Nebuchadnezzar II 016
Obverse | ||
Column i | ||
i 1i 1 | (i 1) Nebuchadnezzar (II), king of Babylon, the one who provides for Esagil and Ezida, [so]n 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, (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 raised its embankment(s) as high as a mountain using bitumen (and) baked brick. | |
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 2020 | (i 20) I constructed its broad gates, plated immense doors of cedar with bronze, and fixed them (in those gates). | |
i 2121 | ||
i 2222 | ||
i 2323 | ||
i 2424 | ||
i 2525 | (i 25) I checked the outflow(s) of its water and built its embankments using bitumen and baked brick. | |
i 2626 | ||
i 2727 | ||
Column ii | ||
ii 1ii 1 | (ii 1) So that no robber (or) sneak thief could enter the outflows of its water, I blocked its outflow(s) with shiny iron. I ...ed (it) with crossbars and gullus of iron and reinforced its joint(s). I strengthened the protection of Esagil and Babylon and (thereby) established the lasting mention of my kingship. | |
ii 22 | ||
ii 33 | ||
ii 44 | ||
ii 55 | ||
ii 66 | ||
ii 77 | ||
ii 88 | ||
ii 99 | ||
ii 1010 | ||
ii 1111 | ||
ii 1212 | ||
ii 1313 | ||
ii 1414 | ||
ii 1515 | ||
ii 1616 | ||
ii 1717 | (ii 17) O my lord, Marduk, look with favor upon my handiwork and grant me a long life. Whenever (there are) battle and war, O Marduk, be the helper upon whom I can rely. May your fierce weapons, which cannot be withstood, go at my side to cut down my enemies. | |
ii 1818 | ||
ii 1919 | ||
ii 2020 | ||
ii 2121 | ||
ii 2222 | ||
ii 2323 | ||
ii 2424 | ||
ii 2525 | ||
ii 2626 | ||
ii 2727 | ||
ii 2828 | ||
ii 2929 |
1Compare Nbk. 13 (C28) i 9–11, which 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.”
2ki-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”: Compare Nbk. 13 (C28) i 18, which has šu-pu-ul mé-e ak-šu-ud, “I reached the water table.”
3à-gu-úr-ru “baked brick”: Writing agurru with à (PI), instead of the expected a is also attested in Nbk. 14 (C213/200) i 17, and Nbk. 32 (C36) i 55, ii 24, 56, 59, and iii 4.
4Compare the main building report of Nbk. 13 (C28; i 19–ii 12), which records the earlier stages of construction, including securing the wall’s foundation and building an additional embankment wall.
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/Q005487/.