Nabonidus 02
| Obverse | ||
| Column i | ||
| i 1i 1 | (i 1) For the goddess Ištar, supreme (lady), beloved of the gods, most valiant, the goddess Innin(ni), goddess of battle, the one who wages war, radiant lady of (all of the) settlements, most exalted of the Igīgū gods, princess of the Anunnakū gods, bearer of fear, lady whose brilliance covers the heavens (and whose) awe-inspiring radiance overwhelms the wide earth, the goddess Ištar of Agade, the lady of battle who incites fighting, who dwells in Emašdari — which is inside Babylon — my lady: | |
| 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 1616 | (i 16) Nabonidus, king of Babylon, protégé of the god Tutu, the humble (and) submissive one who reveres the great gods, the shepherd who provides, the one who is attentive to the will of the gods, the respectful governor who constantly follows the way(s) of the goddess Ištar, the one who makes sattukku-offering(s) abundant (and) (re)confirms nindabû-offerings, (the one) who strives all day long to improve the cult centers of the gods, (the one who) in Esagil — the palace of the gods — makes splendid gifts enter inside it, (and who ensures that) present(s) are regularly provided to all of the sanctuaries of the gods, son of Nabû-balāssu-iqbi, wise prince, am I. | |
| i 1717 | ||
| i 1818 | ||
| i 1919 | ||
| i 2020 | ||
| i 2121 | ||
| i 2222 | ||
| i 2323 | ||
| i 2424 | ||
| i 2525 | ||
| i 2626 | ||
| i 2727 | ||
| i 2828 | ||
| i 2929 | ||
| i 3030 | ||
| i 3131 | ||
| i 3232 | ||
| i 3333 | (i 33) At that time, (with regard to) Emašdari, the temple of the goddess Ištar of Agade, whose foundation(s) had fallen to pieces (and) turned into ruins, whose brickwork alkali burned to ashes, whose site remained desolate, whose shrine was not standing (lit. “built”), whose cella was in ruins, (and where) incense(-offerings) had ceased, my heart pondered (re)building this temple and my mind desired (to carry) it (out). | |
| i 3434 | ||
| Column ii | ||
| ii 1ii 1 | ||
| ii 22 | ||
| ii 33 | ||
| ii 44 | ||
| ii 55 | ||
| ii 66 | ||
| ii 77 | ||
| ii 88 | ||
| ii 99 | ||
| ii 1010 | (ii 10) I sought out the (original) site of this temple, examined its foundation platform, (and) checked its foundation(s), and (thereby) secured its brickwork. I built Emašdari anew inside Babylon. | |
| ii 1111 | ||
| ii 1212 | ||
| ii 1313 | ||
| ii 1414 | ||
| ii 1515 | ||
| ii 1616 | (ii 16) On account of this, O Ištar of Agade, goddess of battle, look with pleasure upon this temple, your beloved residence, and (then) proclaim good health for me. In the presence of the god Marduk, king of the gods, speak all day long about the prolongation of my days (and) the increasing of my years. | |
| ii 1717 | ||
| ii 1818 | ||
| ii 1919 | ||
| ii 2020 | ||
| ii 2121 | ||
| ii 2222 | ||
| ii 2323 | ||
| ii 2424 | ||
| ii 2525 | ||
| ii 2626 | (ii 26) March at my side (in) the place of battle and war so that I can kill my foes (and) cut down my enemies. | |
| ii 2727 | ||
| ii 2828 | ||
| ii 2929 | ||
| ii 3030 | ||
| ii 3131 |
1Exs. 3 and 4, the copies of this inscription written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script, add ka-ši-da-at a-a-bi mu-ḫal-li-qá-at za-ma-nu “the one who conquers enem(ies) (and) destroys adversar(ies)” between nam-ri-ir-ru-šu er-ṣe-tim ra-pa-aš-tim sa-aḫ-pu “whose awe-inspiring radiance overwhelms the wide earth” and dINANNA a-kà-dè.KI “the goddess Ištar of Agade.” The exemplars of this text written in archaizing Neo-Babylonian script (exs. 1–2) do not include this epithet of Ištar.
2a-ši-ba-at é-máš-da-ri ša qé-re-eb KÁ.DINGIR.RA.KI GAŠAN-ia “who dwells in Emašdari — which is inside Babylon — my lady”: These two lines are omitted in ex. 3.
3ti-ri-iṣ qá-ti dtu-tu “protégé of the god Tutu”: Literally “the one to whom the god Tutu stretches out his hand.” As P.-A. Beaulieu (Representations of Political Power p. 159) points out, Tutu is a name that is used for both Marduk and Nabû and, thus, unclear as to whom the mention of Tutu refers in this inscription. Moreover, Beaulieu notes that only Nabopolassar and Nabonidus use the epithet tiriṣ qātī DN in their inscriptions; for example, Nabonidus refers to himself as [ti]-ri-iṣ ŠU.II d⸢nisaba⸣ “[pr]otégé of the goddess Nisaba” in text no. 44 obv. 1.
4mu-ki-in ni-id-bé-e “the one who (re)confirms nindabû-offerings”: Exs. 3 and 4, the copies of this inscription written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script, have mu-šar-ri-iḫ ni-id-bé-e “the one who makes nindabû-offerings splendid.”
5The copies of the inscription written in contemporary Neo-Babylonian script (exs. 3–4) add the epithet “surpassing in provisioning” after in é-sag-íl É.GAL DINGIR.DINGIR “in Esagil, the palace of the gods.” Ex. 3 adds šu-tu-ru zi-in-na-a-tim in an additional line while, ex. 4 adds šu-tu-ru zi-in-na-a-ti in the same line after i-na é-sag-íl É.GAL ì-lí.
6Exs. 2–4 add ša qé-er-bi KÁ.DINGIR.MEŠ.KI, “which (is situated) in Babylon” after É dINANNA a-kà-dè.KI, “the temple of the goddess Ištar of Agade.” Only the one archaizing Neo-Babylonian ex. 1 does not include this statement about the location of Emašdari. As H. Schaudig (Inschriften Nabonids p. 355) has already pointed out, one expects the mention of the temple’s location in this spot.
7li-ib-na-as-su id-ra-num iq-mu-ú di-ta-al-li-iš “whose brickwork alkali burned to ashes”: These two lines are omitted in ex. 4.
8After e-eš-ši-iš e-pú-uš “I built anew,” exs. 3 and 4, the contemporary Neo-Babylonian exemplars, add uš-ši-šu uš-te-ši-ir ú-ki-in te-em-mé-en-šu “I realigned its foundation(s and) thereby secured its (new) foundation(s).”
9i-la-at ta-am-ḫa-ru “goddess of battle”: Exs. 2-4 have i-la-at ta-am-ḫa-ri.
10šu-ba-at na-ra-mi-ki “your beloved residence”: Ex. 2 omits this line.
11ḫa-di*-iš “with pleasure”: All four exemplars write ḫa-MI-iš, which may suggest that the word is an otherwise unattested adverb hamiš (meaning “trusting”) rather than the expected hadîš “with pleasure”; for details, see Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 356.
12qá-ab-lum “battle”: Ex. 3 has qá-ab-li.
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/Q005399/.