Nebuchadnezzar II 080

(i 1) Nebuchadnezzar (II), king of Babylon, the true shepherd who is selected by the steadfast heart of the god Marduk, the exalted ruler who is the beloved of the god Nabû, the learned (and) pious one whose attention is fixed on the ways of the great gods, the indefatigable governor who provides for Esagil and Ezida, foremost heir of Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, am I.

(i 15) When the god Marduk, the g[reat] lord steadfastly na[med me and commissioned me] to a[ct] as the one who provides for him, the god the god [Nabû, overseer of the totality of heaven and earth],

(i 1') [I complet]ed its (Ezida’s) construction [with silver, gold, precio]us stone(s), [copper, musuka]nnu-wood, (and) cedar.

(i 4') [I built (and)] completed [Etemenanki, the ziggur]at of Babylon, and (then) [rai]sed its superstructure [using baked bricks] (colored with) shining blue glaze.

(i 8') I made [the sanct]uaries of the great gods shine like daylight.

(i 9') [In Babylon], I was reverently attentive towards the god Nabû, exalted vizier, perfect [warrior], powerful one, the ... god who is the firstborn [off]spring of the goddess Erua, [overse]er of the totality of heaven and earth, (the one) who was raised in Esagil (and) whose destiny cannot be rivaled, the great lord, my lord.

(i 17') (With regard to) Eurmeiminanki, the ziggurat of Borsippa — which a king of the past had built and had raised forty-two cubits, but whose superstructure he had not raised up (to its summit), [(which) from] distant days had fallen to pieces and the outflow(s) of its [wate]r had not been put into the appropriate place (so that) [rains] and downpours carried away its brickwork, its baked-brick facing fell apart, and the brickwork of its kummu-building was piled up like a tell — [the g]reat [lord], the god Marduk, pro[mpted m]e to (re)b[uild it].

(i 27') [I did not alter its] loc[ation and did] not [change] its foundation(s). In [a favorable] mo[nth, on an auspicious day, I repaired] the dest[royed] brickw[ork of its kummu-building] and the baked bricks [of its facing and I made its] fallen por[tion(s) stand up (again)].

(i 34'b) [As for me], I [started to raise] the superst[ructure of Eurmeiminanki]. I mustered [the widespread] people [...]

(ii 1') in all of the lan[ds], everywhere, (and) every sin[gle inhabited settlement] (including) Babylon and Borsippa — [his] be[loved cities], the top among all of the people of the inhabited world — from the Upper Sea to the [Lower] Se[a], far-off lands, the widespread people of the inhabited world, kings of remote mountains and distant islands that are in the Up[per] and Lower Seas, whose lead-rope(s) the god Marduk, my lord, placed in my hand to pull his chariot pole, and I imposed (the carrying of) bask[et(s)] on the wor[k]men of the gods Šamaš and Marduk in order to buil[d] Eurmeiminanki.

(ii 13') (With regard to) Ur, Uruk, Larsa, Eridu, Kullaba, Nēmed-Laguda, Ugar-Sîn, the entire land of the Lower Sea, from its uppermost part to [its] lowermost part, Nippur, Isin, Larak, Dilbat, [Marad], Puqūdu, Bīt-Dakkūri, Bīt-A[muk(k)āni], Bīt-Šillāni, Birātu, [Dēr], Agade, Dūr-Šarrukk[u], Arrapḫa, Laḫīru, [...], the entirety of the lands of Akkad and [Assyria],

(ii 23') kings of Across the R[iver (Syria-Palestine)], provincial governors of the land of Ḫa[tti], from the Upp[er] Sea to the Low[er] Sea, the land of Sumer and Akkad, all of the land of Subartu (Assyria), king(s) of remote islands that are in the midst of the Upper Sea, king(s) of remote islands that are in the midst of the Lower Sea, (and) kings (and) governors of the land of Ḫatti, (who are) across the Euphrates River, to the west (lit. “entering of the sun”), over whom I exercise dominion by the word of the god Marduk, my lord, and who bri[ng] (beams of) hard cedar from Mount Leban[on] to my city, Babylon,

(ii 39') the entirety of the wid[espread] people of the inhabited world, whom the god Marduk, my lord, had grant[ed me, to build Eurimin[anki, I had them undertake] the work [and]

(iii 1') O[n ... its] foundations [...]. (With regard to) Eurim[inanki ...] I built (it) using bitum[en and baked brick ...] a[nd ...] as (it had been) in an[cient times ...] like ... [...] a [holy] shr[ine, a well-adorned bedroom], w[ith ...]

(iv 1) [I regul]arly placed [...] large (beams) of musukannu-wood in its foundations. I secured [the architrave(s), giššak]anakkus, (and) sikkūru šāqilu lock(s), (and) [...]s of tall cedar [as] its [roof. I built (and) com]pleted [...] ..., its foundations, (together with) their bonds, its entire [structure using bitumen] and baked brick and (then) I built (it) anew. [...] ... I raised its superstructure.

(iv 13) [I built a hol]y [shrine], a well-adorned bedroom, [using baked bricks] (colored with) shining blue glaze. [I ... the god Nab]û, on its summit,

(iv 1') [...] may [the ... of] my [...] be firmly established forever.