Nebuchadnezzar II 013
| Obverse | ||
| Column i | ||
| i 1i 1 | (i 1) Nebuchadnezzar (II), king of Babylon, the one who provides for Esagil and Ezida, son of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, am I. | |
| i 22 | ||
| i 33 | ||
| i 44 | ||
| i 55 | ||
| i 66 | (i 6) In order to strengthen the protection of Esagil (so that) no evil-doer or murderer can come near Babylon, no arrow (during) battle can come close to Imgur-Enlil, the wall of Babylon, (I did something) that no king of the past had done: In the outskirts of Babylon, I had Babylon surrounded with a fortified wall on the eastern bank. I dug out its moat and reached the water table. | |
| i 77 | ||
| i 88 | ||
| i 99 | ||
| i 1010 | ||
| i 1111 | ||
| i 1212 | ||
| i 1313 | ||
| i 1414 | ||
| i 1515 | ||
| i 1616 | ||
| i 1717 | ||
| i 1818 | ||
| i 1919 | (i 19) I saw that the structure of the embankment that my father had constructed was too narrow, (so), using bitumen and baked brick, I built a fortified wall, which like a mountain cannot be shaken, and I adjoined (it) to the embankment that my father had constructed. I secured its foundation on the surface (lit. “breast”) of the netherworld and raised its superstructure as high as a mountain. | |
| i 2020 | ||
| i 2121 | ||
| i 2222 | ||
| i 2323 | ||
| i 2424 | ||
| i 2525 | ||
| i 2626 | ||
| i 2727 | ||
| i 2828 | ||
| i 2929 | ||
| i 3030 | ||
| Column ii | ||
| ii 1ii 1 | ||
| ii 22 | ||
| ii 33 | (ii 3) I supported the foundations of the baked-brick wall with a large stanchion at (its) damp course to strengthen the circumference of the wall for a third time, and secured its foundation on the surface (lit. “breast”) of the apsû. I strengthened the protection of Esagil (and) Babylon and (thereby) established the lasting mention of my kingship. | |
| ii 44 | ||
| ii 55 | ||
| ii 66 | ||
| ii 77 | ||
| ii 88 | ||
| ii 99 | ||
| ii 1010 | ||
| ii 1111 | ||
| ii 1212 | ||
| ii 1313 | (ii 13) O Marduk, Enlil of the gods, god who created me, may my deeds be pleasing in your presence so that I live for a long time. Grant me a life of long days, the attainment of very old age, a firmly-secured throne, and a long-lasting reign. | |
| ii 1414 | ||
| ii 1515 | ||
| ii 1616 | ||
| ii 1717 | ||
| ii 1818 | ||
| ii 1919 | ||
| ii 2020 | ||
| ii 2121 | ||
| ii 2222 | ||
| ii 2323 | ||
| ii 2424 | (ii 24) O Marduk, be the helper upon whom I can rely and, by your true command, which cannot be altered, may my weapons (always) be drawn (and) ready (lit. “pointed”) so that they destroy the weapon of the enemy. | |
| ii 2525 | ||
| ii 2626 | ||
| ii 2727 | ||
| ii 2828 | ||
| ii 2929 | ||
| ii 3030 | ||
| ii 3131 | ||
| ii 3232 |
1dna-bi-um-ku-du-úr-ri-ú-⸢ṣu⸣-úr “Nebuchadnezzar (II)”: This line is omitted in three casts: Exs. 4, 10, and 14.
2Ex. 4, which is a cast, omits šar ba-bi-lam.KI, “king of Babylon.”
3This inscription adds qá-an ta-ḫa-zi a-na im-gur-dEN.LÍL BÀD ba-bi-lam.KI la ṭa-ḫe-e, “no arrow (during) battle can come close to Imgur-Enlil, the wall of Babylon,” after a-na ba-bi-lam.KI la sa-na-qá, “cannot come near Babylon”; compare Nbk. 16 (C25) i 9, which only has ana babilam lā sanāqa.
4On one of the casts (ex. 17), there is a blank line after this line.
5Ex. 1, which is a cast, adds an unintelligible line before ḫi-ri-su aḫ-re-e-ma, “I dug out its moat.” That line has [x] KA LA AT IS ⸢x x x⸣. Two of the other casts, exs. 10 and 14, erroneously repeat after this line ⸢ba-bi-lam.KI ú-ša-às-ḫi-ra?⸣ ḫi-ri-su aḫ-re-e-ma, “I had Babylon surrounded. I dug out its moat.”
6šu-pu-ul mé-e ak-šu-ud, “I reached the water table”: Compare Nbk. 16 (C25) i 16–19, which have ki-bí-ir₄-ša in ku-⸢up⸣-[ri] ù à-gu-úr-ru ú-za-aq-qí-ir₄ ḫu-úr-sa-ni-iš “I raised its embankment(s) as high as a mountain using bitumen (and) baked brick.”
7Compare the main building report of Nbk. 16 (C25; i 20–ii 16), which describes later phases of construction, specifically the construction of the wall’s gates and the installation of bronze-plated wooden doors.
8Ex. 4, which is a cast, erroneously repeats after this line ba-bi-lam.KI ú-ša-às-ḫi-⸢ir₄⸣ ḫi-⸢ri⸣-su aḫ-re-e-ma ⸢šu-pu⸣-ul mé-e ⸢ak⸣-šu-ud ap-pa-⸢li-is⸣-ma, “I had Babylon surrounded. I dug out its moat and reached the water table. I saw.”
9On exs. 7 (an actual Neo-Babylonian cylinder) and 13 (a cast), col. ii begins with this line.
10re-e-ši-šu sa-da-ni-iš ú-za-aq-qí-ir₄ i-ta-at BÀD a-na du-un-nu-nim “I raised its superstructure as high as a mountain. To strengthen the circumference of the wall”: Three casts — exs. 4, 10, and 14 — omit re-e-ši-šu sa-da-ni-iš. Exs. 4 and 14 also omit ú-za-aq-qí-ir₄. Moreover, ex. 4 even omits i-ta-at BÀD a-na du-un-nu-nim.
11Instead of a-na da-rí-a-⸢tim⸣, “for a long time,” exs. 1–3, all of which are casts, have an erased ép-še-tu-ú-a li-id-mi-qa, “may my deeds be pleasing.” Ex. 4, which is also a cast, erroneously repeats lu-la-ab-bi-ir, “may I live long,” but after two lines with traces of two erased lines. Ex. 10, also a cast, adds lu-la-ab-bi-ir a-na da-rí-a-tim, “so that I live for a long time,” after a-na da-rí-a-⸢tim⸣. On another cast (ex. 17), there is a blank line after this line.
Created by Frauke Weiershäuser and Jamie Novotny, 2015-24, 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/Q005484/.