RECORDS OF THE PAST

_______________

BEING
ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS
OF THE
ASSYRIAN AND EGYPTIAN MONUMENTS

PUBLISHED UNDER THE SANCTION
OF
THE SOCIETY OF BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
 

VOLUME ELEVEN:

ASSYRIAN TEXTS

___________________

NOTE

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

CONTENTS

{p.i}

PREFACE

THE present volume is the last of the series which will contain translations from the Assyrian, and there will be found in it a series of texts of the highest interest by different Assyriologists. For besides those of historical import, which exhibit a monotonous style in narrating the important events known in their full details from the Assyrian annals, will be found several others which are literary compositions, prose or poetical, of great merit, and throwing light on the contemporaneous styles of other Semitic nations, especially prophecy and mythological narratives. This branch of the inquiry is by no means exhausted, and the time is fast approaching when a sketch of the Assyrian religion can be traced from the information afforded by the Assyrian inscriptions. Although the tablets and inscriptions found at Babylon have not presented so much of the history of that kingdom, especially for its later annals, yet the discovery of fragments of the age of Nebuchadnezzar afford promise that future excavations may {p.ii} produce documents as important as those of Assyria. The writers in the present volume have, in some instances, copiously illustrated their translations by notes, and so supplied what some have conceived to be a want in the texts previously given. Besides the translations from Assyrian texts, a translation has been given by Dr. Ginsburg of the "Moabite Stone," now in the Louvre. It is a document so connected with Biblical Archaeology that its place in this volume is most appropriate, as concluding the Semitic portion of the work. It is impossible to close this Preface without a deep expression of sorrow at the recent death of Mr. W. R. Cooper, who contributed so much to the success of the "RECORDS OF THE PAST" by his zeal and energy in collecting and arranging the materials of which they are composed. His position as Secretary of the Society of Biblical Archaeology placed him in correspondence with the leading Assyriologists and Egyptologists of the day, whose co-operation he secured; and the Editor cannot omit this opportunity of expressing the value of Mr. Cooper's aid in carrying out the work to its conclusion.

S. BIRCH.

November, 1878.

{p.1}

INSCRIPTION OF RIMMON-NIRARI I
KING OF ASSYRIA (BC 1320)
TRANSLATED BY
REV. A. H. SAYCE, M.A.

THIS inscription is written on both sides of a stone tablet obtained by the late Mr. George Smith from Kaleh Sherghat, the ancient Assur and first capital of Assyria. It is an important historical document, since it throws light on a period which has left us but few remains. A translation of it is given by Mr. George Smith in his Assyrian Discoveries, pp. 243-246, and the original is copied in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. IV, 44, 45. Assuryuballidh, who is mentioned in the inscription, had married his daughter to one of the Cassite princes of Babylonia (see Records of the Past, vol. III, p. 29), and the inscription would seem to show that he subsequently received divine honours. His son, Bel-nirari, restored the Babylonian crown to Curi-galzu, {p.2} the son of Burna-buryas, who had lost it by a revolution. Pudil built a palace in the capital city Assur, which is the earliest known royal residence in Assyria, but little else is recorded of him beyond the notice in the inscription translated below. The concluding line shows that the system of reckoning time by a succession of eponyms was already in existence, so that Assyrian chronology has a firm basis as far back, at all events, as the fourteenth century BC.

INSCRIPTION OF RIMMON-NIRARI I

OBVERSE

1 RIMMON-NIRARI, the holy Prince, appointment of god,
2 the holy conqueror, established by heaven (and) earth (and) the gods,
3 establisher of fortresses (and) demolished buildings¹
4 of the host of the Cassi,² Gutium,³ Lulumi,
5 and 'Subari,⁴ destroyer of all
6 enemies above and below, the trampler
7 on their countries from Lubdi(?) and Rapiku ,⁵
8 to the confines of Zabidadi and Nisi,
9 the (remover) of boundaries and landmarks,
10 the (overthrower) of Kings and Princes
11 (whom) the gods ANU, ASSUR, SAMAS, RIMMON
12 and ISTAR to his feet subjected;
13 the supreme worshipper of BEL.
14 The son of PUDIL, established by BEL,
15 Vicegerent of ASSUR, the conqueror
16 of the lands of Turuci and Nirkhi
17 as far as the frontiers of his furthest castles,⁶
18 ruling the mountains and the forests
19 of the frontiers of wide Gutium,
20 of the Gunukhlami and the 'Suti,⁷
21 their streams and lands;
_______
1 Literally, "the ploughing down of buildings."
2 The Cossaeans who had conquered Babylonia.
3 The Goyim or "nations" of Gen. xiv.
4 Syria: literally, "the highlands."
5 Raphek.
6 Or, "of Carisugimeni."
7 The Bedouins.

{p.4}

22 the remover of boundaries and landmarks.
23 The grandson of BEL-NIRARI,
24 worshipper of ASSUR also, who on the army of the Cassi
25 laid his yoke, and the spoil of his foes
26 his hand captured, the remover of boundaries
27 and landmarks. The great-grandson
28 of ASSUR-YUBALLIDH, the powerful King,
29 whom as a worshipper in Bit-Kurra I fixed.
30 The restoration and peace of his kingdom
31 to distant regions like a mountain he extended;
32 the sweeper away of the armies
33 of the wide-spread 'Subari,
34 the remover of boundaries and landmarks.
35 At that time the ascent to the temple of ASSUR my Lord,
36 which (was before) the gate of the men of my country

REVERSE

1 and the gate of the stars (called) Judges,¹
2 which existed in former times, was decayed, and
3 was stopped up and was ruined;
4 this place I selected,
5 its strength I took,
6 with clay and sand 4 gurs I cemented,
7 I made, to its place I restored,
8 and my inscription I placed
9 for future days. The future Prince
________
1 According to Diodorus, 24 stars were called "Judges," and associated with the Zodiac, 12 being north and 12 south. Among these were the Pole-star, Dayan-same or "the judge of heaven," and Dayan-esiru, "the prospering judge," also called "the crown of heaven." "The divine days" or "lights of Assur" were dayani or "judges," and the names of the six "divine judges of the temple of Assur" are given as Samela, Ismi-carabu, Nuscu, Upada, Uzru-casunu and Sitamme-carabu.

{p.5}

10 at the time (when) this place
11 shall grow old and decay,
12 its ruins let him renew; my inscriptions (and) my written name
13 to its place let him restore. The god ASSUR
14 his prayers heareth. Whoever my written name
15 shall erase and his own name shall write,
16 and the record of my inscription shall cause to wash out,
17 to destruction shall devote,
18 in the flood shall lay, in the fire
19 shall burn, in the water shall lay,
20 with the dust shall cover,
21 into a house underground, a place not seen,
22 shall cause to descend and place,
23 then I appoint these curses:
24 (even) the enemy, the stranger, the wicked one and the injurer,
25 the hostile tongue, and whosoever
26 a rival shall urge on and excite,
27 and whatever he devises he shall accomplish.
28 ASSUR, the mighty god, who dwells in the temple of Kharsak-kurra,
29 the gods ANU, BEL, HEA and TSIRU,
30 the great gods, the spirit of heaven,
31 (and) the spirit of earth, in their ministry,
32 mightily may they injure him, and
33 (with) a grievous curse quickly
34 may they curse him: his name, his seed, his forces
35 and his family in the land may they destroy;
36 the glory of his county, the duration of his people
37 and his landmarks, by their august mouth,
38 may it go forth, and may RIMMON in inundation
39 malign inundate (with) whirlwind,
40 may the wind dry up, and amongst his offspring

{p.6}

41 destruction, want of crops,
42 curse (and) famine in his country may he lay, (with) rain his country like a whirlwind may he fill,
43 to a mound and ruins may he turn; may RIMMON in his evil devouring his country devour.
44 (Dated) the month Mukhur-ili,¹ the 20th day, during the eponymy of SHALMAN-KARRADU.
_______
1 "Gift of the gods."

{p.7}

RECORD OF A HUNTING EXPEDITION
OF TIGLATH-PILESER I¹
(CIRC. B.C. 1100-1200)
TRANSLATED BY
REV. W. HOUGHTON, M.A., F.L.S.

THE inscription consists of about 39 lines, the lower portion of which is broken, and some of the lines more or less effaced; it is published in Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. I, pi. 28: the left hand column is the hunting record, the right hand column gives some account of the repairs of the city of Assur. It has been supposed by some that the king of the broken obelisk was Assur-natsir-pal, circ. BC 883-858, who was, we know, very fond of hunting; I agree, however, with those who would refer this inscription to a much earlier Assyrian monarch, viz., Tiglath-Pileser I; there are certain expressions in this hunting record that are almost identical with expressions which occur in the long inscription of this monarch; see the translation
_______
1 From a broken obelisk found at Kouyurijik (Nineveh), originally belonging to Kileh Shergat (Assur), now in the British Museum.

{p.8}

by Sir H. Rawlinson in Records of the Past, vol. V, p. 5-26. In the long inscription Tiglath-Pileser I. himself records his own adventures; in the Broken Obelisk Inscription the hunting achievements are related by some scribe who may have formed one of the party; in both inscriptions reference is made to the king having killed wild bulls (rimi) near the city Arazik in the land of the Hittites; Ninip and Nergal in both inscriptions are the special guardian deities of the monarch. In the king's own inscription he speaks of driving off the young wild goats, etc., like the young of tame-goats. In the Obelisk we read: "their young ones (wild goats) like the young of sheep he counted." Perhaps the inscription on the Broken Obelisk may have been intended to form a kind of supplement, by distinctly enumerating the various wild animals either killed or captured alive. Some of these names remain at present unknown, and I have not attempted to translate them. Those who would wish to see the matter more fully treated can refer to my papers on "The Mammalia of the Assyrian Sculptures," in the Transactions of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, vol. V, parts I and 2.

{p.9}

RECORD OF A HUNTING EXPEDITION

1 NINIP and NERGAL, who love bravery, over the wild beasts of the field
2 have conferred on him power; in ships of Arvad
3 he sailed, a grampus in the Great Sea¹ he slew;
4 fierce and large wild bulls in the city of Araziki,
5 which is opposite the land of the Hittites, and at the foot of Lebanon he killed;
6 the young wild bulls he captured alive;
7 the property of them he collected; the (adult) wild bulls with his bow
8 he killed, the (young) wild bulls which he captured alive
9 he brought to his city of Assur; 120 lions, with his heart,
10 valiant in brave attack, on his open chariot,
11 on foot, with a club he slew; lions (too)
12 with his spear he killed. The thick forests
13 had invited him to hunt their game; on days
14 of varying storms and heat, in the days of the rising of
15 the star Cacsidi, which is like bronze, he had hunted in the country of Ebikh,
16 the countries of Urase, Azamiri, Ancurna, Pizitta,
17 Pi ....² iz, Casiyari, provinces of the land of Assyria and Khana,
18 the borders of the land of Lulime, and the provinces of the lands of Nairi;
19 wild goats, deer, spotted-stags,
20 ibexes in herds he took;
_______
1 Mediterranean.
2 Lacuna.

{p.10}

21 the property of them he collected and brought forth; their young ones
22 like the young of sheep he counted; leopards,
23 tigers, jackals, two powerful bears,
24 mal-zir-khui he slew; wild asses and
25 gazelles, hyenas and simkurri
26 he killed; (large) antelopes, wild cattle, and tesetu, the huntsmen whom
27 he sent had taken; the wild cattle he collected, and brought together
28 the property of them; the men of his country he caused to feed;
29 a great black crocodile, scaly beast of the river, and animals of the
30 Great Sea, the King of Egypt caused to be brought; the men of his country he caused to feed.
31 As to the rest of the numerous animals and winged birds of heaven,
32 which among the beasts of the field were (also) the spoil of his hands, their names, together with animals
33 of the land for multitude, were not written; their number with those (former) numbers was not written.¹
34 He (then) left the countries, the acquisition of his hand; roads strange
35 ....² the good (places) in his chariot, and the difficult on his feet,
36 he had marched over .... their destruction he had effected
37 .... these .... not penetrating countries
38 .... from the city Duban of .... Accadi ....
39 country of the West.³
_______
1 I.e., "he killed more animals than he kept account of."
2 Lacunae.
3 Palestine.

{p.11}

INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-IZIR-PAL(P)
TRANSLATED BY
W. BOOTH FINLAY.

THE first volume of the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, pl. 28, contains an inscription from a broken obelisk, attributed by Sir Henry Rawlinson to Sardanapalus (Assur-izir-pal). The learned General is of opinion that this obelisk, which was found in the ruins of Koyunjik, had been originally erected at Elassar (Kileh-Shergat), as the second column of the inscription treats principally of buildings belonging to this latter city.

There is however nothing in the inscription itself to identify the obelisk with Assur-izir-pal, whose early capital was Elassar, rather than with a later king, who reigned at Nineveh where the monument was found. Indeed, there are fair grounds for attributing it to a later monarch than Assur-izir-pal, as it seems strange {p.12} that buildings of his father and grandfather should have fallen into decay within so short a period.

In the uncertainty, and for sake of reference, I have left the designation as it stands in the volume of inscriptions. A translation was made by the late Mr. Fox Talbot in 1859, which was published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, vol. XIX. M. Oppert also translated the inscription in his Histoire des Empires de Chaldee et d'Assyrie, 1865, p. 132-135, which translation has been followed by M. Menant in the different fragments given by him in his Annales des Rois d'Assyrie.

The following translation differs slightly from the latter; that of the late Mr. Fox Talbot has been considerably amended by the progress made in Assyriology since 1859.¹
_______
1 The first column having been already translated by the Rev. William Houghton, see pp. 7-10, the continuation of the text only is here given.

W.R.C.

{p.13}

INSCRIPTION OF ASSUR-IZIR-PAL(P)

COLUMN II

1 Bit-Abusate, the Palace of my lordship, had become too small,
2 the storehouses and all its buildings had decayed, and
3 from its foundations to its roof I rebuilt it.
4 Bit-Sahuri, which IRIS-BIN (had built), and its massive buildings
5 facing the North, which ASSUR-IDIN-AKHI, King of Assyria,
6 had erected, having fallen in ruins, I rebuilt. The moat
7 of my city Assur, which had been destroyed, and which the earth had filled up,
8 from the great gate ....¹ to the gate of the Tigris I dug.
9 The fir posts of the great iron gate Sahu I removed,
10 excellent beams of shittim wood I made,
11 and with sheets of copper I joined them. The great citadel
12 of my city Assur completely
13 I built. Heaps of earth round about it
14 against the raised part I spread.² A temple of cedar,
15 a temple of ivory, a temple of fatm-vrood,³ a temple of carved wood,
16 in my city Assur I made. For the castles 4 burfyisi, and
17 4 lions of adamant, 2 sacred bulls and lions
18 of polished stone, 2 burhis of fine white stone
_______
1 Lacuna.
2 Probably a network of earthen fortifications rendering the access to the citadel difficult.
3 Oppert translates butni by "pistachier."

{p.14}

19 I made, and in their gates I set them up.
20 The canal which ASSUR-DAN-IL had dug,
21 its head was destroyed, and for 30 years the water within it
22 did not run; the head of that canal I dug over again,
23 and the water into its bed I brought ; trees I planted alongside.
24 The parapet which for the great dyke of the gate of the Tigris
25 BIN-NIRARI, King of Assyria, had built, had gone to decay
26 and had perished. On the water-courses cement
27 and brick for 5 measures I laid. The building
28 of the Palace Kumti, which before Kisalate
29 TIGLATH-NINIP,¹ King of Assyria, had made,
30 for the length of 1 us and ....² kumani-alib had gone to decay
31 and had perished, from its foundation to its roof I built it up.
32 The Palace in the city Iz .... a which risfyuli, which of the city Lib³ ....
33 The Palace Kumta in ma-a-qa
34 The Palace in the city Atki, which .....
35 I built ....
36 the fortress .....
________
1 Tiglath-Ninip II. was the father, and Bin-Nirari II. the grandfather, of Assur-izir-pal.
2 Lacunae.
3 Probably Libzu, i.e., Assur. T.G.P.

{p.15}

BULL INSCRIPTION OF KHORSABAD
TRANSLATED BY
PROF. DR. JULIUS OPPERT

THIS document has a great historical interest for the history of cuneiform decipherment. It was the first inscription which was translated; to the study of this text, first sent over by Botta from Nineveh, is attached the most ancient reading, and the first identification of the name of an Assyrian king, made by Adrian de Longperier in 1847. M. de Saulcy studied this text in 1849, and attempted its interpretation even before the publication of the Babylonian Behistun text of Sir Henry Rawlinson. The first translation has been made in Scotland; it was laid by myself before the Glasgow Meeting of the British Association in 1855, and published in the Transactions of the Historical Society of Cheshire and Lancashire, 1856, and equally in the Annales de Philosophie Chretienne, 1855.

{p.16}

The discovery of many other texts drew the attention of Assyriologists away from this important document, which was for the first time, only in 1870, published with its transliteration and an interlinear translation in my Dour-Sarkayan, Paris. Since that epoch, it has been several times reprinted, and its locutions have been discussed by MM. Menant, Schrader, Praetorius, and others.

This new English translation contains some important improvements and emendations on the former French version.

{p.17}

BULL INSCRIPTION OF KHORSABAD

PALACE of SARGON, the great King, the powerful King, King of the legions, King of Assyria, Viceroy of the gods at Babylon, King of the Sumers, and of the Accads,¹ favourite of the great gods, the only herdsman² of the peoples to whom ASSUR, NEBO, and MERODACH, have confided sovereign power, and whose glorious name they have spread to the extremities of the earth.
He fulfilled the hopes of Sippara, of Nipur, of Babylon.
He reunited the dominions of Kalu, Ur, Erit, Larsa, Kul lab, Kisik,³ Nivit-Laguda;⁴ he subdued their inhabitants. He ratified the laws of the ancient empire,⁵ when the Kings interpreted to his favour the eclipse over Harran,⁶ and wrote their treaties according to the will of ANU and of DAGON.
Valiant and powerful, sharpening his arms⁷ he shot off his arrows for subduing the rebels. He routed the
_______
1 That is, of the Turanian Sumers, and of the Semitic Accads.
2 The metaphor of "herdsman," ri'u, is now used in Turkey of the subjects, who are named "the herd," r'aya.
3 See on those cities the remarks made on the texts in Records of the Past, vols. VII, IX.
4 Dwelling-place of the god Laguda.
5 Pal-mit-ki, explained in the syllabaries by "Assur."
6 This is the lunar eclipse of March 19, BC 721 (9,280), mentioned by Ptolemy. The matter becomes very intelligible to us, since we know the various portenta predicted from the position of the moon. But this eclipse proves also, that the accession of Sargon cannot occur till BC 722 (9,279).
7 Halib namurrati.

{p.18}

King of Elam, he conquered the countries of Van, Karalla, Andia, Zikirtu, Kisasi, Kharkhar, and placed Media and Ellip under the dominion of ASSUR. He declared war with Armenia, and took the city of Musasir, when the Armenian, URSAHA, fearing his power, cut off his life with his own hand. He made slaves of the Princes of Circesium,¹ of Hamath, of Commagene, of the city of Asdod, of the people of Hatti,² his enemies who did not reverence the memory of the gods and who contemplated revolt. He appointed Lieutenants over all these countries for the purpose of governing the provinces, and he imposed tributes upon these people, as upon the Assyrians. He swept away Samaria, and the whole house of OMRI³ and Kaska. He subdued the country of Tubal, and the whole of Bet-Burutas, he overcame Egypt near the city of Raphia, and placed HANUN, King of Gaza, in slavery. He crushed the city of Sinukhta. He put MITA, King of the Moschiens to flight. He changed the citadels of Kue and the marshes. He swam like a fish to Yamna which is in the sea. He drove away GUNZINAN of Khammanua, and TARHULARA of Gamgum from their dwellings; he confiscated the whole of their possessions, which he reduced to an Assyrian province. He subjugated the seven Kings of Yahnaghe of the coast of Yatnan (Cyprus) who had taken up their residence, seven days' voyage, in the middle of the sea of the setting sun. He attacked Ras, subdued Pukud, the inhabitants of Tamun, and the city of Lahir. And he established the country of Yatburi under his dominion. He chastised MERODACH-BALADAN King of Chaldsea. the enemy who, contrary to the wish of the great gods, had exercised sovereign power at
________
1 Carchemis.
2 Syria.
3 This is the usual designation of the Israelitish kingdom in the later texts; Salmanassar quotes Sir'il.

{p.19}

Babylon,¹ and the force of his arm came to him. He took off the foundation-stone of Dur-Yakin the city of his revolt, and heaped up in the depths of the sea, as on a threshing-floor, the corpses of these warriors. And UPIR, King of Dilmun, whose abode was established like that of fishes, thirty parasangs² in the middle of the sea of the rising sun, when he heard all these things brought his tributes.

The king anxious to fulfil his duty,³ and fostering a lucky intention, directed his mind to people those extensive habitations, to open porticoes, and to stick measuring pegs. Then above the valley which is at the foot of the mountains, to replace Nineveh, I founded a town, and I gave it the name of Dur-Sarkin.⁴ There I planted a variegated forest, reviving the memory of Mount Amanus which contains all the different kinds of trees in Syria, and all the plants growing on the mountains, and I fixed the limits of its extent.

Three hundred and fifty ancient kings had exercised before
________
1 It is said in other texts during twelve years. We have some "olives" dating down till the twelfth year, and which were destined, probably, to serve for control to the women in the temple of Astarte at Babylon. They were brought by Sargon from Babylon to Khorsabad when Place discovered them. I published these curious monuments in my Dour-Sarkayan, p. 27. Mr. Boscawen believes that there were olives dating down to the twentieth year of Merodach-Baladan. But this statement is erroneous, and rests only upon a misprint in my book, p. 27, 1. 32, in the Assyrian text; my translation gives, line 33, the true reading of the tenth year. Mr. Boscawen says, that the number 20 is to be found in one of the Louvre documents without stating his author. At any rate, he scarcely saw it in the Louvre, as the original is in my own writing-desk, and affords the number "ten."
2 The kasl'u is a parasang, 30 stades, 5923 m 8,6478 yards. The double of it was the kasluqaqqar, the schosnus of the Greeks, 11,847 m 6, or 12,956 yards, seven miles and three furlongs. The word parasang is Persian, pardthanga, new Persian, farsakh; the measure is still used in the East.
3 Here the style is in the first person.
4 "Fort of Sargon."

{p.20}

me sovereign power over Assyria, and had embellished the empire of BEL;¹ but not one of them had touched this place, nor had proposed to people it, nor had thought of digging canals, nor of driving in measuring pegs. In the depth of my heart I have resolved peopling this city, erecting altars,² the footstools of the great gods, and palaces, the abodes of royalty; I have decided upon its foundation.
On the propitious day of the happy month, the month of Sivan, on the day ap'ap³ I measured the ground,⁴ and I moulded bricks. In the month of Ab, the month of the god who lays the founding stone of towns and of houses, all the people assembled performed the ceremony of sulul⁵ (of the hand bells) on gold, on silver, on copper, on metals, on stones, on the trees of Amanus, and according to the rule distributed the various employments. I laid the foundations and placed the bricks. I constructed smoking altars which are like part of the debt which we owe for the foundation to the gods HEA, SIN (Lunus), SAMAS (Sun), NEBO, BIN⁶ and NINIP.
________
1 This is a very important statement, and almost the only one which alludes to the universal history of anterior kings. The actual figures of Berosus' Babylonian kings give a very inferior number; they bear out only 222 kings. It is therefore probable, that Sargon included also the independent kings of Assyria in this number of 350.
2 Makhkhi. An obscure word.
3 A designation of a certain day, which is unknown.
4 The former translation, "I burnt aloes," alltt tisadrig, must be abandoned.
5 It may be also the deposition of several things, thrown on the foundation ground, and which were found by M. Place in the sand stratum under the bulls. The word snlul may signify "launching."
6 The name of this god is really Bin, or Ben. The Sumerian word leni expresses the letter u, "master." The fanciful readings of Vul, Raman, and others are to be abandoned. The name of Benhadar, the antagonist of Ahab, is not Vul-idri, Raman-idri, but Bin-hidri.

{p.21}

With their assistance I constructed palaces of skins of takhash¹ of sandal-wood, of ebony, of tamarisk, of cedar-wood, and of pistachio-tree, for the purpose of lodging my royalty in them.
Above I disposed of the cedar and the cypress beams. As to the doors of cypress and tamarisk, I surrounded them with stripes of brass, and I symmetrically ornamented the interstices. I had a winding staircase made like the one of the palace of Syria, which in the Phoenician language is called bit appati. Eight double lions weighing 1 ner (ton) 6 sossa (quintals), and 50 talents,² and of first-rate bronze, in honour of MYLITTA were sculptured on the doors; and four beams of timmi and of bent cedar exactly corresponding to their 64 kubur, coming from Mount Amanus were placed on the lions³ to fill up the namrir.⁴ I had a garland of field animals and of sacred images hewn in stones from the mountains iski, sculptured very artistically on the (arched roof)⁵ of the doors. I placed the lintels in the four heavenly directions, under them I arranged cornices of large black stones which came from countries which my arm has conquered; I made strong walls round the partitions, and I opened the doors for the admiration of my subjects.
Three ners⁶ and a third, one stadium, one fathom
_______
1 A very obscure word.
2 This is 1,010 talents, viz., 1 ner ........600 talents
                                             6 soss ........ 360 "
                                             50 talents .. 50   "
                                                              = 1,010 talents.
A Babylonian talent is to an English hundredweight Avoirdupois, exactly as three to five; the quantity is therefore 606 cwt., 30600 kilograms.
3 Nirgalli.
4 These technical architectural terms are not clear.
5 Tappi.
6 Miles.

{p.22}

and a half, two spans, 1 this is the dimension of the
_____
1 This is the capital passage for the restoration of Assyrian measurements. The passage was explained in 1872, in the Journal Asiatique. Here are the leading principles of this restoration of Assyrian metrology. Neither at Persepolis, nor at Nineveh, is there to be found an exact square; everywhere, and very likely by an unknown superstition, we meet always with oblongs differing slightly from an exactly quadrate form. It is also to be proved, that the smaller two sides of this rectangular parallelogram, contain a round number, and that the others afford an excess of unconstant proportion. In the present instance Botta's exact measurements give to the small side of the Khorsabad walls 1645, and to the large one 1750 metres. The proportion of these sides are as 1 : 1,06. The whole circumference is therefore 6790 metres, 7426 yards; it is styled in the round number and in the excess thus, 6580 (4 x 1645) + 210 (2 x 105) as following:
35 ners, at 7200 spans ............... 24000 spans
1 soss or stade, at 720 spans ..... 720 "
1 fathom and a half, at 12 spans (variant: 3 canes at 6 spans) ..... 18 "
2 spans                                  .......  2
                                                   = 24,740 spans.
Why do we not find 3 ners, 4 soss, and 21 fathoms, and 8 spans, or 43 canes, and 2 spans? Because the author would express this idea: If the square would have been regular, it would have been 24000 spans long, 4 sides at 6000 spans each; but as the greater sides have each 370 spans more, 6370 spans, the 740 spans are pointed out apart. The formula of Khorsabad is very important for the history of mathematical terms : the perimeter of a rectangle is enunciated in order to determine in the mean time the four sides and the area.
2 sides at 6,000 ........ 12,000 spans
2 sides at 6,370 .........12,740
                          Total 24,740 spans.
The exactness of this explanation is demonstrated in a stringently mathematical way: 6000 to 6370, or 600 to 637, is as 1 : 1.06166, just as 1650 is to 1750 (or more exactly 1646 to 1748, as Botta measured only at a limit of half a decameter). This marvellous coincidence affords thus the discovery of Assyrian metrology. This proportion of two sides of 165Om, 1799 yards, and two sides of 1750, 1914 yards, corrected to 1801 and 1912 yards, which bear out the 7426 yards of the circumference, are also in the proportion of 1 : 1.0616. As 1801 yards are just 6000 spans, or

{p.23}

wall.¹ I laid the founding stone on the bare rock. At the
_____
3000 cubits, the proportion of the yard to the Assyrian span is as three to ten, and that of the yard to the Assyrian cubit as three to jive. This is a statement with mathematical force and rigour.
The Assyrian span is therefore exactly 10⅜ inches, and the cubit 21⅜ inches. We have consequently with an almost strict assimilation for the Assyrian stade 216 yards, for the parasang 6480 (6478) yards, and for the schoenus 12,960 yards, 7 miles, 2 furlongs, 200 yards, where the error can only amount to the trifling one of four yards.
The two smaller walls of Khorsabad were 3000 cubits long, and the larger ones 3000 cubits, and 185 cubits or 100 ells. An ell had 37 ulan. The little oblong of the excess was a surface of 555,000 square cubits, as the palace itself was 2,220 square double fathoms. We meet elsewhere with multiple of 37.
My distinguished friend, Professor Lepsius asks, if instead of 3½ ners, we ought not to admit 4 sars and 3 ners, that is 27 ners. If the eminent Egyptian scholar had studied, I do not say the Assyrian documents, but only the two passages of the Bull inscription, he would not have raised this question in his paper at the Berlin Academy; he would have been aware that the ner is only alluded to, as it can be shown by this very document, in the statement of the weight of the copper lions. The calculation of 191,540 spans (U) would give 1 inch 5 lines for a span, 2 inches 10 lines for the cubit, 21 yards for the stade, and 630 yards for the parasang of three miles!!!
I have replied to the views of Dr. Lepsius in the Monatslerichte of the Berlin Academy (Dec., 1877, and March, 1878), where my learned friend opposed some remarks to mine; but these are easily to be refuted. The German scholar doubts ultimately whether the now existing ramparts are really the outer wall, or dm; mentioned in this inscription! Now the identity of the dur is ascertained undoubtedly by the eight entrance doors, which still exist, and were excavated by M. Place. All persons who have seen, or who will visit the Khorsabad remains, will be satisfied with the certainty that never a fancy wall existed exterior to the now existing wall, where the foundation tablets were discovered. This apocryphal outer rampart has only been invented in order to find the theoretical 8547 metres, which Dr. Lepsius calculated by his interpretatory system of the Khorsabad text; in reality, these 8547 m cannot be employed by any surveyor of the spot itself, and the perimeter of the Khorsabad walls bears out only 6790 metres.
An English writer, M. Flinders Petrie, has arrived at the same valuation of the Assyrian cubit in his valuable work on Inductive Metrology,
1 The wall is the dur, that is, this outer rampart,

{p.24}

extremities of each side, near the angles of the circumvallation,¹ I opened 8 gates in the direction of the four cardinal points.
SAMAS² makes my designs successful, BIN affords me abundance; I have named the large gates of the East the gates of SAMAS and of BIN.
BEL-EL lays the foundation of my city, MYLITTA TAAUTH grinds the painting stone in his bosom; I have given the names of BEL-EL and of MYLITTA TAAUTH to the large gates of the North.
ANU executes the works of my hand, ISHTAR excites the men; I have named the large gates of the West, the gates of ANU, and of ISHTAR.
HEA arranges the marriages,³ the Queen of the gods presides over child-birth; I have dedicated the large gates of the South⁴ to HEA and to the Queen of the gods. ASSUR lengthens the years of the kings he has appointed, he protects the armies of the enclosure of the town. NINIP, who lays the foundation stone, fortifies its rampart⁵ to distant days.
_______
1 The words ina sili kilallan, a most difficult term, may signify "in the flank of the two angle branches;" sili is literally "ribs."
2 The Sun.
3 This explanation of naqbi, "to perforate," is possible, but it may have here a double sense, because naqbi signifies also the perforation of the earth, "a canal."
4 I accept provisionally the mutual change of North and South, on the authority of the Talmud passages: but the difficulty seems very great.
5 The Assyrians always distinguish the outer bulwark (dur) from the inner, or special, rampart (salhu). The measures are expressly given for the dur.

{p.25}

The four dominions,¹ each of different language, the people exempt from all taxes living on the mountains and in the plains which the SUN, the light of the gods, the master of the spheres, illuminates, I have subdued them, in the remembrance of ASSUR my god, under the realm of my sibirr;² I caused them to dwell separately, and I established them there. The men of Assyria, acquainted with all the sciences, I had confided to sages and learned men,³ for the instruction of right and for the adoration of their god and their king. I separated them from the sibir of the town and from my Palaces.
In the month of Tisri⁴ I worshipped the great gods who inhabit Assyria, and I made the inauguration thereof when I had taxed the kings of the rising sun and of the setting sun in gold, in silver, and in slaves, to increase the treasures of these Palaces by their munificent offerings. O ye gods who inhabit this town may all the work of my hands be augmented! May they in their presence dedicate to eternity the inhabitant of these regions and the duration of my victorious reign.
But he who spoils the works of my hand, who effaces my
_______
1 The four dominions are without Akkad, situated in the middle, Guti to the North, Hubur to the South, Elam to the East, Akharri to the West.
2 The sense of the sibirr is very obscure.
3 "Astronomers." The word sapir seems to mean "learned man, explainer," but at first, the explainer of the celestial movements, "astronomer."
4 This quite agrees with the statement in an eponymic tablet (W. A. I. II., pl. 69), that Dur-Sarkin was inaugurated the 22nd of Tisbi, of Sa-Assur-dubbu (Oct., BC 706). In the next spring, 6th of Iyar (May, BC 705), were finished the walls of the new city. This fact is not stated in the Sargon texts; for the king survived this fact only 15 months. He was followed on the throne by his son Sennacherib in August, BC 704.

{p.26}

sculptures, who takes away the vessels containing my riches, who distributes my treasures; may ASSUR, BIN, and the great gods who inhabit this town destroy his name and his race in his country, may they let him be treated as an insurgent by those who rebel against him!

{p.27}

THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE HAREM OF KHORSABAD
TRANSLATED BY
PROF. DR. JULIUS OPPERT.

THESE two inscriptions, found in 1852 by Victor Place at Khorsabad, have been saved by myself from destruction and oblivion. They were lost in the disaster of the French expedition in 1855; the two casts were brought by me to Paris, and published in 1858 in the Expedition de Mesopotamia, vol. I. p. 333, and following.

I correct here, in this English translation, some faults which I committed twenty years ago; but I nevertheless maintain now, in 1878, the general sense as it was pointed out in my first publications.

The two texts are without analogy in their kind; the two prayers addressed one to Ninip-Samdan,¹ the
_______
1 Or, "Simdannu," which is the correct reading.

{p.28}

Assyrian Hercules, and the other to Hea, the god of generation, point out, in their wishes, the matters which were granted by the two gods. One, the divinity of force, is implored to destroy the enemies, the other, the god of fertility, is expected to grant offspring to the kingly adorer.

{p.29}

INSCRIPTIONS OF THE HAREM OF SARGON

I

PRAYER OF SARGON TO NINIP

NINIP,¹ Lord of strong actions, which make his glory, increase the majesty to SARGON, King of the legions, King of Assyria, Viceroy of Babylon, King of Sumer and Accad, the builder of this thalamus. Let him attain old age,² may his splendour be increased seven times. In the middle of the Zenith and the Asar³ (Paradise) put his reign. Direct the course of his stallions,⁴ lead to its end his bravery, grant to him the mightiness without equal, the subjection of his servants; cause his weapons to attain their aim; may he destroy his enemies.

II

PRAYER OF SARGON TO HEA

HEA, Lord of the mysteries, framer, increase the family to SARGON, King of the legions, King of Assyria, Viceroy
________
1 The name is really Samdan, as said Berosus, who knew about cuneiforms more than any of us may claim to do. Against all opposition of M. Delitzsch, I maintain my former reading of Sin-dan-nu, as the sign named gitrusii, has the values of tan, dan, and sin.
2 Sil'utu suksidsii, in Assyrian.
3 The Zenith maybe the sense; it is domus verticis. The Assyrian name of the Zenith was nappakhtu, from napakh, "to be in the Zenith;" not "to dawn," as almost all scholars translated it.
4 Certainly a running animal.

{p.30}

of Babylon, King of Sumer and Accad, the builder of the thalamus. Let him open thy canals,¹ fecundate his love, and excite his pride and his joy.² Dazzle his look, stop the open ear of the enamoured.³ Fix his destiny, make perfect his work: may he obtain offspring.
______
1 It may be an allusion to the double character of Hea, as god of wedding and god of the waters.
2 This very difficult passage had been doubtfully rendered by me in 1858, I saw there indications of spots produced by the painting of the figure. I believe this now proposed translation to be more correct.
3 Sumkira tamirtus uzne rapsute hasisu palka. There may be no doubt about the sense; M. Renan once opposed the rather luxurious sense of this text, but I give the idea of Sargon, and not my own.

{p.31}

TEXTS OF THE FOUNDATION STONE OF KHORSABAD
TRANSLATED BY
PROF. DR. JULIUS OPPERT.

BOTTA'S successor in the Khorsabad excavations, the late Victor Place, found in 1853, at the very interior part of the construction, a large stone chest, which enclosed several inscribed plates in various materials. In this only extant specimen of an Assyrian foundation stone were found one little golden tablet, one of silver, and others of copper, lead, and tin; a sixth text was engraved on alabaster, and the seventh document was written on the chest itself. Only four of these tablets have survived the disaster which caused the almost complete loss of the two French collections gathered by the Expedition to Mesopotamia, and by the Nineveh explorers. The lead tablet being too heavy had been sent with the kelek which foundered in the Tigris, and this fate was also reserved for the stone inscription and the enclosure case. By an unpardonable negligence, not even casts had been taken from the originals sent away with the {p.32} great bulk of huge sculptures; they had been packed up and sent away when the author of this translation passed through Nineveh in March 1854. I therefore could not copy them like the Harem inscriptions, which are now only preserved by my copies of the inscriptions from the casts at Khorsabad.

This loss is the more to be regretted as these very tablets contain several expressions which are not repeated in similar texts; moreover, one of 'those preserved, the copper document, is very far from being thoroughly legible; a great deal of the text is destroyed by verdigris, but as besides that circumstance the parts which are not defaced contain merely repetitions of known passages, I have thought it not useful to reproduce it now.

Of the three foundation tablets which I give here two have already been translated in French in my Dour-Sarkayan; the second, on silver, the most important one, has only been published with the text, transliteration, and Latin translation; but there also the oxidation of the silver had rendered their reading most difficult, and the interpretation was hitherto rather faulty and defective. It is now for the first time properly translated into a European language.

{p.33}

GOLDEN TABLET

PALACE of SARGON,¹ the Mandatary of BEL, the Lieutenant of ASSUR, the great King, the mighty King, King of the world, King of Assyria, who reigned from the two beginnings unto the two ends of the four celestial points;² he appointed satraps over the lands.
In these days I built, after my pleasure, a town near Nineveh, in the country which borders the mountains. I gave it the name of Dur-Sarkin.
I distributed in its interior temples to HEA, SIN, SAMAS,³ BEN, NINIP, the sculptures dedicated to their great divinity. HEA,⁴ builder of all edifices,⁵ had them made, and the people raised altars.
I constructed palaces covered with skin, sandal wood,
_______
1 The tablet is almost three inches long, and two inches wide; it weighs 2 gr. almost three drams, Troy, and has a value of 25.
2 This passage signifies from East to West, and from South to North. It has not been remarked, I think, that the an represents the dual in the constructive case.
3 The sun.
4 God of all holy art.
5 This style is peculiar to this tablet, the others have the usual manner of rendering the sense.

{p.34}

ebony, cedar, tamarisk, pine, cypress, cypress samal, and wood of pistachio tree.
I made a spiral staircase in the interior of the doors, and I placed at the upper part joists of pine and of cypress.
On tablets of gold, silver, copper, lead, tin,¹ marble, and alabaster² , I wrote the glory of my name, and I put them into the foundations.
______
1 The tin is expressed by the ideogram A-BAR (parakku), which, I believe, is quite different from the Chaldaic. The word is expressed by the word qizasaddir, the Sanscrit kastira, the Greek kassiteron. The Assyrian word could be read "table-white-red," by decomposing it into monograms, but this seems to be merely fortuitous.
2 As the case enclosing these tablets was of gypsum alabaster, this mineral is of course expressed by the ideogram TAK-IZ-SIR-GAL, "the stone of the great light." TAK-ZA-SAT is the "white stone," that is, "marble." M. Delitzsch has translated erroneously this ideogram by "crystal." M. Place did not mention formerly the marble tablet, which was found broken and probably thrown away; he recollected it only after my insisting upon the statement of the inscription. But this false account had caused me to commit a singular mistake, in translating in the beginning "marble" by "copper," and "alabaster" by "lead!"
With respect to the other materials mentioned in this text and in almost all Sargon inscriptions, I need not observe that some of them are by no means quite sure. What is, for instance, the sense of the ka-am-si, which is always put in the first place, before the different species of timber? It must be something more important than a merely ornamental substance, but is certainly a very necessary one. Am-si seems to be either "buffalo" or "boar," but there are also sea-am si; and long since I believed the term to be identical with the biblical taklmsh, perhaps the skin of a cetaceum, as sealskin, or narvalskin, employed in Assyria as in Judea. At any rate, it cannot possibly be "bull's horn" as Mr. Houghton supposed it to be; bull's horns never occupied a prominent position in the construction of palaces.
The inscribed chest was, according to M. Place, 0m 28, 0m 36, 0m 43, that is, 1 U, 1¼ U, 1½ U, or ½, ⅜ and ¾ of a cubit. That would speak against Professor Lepsius' division of a cubit into three double hands, and the hand into 5 fingers, and would rather agree with Smith's and my own division of the U into 60 parts. According to our reckoning, it would be, 60,

{p.35}

Whoever alters the works of my hand, whoever plunders my treasure, may ASSUR, the great Lord, exterminate in this country, his name and his race!
_______
75 and 90 parts; or, according to Dr. Lepsius, 15, 18 ¾ and 22 ½ fingers. The calculation, of course, would be the same ; but in the system of Dr. Lepsius we ought to admit fractions of the smallest division, which does not seem admissible.

{p.36}

TABLET OF SILVER

Palace of SARGON, the Mandatary of BEL, the Lieutenant of ASSUR, the mighty King, the King of Assyria, the King who reigned from the two beginnings unto the two ends of the four celestial points, who appointed satraps over the lands.
In these days, after the will of my heart, I made a town, in the neighbourhood of Nineveh, in the country which borders the mountains. I gave it the name of Dur-Sarkin. I chose in its interior dwellingplaces for HEA, SIN, SAMAS, BEN, NINIP, the great gods, my lords; I had the statues of their great divinities made finely, and I had the altars erected.
I made halls covered with (sea-calf) skins, with sandal wood, ebony, cedar, tamarisk, pine, cypress samal, wood of the pistachio tree, in the palace, and with a spiral staircase like those of Syria,¹ I adorned its doors. The beasts of the mountains, of the sea, of the river, very conspicuously I painted upon the vaults (niplatti)² Within them I laid deeply their entrances. The god SIN shone on the top and shadowed the battlements,³ and I disposed symmetrically in their doors beams of cedar and cypress, and doors of sandal wood and ebony.
I erected its⁴ mighty walls, like rocks of granite. I
_______
1 Hatti.
2 This and the following passages, are peculiar to this inscription, which, unfortunately, is not in all parts very distinct. They have not been interpreted in my Latin version, and in some points the English one may
be doubtful.
3 Possible, but not sure.
4 The palace's.

THE FOUNDATION STONE OF KHORSABAD

{p.37}

measured a surface of 10 aruras,¹ and surrounding it, I
______
1 This statement of the silver tablet is of a highly important value. It is the sole passage giving directly a superficial calculation. The whole surface of the royal castle of Sargon is valuated at ten aruras (great U), and this capital statement affords us the clue to the very interesting system of Assyrian survey.
The castle represents a symmetrical rectangular octagon; six angles have 90 each, and the two others 270. It is formed by two rectangles joined together, and, according to Place's measurings, giving this shape:

All these figures can be expressed by exact numbers in Assyrian cubits and feet. Moreover, all the numbers of cubits are divisible by 12, and all the feet numbers by 20 ; we can therefore reduce the numbers to unities of double sa, fathoms (of 6 cubits each), which we shall name pole. We have therefore:

The circumference is just the double of 48 and 52, viz., 100 poles. The surface is altogether:

These 2220 square poles are equal to 319,680 square cubits, 888,000 square feet. That is also given by Place's statement of 9, 6 hectares, exactly 961ª 76, or 23 acres, three quarters, English.
We must remember here that the entire surface of the town of Khorsabad was an area of 9,000,000 and 555,000 square cubits. We have also here the element of 37; the additional town rectangle is to the castle as 125 to 72. Here also the ell of 37 Assyrian inches (3 feet plus 1 inch) enters into the calculation.
The great U, which we name arura, is therefore a surface of 96 acres, or

{p.38}

distributed in 180 tiri ¹ its battlements.
______
almost 2 acres and 1 rood and a half. It is composed of 222 square poles, or the sum of three squares, one of 14 poles, another of 5 poles, and a third of 1 pole each side. (14² + 5² + 1 = 222.) The arura, equivalent to 31,968 square cubits, or 88,800 square feet, was therefore formed of an almost square-like rectangle of 296 feet, or 96 ells one side and 96 ells plus 4 feet the other side; that is, 300 feet. In the formation of this almost quadrate figure we have the great square of 96 ells, then three smaller regular squares, each side of which is 32, 12, and 4 feet, viz.:

The construction of Khorsabad offered another problem to be resolved. The circumference ought to be 200 poles, and the surface 10 aruras. The Assyrian engineers took formerly the large back side of 48 poles, and then they fixed the monumental front at 36 poles. To gain a circumference of 200 poles, they ought to give to the entire edifice the depth of 52 (100 - 48) poles. The question was how to divide 52 into two unequal parts, as to obtain for the whole surface 2220 square poles. To that purpose they calculated first the central diagram, 36 x 52 = 1872, and divided the remainder, 348, into 12 (48 - 36) parts; they added therefore on both sides a rectangle, each 6 wide and 29 long. This is the geometrical resolution of the equation which we to-day would form algebraically:

As all the measures are to be verified by Place's measurings, undertaken of course without any arithmetical predilection, they finally decide the matter, and they speak against the opinions of Dr. Lepsius. As all the figures, and especially the last, 1316m, correspond to a round number, the values obtained by the statements of this text, are entirely confirmed by the ruins themselves. It is in English measures:

1 The word tiri is obscure, perhaps the number of rooms enclosed in the palace. Ordinarily the word tahlub signifies the uppermost part of edifices. The text is very badly rendered in my Daur-Sarkayan; it runs thus: 10 U raluti uhallir-va eli 3 a-an us tiri tahlubi-siinu aksur.

{p.39}

I wrote on tablets of gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, marble, and alabaster, the glory of my name, and I put them into the foundations.
May the King who will succeed me restore (this palace) if it falls into ruins, may he write his tablets, may he place them aside of my tablets.
Then ASSUR will listen to his prayers. Whosoever alters the works of my hand, whoever plunders my treasures, may ASSUR, the great lord, exterminate in this country his name and his race!

{p.40}

TIN TABLET

Palace of SARGON,¹ Mandatary of BEL, Lieutenant of ASSUR, the great King, the mighty King, King of the legions, King of Assyria, the King who governed from the two beginnings unto the two ends of the four celestial points, he appointed satraps over the lands.
In these days I built, after my good pleasure, in the country which borders the mountains, near Nineveh, a town. I gave it the name of Dur-Sarkin. I chose places for the dwellings of the gods SIN, SAMAS, BEN, NINIP.
I built palaces covered with skin, sandal wood, ebony, tamarisk, cedar, cypress.
On tablets of gold, silver, copper, lead, tin, marble, and alabaster, I have written the glory of my name, and I have put them into the foundations.
May the King who will succeed me, re-establish this palace, if it will fall into ruins, may he write his tablets, and place them aside of mine. Then ASSUR will grant his prayer!
______
1 This tablet is pretty well preserved; but the tin has been entirely oxydised, and could only be acknowledged as such by the late Due de Luynes, who also found some traces of antimony in the material. The tablet is small; therefore it may be presumed that the matter was considered as rather precious.
The text does not offer any subject for discussion; the only result of it was to make known the value of the ideogram nu-ap, which is here replaced by the word patesi, "vicar;" it was the title of the early Assyrian princes.

{p.41}

BABYLONIAN LEGENDS FOUND AT KHORSABAD
TRANSLATED BY
PROF. DR. JULIUS OPPERT.

THE following short legends were discovered by Victor Place during his excavations at Khorsabad. Of Babylonian origin, they were probably transported to Dur-Sarkin in BC 709, when Sargon had become king of Babylon, after the retreat of Merodach-Baladan, BC 721-709.

The short legends with female names, nearly a dozen in all, were discovered in one heap; they are little clay olives, with a hole in the uppermost part to bind them together. They are all dated from the month of Sebat, and descend to the twelfth year of Merodach-Baladan, February, BC 709 (9,292), that is, to the end of that king's reign.

These olives were, very probably, commemorative documents in connection with that Babylonian custom mentioned by Herodotus (I, 199), according to which every woman was obliged to deliver herself to a stranger, once in her life, in the sanctuary and for {p.42} the honour of Mylitta. The woman had not the right to refuse either the person or the money he gave her; and it is probable that these olives were presented to the temple by the men we spoke of.

The inscriptions are important for the chronology of the reign of Merodach-Baladan, and are quite consistent with the dates handed down to us by the Almagest, and the so-called Canon of Ptolemy. The epoch of the reign of Merodach-Baladan is February 20, Julian, February 12, Gregorian, BC 721 (9,280); the commencement of the reign of Arkeanus, or Sargon, is February 17 Julian, February 9 Gregorian, BC 712 (9,292).

The cone with the legend of the king Ben-habal-iddin, written in archaic characters, is curious, as it is the only trace we have of the monarch who constructed the inner wall of Nipur.

These inscriptions have been published in my Dour-Sarkayan, Paris, 1870.

{p.43}

BABYLONIAN LEGENDS

I. Short inscriptions of the reign of Merodach-Baladan, king of Babylon (BC 720-709).

1 MANNUTAMMAT,¹ whom acquired BAHIT of Alsi, the .... day of the month Sebat, the 9th year of MERODACH-BALADAN, King of Babylon.
2 BINIT-EOU,² whom acquired HAMKAN, in the month of Sebat, the 10th year of MERODACH-BALADAN, King of Babylon.
3 HALALAT, whom, acquired MARNARIKH, in the month of Sebat, the 11th year of MERODACH-BALADAN, King of Babylon.
4 BEL-HAIL,³ whom, acquired MARNARIH, in the month of
_______
1 This name signifies, "Who is (the) pious (female)?" The day of the month is difficult to be fixed with certainty.
2 The name of Binit-Edu or Binit-Ekin, is "Daughter of Edu." In my book, p. 27, there is a misprint in the Assyrian text, not in the Latin and French translations; the two angles are faulty, as there should be only one. The original is in my possession, and the inscription is only known from my work. Mistaking this inscription as being in the Louvre, Mr. Boscawen thought that he had discovered a date of the twentieth year of Merodach-Baladan, but the original olive being in my possession I am able to certify that the document only presents the date "ten," and therefore any chronological scheme based upon the assumed reading "twenty," must fall to the ground.
3 Halalat and Bel-hail are also names of females. Bel-hail is a female name, it signifies, "Bel is strong." A man, the father of Hammurabi, is called Ummu-banit, "Mater (dea) est generatrix;" and the Biblical name Abi-gail signifies, "My father is rejoicing."

{p.44}

Sebat, the 10th year of MERODACH-BALADAN, King of Babylon.

II. Clay cone. Khorsabad.

BENBALADAN (BENHABALIDDIN),¹ King of Babylon, has constructed Nivit-Marduk,² the interior wall, the wall of Nipur, in honour of BEL his lord.
______
1 The name of Ben-habal-iddin signifies, "Ben, gave a son." In this instance it is entirely written with phonetic characters. It might not be superfluous to explain the god's name which has been read in very different ways during thirty years. The only sure indication we have about its pronunciation is the name of the Syrian king mentioned in the Bible, and whose name is Ben-Hadad or Ben-Hadar. The Assyrian texts name him AN-IM-IDRI. The god in question has been named Vul, Hu; finally, but erroneously, Dr. Delitzsch called him, following Professor Sayce, Raman. But as the god is also expressed by the simple angle, u, which signifies I'eni, Sumerian for lei, "master," we have thus an evidence which confirms the Biblical name Benhadar, and the pronunciation Eeiii proposed for that divinity.
2 "Dwelling of Merodach."

{p.45}

NEBBI YUNUS, INSCRIPTION OF SENNACHERIB
(FROM A MEMORIAL SLAB FOUND AT NINEVEH)
TRANSLATED BY
ERNEST A. BUDGE.

THE slab from which this inscription is copied is now in the Imperial Museum at Constantinople, and was found during the excavations undertaken by the Turkish Government. It is generally known as the Nebbi Yunus Inscription of Sennacherib. The printed text is found in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. I, pl. 43, 44. Portions of the first six lines of the right hand corner are restored from other inscriptions, but parts of the lines in the lower right hand corner are defaced. The father of Sennacherib (Sargon) being a warlike king, and carrying {p.46} victory wherever he went, it is not surprising to find Sennacherib following so closely in his steps. Sargon built the city of Dur-Sargina (Khorsabad), and also temples, and ruled with great energy. Sennacherib renewed and carried on the wars which his father had begun, but he showed less power of management. The expeditions of Sennacherib were great, as also were his conquests, and his palaces were built after the grand style of his father. His inscriptions are, however, interesting in the extreme, for many of them mention Hezekiah, and the siege of his city Jerusalem. Nothing is recorded in the inscriptions of the defeat mentioned in the Bible, but it has been said¹ that about BC 690 the warlike expeditions cease, while the Elamites ravaged the southern border of Assyria without check, which they would hardly have dared to do when Sennacherib was powerful. He was haughty and proud, as may be seen by the taunt of 2 Kings xviii. 33-35. The accounts given by the inscriptions seem to afford a reason for his cruel death, in the temple of Nisroch.² The
______
1 Smith's Assyria, p. 125.
2 In Sennacherib's inscription on a slab, he says: "By the opened ears which the lord Nisroch has conferred upon me."

{p.47}

inscriptions show that he conquered among other places and nations, Babylon, the Kassi, Ellippi, the coast of Phoenicia, many parts of Palestine, he defeated the Egyptian army at Eltekeh,¹ he captured 46 of the cities of Hezekiah,² and "200,150 men, small and great,"³ some cities of Philistia,⁴ Elamite cities on the Persian Gulf, the regions around Lake Van, and very many cities which are mentioned in his annals. He had very great trouble with Suzub, son of Gaghul, but at last conquered him. It is noticeable that whenever the least opportunity occurred to the neighbouring and tributary tribes to conspire with one another against Sennacherib, or to openly rebel, they did so, and he
______
1 The NEFTA of Josh. xix. 44.
2 W. A. I. I., 39, 13.
3 W. A. I. I., 39, 17.
4 Ashdod (אדוד) now village of Esdud, "a castle;" one of the five cities of the Philistines; a fortress of F'alestine on the borders of Palestine and Egypt; this city was the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, see Josh. xv. 47. Amgurrunna (Ekron, עקרין) now Akir; also of the five cities of the Philistines in the north, assigned to the tribe of Judah, Josh. xv. 45; and the Danites, Josh. xix. 43. Gaza (געה), situated at south of Palestine, Gen. x. 19, and a city of Philistia, Josh. xi. 22, still retains its name, W. A. I. I, 39, 24-26; Ascelon (אשקלין) is now represented by the little Arab village of Askulan, standing amid the ruins of ancient city. W. A. I. I, 38, 58.

{p.48}

appears to have carried on almost continual warfare with the Elamites and Babylonians, in which the petty tribes joined with great eagerness. The inscriptions of Sennacherib which have come down to us are very fine, valuable, and numerous, for they offer many variant passages of great philological importance.

{p.49}

NEBBI YUNUS, INSCRIPTION OF SENNACHERIB

COLUMN I

1 THE palace of SENNACHERIB, the great King, the strong King, King of nations, King of the land of Assyria, King of the four regions,
2 servant of the great gods, Sovereign, the Judge, the King, the Overseer, the Shepherd of the people,
3 Protector of men (nations) vast I am. AssuR, 1 Father of the gods, among all Kings
4 firmly has raised me, and over all that dwell in the countries he caused to increase my weapons, he gave
5 the sceptre of uprightness, the extender of frontiers, a sword unyielding for the slaughter of the enemy,
6 he hath caused to hold my feet in the battle of the
________
1 In W. A. I. III, 66, 23, it is said, "Assur god of judges." The title Assur extended itself from the city to the surrounding country, and became abstracted into a deity, the patron and eponyme of Assyria. The power of the later Assyrian Empire was expressed by making this god the head of the Pantheon and the father of the three originally supreme gods, Anu, Bel, and Hea. Trans. Soc. Bib. Arch., vol. II, p. 245.

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field MARDUK-PAL-IDINNA,¹ King of the land of Gandimiyas.²
7 The Chaldeans and Aramaeans with the army of Elam his help like corn I swept. He,
8 to the land of the sea alone fled, and the gods and his spoil with the attendants of his fathers
9 preceding, from within the great land he brought out, and the men within the ships
10 he caused to ascend and to the city Nagiti,³ which is beyond the sea, he crossed and in that place
11 he took up his abode. The whole of his land I had taken, and like spoil his cities I threw down, dug up,
12 with fire I burnt; I had taken the city Khigilimu, and the land of the Yasubigallai⁴ of the land of Ellippi⁵
________
1 Merodach-Baladan (מראדה בלאדן) i.e., "Merodach gave a son." He is called the "son of Yacin," also "King of Chaldsea," in Botta, 151; and say tamti, "King of the sea," W. A. I. II, 67, 26. A Chaldean. He held a powerful castle near the Euphrates, called Dur-Yacin (the "fortress of Yacin"), he marched to Babylon BC 722, and proclaimed himself king of Babylon BC 712. He sent an embassy to Hezekiah king of Judah, this was unsuccessful. Afterwards he retreated to Ikbi-Bel. He was an enemy of Sargon, who says of him in the Khorsabad Inscription, 1. 38, "he did not revere the memory of the gods, he refused to send tribute, he made alliance with Khumbanigas king of Elam, he caused the countries of Sumer and Accad to rebel," and then he tells how utterly he (Sargon) defeated him. Sargon marched against Merodach-Baladan BC 709; Sennacherib BC 700. See his defeat described in W. A. I. III, 12, 4.
2 Also written Car-duniyas (W. A. I. II, 65, I), "the fortress of Duniyas," seems to have been Lower Chaldea. It was also called Gun-duni (Smith's Assurbanipal, p. 183), "the enclosure of Duni," which has been compared with the Biblical Gan Aiden (גן עדן, Gen. iii. 24), or Garden of Eden, by Sir H. C. Rawlinson (see Prof. Sayce, Synchronous History, p. 4).
3 An Elamite city on the Persian Gulf.
4 A race of people inhabiting' the mountainous region between Assyria and Persia.
5 This district contained the cities of Zizirtu, Kummahu and Beth-Barra.

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13 I overran and destroyed its men. Of LULIE,¹ King of the city of Zidon,² I took away his kingdom.
14 TUBAHLI upon his throne I caused to sit, and tribute and my lordship upon him (I placed).
15 I overran the wide district of the land of Judea, HEZEKIAH³ its King did wickedness,
16 the men of the city of the Tukharrai inhabiting the mountains difficult, with my weapons I caused to slay. The city Uccu⁴
17 with the whole of its men like a heap of corn I destroyed, the men of the land of Cilicia⁵ inhabiting
18 the forests I overthrew with my weapons, their cities I threw down, dug up, with fire I burnt.
19 The city Tel-garimmu which is on the border of the land of Tabali I conquered, and I turned to ruins, the city Nagitu,
20 the city of Nagitu-dihbina, the land of Khilmu, the land of Nelatu, the land of Khupapanu, the districts
21 of the King of Elam, which beyond the sea are situated their site of which the men
22 of the land of Beth-Yacin⁶ before my strong weapons, the gods of their land in their shrines
23 assembled, the sea they crossed and they dwelt in the midst of them, in the ships of the land of Syria,
______
1 See W. A. I. I, 38, 35. The Elulaeus of classical authors (Fox Talbot).
2 צירן, more fully "Tsidon the great," Josh. xi. 8, an ancient city of the Phoenicians.
3 See W, A. I. I, 38, 72 ; 39, 11,12; 12, 27.
4 Modern Accho, a maritime city in the tribe of Asher, Judges i. 31, now called St. Jean d'Acre.
5 A maritime province in the South-east of Asia Minor.
6 A fortified city near the Persian Gulf.

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24 which in the city of Nineveh and the city Tel-Barsip¹ they had made, the sea then I crossed, the cities which (were) within
25 those districts I took, and with fire I burnt The men of the land of Beth-Yacin and their gods,
26 with the people of the King of the land of Elam I carried off, and to the land of Assyria I sent.
27 Afterwards the Babylonians who with MERODACH-BALADAN had gone forth, they fled²
28 King of the land of Elam, to Assyria they went, and SUZUB³ son of GAGHUL, upon the throne of royalty
29 over them I caused to sit, and soldiers, sceptre, chariots, horses, the collection of my kingship against
30 the King of the land of Elam I urged on. The army numerous with his son they slew and he turned afterwards.
31 They to Nineveh passed, the Sun god of Senkereh,⁴ goddess of Bubesi, Lady of Erech, the goddess NANA
32 the goddess USURA-AMATSA, the goddess BILAT-BALADHI, the god BIDINNAV, the god KASSITU, the god NERGAL, the gods inhabiting
33 Erech,⁵ with their goods, their spoil which (was) incalculable they spoiled. At their return
_______
1 Biradjik, a city on the Euphrates opposite Carchemish, the modern Jerablus. Biradjik represents the "Birtu of the Aramaeans" of the Assyrian inscriptions. See Smith's Babylonia, p. 129.
2 Lacuna.
3 A Chaldean chief who defied the Assyrian pov/er, defeated by Sennacherib BC 700 at the city of Bittu in the marshes. W. A. I. I, 39, 45, he is said to have been "to the sovereignty of Sumer and Accad restored;", in W. A. I. I, 40, 26, 27, again defeated, and afterwards made king of Babylon, W. A. I. I, 41, 41, but again defeated.
4 Or Larsa, a city where a celebrated library existed.
5 Warka. Compare this with the boast in 2 King's xix. 33: "Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath, and of Arpad? Where are

{p.53}

34 SUZUB, King of Babylon in the battle field his life he took, their hands (in) fetters
35 (and) bonds placed him, and to my presence they brought him in the great gate in the midst of the city Nineveh.
36 I bound him firmly. The King of Elam, who (for) the help of the Babylonians had come,
37 to his land then I went. The strong cities, his house of treasures, and the small cities which depended upon them,
38 toward the lowlands of the land of Bit-bunakhi, I approached, I took, I spoiled their spoil, I threw down,
39 I captured, with fire I burnt. The King of Elam of the capture of his cities heard and fear overwhelmed him.
40 The remainder of the men of his land for defence I caused to ascend. He the city Madaktu,¹ the city of his royalty
41 forsook, and to the city of Khandala which is within the mountains, directed (set) his face
42 to the city Madakhtu, the city of his royalty an expedition
______
the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivah? Have they delivered Samaria out of mine hand?"
In W. A. I. III, 66, a list of several hundred gods is given with their attributes. The tablet is divided into groups, the last lines of the group tell the temples and the cities which the gods were to inhabit, thus:
"The gods of the temple of Gu-la of the city of Assur,
The gods of the temple of Marduk (Merodach) of the city of Assur,
The gods of the temple of Anu (and) Rimmon of the city of Assur,
The gods of the temple of Sin (Moon-god) (and) Shamas (Sun-god) of the city of Assur."
1 The capital of Elam.

{p.54}

I commanded, the month Thebet,¹ a strong (heavy) storm took place and,
43 storm unceasing came and snow, torrents the clefts of the mountains filled. I turned, and
44 to the land of Assyria I took the road, afterwards the Kings of the land of Elam, Parthia, Susiania,
45 the land Pasiri, the land Ellippi, the whole of the land of Chaldrea, the Aramaeans, the whole of them an assembly great
46 he gathered with him, with the King of Babylon to each other they approached, and to make
47 battle against me they had come. In the power of ASSUR, the lord, in the neighbourhood of the city Khalulina²
48 with him I fought, their defeat I established, 150,000 of their men of war with my weapons
49 I slew, chariots, wagons, tents of their royalty I took away from them.
50 Their great men with NEBO-ZACIR-ISCUN,³ son of MERO-DACH-BALADAN who were in chariots of silver
_______
1 Thebet, the tenth month, December. This month among the Assyrians was dedicated to PAP-SUCCAL, the messenger of Anu and Istar, see W. A. I. IV, 33, 45, the storm mentioned as having taken place in this month seems to have caused Sennacherib great inconvenience, he mentions it again in W. A. I. I, 40, 75-77.
2 Kha-lu-li-e in W. A. I. I, 41, 47.
3 "Nebo established the memorial." He fought with the Babylonian army commanded by Suzub and Umman-Menanu, king of Elam at Khalute BC 696, see W. A. I. I, 41, 47. Khalute was a city on the banks of the Tigris.

{p.55}

COLUMN II

51 ....¹ of gold heaped up, swords of gold they were placed and with
52 .... of gold were clasped their feet, them alive in the midst of battle took
53 my two hands.² The King of Babylon, and the King of the land of Elam the violence of my battle over-whelmed them in the midst
54 of their chariots, they abandoned their banner, alone they fled away, and their country
55 they left. Behold the palace of Cutalli which (is) within Nineveh which for the custody of the camp baggage,
56 overseeing of the horses, and laying up his furniture they caused to make, marching before (me)
57 my fathers, of that palace its mound was not made, and small (was) its seat (foundation).
58 For the establishment of the horses, the stable was not built of the basement (from) ancient days
59 its foundation decayed, and was fallen in its roof. That palace to its whole extent I dug up.
60 like an enclosure, much earth from within I caused to raise, then I took.
61 Its top I caused to add, the enclosure, of the former palace I left, and within earth
62 which from (within) I caused to raise, I took. The mound I caused to fill 200 tipci with my brickwork
63 great to the heights I raised its head, upon that mound of my palaces
_______
1 Lacunae.
2 A description of the spoil taken is also given in W. A. I. I, 41, 72-76.

{p.56}

64 I laid down their foundations, the palace of alabaster (and) cedar like the palace of the land of Syria,
65 and a palace lofty the work of the land of Assyria, which much excelled in size and largeness for the seat
66 of my kingship I caused to make. Besides to my war horses, submissive to (my) yoke and overseeing
67 the spoil of enemies much which ASSUR conferred, its mound was made, the size
68 I caused to increase. In the power lofty of the gods my lords, the Kings of the land of Phoenicia,¹ the whole of them
69 who to my feet I had caused to submit I urged them on,² beams of cedar
70 great (from) within the land of Khamaniv they cut down,³ to Nineveh they had brought and I caused to be placed over them
71 doors of sherbin (and) liyari wood, (with) bands of copper I bound and I hung in their gates

[Line 72 contains a list of various kinds of unknown stones.]

73 favourable and ....⁴ which from below the land of Nipur⁵
74 mountains were brought, with white alabaster which in the city of the Baladai was seen
75 for the colossi (and) bulls I caused to make and I caused to take. The avenue of them, a spoil of images
_______
1 The West (MARTU).
2 Two characters occur in the text here, I am unable to read them.
3 Or, "planed."
4 Lacuna.
5 A range of mountains which ran from Lake Van, East to West, to Asia Minor, the western part is now called the Taurus.

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76 of stone, a floor of cedar wood upon them I raised, and of the palace of that alabaster
77 I placed its shrines. In my ears uncovered which conferred the lord of wisdom, HEA¹
78 as many heaps of copper which for the needs of my palaces of Nineveh I had built up.
79 According to the command of the god a storehouse opposite I built, and copper within it I poured (gathered), and rich ornament
80 the work of my hands, and bulls of bronze painted, I raised up.²
81 I caused to raise them, among raised figures I raised high up, I caused to sit and I caused to go,
82 strongly on the great lower embankment, the palace of alabaster for the greatness of my kingdom
83 of ....³ I caused to make its circumference (?) (and) floor of copper
84 of which their white marble⁴ I had thrown down, upon it I raised, and with planks of cedar wood skilfully
85 as covering I caused to be placed its canopy. The former palace greatly I caused to enlarge, I caused ...⁵
86 I made it great for the admiration of multitude of men, with fullness I filled it, tribute from the King of the
87 the offering of the land of the Medes remote, who among the Kings my fathers anybody
______
1 See W. A. I. II, 48, 32, where Hea is again said to be Hea bit nimeci bil khayisi, "Hea lord of wisdom, lord of intelligence or understanding." In the magical texts, he is "god of the waters," and many other attributes are given to him, all pointing out that he was a god of great importance. His wife is called NIN-CI-GAL (the lady of the mighty country).
2 An unknown stone is mentioned here.
3 Various unknown stones are again mentioned.
4 Sissasunu.
5 Lacunae.

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88 had not received their offerings, with wagons, chariots,
89 the King of Babylon, and the King of Chaldea, which my hands had taken¹ without number
90 which I had collected for the treasures of that palace, ... I caused to enter within it.
91 By the command of ASSUR, Father of the gods, and BELTIS, the Queen .... the palace ....
92 with health of flesh (and) joy of heart and reception of
93 tributes may they come, alliance of city with city for days remote may they establish within it.
94 The divine Bull protecting the lives, the god who completes may he slay, and his name .... its hands.

[The tablet finishes thus.]

________
1 Lacunae.

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THE ORACLE OF ISTAR OF ARBELA
TRANSLATED BY
THEOPHILUS GOLDRIDGE PINCHES.

AT the commencement of Esarhaddon's reign, he warred, as shown by his annals, in a district called Khani-rabbe, on the Upper Euphrates. It is not known against whom he fought, but is generally supposed that it was against his two brothers, Adrammelech and Sharezer, who, after having slain their father, had escaped into Armenia, and now came with an army to dispossess their younger brother of the throne of Assyria, on which, during their absence, the people had seated him. At this time, evidently to encourage the young king in the difficult campaign in which he was engaged, the following addresses, purporting to come from his {p.60} favourite goddess, the goddess of war, Istar of Arbela, were sent to him.

Of all the goddesses of Assyria, none were in greater repute than the two Istars: the one, goddess of love, the "divine queen," or "divine lady," of Kidmuri, her temple at Nineveh; and the other, goddess of war, at Arbela. Originally there was but one goddess, personifying both love and war, but two such opposite attributes could not long remain the characteristics of one goddess, so, gradually becoming distinct in the popular mind, they became the attributes of two distinct goddesses of the same name, but of different parentage, Sin being father of the goddess of love, and Ann father of the goddess of war.

In the following translation will be found some of the finest specimens of Assyrian poetry that have come down to us.

The text is printed in the Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia, vol. IV, pl. 68.

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THE ORACLE OF ISTAR OF ARBELA

COLUMN I

[The beginning of this Column is broken off.]

2 ......¹
3 vast ..... of one half
4 .....
5 .....
6 .... by the King of countries ...... fear [not!]²
7 (When) sweeps the wind from my hand, weeping,
8 I will tell him (what) I have not revealed.
9 Thine enemy
10 like the gathering-together³ of the month Sivan
11 before thy feet descends to do battle.
12 The great Lady am I.
13 I (am) ISTAR of Arbela,
14 who with thine enemy
15 before thy feet will do battle.
16 Let not pass away my word
17 which I speak to thee
18 concerning what thou hast not fixed for me.
19 I (am) ISTAR of Arbela,
20 thine enemy I cut off,
21 (and) I give to thee. I (am)
_______
1 Lacuna.
2 The words supplied to make the sense clear are enclosed in parentheses, those supplied where the tablet is broken are enclosed in brackets.
3 "Harvest;" Sivan being the harvest month.

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22 STAR of Arbela.
23 In thy presence,
24 by thy side,
25 I go. Fear not.
26 (When) thou in (thy) heart (art) agitated
27 I in (thy) heart rest
28 lovingly do set.
29 From the mouth of ISTARU-LA-TASIYADH,¹
30 a daughter of the city of Arbela.
31 O King of Assyria, fear not,
32 the enemy of the King of Assyria
33 for a sacrifice I give.
34 ....² thine offspring
35 .... thy god
36 ..... thy .......
37 [The great Lady am] I
38 [I am I STAR of] Arbela
39 .... his heart
40 .... his ......
________
1 "The goddess Istar chastises not."
2 Lacunae.

{p.63}

COLUMN II

[Beginning lost.]

1 I heard thee not ....¹
2 In the watch-tower ....
3 with tribute .....
4 to war afterwards .....
5 I know [thy] sighing,
6 thine overwhelmer I cause to come not.
7 From the mouth of .... SINQI-SA-AMUR,²
8 a daughter of the city of Arbela.
9 The head I fix, O ESARHADDON,
10 my King, head of the city of Arbela.
11 From the mouth of RIMUTE-ALLATE³
12 of the city of Darakhaya
13 across the mountains.
14 Fear not, O ESARHADDON,
15 I (am) BEL⁴ thy strength,
16 I will ease
17 the beams⁵ of thy heart.
18 Respect as for thy mother
19 thou hast caused to be shown to me.
20 (Each) of the 60 great gods, my strong ones,
21 with his life will guide thee
________
1 Lacunae.
2 "See thou her captivity;" or, "Her captivity I saw."
3 "A wife's love."
4 Istar of Arbela likens herself to the various deities mentioned in the text.
5 Or, "supports."

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22 the Moon-god in thy right hand, the Sun-god thy left.
23 The 60 great gods as rulers thy lords
24 fix. In the midst strongly thou hast reigned.
25 Upon mankind trust not (but)
26 bend thine eyes
27 upon me, trust to me.
28 I (am) ISTAR of Arbela.
29 ASSUR, thy strong one does speak;
30 thy littleness I take away from thee.
31 Fear not. Glorify me.
32 Let not gather together the enemy
33 who speaks against thee.
34 (Though) I may make an end,
35 verdure I raise, as in former times.
36 I (am) NEBO, the lord of the making of tablets,
37 glorify me.
38 From the mouth of BAYA,¹ a daughter of the city of Arbela.
______
1 "Praying."

{p.65}

COLUMN III

[The beginning of this Column also is lost].

1 .....¹
2 he turns ......
3 I (am) [ISTAR of Arbela].
4 From the mouth of .....
5 of the city of Assur.
6 I (am) ISTAR of [Arbela].
7 O ESARHADDON, King of the country of Assyria,
8 in the city of Assur, the city of Nineveh,
9 the city of Calah, the city of Arbela,
10 long days,
11 extended years,
12 to ESARHADDON, my King,
13 I give.
14 (Of) the bounty of thy plentiful gift
15 the lover (am) I,
16 thy nurse (and)
17 thy guardian² (am) I.
18 For after days,
19 lasting years,
20 thy throne in heaven (and) earth
21 greatly I have fixed.
22 In a veil of gold
23 in the midst of heaven, in honour.
24</