Nabonidus 26
Obverse | ||
Column i | ||
i 1i 1 | (i 1) Nabonidus, king of Babylon, the true shepherd who is the handiwork of the god Ea, the resplendent warrior who is the creation of the goddess Ninmena, the king without rival (who is) the favorite of the gods Bēl and Marduk, the capable ruler chosen by the gods Sîn and Šamaš, the circumspect prince who reveres the god(s) and goddess(es), | |
i 22 | ||
i 33 | ||
i 44 | ||
i 55 | ||
i 66 | ||
i 77 | (i 7) the indefatigable governor who pleases the heart(s) of the great gods, the one who provides for Esagil and Ezida, the one who renovates the cult centers (and) completes sanctuaries, the exalted ruler who makes sattukku-offerings abundant, (the one) who is always concerned about revering the gods (and) who is not negligent night or day, son of Nabû-balāssu-iqbi, wise prince, am I. | |
i 88 | ||
i 99 | ||
i 1010 | ||
i 1111 | ||
i 1212 | ||
i 1313 | ||
i 1414 | (i 14) I devoutly prayed to the god Šamaš, the gr[ea]t lord, my lord, and to the goddess Aya, (his) bri[de], the great lady, my lad<y>, and I had Ebabbar, their temple (that) is inside of Sippar, (re)built anew on the foundation(s) of Narām-Sîn, a king of the distant past, and made (it) worthy of (high) praise. | |
i 1515 | ||
i 1616 | ||
i 1717 | ||
i 1818 | ||
i 1919 | ||
i 2020 | ||
i 2121 | (i 21) I securely fastened strong date palm(s) for its šīpu. I put in place thick cedars, (which were) grown on Mount Amanus and Mount Leb<an>on, for its roof and the doors of its gates. | |
i 2222 | ||
i 2323 | ||
i 2424 | ||
i 2525 | (i 25) I decorated its utensil(s) with silver and gold and filled (it) with splendor to be an object of wonder. I placed an inscription of mine, together with an inscription of Narām-Sîn, a former king, inside it. | |
i 2626 | ||
i 2727 | ||
i 2828 | ||
i 2929 | É šá dUTU u da-a EN.MEŠ-a ina im-na u ⸢šú-me-lu⸣ ki-ma u₄-me | (i 29) (As for) the temple of the god Šamaš and the goddess Aya, my lords, I made (it) shine like daylight on the right and left. |
i 3030 | (i 30b) Then, for the god Bunene, my lord, I (re)built anew Ekurra, the temple of Bunene that is inside Sippar, purified it with purification ritual, made (it) suitable as a temple of his divinity, (and) made its façade radiant as daylight. | |
i 3131 | ||
i 3232 | ú-qa-ad-diš-ma us-si-ma ana É.KUR DINGIR-ú-ti-šú ki-ma u₄-me zi-mu-šu ú-šá-an-na-bi-iṭ | |
i 3333 | (i 33) I had the perimeter walls of Ebabbar, at the outer gate, (re)built and reinforced more than the previous one(s). I securely placed an inscription of mine and an image of my royal majesty in the presence of the god Šamaš and the goddess Aya, my lords, for eternity. | |
i 3434 | ||
i 3535 | ||
Column ii | ||
ii 1ii 1 | ||
ii 22 | (ii 2) O Šamaš, the exalted lord who loves (my) life, when you exit and enter Ebabbar, your bright temple, look with pleasure upon my good deeds, my inscription, and the image of my royal majesty so that good thing(s) about me are present before you forever and (a command about) the prolongation of the days of my kingship is placed in your mouth (so that) I may grow old walking in your bright light (and that) my reign may be firmly established for eternity. | |
ii 33 | ||
ii 44 | ||
ii 55 | ||
ii 66 | ||
ii 77 | ||
ii 88 | ||
ii 99 | ||
ii 1010 | ||
ii 1111 | ||
ii 1212 | (ii 12b) O Aya, great bride, beloved of the god Šamaš, when you are sitting with pleasure in Ekinu, your shining temple, make my prayers gain favor in the presence of the god Šamaš, the light of the gods, (and) prolong the days of my life. | |
ii 1313 | ||
ii 1414 | ||
ii 1515 | ||
ii 1616 | ||
ii 1717 | (ii 17) O Vizier (who) advises the god Amna (Šamaš), the god Bunene, (and) whose advice is good, in the presence of the god Šamaš and the goddess Aya, ... when you joyously ... (and) exit (in) exultation, when you stand triumphantly in the presence of the god Šamaš, the lord of everything, may favorable words about me be continually (placed) in your mouth. Walk about safely in its (Ekurra’s) exalted interior. | |
ii 1818 | ||
ii 1919 | ||
ii 2020 | ||
ii 2121 | ||
ii 2222 | ||
ii 2323 | (ii 23) May I keep the throne of my royal majesty for a long time, until the attainment of very old age. O gods of Sippar and Ebabbar, make my deeds pleasing in the presence of the god Šamaš and the goddess Aya. May I be the eternal king who provides so that I can offer tribute to them from all (four) quarters (of the world). | |
ii 2424 | DINGIR.⸢MEŠ⸣ (over erasure) sip-par.KI u é-babbar-ra ma-ḫar dUTU | |
ii 2525 | ||
ii 2626 | ||
ii 2727 | (ii 27b) In the presence of the deities Marduk, Zarpanītu, Nabû, and Nergal, my gods, and all of the gods who reside in the perimeter of the akītu(-house) of the king of the god(s), the exalted one, the lord of lords (Marduk), may I be constantly concerned with the proper procedure(s) (for) the zagmukku-festival (at) the beginning of the year, (for) the akītu-festival, for offerings, for (sacrificial) offering(s and) maṣḫatu-flour (offerings), providing for Edadiḫegal, and praying to the lord of lords (Marduk) for eternity. May they exult my reign, ..., and constantly bless my kingship. | |
ii 2828 | u dzar-pa-ni-tum dAG u dU.GUR DINGIR.MEŠ-ú-a u DINGIR gi-mir-šú-nu | |
ii 2929 | ||
ii 3030 | ||
ii 3131 | ||
ii 3232 | ||
ii 3333 | ||
ii 3434 | ||
ii 3535 | li-x-x lik-tar-rab a-na LUGAL-ú-ti-ia |
1la šá-na*-an* “without rival”: Ex. 1 has la šá-an-na.
2GÌR*.NÍTA* “governor”: Ex. 1 has NÍTA.GÌR. la-ni-i-ḫu “indefatigable”: The form lânīhu is a plene-writing of lā anīhu.
3be-el-<ti>-ia* “my lad<y>”: Ex. 1 has be-el-<ti>-E.
4⸢ši-pu-šú⸣ “its šīpu”: The Akkadian word šīpu designates a part of the roof.
5KUR.lab-<na>-ni* “Mount Leb<an>on”: The scribe of ex. 1 wrote visually similar KUR.lab-<na>-DÙ.
6e-pú-uš*-ma* “I (re)built”: In ex. 1, the word is written e-pú+uš-ma; see Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 753 fig. 3.
7sú-pi-ia SIG₅.MEŠ “make my prayers gain favor”: The interpretation, which tentatively follows H. Schaudig (Inschriften Nabonids p. 361), is uncertain. SIG₅.MEŠ is understood here as a D-Stem imperative of the verb damāqu (dummiqī). Alternatively, one could understand sú-pi-ia as a D-Stem imperative of the verb suppû and SIG₅.MEŠ as a feminine plural nominal form of damiqtu (damqātu), with the meaning “beseech good things for me.” For a discussion of the issues, see Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids pp. 105–106.
8mit-lu-ku “(who) advises”: The word mitluku is regarded as a Gt-Stem infinitive, following H. Schaudig (Inschriften Nabonids pp. 361–362 n. 402), who discusses this form in detail and argues against the dictionaries (AHw p. 663 and CAD M/2 p. 139), where mitluku is regarded as adjective, meaning “considerate, full of good advice.” If mitluku were an adjective here, one would expect the determinative pronoun ša after mitluku. dam-na “the god Amna”: According to the god-list An-Anum III line 98 (Litke, Assyro-Babylonian God-lists p. 128), Amna is one of the names of the god Šamaš.
9it-tal-lak “walk”: One expects a-tal-lak; see Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 220 §IV.7.1.a. For other instances of irregular consonantal doubling in the inscriptions of Nabonidus see Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 110 §II.2.13.a.
10li-dam-qa “may they make pleasing”: One expects li-dam-mi-qu, not li-dam-qa (or li-dam-mi-qa), since the subject of the verbal form is the gods of Sippar and Ebabbar, not Nabonidus’ deeds. For further information on this word, see Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 135 §III.4.4. and p. 360 n. 393.
11⸢lu-pu⸣-uš bi-lat-⸢si⸣-nu “so that I can offer tribute to them”: The exact meaning of the form lūpuš, which literally means “may I do,” is unclear in this passage and is tentatively understood here as “to offer tribute.” Compare Schaudig, Inschriften Nabonids p. 362, where this passage is tentatively interpreted as “receiving tribute” (“empfangen den Tribut”).
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/Q005423/.