Neriglissar 01
| Obverse | ||
| Column i | ||
| i 1i 1 | (i 1) Neriglissar, king of Babylon, pious prince, the favorite of the god Marduk, the humble (and) submissive one who reveres the lord of lords, the wise (and) pious one, the one who constantly seeks out the shrines of the god Nabû — his lord — the ruler who provides, the one who brings large gifts to Esagil and Ezida, the one who copiously supplies sattukku-offerings (and) ensures that their purification rites are carried out correctly, son of Bēl-šum-iškun, wise prince, the perfect warrior, the one who ensures the protection of Esagil and Babylon, the one who blocks the approach to the country like a strong wall, am I. | |
| i 22 | ||
| i 33 | ||
| i 44 | ||
| i 55 | ||
| i 66 | ||
| i 77 | ||
| i 88 | ||
| i 99 | ||
| i 1010 | ||
| i 1111 | ||
| i 1212 | ||
| i 1313 | ||
| i 1414 | ||
| i 1515 | (i 15) When the god Marduk, the Enlil of the gods, the prince who deliberates, the sage who knows the hearts of all of the Igīgū gods, sought me out among his widespread people and properly provided for me since my youth, he gave me an appropriate name (and) indeed constantly guided me in places of well-being and health. For my righteousness, with which I always answer him, (and) for my submissiveness, through which I constantly strive after respect for his divinity, I plan daily to perform that which is pleasing to him. | |
| i 1616 | ru-bu-ú (erasure) mu-uš-ta-li | |
| i 1717 | ||
| i 1818 | ||
| i 1919 | ||
| i 2020 | ||
| i 2121 | ||
| i 2222 | ||
| i 2323 | ||
| i 2424 | ||
| i 2525 | ||
| i 2626 | (i 26) He looked upon me and declared (my) gracious name to be king in the land. In order to shepherd his people for eternity, for my kingship, he indeed gave me a just scepter that widens the land; for (my) lordship, he indeed entrusted me with a legitimate rod that protects the people, let my hands grasp a staff that subdues enemies, made me wear a legitimate crown, and he did not bring about rivals or intimidators for my kingship. | |
| i 2727 | ||
| i 2828 | ||
| i 2929 | ||
| i 3030 | ||
| i 3131 | ||
| i 3232 | ||
| i 3333 | ||
| i 3434 | ||
| i 3535 | ||
| i 3636 | ||
| i 3737 | (i 37) I killed foes, slaughtered enemies, (and) suppressed all of the unsubmissive. I constantly established justice in the land (and) peacefully shepherded my widespread people. | |
| Column ii | ||
| ii 1ii 1 | ||
| ii 22 | ||
| ii 33 | ||
| ii 44 | (erasure) ar-ta-né-eʾ-e | |
| ii 55 | (ii 5) At that time, I gave reverent attention to the god Marduk, the god who creates wisdom, whose words are supreme among the Igīgū gods, whose lordship is the most outstanding among the Anunnakū gods. | |
| ii 66 | ||
| ii 77 | ||
| ii 88 | ||
| ii 99 | (ii 9) (As for the section of) the enclosure wall of Esagil that faces north, (an area) in which the ramku- (and) kiništu-priests of Esagil reside, whose foundations a former king had laid but whose superstructure he had not raised, which had become progressively lower due to terracing, and whose walls had become weak, its construction was no longer very stable, (and) its door-jamb(s) were no longer secure. | |
| ii 1010 | ||
| ii 1111 | ||
| ii 1212 | ||
| ii 1313 | ||
| ii 1414 | ||
| ii 1515 | ||
| ii 1616 | ||
| ii 1717 | ||
| ii 1818 | (ii 18) To keep bursaggû-offerings clean, to arr[ange] purification rites, to keep taklīmu-offerings pure for the great lord, the god M[arduk], to properly administer sattuk[ku]-offerings, (and) to prevent act(s) of omission and cultic mistake(s) from occurr[ing], I examined (and) inspected its original foundation and (then) I secured its (new) foundations on its original foundations. I raised its high parts, making (them) as lofty as a mountain. I secured its door-jamb(s) and set up doors in its gate(s). I surrounded (it) with a strong base using bitumen and baked bricks. | |
| ii 1919 | ||
| ii 2020 | ||
| ii 2121 | ||
| ii 2222 | ||
| ii 2323 | ||
| ii 2424 | ||
| ii 2525 | ||
| ii 2626 | ||
| ii 2727 | ||
| ii 2828 | ||
| ii 2929 | (ii 29) O Marduk, supreme lord, the pre-eminent one, the exalted one, the venerated one, the magnificent one, the light of the gods — his fathers — look with pleasure upon my precious handiwork and grant me a life of long days, the attainment of very old age, a firmly secured throne, and a long-lasting reign! | |
| ii 3030 | ||
| ii 3131 | ||
| ii 3232 | ||
| ii 3333 | ||
| ii 3434 | ||
| ii 3535 | ||
| ii 3636 | (ii 36) Through your firm command, which cannot be altered, may I, Neriglissar, be the king who provides (and) the one who constantly seeks out your shrines for eternity. | |
| ii 3737 | ||
| ii 3838 | ||
| ii 3939 |
1NUN e-em-qá “wise prince”: To whom the title refers, Neriglissar or his father Bēl-šum-iškun, is ambiguous. R. Da Riva (SANER 3 pp. 14–15) describes the issue as follows: “Neriglissar mentions his father by name on several occasions. According to Schaudig (2001: 12–13), both Neriglissar, and later Nabonidus, allude to their respective progenitors in an ambiguous way in their inscriptions. In fact, the mention of Bēl-šum-iškun in the inscriptions of his son always has a double meaning, due to orthographical indistinctiveness in the texts, so we do not know whether the title after the name of Bēl-šum-iškun (in genitive) refers to him or to Neriglissar (nominative). ... The repetition of the title rubû, albeit with a different qualification, is not common in the corpus of the inscriptions, and the second rubû may in fact refer to Bēl-šum-iškun, not to Neriglissar, though both solutions are syntactically possible. … the title rubû is used with the apparent intention of creating ambiguity. One would not object to a Puqūdu chieftain being called ‘prince.’” Compare text no. 3 (Royal Palace Inscription) i 1 and 14, where both Neriglissar and Bēl-šum-iškun are given the title šar Bābili, “king of Babylon.” See also the on-page note to text no. 3 (Royal Palace Inscription) i 14.
2a-na i-ša-ru-ti-ia ša qá-qá-da-a a-pá-lu-šu “For my righteousness, with which I always answer him”: The interpretation of this line follows Da Riva, SANER 3 p. 119. Compare the CAD (I/J p. 227 sub išarūtu 1), which understands this line as a-na i-ša-ru-ti-ia ša qá-qá-da-a a-ba-lu-šu “on account of my righteousness, with which I constantly prayed to him.”
3ra-am-ku-tim ki-ni-iš-ti é-sag-íl “the ramku- (and) kiništu-priests of Esagil”: This interpretation follows Da Riva, SANER 3 p. 119 and CAD K p. 386 sub kiništu a.
4la-bí-ri “original”: Alternatively “old” or “ancient.” It is difficult to know which nuance of labīru is meant in this inscription since, as far as we know, Neriglissar does not appear to have been obsessed with or interested in building a structure directly over its earliest foundations, unlike his second successor Nabonidus. Because Nabonidus was very interested in rebuilding temples precisely on their original, divinely-approved plans, labīru is translated in this volume as “original” when it follows the word temmēnu (“foundation”).
5te-em-me-en-ni-šu and uš-ši-šu “its foundations”: Following the published volumes of the RINAP Project, as well as the CAD (T pp. 338–339 sub temmennu 2), both Akkadian words temmēnu and uššu are translated as “foundations.” For a recent discussion of the Akkadian words temmēnu and uššu, see Tudeau, Studies Postgate pp. 634–644.
6e-te-el-lu ṣi-i-ri “the pre-eminent one, the exalted one”: Or possibly “the exalted lord.”
Created by Frauke Weiershäuser and Jamie Novotny, 2015-20, for the Munich Open-access Cuneiform Corpus Initiative (MOCCI), a corpus-building initiative funded by LMU Munich, the Henkel Foundation, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (through the establishment of the Alexander von Humboldt Chair for Ancient History of the Near and Middle East), and and based at the Historisches Seminar - Abteilung Alte Geschichte of Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.The annotated edition is released under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license 3.0. Please cite this page as http://oracc.org/ribo/Q005386/.