Nebuchadnezzar II 031

(i 1) Nebuchadnezzar (II), king of Babylon, pious prince, favorite of the god Marduk, the exalted ruler who is the beloved of the god Nabû, the indefatigable governor who provides for Esagil and Ezida, the one who is always submissive to the gods Nabû and Marduk, his lords, and who acts as their servant, the pious (and) devout one selected by the steadfast heart(s) of the great gods, foremost heir of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, am I.

(i 11) When the god Marduk, the great lord, steadfastly named me and magnificently commissioned me to keep the land in good order, shepherd the people, provide for the cult centers, (and) renovate sanctuaries, I paid reverent attention to the god Marduk, my lord.

(i 16) (With regard to) Babylon, his (Marduk’s) exalted cult center, a city worthy of his praise, I completed Imgur-Enlil (and) Nēmetti-Enlil, its great walls. I stationed fierce wild bulls of copper and raging mušḫuššu-dragons in the door-jambs of its gates. (I did something) that no king of the past had done: my father who engendered me twice surrounded the city with moat embankment(s) using bitumen and baked brick,

(i 27) (but), as for me, using bitumen and baked brick, I built a strong embankment three times, (each) one alongside the other, and I adjoined (them) to the embankments that my father had constructed. I secured their (lit. “its”) foundation(s) on the surface (lit. “breast”) of the netherworld and raised their (lit. “its”) superstructures as high as mountain(s).

(i 33) On the western bank, I surrounded the wall of Babylon with an embankment of baked bricks. (With regard to) the embankment of the Araḫtu (River) that my father who had engendered (me) had built using bitumen and baked brick and constructed piers of baked brick on the other side of the Euphrates River, but he did not complete the rest,

(i 41) as for me, his first-born son, the beloved of his heart, I built the embankment of the Araḫtu (River) using bitumen and baked bricks and reinforced (it) with the embankment that (my) father had constructed.

(i 46) In Esagil, the awe-inspiring shrine, the palace of heaven and earth, the residence of festiveness, I clad Eumuša, the cella of the Enlil of the gods, the god Marduk, Kaḫilisu, the residence of the goddess Zarpanītu, (and) Ezida, the residence of the god Lugaldimmerankia, with bright gold and made (them) shine like daylight.

(i 53) (With regard to) Etemenanki, the ziggurat of Babylon, I built (it) anew.

(i 55) (With regard to) Ezida, the true house, the beloved of the god Nabû, I built (it) anew in Borsippa and with gold and precious stones I decorated (it) as beautifully as the stars (lit. “writings”) of the heavens. I clad (beams of) hard cedar with gold and (then) I had (them) stretched out as the roof of Emaḫtila, the cella of the god Nabû, over the three of them.

(ii 6) (With regard to) Emaḫ, the temple of the goddess Ninḫursag (that is) inside Ka-dingirra, Eniggidrukalamasuma, the temple of the god Nabû of the ḫarû, Enamḫe, the temple of the god Adad inside Kumar, (and) Ekitušgarza, the temple of the goddess Bēlet-Eanna in a corner of the city wall, I built (them) anew in Babylon and raised their superstructure(s).

(ii 12) (I did something) that no king of the past had done: 4,000 cubits distance outside the city, far away, (too far away) to approach (lit. “not to approach”), I surrounded the eastern bank of Babylon with a fortified wall.

(ii 17) I dug out its moat and reached the water table. I built its embankment(s) using bitumen (and) baked brick and (then) I adjoined (it) to the embankments that (my) father had constructed. On its embankment, I built a fortified wall like a mountain using bitumen and baked brick.

(ii 22) (With regard to) Ṭābi-supūršu, the wall of Borsippa, I built (it) anew. (With regard to) its moat embankment(s), I surrounded the city on the outside using bitumen and baked brick.

(ii 26) For the god Mār-bīti, the lord who breaks the weapon(s) of my enemies, I built his temple anew in Borsippa.

(ii 28) (With regard to) Ebabbar, the temple of the god Šamaš of Sippar, Edurgina, the temple of the god Bēl-ṣarbi of Bāṣ, E-ibbi-Anum, the temple of the god Uraš of Dilbat, Eanna, the temple of the goddess Ištar of Uruk, Ebabbar, the temple of the god Šamaš of Larsa, (and) Ekišnugal, the temple of the god Sîn of Ur, the sanctuaries of the great gods, I built (them) anew and completed their structure(s).

(ii 39) I did the utmost regarding the provisioning of Esagil and Ezida (and) the renovation of Babylon (and) Borsippa, which I had done to surpass (all) that (had been done) in the past. (With regard to) providing for the sanctuaries of the great gods, more than the kings, my ancestors, had written about, I wrote down all of my splendid deeds on foundation document(s) and I deposited (them) for ever after. May the learned repeatedly read all of the deeds that I had had written down on foundation document(s) and always remember the praise of the gods.

(ii 54) (With regard to) the construction in the cult centers of the gods and goddesses that the great lord, the god Marduk, had commissioned to me and (my) heart prompted me (to do), I reverently worked on it without interruption (and) I completed its work.

(iii 5) At that time, for the goddess Ninkarrak, the lady who loves me, safeguards my life, (and) preserves the well-being of my descendants, (with regard to) Eḫursagsikila, her temple that is inside of Babylon that had turned into ruins in the past, (I did something) that no king of the past had done:

(iii 12) I examined (and) checked the original foundation(s) and (then) I discovered three small (layers of) bricks of one cubit by three fingers — the measurement(s) of (all) three of them — rising out of its foundation, and I became anxious (and) afraid because the structure of the temple was not suitable to be the residence of the goddess Ninkarrak, my lady.

(iii 18) I strove to reinforce the wall of that temple, to build (it) using bitumen and baked bri[ck], (and) to make (that) temple suitable as a residence of the goddess Ninkarrak. On the (very) day that I asked through divination (about) [m]aking three (layers of) baked bric[k], each measuring sixteen fingers, (and) half (a layer) of baked bri[ck] (as) a tubal[û]-structure, (and) building (it) using bitumen and baked bri[ck], the gods Šamaš and Adad had a firm ‘yes’ placed in my extispicy.

(iii 31) On its foundation, I firmly placed three (layers of) baked brick, each measuring sixteen fingers, and half (a layer) of baked brick (as) a tubal[û]-structure. I built (that) temple like a mountain using bitumen and baked brick.

(iii 38) O Ninkarrak, exalted lady, when you enter Eḫursagsikila, the temple of your joy, with pleasure, may good things about me be placed on your lips. Prolong my days (and) increase my years. May a long life (and) the attainment of very old age be placed in your mouth.

(iii 46) Preserve the well-being for my life, make [my] extis[pic(ies)] favorable, protect my body, (and) firmly establish my descendants. In the presence of the god Marduk, king of heaven and earth, you should constantly speak about cutting down my enemies and flattening the land(s) of my enem(ies).