² as far as the city of Rapik to (its) whole extent (he conquered).
24 In the time of AssuR-BiL-CALA,³ (King of Assyria,)
25 (and) MERODACH-SAPIC-CULLAT, King of Gan-duniyas,
26 (friendship and complete) alliance
27 (with one another) they made.
28 (In the time of ASSUR-BIL-)CALA, King of (Assyria),
29 (MERODACH-SAPIC-CULLAT, King of) Gan-duniyas his death (seized).
30 SADUNI, the son of a nobody,
31 (to the kingdom over) them they raised.
32 (ASSUR-BIL-CALA), King of Assyria,
33 (to Gan-duniyas) went down;
34 (its spoil) to Assyria he brought

Then follows a lacuna. The mutilated reverse begins in the middle of a reign.
_________
1 The two Sipparas (whence the dual Sepharvaim of Scripture) seem to have been on opposite sides of the river, like Buda-Pesth. The site is represented by the modern Sura.
2 The Sukhi or Shuhites seem to have lived to the south of Babylonia, near the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates.
3 Assur-bil-cala was the son of Tiglath-pileser I. In a mutilated inscription he claims the conquest of the land of the West, or Palestine. A brother of his, who ascended the throne either before or after him, was Samas-Rimmon, the repairer of the Temple of the goddess of Nineveh.

1 Nebo-suma-iscun
2 fought; a destruction of him he made
3 (The cities) of Bam-bala (and) Khudadu
4 (and) many (other) cities
5 (he captured, and) their spoil in abundance
6 (to Assyria) took.
7 NIMATI his death constrained.
8 their daughters to one another they gave.
9 (Friendship and) complete alliance with one another they (made).
10 (The men of) Assyria (and) Accad with one another trafficked.
11 From the mound of Bit-ban which (is) above the city of the Zab
12 to the mound of BATANI and of the city Zabdani¹ a boundary line they fixed.
13 (In the time) of SHALMANESER,² King of (Assyria,)
14 (and NEBO-)PAL-IDDINA, King of Gan-duniyas,
15 friendship (and) complete alliance
16 (with) one another they made. In the time of SHALMA-NESER, King (of Assyria),
17 (NEBO-)PAL-IDDINA his death constrained;
18 MERODACH-SUMA-IDDIN on the throne of his father sat.
19 MERODACH-BIL-USATE, his brother, against him revolted.
20 (The city of Ah)daban he took; the land of Accad
21 (strongly) he had fortified. SHALMANESER, King of (Assyria,)
_________
1 Both Bit-bari and Zabdani were situated near the Lower Zab, the Caprus of classical geographers.
2 This is the king whose inscription on the monolith found at Kurkh is translated in the present volume.

22 to the assistance of MERODACH-SUMA-IDDIN,
23 King of Gan-duniyas, went.
24 MERODACH-BIL-USATE the King he slew.
25 The rebel (leaders) who (were) with him he smote.
26 (In) Cuthah, Babylon,
27 (and Borsippa sacrifices he made.)¹
................ Lacuna ..........

1 (In the time of MERODACH-BALADHSU-IKBI), King of Gan-duniyas,
2 (SAMAS-)RiMMON,² King of Assyria,
3 (a destruction of MERODACH-BALADHSU-)IKBI made.

1 Men (and) spoil to his places he brought back;
2 a permanent bond of habitations he fixed for them.
3 The men of Assyria (and) Gan-duniyas with one another (trafficked).
4 Eighty common boundary-stones he established (as follows):
5 "May the prince hereafter who in Accad ....
6 shall establish it and the plunder of conquest (shall carry off)
7 write; and to this inscribed stone (which contains)
8 the ordinance and to the sacred images above it which
9 the army has inscribed may he listen, and
10 the laws of Assyria may they protect to (future) days.
________
1 This is restored from the account which the king gives of his Babylonian expedition upon the Black Obelisk.
2 This is the king whose monolith inscription I have translated in the first vol. of Records of the Past, pp. 9-22. His expedition against Merodach-baladhsu-ikbi is described in the fourth column of the inscription.

ANNALS OF ASSUR-NASIR-PAL.
(SOMETIMES CALLED SARDANAPALUS.)
TRANSLATED, WITH NOTES,
By REV. J. M. RODWELL, M.A.,
RECTOR OF ST. ETHELBURGA, BC.

CONCERNING Assur-nasir-habal or Assur-nasir-pal (i.e., Assur preserves the son) we possess fuller historical records than of any other of the Assyrian monarchs, and among these the following inscription is the most important. From it, and from the inscription upon his statue discovered by Mr. Layard¹ in the ruins of one of the Nimroud temples, we learn that he was the son of Tuklat-Adar or Tuklat-Ninip, that he reigned over a territory extending from the Tigris to the Lebanon and that he brought the great sea and all countries from the sun-rise to the sun-set under his sway." These inscriptions are published in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. I, pt. 17-27, and were partially translated by Professor Oppert Histoire des Empires de Chaldee et d'Assyrie, p. 73 and foil. Extrait des Annales de philosophic ckre'tienne, Tom. ix, 1865.

There is considerable difficulty and a consequent divergence of opinion, as to the precise date when Assur-nasir-pal ascended the throne. But he most probably reigned from 883-858 BC.
________
1 Now in the British Museum.

It need scarcely be remarked that Assur-nasir-pal is a different person from the well known Sardanapalus of classic writers or Assur-bani-pal, the son of Esar-haddon who reigned from about BC 668-625.

It will be seen from the inscription that the campaigns of Assur-nasir-pal took place in the mountains of Armenia, in Commagene and the provinces of the Pontus, inhabited by the Moschi^l and other tribes. He probably advanced into Media and a portion of Western Persia. The countries on the banks of the Euphrates submitted to his arms, and in one of his expeditions he vanquished Nabu-bal-iddin king of Babylon. Westward, he reduced the southern part of Syria, and advanced to the mountain chains of the Amanus and Lebanon, but though he penetrated as far as to Tyre and Sidon and exacted tribute from both as well as from Byblus and Aradus, he did not subdue Phoenicia. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah, under the sway of Ahab and Jehosaphat were no doubt too powerful, as is evinced by the armies which they must have maintained for their struggle with the Syrians² for Assur-nasir-pal to have ventured upon attacking them. This feat was reserved for his successors on the throne of Assyria.

The inscription was found in the ruins of the Temple at the foot of the Pyramid at Nimroud (Calach).
_________
1 The Mesek of Psalm cxx. 5.
2 See 2 Chron. xvii. and following chapters.

1 To NINIP¹ most powerful hero, great, chief of the gods, warrior, powerful Lord, whose onset in battle has not been opposed, eldest son,
2 crusher of opponents, first-born son of NUKIMMUT,² supporter of the seven,³ noble ruler, King of the gods the producers, governor, he who rolls along the mass
3 of heaven and earth, opener of canals, treader of the wide earth, the god who in his divinity nourishes heaven and earth, the beneficent,
4 the exalted, the powerful, who has not lessened the glory of his face,⁴ head of nations, bestower of sceptres, glorious, over all cities a ruler,⁵
5 valiant, the renown of whose sceptre is not approached, chief of wide spread influence, great among the gods, shading from the southern sun, Lord of Lords, whose hand the vault of heaven
6 (and) earth has controlled, a King in battle mighty⁶who has vanquished opposition, victorious, powerful, Lord of water courses and seas,⁷
_____________
1 Ninip was one of the great gods of the Assyrian Pantheon, often joined with Assur as one of the special deities invoked by the Assyrian kings at the opening of their inscriptions. His name is also written under the symbol used for iron (parzil). Thus in later times the planets were connected with special metals.
2 A goddess, called also Nuha, and the mother of Nebo as well as of Ninip. Fox Talbot (Gloss. 158) compares nu (= al) kimmut with the "al-gum" of Prov. xxx. 31, i.e., "irresistible."
3 Planets. Or, warrior among spirits. I mention this rendering as the suggestion of Mr. G. Smith, though I prefer that given above.
4 Literally "horn." Cf. Job xvi. 15.
5 Tigallu. Menant renders this sentence La massue pour regner sur les villes.
6 Cf. Ps. xxiv. 8.
7 Cf. Ps. xcv. 4; civ. 6; cvii. 35.

7 strong, not yielding, whose onset brings down the green corn, smiting the land of the enemy, like the cutting of reeds, the deity who changes not his purposes,
8 the light of heaven and earth, a bold leader on the waters, destroyer of them that hate (him), a spoiler (and) Lord of the disobedient, dividing enemies, whose name in the speech of the gods
9 no god has ever disregarded, the gatherer of life, the god (?) whose prayers are good, whose abode is in the city of Calah, a great Lord, my Lord (who am) ASSUR-NASIR-PAL, the mighty King,
10 King of multitudes, a Prince unequalled, Lord of all the four countries, powerful over hosts of men, the possession of BEL and NINIP the exalted and ANU
11 and of DAKAN¹ a servant of the great gods in the lofty shrine for great (O NINIP) is thy heart; a worshipper of BEL whose might upon
12 thy great deity is founded, and thou makest righteous his life, valiant, warrior, who in the service of ASSUR his Lord hath proceeded, and among the Kings
13 of the four regions who has not his fellow, a Prince for admiration, not sparing opponents, mighty leader, who an equal
14 has not, a Prince reducing to order his disobedient ones, who has subdued whole multitudes of men, a strong worker, treading down
15 the heads of his enemies, trampling on all foes, crushing assemblages of rebels, who in the service of the great gods his Lords
16 marched vigorously and the lands of all of them his hand captured, caused the forests of all of them to fall,² and received their tribute, taking
_________
1 Probably the Dagon of Scripture.
2 Compare the boast in Isaiah xxxvii. 24, "I cut down the tall cedars."

17 securities, establishing laws over all lands, when ASSUR the Lord who proclaims my name and augments my Royalty
18 laid hold upon his invincible power for the forces of my Lordship, for ASSUR-NASIR-PAL, glorious Prince, worshipper of the great gods
19 the generous, the great, the powerful, acquirer of cities and forests and the territory of all of them, King of Lords, destroying the wicked, strengthening
20 the peaceful, not sparing opponents, a Prince of firm will (?) one who combats oppression, Lord of all Kings,
21 Lord of Lords, the acknowledged, King of Kings, seated gloriously, the renown of NINIP the warrior,
worshipper of the great gods, prolonging the benefits (conferred by) his fathers:
22 a Prince who in the service of ASSUR and the Sun-god, the gods in whom he trusted, royally marched to turbulent lands, and Kings who had rebelled against him
23 he cut off like grass, all their lands to his feet he subjected, restorer of the worship of the goddesses and that of the great gods,
24 Chief unwavering, who for the guidance of the heads (and) elders of his land is a steadfast guardian, the work of whose hands and
25 the gift of whose finger the great gods of heaven and earth have exalted, and his steps¹ over rulers have they established for ever;
26 their power for the preservation of my Royalty have they exercised; the retribution of his power, (and) the approach of His Majesty over Princes
27 of the four regions they have extended: the enemies of ASSUR in all their country, the upper and the lower I chastised, and tribute 'and impost
_____________
1 Goings. Cf. Ps. xl. 2, "He hath established my goings."

28 upon them I established, capturing the enemies of ASSUR mighty King, King of Assyria, son of TUKLAT-ADAR who all his enemies
29 has scattered; (who) in the dust threw down the corpses of his enemies, the grandson of BIN-NIRARI, the servant of the great gods,
30 who crucified alive and routed his enemies and subdued them to his yoke, descendant of ASSUR-DAN-IL, who the fortresses
31 established (and) the fanes made good. In those days by the decree¹ of the great gods to royalty power supremacy I rose up:
32 I am a King, I am a Lord, I am glorious, I am great, I am mighty, I have arisen, I am Chief, I am a Prince, I am a warrior
33 I am great and I am glorious, ASSUR-NASIR-HABAL, a mighty King of Assyria, proclaimer of the Moon-god, worshipper of ANU, exalter of YAV,² suppliant of the gods
34 am I, servant unyielding, subduing the land of his foe-man, a King mighty in battle, destroyer of cities and forests,
35 Chief over opponents, King of the four regions, expeller of his foes, prostrating all his enemies, Prince of a multitude of lands of all Kings
36 even of all, a Prince subduing those disobedient to him, who is ruling all the multitudes of men. These aspirations to the face of the great gods
37 have gone up; on my destiny steadfastly have they determined; at the wishes of my heart and the uplifting of my hand, ISTAR, exalted Lady,
38 hath favoured me in my intentions, and to the conduct
________
1 Mouth.
2 The god Yav may be the Yavch of the Moabite stone.

of (my) battles and warfare hath applied her heart. In those days I ASSUR-NASIR-PAL, glorious Prince, worshipper of the great gods
39 the wishes of whose heart BEL will cause him to attain, and who has conquered all Kings who disobey him, and by his hand capturing
40 his enemies, who in difficult places has beaten down assemblages of rebels; when ASSUR, mighty Lord, proclaimer of my name
41 aggrandizer of my royalty over the Kings of the four regions, bountifully hath added his invincible power to the forces of my government,
42 putting me in possession of lands, and mighty forests for exploration hath he given and urgently impelled me by the might of ASSUR my Lord,
43 perplexed paths, difficult mountains by the impetuosity of my hosts I traversed, and an equal there was not. In the beginning of my reign
44 (and) in my first campaign when the Sun-god guider of the lands threw over me his beneficent protection¹ on the throne of my dominion I firmly seated myself; a sceptre
45 the dread of man into my hands I took; my chariots (and) armies I collected; rugged paths, difficult mountains, which for the passage
46 of chariots and armies was not suited I passed, and to the land of Nairi² I went: Libie, their capital city, the cities Zurra and Abuqu
47 Arura Arubie, situated within the limits of the land of Aruni and Etini, fortified cities, I took, their fighting-men
48 in numbers I slew; their spoil, their wealth, their cattle
__________
1 Or, shade. This may refer to the eclipse of I3th July, 885 BC.
2 A federation of states north and north-east of Assyria at the head of the Euphrates. In Tig. iv. 7, 33 of their kings are mentioned.

I spoiled; their soldiers were discouraged; they took possession of a difficult mountain, a mountain exceedingly difficult; after them
49 I did not proceed, for it was a mountain ascending up like lofty points of iron, and the beautiful birds of heaven had not reached up into it: like nests
50 of the young birds in the midst of the mountain their defence they placed, into which none of the Kings my fathers had ever penetrated: in 3 days
51 successfully on one large mountain, his courage vanquished opposition: along the feet of that mountain I crept and hid: their nests, their tents,
52 I broke up; 200 of their warriors with weapons I destroyed ; their spoil in abundance like the young of sheep I carried off;
53 their corpses like rubbish on the mountains I heaped up; their relics in tangled hollows of the mountains I consumed; their cities
54 I overthrew, I demolished, in fire I burned: from the land of Nummi to the land of Kirruri I came down; the tribute of Kirruri
55 of the territory of Zimizi, Zimira, Ulmanya, Adavas, Kargai, Harmasai, horses,¹ fish (?)
56 oxen, horned sheep in numbers, copper, as their tribute I received: an officer to guard boundaries² over them I placed. While in the land of Kirruri
57 they detained me, the fear of ASSUR my Lord overwhelmed the lands of Gilzanai and Khubuskai; horses, silver
58 gold, tin, copper, kams of copper as their tribute they brought to me. From the land of Kirruri I withdrew;
_________
1 Lit. animals of the East. This looks as if the Assyrians obtained the horse from some Eastern land.
2 Or, a Viceroy.

59 to a territory close by the town Khulun in Gilhi¹-Bitani I passed: the cities of Khatu, Khalaru, Nistun, Irbidi,
60 Mitkie, Arzanie, Zila, Khalue, cities of Gilhi situated in the environs of Uzie and Arue
61 and Arardi powerful lands, I occupied: their soldiers in numbers I slew; their spoil, their riches I carried off;
62 their soldiers were discouraged; the summits projecting over against the city of Nistun which were menacing like the storms of heaven, I captured;
63 into which no one among the Princes my sires had ever penetrated; my soldiers like birds (of prey) rushed upon them;
64 260 of their warriors by the sword I smote down; their heads cut off in heaps I arranged; the rest of them like birds
65 in a nest, in the rocks of the mountains nestled; their spoil, their riches from the midst of the mountains I brought down; cities which were in the midst
66 of vast forests situated I overthrew, destroyed, burned in fire; the rebellious soldiers fled from before my arms; they came down; my yoke
67 they received; impost tribute and a Viceroy I set over them. BUBU son of BUBUA son of the Prefect of Nistun
68 in the city of Arbela I flayed; his skin I stretched in contempt upon the wall. At that time an image of my person I made; a history of my supremacy
69 upon it I wrote, and (on) a mountain of the land of Ikin (?) in the city of ASSUR-NASIR-PAL at the foot I erected (it). In my own. eponym in the month of July² and the 24th day (probably BC 882).
70 in honour of ASSUR and ISTAR the great gods my
_____________
1 A mountainous country near the upper Tigris, possibly Kurdistan.
2 The Hebrew month Ab.

Lords, I quitted the city of Nineveh: to cities situated below Nipur and Pazate powerful countries
71 I proceeded; Atkun, Nithu, Pilazi, and 20 other cities in their environs I captured; many of their soldiers I slew;
72 their spoil, their riches I carried off; the cities I burned with fire; the rebel soldiers fled from before my arms, submitted,
73 and took my yoke; I left them in possession of their land. From the cities below Nipur and Pazate I withdrew; the Tigris I passed;
74 to the land of Commagene I approached; the tribute of Commagene and of the Moschi¹ in kams of copper, sheep and goats I received; while in Commagene
75 I was stationed, they brought me intelligence that the city Suri in Bit-Khalupe had revolted. The people of Hamath had slain their governor
76 AHIYABABA the son of LAMAMANA² they brought from Bit-Adini and made him their King. By help of ASSUR and YAV
77 the great gods who aggrandize my royalty, chariots, (and) an army, I collected: the banks of the Chaboras³ I occupied; in my passage tribute
78 in abundance from SALMAN-HAMAN-ILIN of the city of Sadikannai and of IL-YAV of the city of Sunai,⁴ silver, gold,
79 tin, kam of copper, vestments of wool, vestments of
_________
1 In the text, Kummuhi and Muski.
2 Dr. Hincks was of opinion that Lamaman meant "nobody;" and that "Son of Lamaman" was a delicate way of indicating a man of low origin. Norr. Dict. p. 690.
3 Assyrian, Khalur. This may be the Chebar mentioned in the Prophet Ezekiel. Schultens however (in his Geogr.) mentions another Chaboras which flows into the Tigris.
4 In the north of Mesopotamia.

linen I received. To Suri which is in Bit-Halupe I drew near;
80 the fear of the approach of ASSUR my Lord overwhelmed them; the great men and the multitudes of the city, for the saving of their lives, coming up after me,¹
81 submitted to my yoke; some slain, some living, some tongue-less I made: AHIYABABA son of LAMAMANA
82 whom from Bit-Adini they had fetched, I captured; in the valour of my heart and the steadfastness of my soldiers I besieged the city; the soldiers, rebels all,
83 were taken prisoners; the nobles to the principal palace of his land I caused to send; his silver, his gold, his treasure, his riches, copper
84 (?) tin, kams, tabhani, hariati of copper, choice copper in abundance, alabaster and iron-stone of large size
85 the treasures of his harem, his daughters and the wives of the rebels with their treasures, and the gods with their treasures,
86 precious stones of the land of ...., his swift chariot, his horses, the harness, his chariot-yoke, trappings for horses, coverings for men,
87 vestments of wool, vestments of linen, handsome altars of cedar, handsome ...., bowls of cedar-wood,
88 beautiful black coverings, beautiful purple coverings, carpets, his oxen, his sheep, his abundant spoil, which like the stars of heaven could not be reckoned,
89 I carried off; AZIEL as my lieutenant over them I placed; a trophy along the length of the great gate I erected: the rebellious nobles
90 who had revolted against me and whose skins I had stripped off, I made into a trophy: some in the middle of the pile I left to decay; some on the top
91 of the pile on stakes I impaled; some by the side of
_____________
1 Lit., to my back.

the pile I placed in order on stakes; many within view of my land
92 I flayed; their skins on the walls I arranged; of the officers of the King's officer, rebels, the limbs I cut off;
93 I brought AHIYABABA to Nineveh; I flayed,¹ him and fastened his skin to the wall; laws and edicts
94 over Lakie I established. While I was staying in Suri the tribute of the Princes of Lakie throughout the whole of them,
95 silver, gold, tin, copper, kam of copper, oxen, sheep, vestments of wool and linen, as tribute
96 and gift, I defined and imposed upon them. In those days, the tribute of KHAYANI of the city of Hindanai, silver,
97 gold, tin, copper, amu-stone, alabaster blocks, beautiful black (and) lustrous coverings I received as tribute from him. In those days an enlarged image
98 of my Royalty I made; edicts and decrees upon it I wrote; in the midst of his palace I put it up; of stone my tablets I made;
99 the decrees of my throne upon it I wrote; in the great gate I fixed them, in the date of this year which takes its name from me, in honour of A'SSUR my Lord and NINIP who uplifts my feet²
100 Whereas in the times of the Kings my fathers no man of Suhi to Assyria had ever come, IL-BANI Prince of Suhi together with his soldiers
101 (and) his son, silver, gold as his tribute to Nineveh in abundance brought; in my own eponym³ at the city of Nineveh I stayed: news
____________
1 Compare 2 Macc. vii. 7 for a somewhat similar proceeding. The custom may also be alluded to in Mic. iii. 3.
2 Compare Ps. Ixxiv. 3, "Lift up thy feet," etc.
3 About 882 BC.

102 they brought me that men of the land of Assyria, (and) HULAI the governor of their city which SHALMANESER King of Assyria my predecessor
103 to the city of Hasiluha had united, had revolted: Dandamusa¹ a city of my dominion marched out to subdue (them);
104 in honour of ASSUR, the Sun-god and YAV, the gods in whom I trust, my chariots and army I collected at the head of the river Zupnat, the place of an image
105 which TIGLATH-PiLESER and TIGLATH-ADAR, Kings of Assyria my fathers had raised; an image of My Majesty I constructed and put up with theirs.
106 In those days I renewed the tribute of the land of Izala, oxen, sheep, goats: to the land of Kasyari² I proceeded, and to Kinabu
107 the fortified city of the province of Hulai. I drew near; with the impetuosity of my formidable attack I besieged and took the town; 600 of their fighting men
108 with (my) arms I destroyed; 3000 of their captives I consigned to the flames; as hostages I left not one of them alive; HULAI
109 the governor of their town I captured by (my) hand alive; their corpses into piles I built; their boys and maidens I dishonoured;
110 HULAI the governor of their city I flayed: his skin on the walls of Damdamusa I placed in contempt; the city I overthrew demolished, burned with fire; in the city of Mariru within their territory I took; 50 warrior fighting men by (my) weapons I destroyed; 200 of their captives in the flame I burned; 112 the soldiers of the land of Nirbi I slew in fight in the
_________
1 Near the modern Diarbekir, on the road to the sources of the Supnat.
2 In Armenia near the sources of the Tigris.

desert; their spoil, their oxen, their sheep, I brought away; Nirbu which is at the foot of mount Ukhira
113 I boldly took; I then passed over to Tila their fortified city; from Kinabu I withdrew; to Tila I drew near;
114 a strong city with three forts facing each other: the soldiers to their strong forts and numerous army trusted and would not submit;
115 my yoke they would not accept; (then,) with onset and attack I besieged the city; their fighting men with my weapons I destroyed; of their spoil,
116 their riches, oxen and sheep, I made plunder; much booty I burned with fire; many soldiers I captured alive;
117 of some I chopped off the hands and feet; of others the noses and ears I cut off; of many soldiers I destroyed the eyes;
118 one pile of bodies while yet alive, and one of heads I reared up on the heights within their town; their heads in the midst I hoisted; their boys

_________
1 Thus in 2 Kings xxv. 7, we read that the Chaldees "put out the eyes of Zedekiah." Samson, Judges xvi. 21, was similarly treated. And the custom may be alluded to in Num. xvi. 14. It may be well to compare the treatment of children as recorded in Joshua xi. 14 with what we read in line 118. Horrible and ferocious as was the treatment of the conquered by the Israelites they at least on that occasion were content with enslaving the children.

1 and their maidens I dishonoured, the city I overthrew, razed and burned with fire. In those days the cities of the land of Nirbi
2 (and) their strong fortresses, I overthrew, demolished, burned with fire: from Nirbi I withdrew and to the city Tuskha
3 I approached; the city of Tuskha I again occupied; its old fort I threw down: its place I prepared, its dimensions I took; a new castle
4 from its foundation to its roof I built, I completed, I reared: a palace for the residence of My Royalty with doors of iki wood I made;
5 a palace of brick from its foundations to its roof I made, I completed: a complete image of my person of polished stone I made; the history
6 of my surpassing nation and an account of my conquests which in the country of Nairi I had accomplished I wrote upon it; in the city of Tuskha
7 I raised it; on suitable stone I wrote and upon the wall I fixed it; (then) the men of Assyria, those who from the privation of food to various countries
8 and to Rurie had gone up, to Tuskha I brought back and settled there: that city to myself
9 I took; the wheats and barleys of Nirbi I accumulated in it; the populace of Nirbi who before my arms had fled,
10 returned and accepted my yoke; of their towns, their Viceroys, their many convenient houses I took possession; impost and tribute, horses,
11 horses for the yoke, fish, oxen, sheep, goats in addition to what I had before settled, I imposed upon them; their youths as hostages
12 I took. While I was staying in Tuskha, I received the {p.52} tribute of AMMIBAAL son of ZAMANI, of ANHITI of the land of Rurie
13 of LABDURI son of DUBUZI of the land of Nirdun and the tribute of the land of Urumi-sa Bitani, of the Princes of the land of Nam,
14 chariots, horses, horses for the yoke, tin, silver, gold, kam of copper, oxen, sheep, goats.
15 Over the land of Nairi I established a Viceroy: (but) on my return the land of Nairi, and Nirbu which is in
16 the land of Kasyari, revolted; nine of their cities leagued themselves with Ispilipri one of their fortified towns and to a mountain difficult of access
17 they trusted; but the heights of the hill I besieged and took; in the midst of the strong mountain their fighting men I slew; their corpses like rubbish on the hills
18 I piled up; their common people in the tangled hollows of the mountains I consumed; their spoil, their property I carried off; the heads of their soldiers
19 I cut off; a pile (of them) in the highest part of the city I built; their boys and maidens I dishonoured; to the environs of the city Buliyani
20 I passed; the banks of the river Lukia¹ I took possession of; in my passage I occupied the towns of the land of Kirhi hard by; many of their warriors
21 I slew; their spoil I spoiled; their cities with fire I burned: to the city of Ardupati I went. In those days the tribute
22 of AHIRAMU son of YAHIRU of the land of NIAAI son of BAHIANI of the land of the Hittites² and of the Princes of the land of Hanirabi, silver, gold,
23 tin, kam of copper, oxen, sheep, horses, as their tribute
____________
1 Probably the Lycus or upper Zab.
2 The term Hittites is used in a large sense, as the equivalent of Syrians including the northern parts of Palestine.

I received; in the eponym of ASSURIDIN¹ they brought me intelligence that
24 ZAB-YAV Prince of the land of Dagara had revolted. The land of Zamua throughout its whole extent he boldly seized; near the city of Babite
25 they constructed a fort; for combat and battle they marched forth: in the service of ASSUR, the great god my Lord and the great MERODACH
26 going before me,² by the powerful aid which the Lord ASSUR extended to my people, my servants and my soldiers I called together; to the vicinity
27 of Babite I marched: the soldiers to the valour of their army trusted and gave battle: but in the mighty force of the great MERODACH going before me
28 I engaged in battle with them; I effected their overthrow; I broke them down; 1460 of their warriors in the environs
29 I slew; Uzie, Birata, and Lagalaga, their strong towns, with 100 towns within their territory I captured;
30 their spoil, their youths, their oxen, and sheep I carried off; ZAB-YAV for the preservation of his life, a rugged mountain
31 ascended; 1200 of their soldiers I carried off; from the land of Dagara l withdrew; to the city of Bara I approached; the city of Bara
32 I captured; 320 of their soldiers by my weapons I destroyed; their oxen, sheep, and spoil in abundance I removed;
33 300 of their soldiers I took off; on Tasritu³ 15th from the town Kalzi I withdrew, and came to the environs of Babite;
________
1 About 881 BC.
2 A Scriptural phrase of frequent occurrence.
3 Corresponding to the Jewish month Tisri, and to part of our September, called in Accadian "The Holy Altar."

34 from Babite I withdrew; to the land of Nizir which they call Liilu-Kinaba I drew near; the city Bunasi one of their fortified cities
35 belonging to Musazina and 20 cities of their environs I captured; the soldiers were discouraged; they took possession of a mountain difficult of access; I, ASSUR-NASIR-PAL impetuously after them
36 like birds swooped down; their corpses lay thick on the hills of Nizir; 326 of their warriors I smote down; his horses I exacted of him,
37 their common people in the tangled hollows I consumed; seven cities in Nizir, which were of their duly appointed fortresses I captured; their soldiers
38 I slew; their spoil, their riches, their oxen, their sheep I carried off; the cities themselves I burned; to these my tents I returned to halt;
39 from those same tents I departed; to cities of the land of Nizir whose place no one had ever seen I marched; the city of Larbusa
40 the fortified city of Kirtiara and 8 cities of their territory I captured; the soldiers lost heart and took to a steep mountain, a mountain (which) like sharp iron stakes
41 rose high upwards; as for his soldiers, I ascended after them; in the midst of the mountain I scattered their corpses; 172 of their men I slew; soldiers
42 in numbers in the hollows of the mountain I hunted down; their spoil, their cattle, their sheep, I took away; their cities with fire
43 I burned; their heads on the high places of the mountain I lifted up;¹ their boys and maidens I dishonoured; to the tents aforesaid I returned to halt;
________
1 Cf. Gen. xl. 19, "Yet within three days shall Pharaoh lift up thy head from off thee."

44 from those same tents I withdrew; 150 cities of the territory of Larbusai, Durlulumai, Bunisai and Barai I captured;
45 their fighting men I slew; their spoil I spoiled; the city of Hasabtal I razed (and) burned with fire; 50 soldiers of Barai I slew in battle on the plain.
46 In those days the Princes of the entire land of Zamua were overwhelmed by the dread of the advance of ASSUR my Lord and submitted to my yoke; horses, silver, gold,
47 I received; the entire land under a Prefect I placed; horses, silver, gold, wheat, barley, submission, I imposed upon them
48 from the city of Tuklat-assur-azbat I withdrew; the land of Nispi accepted my yoke; I went down all night; to cities of remote site in the midst of Nispi
49 which ZAB-YAV had established as his stronghold I went, took the city of Birutu and consigned it to the flames.
¶ In the eponym of DAMIKTIYA-TUKLAT, when I was stationed at Nineveh, they brought me news¹
50 that Amaka, and Arastua withheld the tribute and vassalage due to ASSUR my Lord. In honour of ASSUR mighty Lord and MERODACH the great going before me,
51 on the first of May² I prepared for the third time an expedition against Zamua: my fighting men³ before the many chariots I did not consider: from Kalzi I withdrew; the lower Zab
52 I passed; to the vicinity of Babite I proceeded; the river Radanu at the foot of the mountains of Zima, my birthplace, I approached; oxen,
53 sheep, goats, as the tribute of Dagara I received: near Zimaki I added my strong chariots and battering rams
________
1 About 880 BC.
2 The Hebrew Sivan.
3 I.e., in comparison with.

as chief of warlike implements to my magazines; by night
54 and daybreak I went down; the Turnat in rafts I crossed; to Amali the strong city of Arastu I approached;
55 with vigorous assault the city I besieged and took; 800 of their fighting men I destroyed by my weapons; I filled the streets of their city with their corpses;
56 their many houses I burned; many soldiers I took alive; their spoil in abundance I carried off; the city I overthrew razed and burnt with fire; the city Khudun
57 and 20 cities in its environs I took; their soldiers I slew; their booty in cattle and sheep I carried off; their cities I overthrew razed and burned; their boys,
58 their maidens I dishonoured; the city of Kisirtu a fortified city of Zabini with 10 neighbouring cities I took; their soldiers I slew; their spoil
59 I carried off; the cities of Barai and Kirtiara, Bunisai together with the province of Khasmar I overthrew razed and burned with fire;
60 I reduced the boundaries to a heap, and then from the cities of Arastua I withdrew: to the neighbourhood of the territory of Laara and Bidirgi, rugged land, which for the passage
61 of chariots and an army was not adapted, I passed; to the royal city Zamri of AMIKA of Zamua I drew near; AMIKA from before the mighty prowess of my formidable attack
62 fled in fear and took refuge on a hill difficult of access: I brought forth the treasures of his palace and his chariot; from Zamri I withdrew and passed the river Lallu and to the mountains of Etini,
63 difficult ground, unfit for the passage of chariots and armies, whither none of the Princes my sires had ever

penetrated; I marched in pursuit of his army on the mountains of Etini:
64 the hill I ascended: his treasure, his riches, vessels of copper, abundance of copper, kam of copper, bowls of copper, pitchers of copper, the treasures of his palace and of his storehouses,
65 from within the mountains I took away to my camp and made a halt: by the aid of ASSUR and the Sun-god, the gods in whom I trust, from that camp I withdrew and proceeded on my march;
66 the river Edir I passed on the confines of Soua and Elaniu, powerful lands; their soldiers I slew in numbers; their treasure, their riches, am¹ of copper,
67 kam of copper, sapli and namziete of copper, vessels of copper in abundance, pásur wood, gold and ahzi, their oxen, sheep, riches,
68 his abundant spoil, from below the mountains of Elani, his horses, I exacted from him: AMIKA for the saving of his life to the land of Sabue went up;
69 the cities Zamru, Arazitku, Amaru, Parsindu, Eritu, Zuritu his fortified city, with 150 cities
70 of his territory I overthrew, razed, burned; the boundary I reduced to a heap.
¶ While in the vicinity of Parsindi I was stationed, the warlike engines of the tribe of Kallabu
71 came forth against the place; 150 of the fighting men of AMIKA I slew in the plain; their heads I cut off and put them up on the heights of his palace;
72 200 of his soldiers taken by (my) hands alive I left to rot on the wall of his palace:² from Zamri the battering-rams and my banners I made ready;
___________
1 Am may be the name of some weight, or figure; v. Norr. Assyr. Dict, p. 127 and 720.
2 Menant renders "j'ai fait etouffer dans le mur."

73 to the fortress Ata, of Arzizai, whither none of the Kings my sires had ever penetrated I marched: the cities of Arzizti, and Arzindu
74 his fortified city, with ten cities situated in their environs in the midst of Nispi a rugged country, I captured; their soldiers I slew the cities I overthrew razed and burned with fire:
75 to those my tents I returned. In those days I received copper, tabbili of copper, kanmate of copper, and sariete as the tribute of the land of Siparmina, such as women
76 collect: from the city of Zamri I withdrew; to Lara, (the rugged hill-country, unfitted for the passage of chariots and armies, with instruments (axes) of iron I cut through and
77 with rollers of metal I beat down) with the chariots and troops I brought over to the city of Tiglath-assur-azbat in the land of Lulu the city of Arakdi they call it I went down;
78 the Kings of Zamue, the whole of them, from before the impetuosity of my servants and the greatness of my power drew back and accepted my yoke; tribute of silver, gold, tin,
79 copper, kam of copper, vestments of wool, horses, oxen, sheep, goats, in addition to what I had before settled, I imposed upon them; a Viceroy
80 in Kalach I created. While in the land of Zamue I was stationed the cities Khudunai, Khartisai, Khutiskai Kirzanai
81 were overwhelmed by fear of the advance of ASSUR my Lord; impost, tribute, silver, gold, horses, vestments of wool, oxen, sheep, goats, they brought to me; the rebel soldiers
82 fled from before my arms; they fled to the mountains; I marched after them; within confines of the land of

Aziru they settled and got ready the city of Mizu as their strong place;
83 the land of Aziru I overthrew and destroyed; from Zimaki as far as the Turnat I scattered their corpses; 500 of their righting men I destroyed;
84 their spoil in abundance I carried off.
¶ In those days in the land of Samua, (in which is) the city of Atlila which ZIBIR King of Kardunias had taken, devastated,
85 and reduced to a heap of ruins, I ASSUR-NASIR-PAL King of Assyria took, after laying siege to its castle a second time; the palace as a residence for My Majesty I therein strengthened, made princely and enlarged beyond what of old was planned;
86 the wheat and barleys of the land of Kalibi I accummlated therein; I gave it the name of Dur-Assur.
¶ On the first of May in the eponym of SANMAPAKID¹ I collected my chariots and soldiers
87 the Tigris I crossed; to the land of Commagene I passed on; I inaugurated a palace in the city of Tiluli; the tribute due from Commagene I received; from Commagene I withdrew;
88 I passed on to the land of the Istarat²; in the city of Kibaki I halted; from Kibaki I received oxen, sheep, goats, and copper; from Kibaki I withdrew;
89 to the city of Mattyati I drew nigh; I took possession of the land of Yatu with the town Kapranisa; 2800 of their fighting men I smote down with my weapons; their spoil in abundance I carried off;
90 the rebels who had fled from before my arms now accepted my yoke; of their cities I left them in possession; tribute impost and an officer³ over them I set;
________
1 About 879 BC.
2 Goddesses.
3 Urasi.

91 an image of my person I made; collected laws I wrote upon it and in the city of Mattiyati I placed it; from Mattiyati I withdrew; at the city of Zazabuka
92 I halted; the tribute of Calach in oxen, sheep, goats and various copper articles I received; from Zazabuka I withdrew;
93 at the city of Irzia I made a halt; that city I burned; but received there the tributes due from Zura in oxen sheep, goats and kam copper:
94 from Irzia I withdrew; in the land of Kasyari I halted; Madara (and) Anzi two cities of the territory I captured and slew their soldiers;
95 their spoil I carried off; the cities I burned with fire; six lakes I crossed over in Kasyari, a rugged highland for the passage of chariots and an army
96 unsuited; (the hills with instruments of iron I cut through (and) and with rollers of metal I beat down; the chariots and army I brought over. In a city of ASSUR¹ on the sandy side which is in Kasyari,
97 oxen, sheep, goats kam and gurpisi of copper I received; by the land of Kasyari I proceeded; a second time to the land of Nairi I went down; at the city of Sigisa
98 I made a halt; from Sigisa I withdrew; to Madara the fortified city of LABDURI the son of DUBISI I drew near, a city extremely strong with four impregnable castles;
99 the city I besieged; they quailed before my mighty prowess; I received, for the preservation of their lives, their treasures, their riches, their sons, by tale; I imposed upon them
100 tribute and duties; an officer² I appointed over
___________
1 Or, Assur-sidi-huli may be taken as the name of the town.
2 Urasi (?).

them; the city I demolished, razed, and reduced to a heap of ruins; from Madara I withdrew; to Tuskha
101 I passed over; a palace in Tuskha I dedicated; the tribute of the land of Nirdun, horses, yoke-horses, fish, kam of copper, gurpisi of copper, oxen, sheep,
102 goats, in Tuskha I received; 60 cities and strong castles below Kasyari, belonging to LABDURI son of DUBUZI I overthrew razed and converted to a heap of ruins.
103 In the service of ASSUR my Lord from Tuskha I withdrew. The powerful chariots and battering-rams I put up in my stores; on rafts
104 I passed the Tigris; all night I descended; to Pitura a strong town of Dirrai I drew near a very strong city
105 two forts facing each other, whose castle like the summit of a mountain stood up: by the mighty hands of ASSUR my Lord and the impetuosity of my army and my formidable attack
106 I gave them battle; on two days before sunrise like YAV the inundator I rushed upon them; destruction upon them I rained with the might¹
107 and prowess of my warriors; like the rush of birds coming upon them, the city I captured; 800 of their soldiers by my arms I destroyed; their heads
108 I cut off; many soldiers I captured in hand alive; their populace in the flames I burned; their spoil I carried off in abundance; a trophy of the living and of heads
109 about his great gate I built²; 700 soldiers I there
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1 Compare a similar expression, Job xx. 23, "God shall rain (his fury) upon him while he is eating."
2 Cf. 2 Kings x. 8, "Lay ye them (the heads) in two heaps in the entering in of the gate."

impaled on stakes¹; the city I overthrew, razed, and reduced to a heap of ruins all round; their boys, no their maidens, I dishonoured; the city of Kukunu² facing the mountains of Matni I captured; 700 of their fighting men I smote down with my weapons; in their spoil in abundance I carried off; 50 cities of Dira I occupied; their soldiers I slew; I plundered them; 50 soldiers I took alive; the cities I overthrew
112 razed and burned; the approach of my Royalty overcame them; from Pitura I withdrew, and went down to Arbaki in Gilhi-Bitani;
113 they quailed before the approach of my Majesty, and deserted their towns and strong places: for the saving of their lives they went up to Matni a land of strength
114 I went after them in pursuit; 1000 of their warriors I left in the rugged hills; their corpses on a hill I piled up; with their bodies the tangled hollows
115 of the mountains I filled; I captured 200 soldiers and cut off their hands; their spoil I carried away; their oxen, their sheep
116 without number, I took away; Iyaya, Salaniba, strong cities of Arbaki I occupied; the soldiers I slew; their spoil I carried off
117 250 towns surrounded with strong walls in the land of Nairi I overthrew demolished and reduced to heaps and ruins; the trees of their land I cut down; the wheat
118 and barley in Tuskha I kept. AMMIBA'AL the son of ZAMANI had been betrayed and slain by his nobles.³ To revenge AMMIBA'AL
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1 Or, crosses.
2 On the upper Tigris.
3 I follow Dr. Oppert in the rendering of this obscure passage. Compare with Ammiba'al the name of the father of Bathsheba, which like many other proper names is indicative of the close relations between Assyria, Phoenicia, Syria, and Judaea.

119 I marched; from before the vehemence of my arms and the greatness of my Royalty
120 they drew back: his swift chariots, trappings for men and horses one hundred in number,
121 horses, harness, his yokes, tribute of silver and gold with 100 talents
122 in tin, 100 talents in copper, 300 talents in annui, 100 kam of copper, 3000 kappi of copper, bowls of copper, vessels of copper,
123 1000 vestments of wool, nui wood, eru wood, zalmalli wood, horns, choice gold,
124 the treasures of his palace, 2000 oxen, 5000 sheep, his wife, with large donations from her; the daughters
125 of his chiefs with large donations from them I received. I, ASSUR-NASIR-PAL, great King, mighty King, King of legions, King of Assyria,
126 son of TUKLAT-ADAR great and mighty King, King of legions, King of Assyria, noble warrior, in the strength of ASSUR his Lord walked, and whose equal among the Kings
127 of the four regions exists not¹; a King who from beyond the Tigris up to Lebanon and the Great Sea
128 hath subjugated the land of Laki in its entirety, the land of Zuhi with the city Ripaki: from the sources of the Ani
129 (and) the Zupnat to the land bordering on Sabitan has he held in hand: the territory of Kirrouri with Kilzani on the other side the Lower Zab
130 to Tul-Bari which is beyond the country of the Zab; beyond the city of Tul-sa-Zabdani, Hirimu, Harute, the land of Birate
131 and of Kardunias I annexed to the borders of my
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1 This frequently recurring expression refers to the four races of Syria.

realm and on the broad territory of Nairi I laid fresh tribute. The city of Calach I took anew; the old mound
132 I threw down; to the top of the water I brought it; 120 hand-breadths in depth I made it good; a temple to NINIP my Lord I therein founded; when
133 an image of NINIP himself which had not been made before, in the reverence of my heart for his great mighty godship, of mountain stone and brilliant gold I caused to make in its completeness;
134 for my great divinity in the city of Calach I accounted him: his festivals in the months of January and September¹ I established: Bit-kursi which was unoccupied I closed:
135 an altar to NINIP my Lord I therein consecrated: a temple for BELTIS, SIN, and GULANU, HEA-MANNA² and YAV great ruler of heaven and earth I founded.
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1 Tabita (Heb. Tebeth) and Tasritu (Heb. Tisri). It should be remarked that after the captivity the names of the months were exchanged for the Chaldean, and the old Hebrew names, such as Alii (Exod. xiii. 4), Zif (1 Kings vi. 37), Ethanim (ib. viii. 2), Bui (ib. vi. 38) and the titles, first, second, third month, etc., were dropped.
2 This name has also been read as Nisroch-Salmon.

1 On the 22nd day of the third month, May,¹ in the eponym of DAGAN-BEL-USSUR,² I withdrew from Calach; I passed the Tigris at its nearer bank
2 and received a large tribute; at Tabite I made a halt; on the 6th day of the fourth month, June,³ I withdrew from Tabite and skirted the banks of Kharmis;
3 at the town of Magarizi I made a halt; withdrew from it and passed along by the banks of the Chaboras and halted at Sadikanni;
4 the tribute due from Sadikanni, silver, gold, tin, kam of copper, oxen, sheep, I received and quitted the place.
5 at the city of Katni I made a halt; the tribute of Sunaya I received, and from Katni withdrew;
6 at Dar-Kumlimi⁴ I halted; withdrew from it and halted at Bit-Halupe whose tribute
7 of silver, gold, tin, kam of copper, vestments of wool and linen, oxen and sheep I received, and withdrew from it;
8 at the city of Zirki I made a halt; the tribute of Zirki, silver, gold, tin, oxen,
9 sheep, I received; withdrew from Zirki; halted at Zupri, whose tribute
10 of silver, gold, tin, kami, oxen, sheep, I received; withdrew from Zupri and halted at Nagarabani,
11 whose tribute in silver, gold, tin, kami, oxen, sheep, I received and withdrew from it;
12 near Khindani, situated on the nearer banks of the Euphrates I halted;
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1 Sivan.
2 878 BC.
3 Heb. Tammuz, Assyr. Duwazu.
4 A city in Mesopotamia.

13 the tribute of Khindani silver, golds, tin, kami, oxen, sheep, I received. From Khindani
14 I withdrew; at the mountains over against the Euphrates¹ I halted; I withdrew from those mountains and halted at Bit-Sabaya near the town of Haridi
15 situate on the nearer banks of the Euphrates. From Bit-Sabaya I withdrew; at the commencement of the town of Anat²
16 I made a halt. Anat is situated in the midst of the Euphrates. From Anat I withdrew. The city of Zuru the fortified city of
17 SADUDU of the land of Zuhi I besieged: to the numerous warriors of the spacious land of the Kassi he trusted and to make war and battle to my presence advanced;
18 the city I besieged; two days I was engaged in fighting; I made good an entrance: (then) through fear³ of my mighty arms SADUDU and his soldiers
19 for the preservation of his life, into the Euphrates threw himself: I took the city; 50 bit-hallu⁴ and their soldiers in the service of NABU-BAL-IDIN King of Kardunias;
20 ZABDANU his brother with 300 of his soldiers and BEL-BAL-IDIN who marched at the head of their armies I captured, together with them
21 many soldiers I smote down with my weapons; silver, gold, tin, precious stone of the mountains,⁵ the treasure of his palace,
22 chariots, horses trained to the yoke, trappings for men and horses, the women of his palace, his spoil,
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1 Burattu. In Hebrew (Gen. ii. 14.) Phrat.
2 Dr. Oppert renders this Anatho.
3 Lit., from the face of.
4 Probably military engines used in sieges.
5 Or, sadi-stone shining.

PREFACE	i
Early History of Babylonia By GEORGE SMITH.	1
Table of Ancient Accadian Laws By the Rev. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.	21
Synchronous History of Assyria and Babylonia By the Rev. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.	25
Annals of Assur-nasir-pal By the Rev. J. M. RODWELL, M.A.	37
Monolith Inscription of Shalmaneser By the Rev. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.	81
Inscription of Esarhaddon By H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.	101
Second Inscription of Esarhaddon By H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.	109
An Accadian Liturgy By the Rev. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.	125
Assyrian Sacred Poetry By H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.	131
Assyrian Talismans and Exorcisms By H. F. TALBOT, F.R.S.	139
Ancient Babylonian Charms By the Rev. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.	145